What changes in the law are valid regulation of the militia within the bounds of the 2nd Amendment which unquestionably holds we have a right to bear arms?
old colonel, if you look at some of the restrictions on guns and gunowners that are being now being considered, you'll see that almost all have been tried before at local, state, and federal level... and they had no measureable effect on reducing crime. Much the same can be said for these types of restrictions in other countries. So as mass murders still persisted, the solution was/is always more and more gun control. In many instances, we see that violent crime is actually more prevalent where gun control is the most restrictive.
Overall, gun murders in the U.S. are much lower now than they were 20 or 30 years ago. The rates continued to drop after the Clinton Assault Weapon Ban was dropped, and ownership of these guns actually increased. It seems apparent that the overall murder rate drop was tied to stricter mandatory sentencing guidelines and the Three Strikes and You're Out laws that kept a larger percentage of violent felons off the streets. An even better long term solution might be to identify and address the cultural and mental issues that cause people to essentially become animals with no soul and no concience. None of the anti-gunners are even talking about the influence of violent movies, videos, and games. Doesn't that seem a bit odd and even suspicious to you? It's all about the guns. It's always the fault of gun owners, even though 99.99% of us will never hurt anyone with a gun.
If you followed this debate in Misfires, you might have read about the link between Mass Shootings and the prescribing of certain anti-depressants and ADHD drugs. Go to ssristories.com for starters and do a little research into the indisputable link between these massacres and the increased use of this class of drugs. SSRI's are Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors which include Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox and many other commonly prescribed drugs. They are also commonly prescribed for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and are suspected of causing the unprecedented numbers of suicides among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The Pharmaceutical Industry is making billions while law abiding gunowners are being blamed for the often deadly side effects. Once again, the anti-gunners aren't even talking about this. Why? Do they really want to save lives, or do they just want our guns?
Quite a few of us here, myself included, took guns to school either to go hunting after class, or to participate in Rifle Clubs or Teams. We had an indoor range in my school and I bought my ammunition from the school. We had NRA certified instructors who took no B.S. and tolerated no lapse in safety. For those of us who lived that, it is obvious that guns aren't the problem. Something else changed and until we address that specifically, none of these feel-good laws are likely to stop the violence.
There are already at least 300 million guns in the hands of at least 40 million gunowners in the U.S. There are 10's of millions of semi-automatics and 10's of millions of high capacity magazines already out there. Even if half of them were confiscated, registered, or turned in, plenty would still be available to a determined psycopath. We just can't put that Genie back in the bottle. Even if we outlawed all future sales of ALL guns, criminals would still find a way to get guns. Cocaine and Marijuana and Heroin are quite illegal, yet tons of those drugs are smuggled into the U.S. every week. Drug dogs can't sniff out an AK-47.
We already do have considerable restrictions on our Second Amendment rights. People adjuticated mentally ill cannot legally possess guns. There are very strict regulations on Class III firearms. Contrary to what the media would have us believe, you can't buy grenades and bazookas at gun shows. We are already subject to backround checks for purchases from dealers. I'd bet Adam Lanza's mother was subjected to the backround check for all of her guns. Even if they had been registered in some Government Database, how would that have stopped her deranged son from misusing them? We've discussed the propensity of hi-cap magazines to cause jams and the speed with which smaller capacity mags can be changed. How much carnage could a sniper with a bolt action rifle cause from a hillside overlooking a crowded football stadium before he was stopped? A deranged killer will always find a way. So how far do you want to restrict the right of the 99.99% of law abiding gun owners?
Obama has said he doesn't think Americans should own guns. Period. He said that to Professor John Lott at the Univ. of Chicago.
That sir, is the end game. I don't wish to play that game.
