Gun Control

Gun Control

by Sebeq | Published on May 15th, 2006, 11:15 pm | Life

From Yahoo news May 15th

"The city of NY is suing 15 out-of-state gun shops it says supply a significant portion of the guns that flow into New York, including some that end up in the hands of criminals.
The lawsuit being filed Monday asks the federal court to order supervision and extra training for the dealers in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. It also seeks some damages and compensation.
The city's law department singled out the 15 gun shops after hiring private investigators who fanned out to dealers in the five states over the past several weeks.
Wearing hidden cameras, the investigators entered stores in teams of two and attempted "straw purchases," in which the buyer completes the paperwork and passes the background check, but later hands over the weapon to someone else who is not allowed to own a firearm.
The scam, prohibited by federal law, is typically used by people who are under 21 or convicted felons. The 15 dealers named in the suit sold guns to the undercover investigators. The city said the sales were refused at about 30 other shops."

What! No NC stores mentioned! Oh yeah, that's cause the guns here get sold out the back of vehicles...silly me!

I think we should sue NY for something. Any suggestions?

In Philadelphia, a home-schooled high school kid was stocking up for a high school massacre. What gets me about this story is that his mother bought him an assault rifle. Makes ever so much sense.

When my son was a teenager, the most dangerous thing we bought him was a set of laser tag equipment.

OK, we also bought him a cheap car, but it was a station wagon. :lol:

more like a mutha.

I grew up hunting and fishing. Had shotguns and rifles in the house all the time. Shot them, cleaned them, admired them, but was taught to be responsible and safe. It was treated as an extreme priviledge to be even able to touch them. Handle them wrong and you didn't get the chance to make the same mistake twice.

anyway, what I've noticed... and this a 10,000 foot view so I may be too general... these kids that do these school shootings all got their guns illegally or had someone else buy these assualt style weapons. The Amish shooting might have been different. Can't recall.

My point is not that all kids should have gun handling experience or anything NRA-extreme like that. It's that these kids see guns like they are drugs. Sort of a pathway to get high. It's like they worship them from afar and when they get their hands on one, they feel it makes them complete. And it's just like a drug. That feeling quickly wears off. So they need more, or a new extreme.

Guns should be illegal. Plain and simple, unless you can prove you have a gun safe, a proper training and certification, and are using it for recreation only.

This should be something that has to be periodically re-checked.

I'd personally prefer if we banned guns all together, but I do recognize some people need to compensate and shoot Bambi to make them feel better.

Liv wrote:Guns should be illegal. Plain and simple, unless you can prove you have a gun safe, a proper training and certification, and are using it for recreation only.

This should be something that has to be periodically re-checked.

I'd personally prefer if we banned guns all together, but I do recognize some people need to compensate and shoot Bambi to make them feel better.

I'd rather Bambi get shot in the woods, as opposed to wandering out on the Interstate and potentially crushing my car when I can't stop from going 70 mph.

Liv wrote: but I do recognize some people need to compensate and shoot Bambi to make them feel better.

I figured you'd be fully against making laws about controlling matters related to cultural recognition.

I'm going to be completely honest here...

I've never shot anything more than B-B guns at 4H.

I think I'd get a kick out of shooting something with lots of force, and killing power.

I could never aim it at an animal or living creature.

So I'm torn. I see how it "could be fun", but I intellectualize, that they aren't really a needed tool for man, and are causing more damage than good.

It's for that reason, I'd have to reccomend a need for a greater amount of oversight for people owning guns. Better education, and minimum requirement for safe storage and operation of the machine.

I'd prefer them to be illegal. I'd prefer people to be able to rent guns for recreation. A bowling alley approach where each gun is tracked and fingerprinted and GPS'd.

I think the arguments about "needing guns for protection" are BS. Having a gun in your hand can only protect by creating fear in others -- it can't stop bullets, arrows, knives or bats. Hardly an effective "defense." Better to run and hide...

Liv wrote:
It's for that reason, I'd have to reccomend a need for a greater amount of oversight for people owning guns. Better education, and minimum requirement for safe storage and operation of the machine.

concur

There was a huge gun collection in my house when I was growing up. My grandfather collected them and my dad got them later on. There were powder loading muskets, WW2 german and Japanese rifles, etc. I learned to shoot at a very young age, but was also taught to respect them and always think of safety above all else. Never went hunting, never saw the point.. but members of my extended family did it all the time.

That said, I was a terror on local insects with the bb gun. :twisted:

But i think the guns aren't the problem and never have been.

Matt wrote:more like a mutha.

You got that right.

Matt wrote:...these kids that do these school shootings all got their guns illegally or had someone else buy these assualt style weapons. The Amish shooting might have been different. Can't recall.

The Amish massacre was done by a full-grown family man who went nuts.

Matt wrote:My point is not that all kids should have gun handling experience or anything NRA-extreme like that. It's that these kids see guns like they are drugs. Sort of a pathway to get high. It's like they worship them from afar and when they get their hands on one, they feel it makes them complete. And it's just like a drug. That feeling quickly wears off. So they need more, or a new extreme.

In general, I agree with you. When I was a Scoutmaster, we did several events where we gave the scouts exposure to guns through target practice. I admired the attitude that all the adult instructors exhibited in these events, treating guns in a serious manner and making sure all the kids acted accordingly.

I'm about as far from being a "gun nut" as you can get, but I agree that teaching kids the proper attitude and handling of firearms is a good idea.

Society, today, isn't as responsible as we were 50 years ago to handle guns. It's a totally different world today than it was back then. I wonder WHY?

Matt wrote:
Liv wrote:
It's for that reason, I'd have to reccomend a need for a greater amount of oversight for people owning guns. Better education, and minimum requirement for safe storage and operation of the machine.

concur

In order to be able to know whether guns are being stored safely you need to know what guns are in people's possession. Canada has implemented a gun registry but the opposition from the gun lobby has been loud, vehement and persistent. Many people with guns are treating it as a rights issue (even though Canada has not 'right to bear arms') and are refusing to participate - if one gets charged with not complying then there's a media fuss about 'persecuting innocent gun owners'. Others are abusing the system by registering nail guns and staple guns. It hasn't helped that the cost over runs on the database are good political fodder. The net result is that the police don't enforce registration and the program will likely be scrapped.

Without a registry you have no basis for oversight. The USA will never have one, there will never be oversight and the US will continue to be gun heaven, with an escalating civilian arms race. It's just good business.