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Gibson's simple suggestion... regulate guns like cars... makes a great deal of sense to me, and infringes on no one's Second Amendment rights. Gibson proposes that gun owners be required to obtain renewable licenses after passing tests, carry liability insurance and have their guns inspected yearly... just like cars. No one seems to go ballistic over such requirements in order to exercise their equally significant right to drive, so there should be no insane outrage over similar provisions in law regarding use of an equally deadly device, right? right?? Oh... right... the Right.
(I apologize in advance for writing this comment, via trancript)
ReplyDeletehttp://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1207/26/pmt.01.html
Piers MORGAN: The big issue in America right now is guns. ...this appalling shooting on Friday at Aurora in Colorado. ... There should be tighter laws.
M. RMONEY: Well, I think the idea that somehow if you had a law saying that guns were going to be regulated in some way that that would end gun violence, why, there might be some merit to having that discussion. But the truth is, there's no particular change in law that's going to keep people who are intent on doing harm from doing harm.
The governor of Colorado who's a Democrat said, look, gun laws aren't going to keep evil people from doing evil things.
Piers MORGAN:... we have very strict gun laws here. And we have very few gun murders. Fifty maybe on average a year. Japan has almost no guns and has almost no gun murders.
America now has 300 million guns in circulation and has the highest murder rate with guns of any of the so-called rich civilized countries. The reaction on Friday was no politician called for stricter laws. But 43 percent spike in Colorado in local people wanting to arm themselves with more weapons.
M. RMoNEY: Well, we do have a Second Amendment. And I respect the right of people to bear arms for any legal purpose. You say that we have 300 million guns, saying somehow guns are illegal and try to collect 300 million guns would be lunacy, fallacy, a folly. That's not going to happen. That's not going to happen to our country. People have a right to be able to bear arms. The real question is, what things can we do, to do as you say, prevent the kinds of tragedy from occurring that we saw? And the answer there is to find people who are distressed and deranged and evil and do our very best to find them, to cure them, to help them, to keep them from being able to do harm to one another.
MORGAN: But if President Obama called you up and said, look, we need to get together in the wake of this, as I say, the worst ever shooting, we need to get together, do a compromised deal that just makes it more difficult for people like this to evade the system, would you at least, in principle, be happy to have that conversation?
M. RMoNEY: Piers, I don't support new gun laws in our country. We have a lot of gun laws now. We have background checks and other restrictions on gun ownership in our country. But as you say, we have 300 million guns in America. We have a Second Amendment that protects the right of people to bear arms. I support that. I think that the effort to continue to look for some law to somehow make violence go away is missing the point.
The real point has to relate to individuals that are deranged, distressed, and to find them, to help them, and to keep them from carrying out terrible acts.
Excellent idea. Also impose a luxury tax on those owning more than one gun.And a 100% tax on those owning grenade launchers. machine guns tanks and etc.! People need to understand that the NRA has evolved into a clear and present danger to America safety and well being.The NRA has become a facilitator of domestic terrorism.
ReplyDeleteSorry, driving is a privilege granted by the state, not a right, which is why it can be regulated. Most states require that you waive your right against self-incrimination and agree to a Breathalyzer test to obtain and keep a driver's license.
ReplyDeleteOTOH, there is no reason that people can't be subjected to the same restrictions that are placed on voting.
We don't enforce our current laws, so I don't see how new laws will change anything.
Bryan, I disagree about whether driving is a right. In the original debates about adding a Bill of Rights to the Constitution, one argument against doing so was that it would deemphasize the unenumerated rights, which were numerous (one delegate mentioned the right to wear a hat) by comparison to those enumerated in the proposed Bill of Rights. The compromise of course was the Ninth Amendment. It is a reasonable assumption that, absent explicit law against doing something, you have a right to do that thing. I believe our Founders would have recognized a right to drive.
ReplyDeleteAll - in your various ways, you're all correct. Even Mr. Rmoney is correct here...
ReplyDeleteGun violence IS far lower in other wealthy industrialized nations. Taking away everyone's guns (something no American I know of advocates, however often the nut-jobs claim it) would NOT solve all gun violence and gun deaths... and neither would arming everyone. Enforcing existing laws WOULD help matters. Individuals indeed have NO BUSINESS owning "grenade launchers[,] machine guns tanks and etc." and indeed there was an assault weapons ban in place until recently. Those are all true.
As I believe BadTux said on Bryan's threads, a gun is a tool. Like most tools (I would say more than most tools), it is dangerous when used improperly by accident or by design.
Something few people seem willing to acknowledge is that city-dwellers are at far higher risk of gun violence than rural residents. I believe cities should be allowed to track guns and register owners (heresy, I know, to NRA members... so be it). And individual business owners should be allowed to prohibit bringing firearms onto their business property, even if the property is a public accommodation, applicable to everyone except law enforcement and military personnel. So there!