The possibility of a federal assault weapons ban in the near future is only there if either the Republicans in the House all get lobotomies now or their constituents do in 2014. But politics aside, why not do something very unusual in these kinds of debates.
Let’s talk about reality.
The fact that we cannot even define an assault weapon is only one of the problems inherent in trying to ban a class of weapon in a nation where the right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in the Constitution.
Now comes the question of so-called high capacity magazines.
Just as we find it hard to ban marijuana—a weed that grows in the wild—we would find it’s very difficult to ban a box with a spring inside.
That, folks, is what a high capacity magazine is.
It would be one thing if a high capacity magazine were some kind of high tech item that takes a rocket scientist to design and a whole factory to build. But the fact is that any reasonably competent high school shop student could make one in an hour.
Further, there are already millions and millions of them in circulation. Standard issue with the World War Two era M1 was a 15 or 30 round magazine. There were something like 6.5-million M1 Carbines manufactured during the war and about a million made after the war. The government sold them to civilian marksmanship programs for something like $20, and there were millions of the magazines made to support them. And that’s only a single semi-automatic weapon on Senator Dianne Feinstein’s list.
Our experience in banning things has not been stellar.
We turned lots of people into criminals when we banned liquor and completely failed to stop its consumption during prohibition.
Billions are bet on the NFL every Sunday, and only a fraction of that is legal.
We have so many illegal immigrants in the country that, once again, we’re prepared to grant a form of amnesty so we don’t have to be in the unenviable position of deporting 11-million people.
Given this government’s track record, what makes anyone think they would even be remotely successful at banning certain kinds of weapons and their accessories already in mass circulation?
So then, we have politicians—including our own clown prince, Harry Reid—who think we can have something called a “universal background check” prior to anyone buying a gun.
It sounds reasonable. But, say I have an M1 that I want to sell to my friend. How is a background check enforceable? And even if you could figure out a way to make such a thing practical, do you really think a criminal could not gain access to a gun without going through the process?
Here’s a better idea, and I guarantee you it will work.
Pass a law on the state level in each state that the use of a gun in the commission of a felony is an automatic additional 15 years in prison over whatever sentence you get. No exceptions, no discretion.
Criminals may be criminals; but they watch the news on TV, and they read the newspaper.
If they know that using a gun nets them an additional 15 years, they will think more than once before they do.
You’re never going to stop all violent crime; but if you hit them where it hurts, you will certainly cause a major dent. And it will certainly be more effective, enforceable, and palatable than trying to take a constitutional right away from people which, even if you could get the law passed, would not apply to criminals anyway.
People who want to stop gun violence have their hearts in the right place. But their brains are several zip codes off.
Photo credit: krazydad / jbum (Creative Commons)
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The magazine ban is the one thing that they will enforce with a vengeance, they finally have a toehold and are going to hold on with a death grip. You will begin to see all kinds of sub-laws and penalties arise if this passes. They will figure out every loop hole and close it, they will have records of who has purchased ammo if done with any type of plastic or check, they will have access to who have or had hunting licenses or belongs to a sporting club.
The new laws in place will make it easier for gestapo type of investigation and no one will be insulated, We all have some sort of trail that they can follow, its not about magazines, it about taking all guns away and you all know that this is the very first step in that direction.
They can ban them but if you already have them there isn’t anything they can do. Paid cash for most of my ammunition so no trail to follow….. Ban my weapon if you like but I do not have to comply with any of their rules, restrictions or registration… The only trail I will leave is the spent brass after it hits the fan….
You just created a trail by posting here, brother.
May I repeat what I have said in many forums in the past…….pay for everything you can with cash. It leaves no trail. Don’t sign up for retail stores ‘discount’ cards…without them you leave no personal market research or marketing junk mail, government intrusions, profiles, etc. You get the picture I am sure. Some folks go out of state to purchase their guns, etc. since not all states have the same laws (for now). Also, my favorite gun shop has said it is having trouble getting ammo because the government is buying it up.
not true at all, if i am a person who only buys in cash at gunshows for my guns an ammo an accessories, an belong to no sporting club an do all my shooting at a friends cabin up in the northern part of the state,an i am not a person who hunts all the ideas u just mentioned will not lead anybody back to me. Just saying,if theres away to make a trail, theres ways to not walk on said trail.
@grunt11BSR, your 100% correct. If like you said, you don’t leave a electronic crumb trail and are careful with your purchases then your one of the very few that had the foresight of things to come.
Many of us have not been so diligent and made the mistake to assume our constitution was absolute and wouldn’t be undermined by a president and congress pushing us towards tyranny. I have a hunting license, handgun permit, paid for my ammo using my debit card, paid to use an out of state range to shoot at and posted on forums my ideals on patriotism. When it hits the fan, I have a lot of scurrying to do in order to keep my gun or guns from being confiscated, many of use will be in the same boat.
I do hope you also have the foresight to have joined a militia, because these people will be the vanguard of our defense when doors start being kick down and people get dragged from their homes and the militias will also be the nucleus for training needed to combat tyranny..
i did better than that my friend,i joined the military after i got out of school let them train me to be a damn good infantry airborne,air assault sniper,went to every damn school i could get into from combat lifesaver to point man school, spent time over in the sandbox for some live fire training. an i kept every single training manual i could get my grubby little hands on. I am a one man force multiplier. all curtsy of our own Uncle Sammy .
@grunt11BSR, that is great because if suspicion turns into truth then we will need people such as you.
It’s truth all right.
The government under Obama distracts, to divert to deceive, they know that they can’t even ban pot let alone guns or hight capacity magazines, however by trying to do so, they divert the American people’s attention on where there attention should be and that my friends is Benghazi, that is the key to end this nightmare.
Obama is a co-conspirator in the murder of four American’s by having done nothing to assist them, he needs to be held accountable for their murders.
[[[ We Can’t Even Ban Pot! ]]]
Gee…. perhaps it’s best if we allow Pot to stand…. that way everyone is stoned and we wont worry how heavily in debt this country is in.
The Golden Days of America are in the past. Buy water filter bottles and learn ways to refine pure water from what’s out there in the pond or the mud puddle. You can live a good while with little or not food, but nobody is worth much after 3 or 4 days with no water. It’s just how it is.