Wednesday, December 19, 2012

On Me and Guns

I don't have a gun, I don't have a desire to purchase one, and I'm not philosophically opposed to common sense gun control. But can we at least take a reasoned approach as to what we're talking 'bout here (this, I'm saying, to the partisan leftists)? a) Justice department data shows that nearly 80% of criminals purchase their weapons ILLEGALLY (a large chunk of which aren't even manufactured in this country) and that less than 1% (.7% to be precise) of them purchase their firearms at these (admittedly scary) gun shows. And 2) this Connecticut mother purchased the guns legally and also passed a background check. How, pray tell, would the things that people like Rachel Maddow are spitting and drooling over have prevented this crime when they were already in place (yes, Connecticut even has a assault weapons ban, for Christ - the weapon in question apparently didn't qualify)?.................................................................................................P.S. Yes, I realize that there are some other things that we could possibly look at. But none of these steps are necessarily clear-cut, either. For instance, yeah, we could limit the number of guns that a person could possess but a) that would penalize the 99.9% of gun collectors who are responsible and b) criminals aren't even going to go through the legal channels anyway....And then of course there are those who are advocating that the the gun-buyers' entire family should be screened prior to purchase. Again, it doesn't sound that unreasonable until you realize here that a) there would also be some huge confidentiality issues and b) people with mental illness aren't necessarily more likely to be violent PERIOD (Aspergers people are actually LESS likely to be violent to others). This whole construct that politicians (replete with their hubris) can significantly make a dent in this at least somewhat wishful thinking, I'm thinking.

6 comments:

BB-Idaho said...

Given that most of us parents are horrified by the Sandy Hook massacre, just another in a long line of such, we should be looking for solutions. Yeah, Maddow has her
opinions (diametrically opposed by
Malkin, of course). The M-4 Bushmaster throws .223Cal (5.56mm
in military terms) as fast as you can pull the trigger. 30 round magazines can be replaced in a couple seconds. Muzzle velocity
around 1330 FPS, each bullet hitting with a force of 1200 ft-lb.
It is an oddity of legalize that while Connecticut limits an assault weapon to:
"cover semiautomatic rifles that accept detachable magazines and have at least two out of five features: 1) a folding or telescoping stock, 2) a pistol grip, 3) a bayonet mount, 4) a grenade launcher, and 5) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor." While the military
uses it as a main assault weapon.
I say oddity, because from what I
can determine, the threat from a
'folding stock' or a 'flash suppressor' is nil compared to the
firepower assets described above.
..and that is just one weapon variable in the complicated equation of attempting to reduce
gun violence.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I just wish that one person could show ONE example of gun bans of any type reducing the murder rate. If anything, the murder rate tends to go UP after they're instituted. Look, I'm not necessarily saying that MORE guns are the answer, either, but these maniacs tend to look for soft targets where they they feel that no retribution is possible and if gun laws facilitate this then I'm not entirely sure what the point of them is.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

And 80-90% of the guns manufactured these days could conceivably be classified as semi-automatic. Lotsa luck trying to get a ban on them.

Rusty Shackelford said...



I have a .45 Glock with a six shot magazine.If someone comes through my door unannounced and they get hit anywhere they are going to fall down.

I dont need an M 4 Bushmaster,nor does anyone else.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I don't have a problem bringing the assault weapons ban back. Just don't have any major-league hopes of it accomplishing anything.

BB-Idaho said...

Rusty has it right. If you need one, that weapon is a good reasonable choice. Taking it to the range once in awhile is also
a good idea.