More gun sense and nonsense

Starting with the ridiculous, New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has shown the gun freaks once again that he means business.  Some time back he demonstrated how some low-lifes in Arizona and elsewhere in the country were willing and anxious to sell guns to people they had reason to believe did not have the right to own them.  You can read more on this in an earlier Nasty Jack post.

 

In my post, Bloomberg and Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston and co-founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, were asking for an overhaul of the background-check system for gun purchases which allowed such massacres as the one at Virginia Tech which killed 32 people, injuring 17 others, and the most recent in Tucson, Arizona killing 6 and injuring 13, including U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords from Arizona.



Craigslist-New York

But the latest that Bloomberg/Menino have come up with exposes the gun industry once again as being irresponsibly relentless in its pursuit to make firearms available to anyone, no matter what their past, or whether they are fit to own a weapon.  The mayors’ sting operation centered on the online marketplace, particularly Craigslist and Web sites selling firearms. 

These reprehensible gun nuts were willing to sell to NYC investigators that clearly admitted they were probably unable to pass a background check.  Some even said they were too young to buy a gun legally.  These private sellers are not required to make a background check, but knowingly selling to someone who admits to not being able to pass one is a felony.  Just more of the NRA’s best.  In all fairness, there were other instances where the seller refused to make the deal.

And then there was the person who could lose their 2^nd Amendment rights over having a medical marijuana card, which borders on ridiculous.  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) now says you will lose a “key constitutional right” if you let your state know you take pot medicinally.  Arizona’s make-believe governor, Jan Brewer, and Michigan’s attorney general are already interfering with medical marijuana laws legally passed by their constituents.

In a Nevada case, a woman is challenging this BATFE ruling after trying to buy a gun and being turned down.  If her intent is to have the weapon in her home for protection, it is absurd that the government would deny her this 2^nd Amendment right just because she uses the medical marijuana for pain.  However, in terms of issuing her a concealed carry permit to walk the streets with her weapon, I would be absolutely against this and another court case in Oregon is pending on this issue.  It all comes down to what’s reasonable and both sides must give.

Guns and marijuana

Where’s the NRA when you need them?  Just let a situation like this get a little touchy, in this case involving medical marijuana, and they tuck their tail between their legs and hide.  Other larger gun organizations have done the same.  But it could all come down to an order from President Obama that directs BATFE to make an interpretation of the policy, which is in their discretion, to determine that these users are not unlawful due to their regulation under state law.  It’s all about bureaucracy and in this case the gun industry should win.

Enough is enough. It’s time to challenge the 2nd Amendment-Part 3

See Part 1 here, Part 2 here.

With overall crime rates still declining, shooting deaths continue to go on unabated.  Yes, this is true on both counts.  During 2009, the latest year available, violent crime declined an estimated 5.3 percent from 2008.  This was the third year in a row.  So why do we see so many daily reports of shootings, many of which result in death?  The answer is lax gun laws, and it is time to confront the National Rifle Assn. and its membership to relax their stronghold on Congress.  I can hear you now, “Yeah, that will be the day.”

The NRA might be wise to start cooperating with the gun control advocates since members of congress are already talking new legislation, and President Obama has said he will explore executive orders to get around certain gun laws.  But gun owners are so sure of their 2^nd Amendment rights that this complacency might be just what is needed to develop the momentum for new gun control. 

It is time to challenge the 2^nd amendment, not to repeal it, but to enact more reasonable federal legislation that would overrule the lunacy of states like Arizona where firearms can be had at the drop of a hat.  Things like banning AK47 weapons, closing the gun show loophole, limit concealed carrying to those in need, and establish a national registry for handguns.  We need to know where these “weapons of mass destruction” are going.

I did some analysis of handgun murders in the U.S. based on FBI data and came up with the following.  The density of a state (number of people per square mile) seems to have some effect on handgun murders per 100,000 populations.  They are raised for states with a higher density.  California, New York and Illinois, where gun laws are tighter, have above average per 100-thousand handgun murders; 3.70, 4.47 and 2.99 respectively.  But density levels for the three are 239, 411.2 and 231.

Now compare that with states like Arizona with a population density of only 56.3 but per 100-thousand handgun murders of 3.04.  Likewise Texas density is 96.3 with murders at 3.49 and Louisiana is 104.9 and a whopping 10.46.  All three states have loose gun laws.  Alabama leads the nation in per 100,000 pop. Deaths for all kinds of firearms, Alaska is second and Arizona is third. 

There is one bright spot on the horizon, due to the efforts of the Brady Campaign and other gun control advocates; legislation has been defeated 51 times in 27 states following the Virginia Tech massacre.  Arizona was inches away from allowing guns on campus recently when legislation by State Sen. Russell Pearce was stopped due to an uproar from local business leaders and state university and college heads.

Marc Victor, an Arizona State Bar certified specialist in criminal law, says “Don’t cherish the 2nd Amendment.”  He goes on to say, “Like everything else in the Constitution, the 2^nd Amendment is subject to interpretation.”  Now Victor is a 2^nd Amendment proponent so gun control advocates have nothing to shout about.  His statement is a reflection of later dialogue that ponders over the possibility of Supreme Court decisions which, of late, have been all in favor of the 2^nd Amendment.  Or how this group of nine might interpret the 9th Amendment.

To end on a laugh, Presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry, was recently asked how he felt about gun control.  His answer: “I am actually for gun control.”  Pause.  “Use both hands.”  That ranks up there with this wacko’s statement on evolution.  “It’s a theory that’s out there.  It’s got some gaps in it.”  Pathetic.