Our obvious answer: Seal all gun show sales loopholes, requiring checks on every purchaser. And reinstate the U.S. ban on assault-gun purchases that Congress, under gun-lobby pressure, let expire in 2004.It's their not-so-obvious answer I'm worried about. You don't think they'll stop there.
About 400 actual M-16s were seized from drug cartels in Colombia the other week. Souvenirs of various wars, I think, not straw purchases, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteFreedom is not a loophole.
I like the idea of treating rather than locking up drug addicts. I'm sure money could be diverted from ATF's budget -- all of it -- to run such programs. But leave the guns alone. Government policy should not be based on movies and TV.
Americans might recall the counsel of the late Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, who learned the immense dangers of repressing demand as he watched America's misadventure into alcohol prohibition, and how it triggered the Al Capone-era wave of gang wars . . .
ReplyDeleteFrom the same editorial that advocates repressing demand for firearms. Amazing.
Again another situation that is being used to scapegoat our Second Amendment rights. Fact of the matter is, when criminals have billions of dollars in profits they will be able to get weapons from thousands of places. They will have the money to import weapons from anyplace in the world. It's called supply and demand and with unlimited amounts of money the demand will be supplied, no matter what.
ReplyDeleteSeal the border is a call that will never be heard. The elected officials are using the open border with Mexico as an inflation fighting tool to keep American wages low. We have this situation because both houses of congress is printing money like crazy to buy votes with. However, to be able to used this border situation to attack gun rights is an added prize for congress.
Yes David, your worrying is reasonable and sound.
Anyone coming here from the south is going to FEEL free no matter what this country becomes. They'll vote for more of it. I guess that's ONE REASON why few in FedGov are concerned with their current constituents' opinions or their "legacy."
ReplyDeleteWe know the other possible reasons.
It is so easy for the enemy to go after the alleged gun show loophole when our good friend, McCain, has already ceded this issue. He said so himself at the NRA convention. He never consulted me about this plan of action.
ReplyDeleteSo, is McCain ceding issues to the enemy without a fight and without justification because he is stupid and lacks basic negotiating skills or because he agrees with the enemy? There is no good answer to this question from the perspective of liberty and freedom because, either way, it raises the question of McCain's credentials and abilities as a potential president of the USA.
I'm with 45superman.
ReplyDeleteHow in the hell does a writer who quotes Milton Friedman, the man who said:
"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself."
This author clearly does not believe in freedom and is using Friedman as a crutch.
What Amazes me Even beyond that is that apparently the cartels are getting their guns from the US!! I don't suppose the corrupt officials in Venezuela have been selling them Soviet era weaponry. Closing the "loophole" will help stem violence in other countries. Absurd.
At least he got one thing right: We need to legalize this stuff before it really hits the fan.
Sure, legalize drugs. Then legalize summary execution for the stoner who kills my family in a head-on on the road, or drops a front-end loader off of his trailer because he "forgot" the tie-downs, or augers his Cessna into my house because he could no longer read his HSI.
ReplyDeleteLegalizing drugs at this time will not give freedom any boost, because users are the root problem, not just suppliers and gov't interdictors. Users are not good people. Their behavior toward themselves, their families and children, their neighbors, and their co-workers (if any) are usually unstable, untenable, and often psychotic, which is why do-gooders for the last 150 years have been having a field-day banning drugs and alcohol.
Gov't will tax the drugs like nothing we've ever seen, the suppliers will continue to try and evade the tariffs, the drug wars will go on, this time over taxes instead of supply and demand. The BATFEces will still be arresting, framing, and killing people over a couple hundred dollar tax bills.
Nothing about the drug situation will improve in my lifetime no matter what the users, governments and cartels do to each other.
And yeah, I'm bitter as hell at all of them.
Gaviota, you mean like the drunks do now? I just do not understand how anybody who claims to believe in freedom and liberty for all can add the caveat, expect for some drugs. The war on drugs, just like any other government sponsored war on inanimate objects, is all about money and control over people and has nothing to do with anyone's well being. What they are atcually telling you is that they own your body and you do not.
ReplyDeleteHenry-
ReplyDeleteNothing you have said is wrong.
My point is that nothing that can be done will help now. It's too late. The users are using, and they won't stop, the cartels are killing and smuggling, and they won't stop, and the Gov't agents are arresting and killing, and THEY won't stop. So, from my perspective, legalizing drugs is nothing more than a paperwork drill.
We SHOULD end the War on Some Drugs, but even if we did, Gov't agents will still be jackbooted thugs, drug cartels will still smuggle and kill, and users will still do damage to themselves and everyone around them.
All I can say is: I'm clean and doing the right thing. I can't vouch for anyone else.
Gaviota, the whole point of decriminalizing drugs is to remove the profit of smuggled drugs. No profit= no smugglers. Unless the .gov gets so stupid as to tax it so high they create (continue) a market. Actually, I think it might be better to have the .gov be the vendor of these drugs. Not sure, haven't seen a discussion on the pros/cons of who handles the sale.
ReplyDelete