Gun Talk

[Lord Ratner]

15 hours ago, HeloDude said:

I don’t…if someone is so dangerous that we can risk them illegally obtaining a firearm then they should remain in prison (ie fufill their sentence).  Once they do the time and are deemed able to rejoin society, they’re free, and should have the their rights restored.  If not, we run the risk of a tyrannical government (even worse than we currently have at the federal and state levels) charging people for BS crimes, and giving them a “plea deal” to avoid prison (or a very light sentence), and there goes your gun rights.  If you’re a free person, you’re free.   
 

As for background checks, same type of thing above…it is essentially asking for permission to exercise freedom.  I think it’s hilarious that people still trust the feds after what we’ve been seeing that last several decades.

While I agree in principal, recidivism is a real problem with crime and we simply don't have the resources (or will power) to keep that many people locked up forever. 

I don't have a great answer, obviously, but a background check is relatively painless and there are definitely people you don't want having guns. For example, a murderer/rapist/gang banger awaiting trial out on bail. Abolishing the entire bail system isn't realistic. 

 

More controversially, I am open to limited waiting periods. Far more than background checks. No more than 7 days, but maybe an even lower limit. Crimes of passion are real and demonstrated, and cooler heads often prevail with time. I can think of no constitutional scenario where a gun needs to be purchased *now* as opposed to next week. You aren't forming a functional anti-tyrannical-governmental force in 24 hours. Concerns about self-defense (which are arguably not what 2A addresses) might require a gun sooner, but I think you can allow police the option to waive a waiting period and you wouldn't have a worse outcome than we have now. 

 

I think state-funded gun safety courses would be a brilliant move for the cause. Conservatives are so against spending money, but if you really wanted to change the narrative and get more people comfortable with the 2A, this would be a low cost way to make gun owners safer, make more people gun-friendly, and take away many liberal arguments against gun ownership. 

[Smokin]

The words "well regulated" are interesting to think about given that words change meaning over time.  Just take the term "decimated".  Nearly everyone uses that word to indicated something along the lines of 'nearly annihilated', but that's not even close to what it originally meant.  Used to mean killed 10% (notice the 'deci' in it).

Similarly, 99.9999% of Americans would think "well regulated" means it is ruled by a lot of laws.  But there are many reputable people that point to 1780's contemporary uses of the word regulated much more like the clock example stated earlier, meaning 'it works well'.  That would entirely change the implications of gun laws today.

https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/video/a-well-regulated-militia-history-of-the-second-amendment/

On the topic, it would be interesting to know how many crimes are solved with the serial number being a significant aid to the investigation.  My guess would be near zero.  Think about the scenario that it would actually help in; you'd have to have a murder scene where someone threw the gun away at the scene.  And that person would have had to have bought the gun legally in order for the serial number to be associated with them.  Seems unlikely.

Finally, as technology continues to evolve, the manufacture of ghost guns will only get easier and nearly impossible to manage.  Go buy a few thousand dollars worth of equipment and you can print or mill guns.  In just the last 10 years, 3D printed guns have gone from curiosity pet projects that fail after shooting a couple rounds to being able to last hundreds of rounds.  More than enough for a criminal.  That's just the 3D printing, you get a mill that cuts out receivers from aluminum blocks (a set up you could easily do in your garage) and you could make guns better quality than many gun manufacturers.  Technology will continue to evolve faster than 80 year old legislators and 85 year old presidents can keep up with.