Will Obama take all our guns away?

[blazee]

I thought maybe you were referring to a ban that I didn't remember. Although he said that he would sign it if it were on his desk, he never pushed for it to be extended and the "Assault" weapon ban expired.

[indyram]

I just want to start off by saying I do not claim to be aligned with any specific party. I vote based on the issues at hand rather than following party lines. I do agree that democrats/liberals tend to be anti-gun where as republicans/conservatives tend to be pro-gun. There are many politicians who do not fall into those standards.

It is possible for stricter gun control to be passed at anytime. However, the recent court rulings especially in DC and Chicago will make that even more difficult. I also agree that President Obama and congress has much larger fish to fry than worrying about gun control issues. Legislation is brought up frequently related to different forms of gun control, but rarely does it gain any momentum. The biggest push usually starts with radicals like Pelosi, Kennedy, Bloomburg, and Clinton.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the tendency is to blame the president for new laws. A president can use a presidential executive order to bypass congress, but it isn't likely to be used for gun control, although these orders have been seen as an abuse of power in the past. Even if that were to happen congress can override it. Laws must be passed by congress before they are signed by a president, so if a law is seen as a failure it rests more on congress rather than the president.

I don't have a problem with some gun control. The level of control currently asserted is fine by me. I have no record and can buy the firearms I desire and have the right to carry a weapon or defend my home. Gun control laws do only affect law-abiding citizens, not criminals. This does not mean that people who were law-abiding citizens and had no record don't commit crimes with firearms. The problem is that irreguardless of what happened the tendency is to blame the firearms. We need to look at the root cause. If they took away every gun in this country including those from known criminals would that stop all murders, rapes, robberies, ect? People would use other weapons whether it be knives, bats, vehicles, or whatever. If someone is determined to commit such a crime or even if it's a crime of passion or in the heat of the moment they will do so.

There is a much larger number of deaths from firearms in the US than in other countries, but why is that? That is the $64,000 question. Could it be availability of firearms? Many other nations have similar percentages of firearms to citizens that we do. How about music, movies, or video games? They have been blamed too. Just because you like a certain type of media doesn't mean you want to go out and shoot someone. How about the news media? If you look at what is reported in the US compared to other countries there is a difference. You watch the nightly news and plastered all over is violence. The media eats that stuff up. You don't see as much stuff about current affairs or the person who is helping in a local community or things along those lines. Violence and carnage is what gets ratings so that is what is plastered all over. It could be because of many things. I don't have the answer.

I do believe that this country is run on fear and consumption. As long as people are fearful they will consume and that keeps the ball rolling. The price changes of firearms and ammunition after Obama was elected is a prime example. People assume that new laws are on the way and they buy, buy, buy. It depletes supply with the raised demand and prices go up. It was all for nothing. This is just one example.

Sorry for such a long rant.

[kris]

Originally Posted by indyram

Sorry for such a long rant.

Great rant.

[kris]

Originally Posted by blazee

I thought maybe you were referring to a ban that I didn't remember. Although he said that he would sign it if it were on his desk, he never pushed for it to be extended and the "Assault" weapon ban expired.

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly why I put that in there, must have been thinking of one thing, typing another.

We'll see what happens after this latest shooting in AZ. I have read a few news sites crying for bans on hi-cap magazines and more firearms restrictions.

[blazee]

Originally Posted by kris

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly why I put that in there, must have been thinking of one thing, typing another.

We'll see what happens after this latest shooting in AZ. I have read a few news sites crying for bans on hi-cap magazines and more firearms restrictions.

This may be one of the few instances where stricter guns laws would have helped...




If it were mandatory for everyone to carry firearms, this guy would have been put down before he got off more than one shot.

[Speculant]

Originally Posted by blazee

If it were mandatory for everyone to carry firearms

That would be fucking crazy

[blazee]

Originally Posted by Speculant

That would be fucking crazy

*in your opinion

[Speculant]

Originally Posted by blazee

*in your opinion

Oh man, I know some pretty mentally unstable people, with no criminal records. Some sort of psychological evaluation would have to be required (among other tests) before just requiring someone to have a gun on their person at all times.

[kris]

Originally Posted by blazee

This may be one of the few instances where stricter guns laws would have helped...




If it were mandatory for everyone to carry firearms, this guy would have been put down before he got off more than one shot.

Hmm, not sure I agree. While he did purchase the handgun legally, which is surprising, it sounds like he didn't have any priors other than being a loner who had an axe to grind. I'm not sure what kind of restriction would have helped in that case.

I am really surprised that someone who was carrying didn't stop him. AZ as we know is very pro 2A, all though I think UT offers more options with the permit than AZ does. It's sad really, because it will add fuel to the fire on this issue.

Now I am in favor of a basic IQ test before you own firearms, as well as have children. Probably a good thing I would never make it as a politician.

[Taters190]

Here's what the government should do. They should be able to pull your background check if you want to buy a gun. And if you have a history of violent crimes then you shouldn't be able to buy one. Now, I don't own a gun, so I don't know if they do that already. I think if you have no history of violent crimes you should be able to buy as many guns as you want. If you take that away from the common man then that's not American

[kris]

Originally Posted by Taters190

Here's what the government should do. They should be able to pull your background check if you want to buy a gun. And if you have a history of violent crimes then you shouldn't be able to buy one. Now, I don't own a gun, so I don't know if they do that already. I think if you have no history of violent crimes you should be able to buy as many guns as you want. If you take that away from the common man then that's not American

Background checks are the law. Certain types of crimes prevent you from purchasing a firearm, not sure which ones specifically. Felonies you're SOL, mental illness, domestic violence, you're out.

However, there is no way to prevent this in a private firearms transaction.

[ExoticSpotting]

[quote=kris;6866473]Background checks are the law. Certain types of crimes prevent you from purchasing a firearm, not sure which ones specifically. Felonies you're SOL, mental illness, domestic violence, you're out.[\quote]

A felony conviction, a conviction that carries a sentence of more than one year in prison (state or federal), and domestic violence convictions.

There is also the Lautenberg bill, which makes it illegal to possess a firearm if you have a restraining order filed against you. That one is pretty controvertial though, because sometimes in a divorce situation, the wife will get a restraining order taken out on her gun-collecting husband as a kind of 'screw you'.

[ExoticSpotting]

Originally Posted by kris

I guess you can read into it either way. There are plenty of Republicans who also support strict gun laws, in fact correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't GWB in a position to allow the semi auto gun ban to expire? If you remember correctly he pledged to extend the ban, and did so.

Whoops, never got an email notification, sorry for the late reply.

Yes, GWB did express support for extending the AWB. (one of many reasons I didn't like him)

However, the backlash against an extension was so strong, I think he just didn't want to risk the fallout from alienating republicans and blue-dog democrats.

It was 2004, so he wasn't exactly doing great in the polls to begin with, ticking off gun owners would have been a BIG mistake.

If he had really pushed the AWB, we may have wound up with Kerry as president.

[danielsatur]

Not in Texas, or the hood!