Monday, July 23, 2012

Gun control. Right now, members of the NRA are worried that the recent shooting in Aurora, Colo. means that howl will be on for laws restricting gun ownership. They are afraid that such laws will restrict their Second Amendment rights. Presidential candidates are afraid of the NRA’s political clout, so the two leading candidates are not going to address the issue, according to news reports. Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, I am looking at you. I wish one of you would get a spine. I agree that the Founding Fathers placed the Second Amendment high up in the Bill of Rights because they had first-hand experience with government taking away weapons from those they considered “dangerous.” (Read enemies of the state.) OK, I understand that. I don’t own firearms, but enjoy going to the range on occasion. But it seems to me that the purchase of two handguns and two rifles (one an automatic) in a few weeks should have raised a flag. Certainly wholesale purchases of ammunition should have been cause for concern. My suggestion: Allow the purchase of weapons, but set it up so that the law enforcement entities that issue permits get a red flag if someone in their jurisdiction purchases and registers more than X number of firearms in Y time period. I leave the X and Y up to legislatures as I don’t know what is reasonable. Maybe someone is a new hunter and purchased weapons for herself and her daughter. This is something a quick query to the weapon purchaser can clear up. I hate to put people in law enforcement in danger, but I think they would rather make an in-person visit to the multiple gun purchasers than clean up a tragedy. Ditto for ammunition. And yes, if you purchase more than X number of rounds in Y time period, the local police should be informed. Certainly someone who is doing a lot of shooting to prepare for an event can explain themselves. (BTW, Kudo to the USA Olympic Shooting Team http://www.usashooting.org/about/olympic-games/olympicteam)

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