So, what's your solution? Banning them won't do anything, stricter laws won't do anything.

Seriously, I'm open to suggestions.

Why in the world would you think banning them wouldn't do anything?

Since the UKs extremely restrictive firearm laws violence is down 47%. Murder by firearm is 1/5th of the US per capita.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

That is a sad story, so who do you blame in this incident?

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"Our Quarterback is a Bad Man!" - Michael Robinson

The problem with that, though, is the UK has been weaning itself off of guns for 100 years. We're like an obese cousin that just got informed we're diabetic and now we want to be healthy like our cousin that has been eating right and exercising forever. There are already guns out there, not to mention the US has a much larger hunting culture and that 50% think that owning a firearm is a liberty on par with freedom of speech.

For accidental shootings, there needs to be more training. Every person that wants to own a gun needs to be required to go through a gun safety class and pass. In school, a DARE type officer should go into classes and have a frank discussion with kids and tell them the risks of guns. Not to mention parents need to talk to their kids as well, especially if a gun is present in the home, but even just to keep them knowledgeable when at a friend's house.

For street violence, we need to bolster the ATF and local law enforcement as much as possible. Making it easy to access illegal guns and hard to catch is out of touch with reality. Keep tabs on gun ownership, audit gun dealers, close gun show loopholes, keep electronic records of everything. Create a Department of Firearms (like DMV) where information is kept up and training classes are offered, too (or offer them at place like Cabela's). If you want higher power capability, take more training, don't ban.

To attack the gang violence, my other radical idea is to legalize all drugs and copy Portugal's model exactly and hope for the same unprecedented success.

All good starting points evan, if we implement even some of those ideas we could actually, possibly, appease everyone. Compromise, shocking idea.

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2013 AAR: Chris Harper

Legalizing drugs is a bad idea because it legitimizes drug use. However, I think Portugal has it right by treating drug users as health patients instead of criminals. Legalizing marijuana is one thing, harder drugs should stay illegal.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

I don't want to take away your guns.

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Hugh Millen = CBJ minus the cool beard

Sounds like a plan.

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Hugh Millen = CBJ minus the cool beard

I am a fan of personal responsibility. In regards to the firearms discussion in this thread (many other things to do, I am only addressing firearms in this response), what I would propose is:

1 - each FFL holder must account for their inventory at all times.

2 - background questionnaires and results get sent with purchase information (including serial number) to a specific office of the DOJ. These records can only be accessed by warrant. All requests for the information from the database will likewise be recorded and cataloged. Requests against a firearm or individual can be revealed via FOIA request if the investigation is not ongoing. Oversight will be paramount here. I hate this part, but do not yet see another efficient way to eliminate and prosecute straw sales from bad FFL holders, as well as tracking the origin of a firearm when used in commission of a crime.

3 - all transfers of firearms will require an FFL holder to process the same paperwork as if it were a new sale from their shop. The only exception I would make here is transfer to family members.

4 - each firearm owner is responsible for the reasonable storage of their firearms. 'Reasonable' will always be a debatable point, but this requirement needs to be fluid to allow for many different situations. Two adults living in a cabin in the woods don't necessarily need a massive gun safe. Someone with kids in the house does need a way to prevent accidental usage in addition to proper training and awareness - this could take many forms - a safe (there are quite a few which allow for quick extraction if needed in a defense situation), disassembly of the weapon, trigger lock, etc. If you have a person in the house on a mind altering substance (legal or not), you have to take reasonable precautions to prevent use of the firearms by someone who may not have the proper facilities to make the proper decision in their use. This is a responsibility of being a gun owner - suck it up. As each gun gets traced, the method of acquisition will be investigated - "they took it from under my bed where I keep it fully loaded at all times" will probably not be 'reasonable' storage unless it is a B&E situation, but B&E where they broke into the gun locker with power tools would probably be 'reasonable'.

5 - endless buyback. Anyone can turn in a firearm to an FFL dealer for $100 no questions asked. That FFL dealer is required to give at least $100, although they can buy it at a higher amount. Unless the weapon is otherwise limited by law, that FFL holder can sell it at market rate, generating the paperwork as above. If the weapon is not in compliance with law or does not have a market value above $100, the FFL holder turns the weapon over to the BATF in exchange for $100.

6 - non compliant FFL dealers lose their license and the ability to get an FFL license, and individuals found to willfully non-comply with transfer regulations are felons. Failure to reasonable store firearms would be a large swath of misdemeanor/gross misdemeanor/felon based on the situation.



I am not a fan of bans in any form (they encourage ownership of the item they ban), but if a ban does come into effect the only way to make it effective is to use a buyback system.

For example - banning new magazines over 10 rounds will do nothing, and even less because there are already so many of the items already out there. The items would have to be given a grace period and encouragement for their surrender - otherwise they will just be buried in the back yard/hidden. So in this case, something like "in three years they become contraband, until that time you can surrender these items in return for $10". Carrot and the stick. the funds would help purchase compliant replacements and encourage a 'I may as well get something out of it other than jail time' attitude.

"Military style assault rifles" were banned in 1986 along will all other automatic weapons, so all of them are at least 26 years old, overwhelmingly expensive due to rarity, and require a $200 tax stamp (Class III weapon). If a ban were to take place on the assault-rifle look-a-likes (again, stupid and pointless, but sheeple like to think they are 'doing something' to assuage their guilt for not doing anything...), I'd think you'd need to classify them like the Class III weapons - no new ones can be built, register the ones that exist (same DOJ department as above) and pay the $200 tax stamp. Grace period until they are contraband if not registered, and $500 buyback for those who no longer wish to have them under the new rules.

Neither of these dollar amounts will make anyone rich, but it may be the decider between 'a few bucks and legality' and 'a lot of bucks and a felon'.

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“Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It’s unrealistic and cowardly because it means you don’t have to try.” - Peggy Noonan
The Real Hero Fights Without Knowing Whether Or Not He’ll Succeed. Courage is contagious.

Sounds expensive and makes too much sense. Our government only likes to pass more feel good laws without any backbone to support them. See illegal immigration laws as another example.

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"Our Quarterback is a Bad Man!" - Michael Robinson

Liberty cannot exist without personal responsibility. Unfortunately, there are way too many in this great country that have no problem allowing both to diminish.

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"Our Quarterback is a Bad Man!" - Michael Robinson

Something to consider when considering a gun ban: http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/01/31/A-Tale-of-Two-Cities

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

A gun ban in a single city is a stepping stone, not a solution.

But let's look at real numbers.

Homicides in Chicago:

1974: 970
2011: 435 (and had been around this number for a few years)
2012: 504

So since the gun ban homicides in Chicago have dropped in half.

But we only like to compare numbers we like right?

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

Once the fed decided to not plea bargain Gun charges away, the shootings just about stopped. Firearm prosecution with the current administration has dropped off 30%, prior.

They need to do the same as drunk driving. A felon with a gun, automatic time in the pokey. I don't see that WA needs more laws, we live in one of the safest states.

You're again confusing cause and correlation. While all comparisons will have some ambiguity between cause and correlation, your assumption is that the gun ban was directly - and mostly - responsible for the drop. Homicides are down nationally - in fact at their lowest in 50 years. The cause is arguably more because of the rise and decline of Baby Boomers, as the article says, than because of any gun-related legislation. One could also make a strong case showing that Roe vs. Wade is at least as much responsible for this drop in crime as any other factor, and in fact, that case has already been made.

Are those numbers as much to your liking?

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

An interview after the Aurora massacre, but it points out the flaws of gun control and "gun free zones" very very well.

It's very difficult to argue with people who are so pro gun that they can give no fault to the weapon.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

Someone should write a book about snipers....Oh Wait !!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/reports-ex-seal-a ... 47785.html

Finally figured that out, did you?

I've been posting in the PWR forum since the Summer of '06. These same "the Govt's gonna steal your guns" arguments having been going on since before I started posting here. A lot of it is the same people, making the same argument, month after month, year after year.

These are many of the same people who worried about; White Concentration Camps, Death Squads for The Elderly, Rev. Wright will rule the US because he is Obama's Spiritual Advisor.

Sorry folks, I don't live with that kind of paranoia. There are people here who live with a loaded shotgun within arm's reach of their bed? Where the fuck do you live?.....Kabul?

It's kinda sad, really.

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If you're walking on thin ice, you might as well dance.................................................Mom

That's because there is none.

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