I’ve been participating in a series of discussions with other folks about the current gun legislation. As a result I’ve firmed up some of my own ideas about what’s reasonable and what’s not.
Background Checks
I think background checks are reasonable. In point of fact we’ve had laws on the books regarding background checks for a long time. So the current layer of legalese coming out of Washington is nothing particularly new. It’s probably not going to be enforced any better than the previous laws.
That being said, I agree with background checks. I wish they were efficient and enforced.
With the responsibility of the government to perform background checks also comes this one…
The records about why people are being denied guns should have to be cleaned up too. Why should someone be able to buy a gun in one state, passing that states background check and not be able to buy a gun in an adjacent state?
Cosmetic Gun Bans
I absolutely and categorically am opposed to banning a particular gun because of it’s cosmetics. If we see fit to ban a particular kind of gun, then we must ban that gun in it’s entirety. Every version!
It is irrational to ban one model because it’s black and comes with a 20 round magazine, and yet continue to allow the Green version with a 10 round magazine to be sold.
The rate of fire for both weapons is the same. Someone sufficiently clever could take two 10 round magazines and make a 20 round magazine out of them.
Such a magazine would only have to work once if that person was going to do something horrific like shooting up a mall or theater.
Consistent Laws from State to State
The law from state to state should be consistent. A legal gun owner shouldn’t have to fear being arrested in one state for owning or transporting a weapon that was not illegal in an adjacent state.
There is no situation where it makes any sense to have a particular gun legal in one state and illegal in the next. It’s time to do away with individual state regulations. If we’re imposing a magazine limit it should be the same in all states. If we’re saying a model of gun shouldn’t be sold in MA or CA then that model shouldn’t be sold in the other 48 states either.
Gun ownership laws should be the same too. 18 years old or 21 years old? Must a gun be stored in a safe? Must a gun have a trigger lock? How much Ammunition is too much? Who can purchase ammunition? Do ammunition sales need to be tracked? What about reloading supplies?
These are all questions that should be asked and addressed.
All lawmakers involved in Gun Legislation should be required to attend Instructional classes on guns and have mandatory range time.
To me this is such a no-brainer. Right now we have people making decisions about gun laws that have no fucking clue how a gun works, or even the proper nomenclature.
How can these people make informed legal decisions when they don’t know what they’re talking about in the first place?
I’ve actually gotten in the habit of asking the more vehement of anti gun people if they’ve ever actually been out to a firing range. it’s amazing how many people storm off in a huff when confronted with that question.
At least our legislators should have the courtesy to know what they’re talking about before deciding our fate.
I feel exactly the same way about all internet legislation. Most of the politicians making internet laws have no clue what they’re talking about or the levels which their laws can be used to harm innocent people. That’s another blog entry.
Lets stop making emotionally based laws and rules.
Emotion serves no purpose in law. Lets dispassionately discuss the issue of gun control, or gay marriage, or taxes, or whatever.
Logic and reason should be our watchwords. Equal application of principals should be our guide not our jailer for all law. And for goodness sake lets allow some intelligence and latitude when we come upon a situation where the law doesn’t quite fit.
Zero Tolerance policies are moronic on their face.
The best example I can think of that demonstrates the need for reason and latitude in laws and rules is this.
A child finds a bullet at his or her school. They bring the bullet to their teacher and get suspended because of a zero tolerance policy.
The child did essentially the right thing but was punished for doing so. Will that child do the right thing the next time?
If we continue to pursue more and more restrictive laws or so called Zero Tolerance laws, we will create a country where no-one will ever take responsibility to do the right thing because we’ll all be too concerned with the punishment that comes from doing
the right thing.
That’s not what made our country great.
What makes us great and perhaps unique is that we’ve always allowed common sense to guide us and we’ve generally rewarded not punished people for getting involved or taking action when the situation demanded it.
They’re also after removable magazines, I have no doubt that they will broaden their focus from rifles to pistols leaving the only legal option for Californians a revolver.
condom law in pornography should be extended from just LA to all of California.
spend money on permits, in California when you can go to Phoenix or Las Vegas and do your filming unimpeded.
