- Sep 4, 2005
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Clearly the last ban on assault weapons accomplished nothing and was left to expire in a quiet death so that it could be resurrected for political purposes at a later date.
I would agree, the last assault weapons ban didn't accomplish much.
A) Because targeting "scary looking guns" (based on what one may have seen in a Seagal movie) isn't a pragmatic approach as "how scary it looks" isn't always reflective of it's capabilities.
For instance, this Ruger 5.56 ranch rifle:
Is just as capable as this Sig Sauer 556:
The previous AWB was aimed at theatrics...which is why I've noted several times that I didn't think it was all that practical
B) Even if it had some good stuff in the legislation (which is up for debate), only being around for 10 years, I wouldn't expect to see a huge fluctuation in the numbers... even more so for the reason I mentioned in A. If it's targeting guns based on theatrics (while leaving functionally equivalent, but less "scary looking" guns on the market), then no, I would expect to see a huge shift.
It'd be like trying to crack down on alcohol related incidents by only banning Jägermeister and Jose Cuervo because those are associated with "wild partying" in TV and movies, and still leaving Scotch and Gin on the market.
There is no evidence that a ban on guns accomplishes anything in our nation, we cannot look to other nations with other cultures, we live in a violent nation.
I hate to nitpick on semantics, but if a nation could ban guns, you would see a reduction in homicides. The question is, rather, is a ban even feasible or possible? To which I would say, no, it's not.
And you should note, I've said before that it would be a mistake to try to emulate UK or Australia...which is why I've often said we should be looking at a place like the Czech Republic.
They're a nation that has the same appreciation for guns, and wants them for largely the same reasons we do (it became part of their national charter/constitution after they learned their lesson getting overrun by the commies, and enacted that provision after the fall of the communist dictatorship in 1990).
It states their citizens have:
the right to acquire, keep and bear arms
And further elaborates they have:
the right to defend own life or life of another person with arms
They also have "shall issue" concealed carry
Over 80% of their gun owners cite self-defense as their reason for ownership
They don't have "gun free zones" like we have them
Heck, even the word "pistol" originated in the Czech language
They certainly have a cultural liking for guns like we do.
Yet, they have a murder rate that's on par with the Scandinavian countries.
Specifically because they enacted certain prudent restrictions where they made sense (like better mental health screening as part of the process to get a gun license, and making sure the would-be buyer actually knows how to handle one and has had training), and focused less on the theatrics about "what looks scary".
It's worked well for them...it's at least worth considering here.
This is not a complicated problem, eliminate the shooters and people do not get shot an innocent kids do not get killed anymore.
How does one "eliminate the shooters" from society before they've been convicted of a crime?
Most murderers in our country aren't serial killers. According to DOJ/FBI stats, fewer than 2% of murders are carried out by a person who's killed before.
We are focused on mass shooting that result in a very very small percentage of the people who are being shot and killed.
On that point, we agree entirely...
If we want to save lives we will recognize political hype for what it is and do what we all know will solve the problem by enforcing the laws we now have and cleaning up the streets.
...but we are already enforcing the gun laws we have, they're just weak in certain areas.
For instance, a person with a severe mental illness can walk into a gun store, and provided they haven't committed a prior felony, and haven't been institutionalized against their will or by a court order, they can pass the background check and walk out of the store with a gun.
As can a person who's never handled a gun a day in their life and couldn't field strip a simple Glock to save their life.
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