A reader who may have been caught up in its net asks if I think the Lautenberg ban will ever be repealed. Understanding that my crystal ball is in the shop for repairs, I thought my reply might at least help someone similarly ensnared:
Not without a total paradigm shift, which I do not believe likely. That's the problem with majority rule democracy trumping rights. You not only can't sell "wife beaters" having guns to the general public, but there will be no shortage of "gun rights leaders" hostile to even trying because of that.
And no, despite some wishful thinking I see in some online forum threads, I don't believe Heller will have any bearing on getting it overturned.
My plan would be not to cop a plea to anything. If they're going to take your guns, you might as well fight.
A good friend of mine did--he knew he was innocent and determined not to compromise even a little. It ended up costing him tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, but he managed to cast enough doubts both on events and the person who made up the bs charges against him, that the prosecutor finally realized the case would be extremely unlikely to produce a win, so he backed down and dropped charges.
Sorry I don't have better news than that, but it does show it can be done...and it was a heap less expensive than dying in a "from my cold dead hands" gun battle.
Oh, and one other thing--don't try telling your side to the police. They don't care and will use it against you. If they want to enter your house and confiscate your guns, let them know you will not oppose them if they have a warrant, but otherwise you do not consent, you have nothing to say and you want to speak to an attorney.
And one other thing--have the phone number of a relative or friend memorized. If the cops take you in, you won't be left in possession of your cell phone or address book, and you'll want someone you trust on the outside doing what they can to help.
The big problem with the Lautenberg ban is that it's a new bad dog that grew up under the porch.
ReplyDeletePeople who 20 years or more prior to the Lautenberg ban who may have slapped or even threatened (even in self defense); a spouse, a live-in, an ex-spouse, or anybody else a prosecutor can get the court to accept as a family member at the time of the incident, and due to a plea bargain or even maybe an attack of conscience plead guilty to a fine only misdemeanor is now dog food.
Of course the prosecutor and the anti-gun media will paint the poor fool as an unrepentant wife beater who should never be trusted around women, children, or baby seals for the rest of his natural life.