Soooo... what will it be?

[powderbrake]

There have been several comments regarding the "militia". Bear in mind the militia was the armed citizens, NOT a state or federal guard or organized military unit. The reference to the milita always means an armed citizenry.

 

To quote Benjamin Franklin.." It is always dangerous to the liberties of the people to have an army stationed amoung them over which they have no control. The Militia is composed of the Free cirtizens. There is therefore no danger of their making the use of their power to the destruction of their own rights"

 

The concept that the militia ( the armed citizenry)could NOT oppose a standing army is as false now as it was in the founder's days. Noah Webster stated "... the supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword, because the whole body of the prople are armed...." Protection from their own government was a primary driving force of the Founders, as well as the insuring of the rights of the people.

 

There was no question in the Founder's minds whan the wrote the constitution and the Bill of Rights, that there were specific rights of the people. The reference to the rights of the people in the Second amendment are echoed in the First, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth amendments. these were specific to the people, NOT the STATE, as the states rights generally were restricted by the Bill of rights.

 

I surely hope the Supreme Court rules that the DC possesion law is unconstitutional, and I hope that leads to the elimination of the various cities foolish gun bans, as well as the establishment of "Gun Free Zones" like schools. They should be referred to as "It's OK for the criminal to shoot because everyone is unarmed zones"

 

Comment to Davemk1..

I absolutely agree with you that a person within 5 feet could disarm another person.

 

The police generally draw the line at 7 yards as being the zone in which the officer is danger of being disarmed, injured or killed. That is the reason that I would not let a person get within 5 feet of me if I had to draw my gun for defense.

 

I cannot imagine pulling out my gun if I wasn't planning on pulling the trigger. Could I do it? I don't know for sure, as the situation has never occured. I like to think what training and practicing I have done would help me make the correct choice in a dangerous situation.

 

Thought for the day: An armed society is a polite society

[Al N.]

Live from now sunny San Antonio...(it rained like heck this AM)...

 

At a restaurant today, there was a sign out front that said something to the effect that "It is illegal to enter with an unregistered firearm." I noted this to Laura, and said "I guess it's perfectly fine to enter with a registered gun."

 

Although I don't own any, I like guns. Shooting a pistol at a range is like driving a performance car in many ways: it's loud, it's a little scary, you can feel the power, and it's best done in by someone with some training in a controlled situation.

 

Regarding gun control laws, I wouldn't want to take guns away from my relatives who hunt...but I think that some of the shooting sprees that have occurred in the somewhat recent past would have been less severe had guns not been so readily available. Then again, it's fairly easy to make an explosive device or start a fire or use your car as a weapon if you're an imbalanced person who wants to cause destruction.

[slngsht]

Live from now sunny San Antonio...(it rained like heck this AM)...

 

At a restaurant today, there was a sign out front that said something to the effect that "It is illegal to enter with an unregistered firearm." I noted this to Laura, and said "I guess it's perfectly fine to enter with a registered gun."

 

Although I don't own any, I like guns. Shooting a pistol at a range is like driving a performance car in many ways: it's loud, it's a little scary, you can feel the power, and it's best done in by someone with some training in a controlled situation.

 

Regarding gun control laws, I wouldn't want to take guns away from my relatives who hunt...but I think that some of the shooting sprees that have occurred in the somewhat recent past would have been less severe had guns not been so readily available. Then again, it's fairly easy to make an explosive device or start a fire or use your car as a weapon if you're an imbalanced person who wants to cause destruction.

 

I'm all for more stringent background checks, and generally enforcing the laws we already have.

 

 

[slngsht]

The issue before the Supreme Court isn't whether its a wise law, or not, it's whether its constitutional or not. The citizens of DC, thru their elected representatives have concluded, rightly or wrongly, that it is a wise law.

 

As the Conservative members of the Court like to remind everyone, their job is not to act as a "super-legislature", by overruling the informed opinions of elected officials. Instead, their role is more limited-regardless of the law's merits and demerits, is it barred by the language of the Constitution?

 

Unfortunately, the Constitution is ambiguous. Tho they wont admit it, the conservatives (just like those hated liberals) will fill in the blanks with their own biased opinions on the issues.

 

No guns here either, tho my nice middle class area is right next to the "Hood". We have had 14 break-ins in the last 2 months, most while the owners were home. One of our neighbors and good friends was murdered on his front porch when he scared a would-be burglar late one nite last year.

 

Our friend was returning from a memorial for a another friend's son who had been murdered in a holdup. Three of our neighbors walked with us to our friend's memorial, held in the neighborhood. On the way back we split up and they were robbed at gun point a few minutes later. Its like Baghdad at times.

 

Sorry to hear about your friend.

 

A story with a very different ending... this happened to a fellow Corvette owner.

He had gone to Walmart and as is common practice, parked his car away from the crowded section of the lot. While he was walking away from his car, a teen tries to bypass the red light on the street by going through the parking lot, and plowed his ford explorer into the vette. Hearing the crash behind him, the vette owner turns around and starts back towards his car. At this point the teenager draws a knife and charges at the guy with - as he said - "a crazed look". The vette owner draws his weapon (conseal carry) and the teen decides it's better to put up his hands. The best part? The entire sequence was captured in still frames on Walmart's security cam - he posted it on the web. This was about 3 years ago.

 

And 100% agree with powderbrake about the civil society.

[stevet]

So, why can't all these guns be registered? You need a license to drive a car, shouldn't you need a license to own a lethal weapon?

 

:leaving:

[slngsht]

difference between privilage and a right.

 

Registration just to establish ownership... i can live with that. Taking guns away from convicted criminals, or those with a medical diagnosis of mental illness? sure. Makes perfect sense.

 

An actual license? hmmm... not sure. Problem is that you give the .gov an inch, they take a foot. For example, in WV, if you drop out of school, your driver's license gets suspended. Is droping out of school a behavior we want to discourage? sure. Is taking the drivers license away appropriate? I'd say no. Unless what you are doing directly impacts the driving public, it's wrong. But I'm sure there is a very pretty graph somewhere relating accident rates of dropouts to students who stay in school.

 

The other thing has to do with word association. Walk into a .gov building and say "income", they say "taxes". Say "license", they say "fees"

 

 

[Davemk1]

I think there are plenty of stories out there that can support either side of the control argument.

 

When I was 17 I moved away from home to Pensacola Fl. I was working in a bike shop on the bad side of town.

 

One day a guy walked in and looked normal at first. I went back to what I was doing. Next thing I knew he was standing at the counter, about 3' from me pointing a pistol at my head. If you've never had this happen it's hard to describe. He was high or crazy or both. The look in his eye told me clearly that I would be lucky to walk away alive. If there had been a gun under the counter and I had the guts to reach for it he would have killed me. I have no doubt about this.

 

I opened the register and let him take every cent. He left.

 

I then called the cops who picked him up a few minutes later a few blocks down robbing a dry cleaner. He took a few shots at a cop and they managed to get him without killing him.

 

He went to jail.

 

If I had a gun then and the balls to pull it out I would not be typing this story now. My pulse is up just thinking about it now even 28 years later. One might think that an experience like this might make me want a gun. It didn't. I suspect that might seem ironic to some but it makes sense to me. I also suspect that others might feel the same way after looking at a man with nothing to lose pointing a pistol at them.

 

Cops told me later that the gun had been stolen from a residence.

 

 

 

Just say'in.

 

dave

[slngsht]

I then called the cops who picked him up a few minutes later a few blocks down robbing a dry cleaner. He took a few shots at a cop and they managed to get him without killing him.

 

lucky bastard

[slngsht]

I don't know how much - if any - national coverage this has gotten...

so, if they knock on your door, will you let them in or refuse?

 

WASHINGTON -- The Metro Police Department is launching new programs to fight gun violence in the city.

 

 

Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced the new initiatives at the 7th District police headquarters in Southeast Wednesday morning.

 

Lanier said police will ask residents to submit to voluntary searches of their homes in exchange for amnesty if illegal guns or drugs are found as part of the "safe homes initiative."

She said the program is aimed at residents who want to cooperate with police. She gave the example of parents who know or suspect their children have guns in the home.

 

The program will launch March 24 in the Washington Highlands section of Southeast.

 

Homeowners will receive amnesty from gun and drug possession charges, but any guns found will be tested and traced.

 

"Any guns that are recovered, they will have amnesty, although the guns that are recovered will be cross-checked for criminal activity and then those that are tied to criminal activity will be dealt with," Lanier said.

 

"What I think is that a smart child or a smart adolescent who understands that their guardian would permit the police in to search their home would be less likely to bring the gun in," said Tijwanna Phillips, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in the 7th District.

 

"Warrantless dragnet searches of ordinary people's homes can pose all sorts of problems," said Art Spitzer of the American Civil Liberties Union.

 

Another initiative will provide a more focused way to share information among local law enforcement agencies.

 

"The goal will be in D.C., as is done in Baltimore, to track gun cases from arrest to prosecution," Fenty said. "We want to know where these guns have been, what they have been used for, and, hopefully, that will allow law enforcement partners to identify repeat offenders, follow trends and to create law enforcement strategies to prevent gun-related crimes."

 

A new phone number, 1-888-919-CRIME, also will be established for community members to report weapons offenses in their neighborhoods. The number will be displayed on rapid-deployment cars at scenes of violence and gang activity to help investigators get anonymous, real-time tips.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I'm not up on this whole issue, as I don't watch the news, but from what I've read here, I wonder what ripple effect this might have in other cities with similar laws, such as NY?

[slngsht]

I'm not up on this whole issue, as I don't watch the news, but from what I've read here, I wonder what ripple effect this might have in other cities with similar laws, such as NY?

 

EVERYBODY is watching how this comes out.

[Donnie]

Maybe it's time to stop trying to interpret what our "Forefathers" were thinking and just decide what's best. My humble opinoin: a handgun has no place in a civilized society. I, myself, am not a hunter or target or skeet shooter but I see no problem with it if with these sports are limited to sport rifles. Handguns are for shooting people. Let's join the rest of the civilized world and stop doing that.

[slngsht]

Maybe it's time to stop trying to interpret what our "Forefathers" were thinking and just decide what's best. My humble opinoin: a handgun has no place in a civilized society. I, myself, am not a hunter or target or skeet shooter but I see no problem with it if with these sports are limited to sport rifles. Handguns are for shooting people. Let's join the rest of the civilized world and stop doing that.

 

The constitution provides a way to do this, through another amendment. Problem is that the various methods (I think there are 4 ways) to get an amendment through, all require 2/3 majority - if I remember right, house, senate, and states.

 

Last time I remember looking at poles on this issue, I think 2/3 of the public want to preserve the right (could be wrong on this).

 

Either way, the legal battles are all because there is not a clear enough majority to make this change.

[lowflyer]

I am much happier having (and carrying) a gun that I don't need, than needing a gun that I don't have.

[locostv8]

I live in a relativly poor area and you seldom hear about breakins. There are a lot of hunters here and most homes have several guns. Bottom line If you break into a house around here you will probably get shot, it is a deterent that works. My place you will get chewed on by the dogs then shot.

 

A bumper sticker I saw in Orlando a while back was "I'm not a tourist, I'm an armed native". It is my understanding that most if not all areas that have loosened up the requirements for concieled wepons experience a drop in the crime rate, contrarty wo the predictions of the anti gun lobby.

 

BTW I haven't fired a gun since I was in the military a few years ago.

 

 

[stevet]

I notice that none of the presidential hopefuls are weighing in on this debate...

 

Well, not on this site, obviously

[slngsht]

I notice that none of the presidential hopefuls are weighing in on this debate...

 

Well, not on this site, obviously

 

almost everybody has an opinion on this topic. The stakes are too high for the front runners to come out and say anything on the topic until their hand is forced.

[stevet]

I figured that Mazda, it's right up there with gasoline tax as a no-go area before an election...

[Donnie]

:_deadhorse: Several years ago Virginia was deciding whether to alow it's citizens to carry handguns (must be concealed ) at the same time that Texas was voting to carry guns (cannot be concealed). Two different approaches to the same question. Texas Monthly magazine was interviewing people at random and asking them, if the law passed, whether they would start carrying a handgun. My favorite response was; "No! If someone wants to shoot me he can bring his own gun."

[slngsht]

:_deadhorse: Several years ago Virginia was deciding whether to alow it's citizens to carry handguns (must be concealed ) at the same time that Texas was voting to carry guns (cannot be concealed). Two different approaches to the same question. Texas Monthly magazine was interviewing people at random and asking them, if the law passed, whether they would start carrying a handgun. My favorite response was; "No! If someone wants to shoot me he can bring his own gun."

 

I'm pretty sure VA is an open carry state.