I'm not surprised. Does a waiting period for a gun owner (who already HAS guns) make him less of a threat? Does owning 1 gun make someone less of a threat than a guy who owns more? Is a licensed gun dealer the source of most firearms used by felons. No. They use stolen weapons.
Generally, I guess I lean liberal, but this was a reactionary (dictionary.com general definition Characterized by reaction, and not the more common meaning specifically, anti-liberal) response to the attempt on Reagan's life in which Mr. Brady suffered brain damage. Yeah he recovered, but do you ever really recover from a gunshot to the head? I don't think so.
Having nutballs owning guns is bad. Too many guns is bad. A gun excise tax makes more sense than waiting periods (except, possibly, in the case of first time gun owners). But that'd require the government to actually keep statistics that were accurate and relevant. If you look at professions where guns are a part of it, like the police, the suicide rate is very high. With guns. Does that mean that cops shouldn't have guns? I don't think so.
But, just when you think you know that I'm some sort of a gun nut, here's another position I've taken. Recently my city got rid of their shotguns in favor of M-16s. Now, an M-16 is a penetrating, indiscriminate weapon with rapid fire power. There has never been a case where any of my local city police were ever out gunned in a shootout. I don't live in LA. There are no shootouts. If an officer does have to shoot, an M-16 is more likely to take out civilians than is a shotgun because shotguns don't penetrate due to their low velocity. This is just an irrational case of gun envy. |
