Reply With QuoteWhat am I missing? Isnt this article basically stating in a nutshell that if you own a firearm it needs to be registered? What is so bad about that? We have guns .... I dont see any reason to hide what we have ....
~Thomas KranzI have been a hunter, target shooter and gun enthusiast for almost half a century. I’ve enjoyed the thrill of deer and varmint hunting, the satisfaction of precision target shooting and the comfort of knowing that I have the means to protect my family in my own home. I have voted for politicians who support my right to bear arms.
But I also read newspapers and watch television news. And I am appalled by the ever increasing carnage involving guns in the hands of mentally unstable people of all ages, especially when it involves children.
Before going further, I’d like to take a couple of paragraphs to speak directly to my fellow gun enthusiasts because, in most ways, I am one of you. Like many gun owners, I have multiple firearms in the house. Among other guns, I own a very practical Browning 20- gauge shotgun for hunting, a classic
Model 64 Winchester 30-30 lever gun, just because it is cool, and my favorite — a .243-caliber varmint rifle that I put together myself with custom parts. The .243 is based on a premium Mauser action with a custom 26m-Douglas barrel, a 12-power Unertl Ultra Varmint scope and a custom-bedded stock that I carved and finished myself.
I am a serious student of ballistics and hand loaded my own .243 ammunition, experimenting with different powders and weighing each charge. Up until a few years back, my shooting passion was very long-range varmint hunting, with a best-ever 430-yard shot.
Serious gun owners will understand the lingo in the above paragraphs. You will know that I have been one of you for most of my life. I understand your passion for guns.
But I have come to believe that those of us who own guns must begin to speak up in favor of sensible new gun regulation, however unpopular our opinions may be.
If the Supreme Court has decided that there is some federal right to own firearms, then it makes sense that there should be a reasonable federal regulation of firearms. New York State has restrictive handgun regulations. But those regulations are rendered meaningless because so many nearby states have nearly no handgun laws. Black-market guns flow like water from state to state. A first step to sane gun control is to implement a federal FBI handgun registration database and require all states to play by the same rules.
I would go further. I would register all guns to assist law enforcement in tracking guns used in crimes. I would keep track of ammunition sales. I would make it a crime to keep unsecured guns in homes with children.
We’ve all heard the battle cries: “If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have them,” “registration is the first step to confiscation,” and Charlton Heston’s famous speech about taking his guns “from my cold, dead hands!” I submit that those are not arguments. Those statements and their like are meant to inflame and to appeal to the fears and worst instincts of otherwise sensible law-abiding gun owners.
As for me, if I knew that it would prevent just one more horrible school shooting, I would turn in my beloved guns tomorrow morning. Society won’t go that far anytime soon. But it is time to do something about the slaughter of innocent people across our country, and reasonable gun registration is eventually going to be one of the steps in that direction.
I highlighted this opinion piece because it raised some questions for me.
What right do we have to demand residents of other states surrender their rights simply because our state can't get it together and stop violence on our streets? Should some guy in Montana be required to go through an arbitrary New York style rigamarole to own a gun simply because some gang banging animals 2,000 miles away can't stop robbing liquor stores? What happens when these rules do nothing to prevent any future gun crime? What then? What other rights would Mr Kranz and those like him have us surrender?
While the gentleman in this article claims to respect the rights of gun owners (he doesn't) it is obvious that he doesn't respect states' rights. Example: New York has some of the toughest divorce laws in the nation, but we still accept divorce decrees from out of state courts as valid. By the same logic as in his column Mr. Kranz's should believe that New York could arbitrarily declare the court rulings of other states to be invalid within its own borders. That's a scary precedent.
If businesses are leaving one state due to high taxes or regulation should we be requiring all 50 to "play by the same rules" to prevent competition? If some areas (eg NYC) are having problems with teen drivers should they be allowed to demand all states restrict the driving abilities of their residents so no young adult can drive into the city with an out of state license? The list goes on and on.
Am I off base here?
What am I missing? Isnt this article basically stating in a nutshell that if you own a firearm it needs to be registered? What is so bad about that? We have guns .... I dont see any reason to hide what we have ....
I would have no issue registering a firearm that is owned but I'm not going to pay to do so. That's just a revenue generator that makes our community poorer. Well not if your a government worker/service provider. The money would be pissed away on useless items related to why your registering in the first place.
One large database running on some servers would work just fine. You don't need a patronage department of dozens of people to do so.
Only issue is when stupid people get elected. I always thought that couldn't happen until I started to follow politics 5 years ago. Well holy crap it happens.
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registration is often a step towards confiscation later onOriginally Posted by CAugust
plus registration is often a waste of money
take NY's ballistic fingerprint system. millions of tax dollars spent and I don't think it's solved a single crime
Vote for freedom, not political parties.
Politicians need to cut spending
Read history,the NAzis did the same thing in Germany.If they are registered then they know what door to kick in.Never in a million years.
You got to be kidding... You believe your own crap..
Kiss someone that's different. It helps.
Lets get the facts first, then go for the jugular!!
It's all transparent, just read between the lines..
Without even going to the extreme of C. Goodspeed take the example of California. Ask people who legally owned an SKS rifle prior to 1/1/2000 what happened with that.
Confiscation has happened in this country already. While I oppose registration for other reasons it's not like Goodspeed's argument is completely off the wall.
Last edited by MoreOfTheSame; May 30th, 2009 at 03:27 PM. Reason: clarity
I see no problem with a 9mm or 38 or even a 457 mag. The cops can shoot with these. The cops can fight with an assault rifle because they don't have any. The criminals do along with uzzi machine guns. Why don't we pass a law giving everyone the right to have a hand grenade.
Look at the recent article http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523388,00.html
Kiss someone that's different. It helps.
Lets get the facts first, then go for the jugular!!
It's all transparent, just read between the lines..
Who is calling for everybody to have the right to a hand grenade? What does that have to do with anything? This is a common straw man argument made by gun control folks: If we allow guns we have to allow people to have nuclear weapons/chemical weapons/explosives. That is ridiculous.
Also, what is an "assault rifle?" What makes them so inherently dangerous that they should be banned?
Right on!Read history,the NAzis did the same thing in Germany.If they are registered then they know what door to kick in.Never in a million years.
Most of all I like bulldozers and dirt
I have always wondered who exactly the "they" would end up being. Say for example that day comes. Guns are banned! Start small first, say just in New York State. Which government group is going to kick in your door. Your local police? At least half the cops I know are rabid gun nuts and 2nd Amendment "purists." How many cops do you know that would do that? The National Guard? Same answer, too many diverse opinions about the 2nd Amendment to accept they would blindly go door to door looking for your guns.
Maybe I am being naive here but I just don't see a door to door campaign by local authorities occuring. In fact, I could probably see as many officers opposing that order than enforcing it.
Any other opinions....?
b.b.
Although I believe a nationwide gun ban to be highly unlikely and impractical it hasn't stopped NY state from implementing restrictive gun laws without regard to how they'd be enforced or proposing ridiculous legislation. Let's say A3211 passes. How are they going to get all those overnight felons into sudden compliance with the laws?
Side note: If a person can plunk down $10k on a 50 cal rifle isn't that the type of person with disposable income we want in this state?
Also, while we are shooting hypotheticals around: Side note 2: In NYS, among others, police & peace officers are exempt from many of the firearms laws. Wouldn't that encourage some of those officers who might be on the fence to go ahead and play along knowing that their personal collections would be okay?
You cant see where this country is going? Were you a Vet? I want to know why the Govern ment should know If i own a Remington 30-06 or if I own a
M1 Garand I might shoot in competition at camp Perry. I want to know why your kind wants to hand it all over to the Gubment? Get back to me and explain your left wing logic ? The hand Grenade thing is a little out their. Why not register Gas and Glass bottles. Mix the two togeather and lite what do you have?
I am counting on everything you say. However our boy Barrack and his civil core then all bets are off. Good post I just hope you are right.
Oh, another thought. Sorry for the repeated replies.
I understand that half of your friends are 2nd amendment purists. But how do you explain the confiscation of guns that happened after Katrina from the regular law abiding citizens or the warrantless searches & seizures that occurred? It wasn't all Louisiana cops that were doing it either, remember they had imported officers and agents from almost every federal agency, state and locality nationwide to "help out."
Where were the 2nd amendment (or even 4th or 6th amendment) supporting cops then?
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