Gun control

Gun control.  

Why is this so hard?  Because of a lot of Congress just quakes in its shoes when dealing with or discussing the National Rifle Association (NRA).  It is truly a shame, but a lot of our Congress is thoroughly beholden to special interests, be they the pharmaceutical industry, the oil companies, the banks, whatever.  Wherever there is big money, there is big influence.  But the NRA seems to hold special sway over Congress and much of the public.

Someone made the point the other day that people possessing or using grenades or machine guns is no longer an issue.  They used to be legal.  They were outlawed, and the laws stuck. The same could be done with assault rifles.

Perhaps the reason the assault weapons ban didn't work so well the last time around is that the law was not very strong and allowed for loopholes and workarounds.  Shortly after the assault weapons ban was put in place, some gun manufacturers made slight adjustments in their assault weapons to get around the rules.  A tough assault weapons ban could be, and ought to be, put in place.

And to issue the usual disclaimer:  Neither I, nor any Democrat I know, wants to outright BAN all firearms.  NO one is coming for your guns, so just fucking chill out.  That's just a scare tactic used by the NRA and others.  Quite effectively, I might add.  The level of hysteria reaches absurd heights when people talk about guns and the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Witness Alex Jones.  

Barring an outright assault weapons ban, such as the Bushmaster AR-15 pictured here, we should at least ban high-capacity magazine clips.  No hunter needs to have 30 rounds available at the squeeze of the trigger.  No one defending their home will need to fire off 10-30 rounds to ward off intruders.  

What should be easiest to do would be to extend background checks to ALL weapons purchases, even private transactions between individuals.  Even a majority of the NRA membership agrees with that position.  Yes, if even private transactions are subject to a rigorous background check, there still will be black market selling without a license or background check.  We will NEVER wipe out all of the black markets.  That's just human nature.

33 states in the U.S. require no background checks at all for many purchases.  Remember the 2nd Amendment's language about a "well-regulated militia".  At this time, only FEDERALLY-licensed gun dealers are required to perform background checks.  That means that most of these localized gun shows require no check at all, so any felon, criminal or thug can waltz into one of several gun shows and waltz out loaded for bear with no background check at all.  That's the so-called "gun show loophole."  Why should this be tolerated?   How is this "well-regulated"? 

There are 30 deaths by gunshot per day in the country.  30 per day.  Haven't we had enough of this mindless mayhem yet?  Why is it that other nations that also allow possession of firearms have much, much MUCH lower rates of homicide than we do.  Canada, for example.  Or Japan.  If anyone can explain it, please do. 

It's time to get past the hysteria and special interests and pass some common-sense laws to protect our citizens. 

I hope for your sake you never end up in a position like these people.