Thursday, April 19, 2007

Send Rosie out to collect up all the guns

First, the important stuff. America’s long national nightmare is over. Sanjaya has been canned from Idol.

Then there was news that The Keeper of all Knowledge called for a firearms ban in America. Let’s see. There are somewhere between 220 - 280 million firearms in America. How does Ms. Rosie propose rounding them up? She could go door to door – starting at her own armed body guard’s house. Then she could head down to the Cabrini-Green project on Chicago’s north side. If she doesn’t get shot with the elephant gun that would be required to bring her down, the plan would have the added benefit of working a few pounds off of the rotund Keeper of all Knowledge while at same time keeping her yap off TV. Who do we expect will be least likely to follow a law that requires one to turn over a particular type of firearm?

Then there was the O’Reilly show where Mr. Bill and Dennis Miller were aghast that the gun shop owner sold Cho his weapon in 10 minutes. “I can’t get a Starbucks in 10 minutes” quipped Miller. “It takes a week to get my shirts done” chimed in O’Reilly. The two agreed that there ought to be some kind of waiting period to buy a firearm. OK, in respect for the VA Tech shootings, let’s more than triple the old three day waiting period. That would mean that Cho would have to wait 10 days instead of 10 minutes for his gun. He bought his guns over a month before the shootings. How would the 10 day wait have changed anything at VA Tech? Bill? Dennis? Class? Beuler? Class? Anyone?

This demonstrates the problem with making laws based on emotion. Cho was nut case. But his medical privacy trumped public safety. It’s OK for Cho to be a suicidal/homicidal maniac living in a college dorm room. There seems to be nothing odd about that situation to the civil rights crowd. But letting the public and gun dealers know he’s a nut job is somehow a violation of Cho’s civil rights, and we can’t have that. Now there are thirty plus people dead and Rosie, Bill and Dennis want to roll in on guns with idiotic bans and waiting periods.

How about this for a law? The national instant check for firearms purchases will contain all relevant information, criminal, medical and mental for persons deemed to be no sale candidates. To insure privacy, when the SSN of a potential buyer has a check placed on it by any relevant agency, the seller is warned with a “No Sell” notice. No other information is provided to the seller. The would be buyer could then petition the state as to why he was denied the right to buy the weapon. The state could then privately tell the buyer that not only does he have a screw loose, he owes $28,000 in back taxes, $15,000 in back child support, $800 in traffic fines. Then in true nanny state fashion, the state could tell him he needs to clean up his room and phone his mother. Oh yeah, and how about this; Not an American citizen? Alien - legal or illegal? Sorry sport the second amendment does not apply to you. You want to tote a gun Cho? Go back to Korea and join the army.

Then there’s the anti-gunners fall back position; we license cars and drives but we don’t license guns and shooters. Well first off, I’m having trouble putting my finger on that part of the constitution that says, “A well regulated traffic flow, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to drive, shall not be infringed.”

Next, what is the primary reason for states licensing cars and drivers? $$$ pure and simple. It is a sure fire way for the state to raise revenue. There are added law enforcement and public safety benefits to be sure. But anyone who doesn’t think that $$$$ is the primary reason hasn’t thought it through too far. I’ve owned the same car for ten years but every year I have to re-license it. I had the same Ohio driver’s license forever when I was in the military because there was a provision that military could use an expired driver’s license if their home state allowed. Now I’m out and have to pay for new ones over and over. Why do I have to pay the state to re-new my car and personal license if nothing has changed? $$$$ that’s why.

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