"Sensible" gun control ?

An Op Ed "Letter to the Editor" style opinion article in The ADVOCATE (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) offers an ... interesting ... mix of Gun Control suggestions.   Some of which are reasonable (which means I don't necessarily disagree with them), some of them are a not-so-subtle support of registration of guns and gun-owners, and a few of them are outrageous. 

(NOTE: Reader Op Eds links are not necessarily permanent; I've added a copy of the original text "under the fold".)

Letters: Some ideas for sensible gun control | Letters | theadvocate.com:

 1) Guns purchased legally, according to laws in effect at time of purchase, and not used illegally since, are private property and cannot be arbitrarily confiscated by federal, state or local authorities. 

<ME: concur ... it's in the Constitution?>

2) The Second Amendment does not need reinterpretation or revision. Private gun ownership and possession is a constitutional right.

<ME: Sneaky, since he's just about to "infringe" on that right?>

 3) All gun sales need to be accompanied by an efficient background check of the purchaser. This includes gun show, private and online purchases.
<;ME: Disagree ... always includes both buyer and seller identification, as well as description of the firearm; which is tantamount to  registration of the gun and identification of both buyer and seller as firearms owners.  And yes, this is an increasingly common practice and I'm still against it because the firearm serial number is invariably included!  Protests that the records of such a transaction are permanently deleted after a certain period of time are not convincing; nobody has said that the identity of buyer and seller, and firearm, are deleted; just the transaction record itself.>

 4) Carry, both concealed and open, should be prohibited with exceptions for hunters and recreational shooters. If you are going hunting, going recreational shooting, carry the gun. If you are going to church, the store, a demonstration and gun-free-zones: Leave the gun at home. 

<ME: Disagree ... and so does the Supreme Court.  re: HELLER> and MACDONALD>

 5) Gun manufacturers must be regulated to include the requirement to imprint permanent, non-erasable serial numbers on multiple parts of any gun. This regulation would also require a serial number or code imprint on all bullets sold. Reloaders, who don’t sell, are exempt. Letters: Congress should strengthen gun control I hope my U.S. senators, John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, along with my U.S. representative, C… 

 

Disagree, with bells and whistles.   You see what the author has done, lulling you to sleep with the first couple of paragraphs and then he trots out his unrealistic Liberal philosophy.   Reasons: inadequate definition of terms such as "bullets" (one assumes he means "loaded cartridges" rather than components), but the idea of serialized ammunition has long been debunked as unrealistic, impractical, and ultimately without redeeming value.  See: "Connecticut">
6) Manufacturers of so-called “smart guns” would be encouraged with substantial tax breaks and/or other federal/local financial incentive to create guns that cannot be randomly fired.

<ME: Disagree, if only because the idjit author introduces terminology ("randomly fired") without context or definition.   If nothing else, this 'minor error' demonstrates the  basic incompetence/inexperience of the author.>

 7) Conventional gun purchases would accrue extra taxes, added to both gun and ammunition, with the proceeds dedicated to implement gun control. 

<ME: Disagree, not only because this "extra taxes" clause is undefined (though an increasingly "common practice", but if Gun Control is everybody's problem, then everybody should chip in.   Asking law-abiding gun owners to bear the burden is like a Fascist state executing dissidents, and then requiring the surviving family members to pay for the bullet.>

 8) Weapons classified as “assault” guns (as commonly understood) and all rapid-fire guns or guns capable of automatic fire are prohibited to private owners. They may be owned by clubs to be used by members and cannot be moved off site. Shooting clubs possessing these guns must carry liability insurance. Collectors (to be defined) and museums may also own these automatic weapons. These type of guns already in private hands are private property and cannot be arbitrarily confiscated. 

<ME: Disagree, because (A) the term "assault" is not commonly understood or defined, (B) "rapid fire" and "automatic fire" not defined , (C) under the broadest terms, constitutes over 50% of firearms in America, (D) under only slightly narrower terms, protected by the Constitution in most cases.   Note also that true "Assault Rifles" are rifle-caliber, capable of 'selective fire', and are already closely regulated since the 1930's.>

 9) Who is barred from gun ownership? Violent felons, those accused of domestic violence until the accusation is dismissed, anyone deemed by psychiatric experts to be mentally unstable and anyone refusing to take a gun safety course and/or refusing to demonstrate safe handling procedures. This is not an all-inclusive list.

<ME: Convicted violent felons and convicted domestic abusers are already denied their Second Amendment Rights (and some other civil rights as well).   "Accused" persons cannot be permanently denied their civil rights under the Constitution.  Refusal to "take a course" or "demonstrate safe handling procedures" is not grounds to deny a legal American his Constitutional rights, nor should it be.    The author might consider whether his right to vote should be obviated because he refuses to, or is unable to, define the Bill of Rights.    The comment "not an all-inclusive list" smacks of tyranny; if you're not prepared to define all the things you don't like about the Second Amendment, Bucky, then you're no better than a petty third-world dictator.>

10) Controversial gun accessories prohibited: high-capacity magazines. This accessory is not for private ownership, but for shooting clubs only. Current owners of high-capacity magazines have property rights to them. Bump stocks — no private ownership. Current owners have property rights. This is not a complete list of controversial gun accessories.

<ME: It doesn't matter whether you provide a 'complete list', it's sufficient that you are of the mind set of Dictators through-out history:    "IF it is not specifically permitted, it is prohibited.":

This is America; we don't work that way any more.  A bunch of guys in Concord and Lexington laid down their lives to start the ball rolling.  Are you sure you're not British?

ME: And by the way, "shooting clubs" have no absolute need for "high-capacity" magazines.  During the shameful era when magazines of greater than 10 rounds were outlawed, shooting competitions which previously allowed "high-capacity magazines" (here, >10 rounds) adjusted their rules.   Those of us who competed with guns were disgruntled, but obeyed the law.   The "high-capacity magazine" was not designed for competition ... I've been shooting competitively for sixty years, and I've dealt with all the rules. 

"High-capacity magazines" were designed for non-competitive purposes.  Are they used in competition?  Sure .. some varieties of competition.   But if you have to do a reload in competition, it's because the rules require it.  Everybody abides by the same rules, so it merely adds an interesting complexity to the shooting problem.

But when you're alone in a dark parking lot and you're waylaid by a gang of thugs, you don't get a 'time penalty' when you have to reload; you get hurt.  Badly.


 11) Finally, manufacturers, research institutes and universities must be encouraged with grants and favorable laws to design safer, less-lethal guns intended for use by the general public. 

<ME: There is no way to design "less-lethal guns", because a gun is, by definition, a "lethal weapon".  (Look it up, it's in the book.)   We do have "less-lethal" alternatives to guns, such as pepper-spray, whistles, cell phones.  You strike me as a man who has never been attacked by someone who is bigger, stronger, more aggressive ... more violent than you.>

 Gun control in the U.S. is far too complex and emotional an issue to be settled quickly. Compromise is essential. Fanatics and extremists on both sides must not be allowed to commandeer the debate. We must plan for the future and accept the idea that it will take more than a generation to reach consensus.

<ME: That's the funny thing about "Gun Grabbers" (and you are one); they always talk about "COMPROMISE".In Lib-Talk, "COMPROMISE" means: "Gun Owners Give Up Something Important To Them, And We Move On And Ask Them To Compromise On The Next Reasonable Gun Control Safety Item On Our To-Do List".>

 What's the compromise here?  What are "people like you", who always know what I should do to undermine my Constitutional Rights, willing to give up in return to my sacrifice?
Never mind, I already know that this is a one-way street, and for you it's "my way or the highway".>

[NOTE: the original article was submitted by "Greig Olivier retired fabricator".   Because links to opinion editorials are not necessarily "permanent", I've included the full text below the fold]

Letters: Some ideas for sensible gun control

• BY GREIG OLIVIER
 
• OCT 26, 2017 - 6:00 PM
 

Some ideas for sensible gun control:

1) Guns purchased legally, according to laws in effect at time of purchase, and not used illegally since, are private property and cannot be arbitrarily confiscated by federal, state or local authorities.

2) The  Second Amendment does not need reinterpretation or revision. Private gun ownership and possession is a constitutional right.

3) All gun sales need to be accompanied by an efficient background check of the purchaser. This includes gun show, private and online purchases. 

4) Carry, both concealed and open, should be prohibited with exceptions for hunters and recreational shooters. If you are going hunting, going recreational shooting, carry the gun. If you are going to church, the store, a demonstration and gun-free-zones: Leave the gun at home.

5) Gun manufacturers must be regulated to include the requirement to imprint permanent, non-erasable serial numbers on multiple parts of any gun.

This regulation would also require a serial number or code imprint on all bullets sold. Reloaders, who don’t sell, are exempt.

6) Manufacturers of so-called “smart guns” would be encouraged with substantial tax breaks and/or other federal/local financial incentive to create guns that cannot be randomly fired.

7) Conventional gun purchases would accrue extra taxes, added to both gun and ammunition, with the proceeds dedicated to implement gun control.

8) Weapons classified as “assault” guns (as commonly understood) and all rapid-fire guns or guns capable of automatic fire are prohibited to private owners. They may be owned by clubs to be used by members and cannot be moved off site. Shooting clubs possessing these guns must carry liability insurance. Collectors (to be defined) and museums may also own these automatic weapons. These type of guns already in private hands are private property and cannot be arbitrarily confiscated.

9) Who is barred from gun ownership? Violent felons, those accused of domestic violence until the accusation is dismissed, anyone deemed by psychiatric experts to be mentally unstable and anyone refusing to take a gun safety course and/or refusing to demonstrate safe handling procedures. This is not an all-inclusive list.

10) Controversial gun accessories prohibited: high-capacity magazines. This accessory is not for private ownership, but for shooting clubs only. Current owners of high-capacity magazines have property rights to them. Bump stocks — no private ownership. Current owners have property rights. This is not a complete list of controversial gun accessories.

11) Finally, manufacturers, research institutes and universities must be encouraged with grants and favorable laws to design safer, less-lethal guns intended for use by the general public.

Gun control in the U.S. is far too complex and emotional an issue to be settled quickly. Compromise is essential. Fanatics and extremists on both sides must not be allowed to commandeer the debate. We must plan for the future and accept the idea that it will take more than a generation to reach consensus. 

Greig Olivier

retired fabricator

Baton Rouge