+100, very well stated.
Why people would be against a waiting period, permits, mandatory gun owner training, an assault "type" weapon restriction....... has always baffled me.
First, Waiting periods have been tried and don?t do anything but make it more inconvenient for honest gun buyers. The logic behind a waiting period is that it will cut down on ?crimes of passion?. You know like you have a fight with your X and get so mad you drive out to the gun store and buy a gun to go shoot her. Violent crime with guns when UP after the waiting period was put in effect.
Training. Right now if you want to carry your firearm, in most states you have to go thru both classroom and on range training. This is designed to be a two day course, but if you are willing to get up real early and stay late, you can get it done in one day. There is a bill in congress, supported by the NRA and other pro gun groups to make this universal across the US.
Assault weapons. This is a little like the so called ?Saturday Night Special? of years ago. How do you define an assault weapon. The way the Democrats define it is a very big problem. According to the ?assault weapon? bill they have drafted
?`(L) A rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm?
OK- there goes about every rifle and most shotguns in the world. Remember the bolt action M98 was the ?assault rifle? of World War One, which would outlaw every bolt action rifle in the world. The Pump Shotgun would also be outlawed.
But they also go after pistols as ?assault weapons?.
? `(F) A semiautomatic pistol that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine, and has--
`(i) a second pistol grip;
`(ii) a threaded barrel;
`(iii) a barrel shroud; or
`(iv) the capacity to accept a detachable magazine at a location outside of the pistol grip.?
If you read that, you realize that this part of their Assault weapons bill outlaws about every semi auto pistol in the world. The key part is (iv)- you load semi auto pistol from the bottom of the grip. How can you make it unable to accept a larger (longer) magazine?
On top of that, we had an assault weapon ban (that also outlawed mags over 10 round). Then that ban was put in place, violent crime increased. The year after the ban expired the murder rate decreased and stayed below the 2004 rate (last year of the ban) since.
We hear a lot about the shootings a Columbine. There were seven people there that day that had taken the training and had legal permits to carry concealed, but they were not allowed to carry their weapons on campus. There are three people that were in the theater during the shooting that were discussing suing the theater because they had carry permits, but were not allowed to take their guns into the building.
And remember EVERY person that buys a gun from a dealer goes thru an FBI background check. This includes dealers at gun shows.
