My photo
I don't really care if you agree or not. Just saying what I think.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Good People! No Guns!


So I bought a gun from Danny and I am so excited that I tend to leave little puddles when I talk about it. Well...
I was reading a headline on Fark.com about a gang in Albany, NY that has community firearms. The premise is that no one person is in possession of it making it harder for law enforcement officials to get their hands on it and track it to a specific crime.
...which led me to a site called bradycampaign.org...
This is the gun hater site to end all gun hater sites. The basis of the site is to fight violent gun crime, mostly among young, urban youfs. They lash out at the NRA and corrupt gun dealers who sell guns to criminals. Their tactics: Increas awareness and...
This is the fun part...
"Too little has been done to combat illegal gun trafficking. It is simply too easy for gun traffickers to arm dangerous criminals because of weak laws at the federal and state level. Many reasonable steps can be taken to dry up the illegal gun market."

...wait... weak laws?
Weak Laws?
What are these laws and what needs to be done to strengthen them...
"1. Strengthen law enforcement tools to crack down on corrupt gun dealers and Curb Illegal Gun Trafficking."

I can get behind that.

"2. Extend Brady Background checks to all gun sales."

Huh? So... in order to stop people from breaking the law... pass another law...
So if I get this right... as soon as the right law is passed, criminals will shrug, drop their guns, and abide by the law as it is set forth. Gun dealers who sell guns illegally will suddenly stop selling guns illegally and we will all join hands and sing Kumbaya as peace reigns throughout the earth.

You know, one of the biggest problems with the Brady Background checks is according to a 1997 ruling in Printz v. United States is that "The Court determined that this provision violated both the concept of federalism and that of the unitary executive." In other words, agencies cannot be made or have extended to them powers that invokes executive privilege or any quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial privileges.

The other problem with the Brady Background checks is that it only applies to people purchasing a firearm legally. Criminals will always get the guns. Corrupt gun dealers will always sell guns illegally no matter what laws you pass.

Look, I don't want to shoot anyone. In fact, the thought sickens me. But, I have lived in a dangerous place and felt vulnerable when guns were in play around me. Taking away my right to protect my family or making it harder for me to do so will only help the criminals. It will only embolden those who use guns to do harm.

Oh and also Shaq wants to buy your home and give you a better mortgage somehow... don't ask.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment