Is this where the majority of guns used in crimes come from? Smuggled from outside the US?
Just read a facebook post that said they wished mental health treatment was as easy to access as guns.
So @Vladenschlutte - are you saying that all those guns that were REPORTED as stolen were smuggled in and illegally purchased? That seems rather unlikely. How about we start with what we actually know. People with legally purchased guns are not storing them responsibly which is resulting in an obscene number of stolen weapons circulating in communities. Many of those weapons are used to commit further crime.
Since a lot of people are quoting the Second Amemdment with such authority, I am quoting below the rules of the University of Virginia from October 4-5, 1824, as written by the Board of Visitors, which was chaired by a Mr Th. Jefferson and included James Madison at the meetings:
Found on encyclopediavirginia.org
The words of the Constitution must stand on their own, but it certainly appears that two of the Founders at least thought that barring guns “or arms of any kind” from schools was consistent with the Second Amendment.
SNL nails this spoof of gun worship in our culture. The scene with the newborn is priceless…and so telling. My Little Baby Rifles can’t be far behind.
The ability to produce 3D plastic or metal guns in your home greatly changes the game on gun control not only in this country but worldwide. We have not even touched on this.
I don’t know what portion is, but it is a thing.
I’d like to know how you could have possibly interpreted what I said as such.
Well . . . I commented that responsible gun owners seem to have a way of leaving their guns unsecured resulting not only in accidental child shootings but in stolen weapons that are then sold and used in crime on the street. You countered with the smuggled weapon theory which seemed like a response to my stolen weapon comment. I then countered with a question about stolen weapons. When someone reports a weapon stolen from their home or car do you supposed that’s a weapon that was legally purchased or some kind of a smuggled weapon bought on the street? If they are calling the cops to report a weapon stolen I’m guessing that they were possessing it legally.
There was an armed robbery reported in NOLA in the last 6 months or so where a would be buyer met two guys on a corner ostensibly to buy a gun. The buyer was robbed at gunpoint of the cash that he brought for the purchase. He actually reported the crime.
Here you go . . . the wonders of google
http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/12702677-123/16-year-old-boy-robbed-at-gunpoint
It’s a response to
[Quote ]
Just read a facebook post that said they wished mental health treatment was as easy to access as guns.
[/Quote ]
I read one last night which contrasted the difficulty of getting birth control and abortions – constitutionally protected rights, btw – in pro-gun states, and the ease of getting a gun.
Therein lies the problem…“constitutional” lies in the eye of the beholder. Gun rights supporters have a clearly written Amendment specifically referring to their right to bear arms, while pro-choice supporters have an Amendment protecting “rights not mentioned” which has been interpreted to include privacy, which has been interpreted to cover a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body, and so on…
Considering how vociferously many protest any time there is any attempt to modify abortion rights, why is it so hard for some to understand why many pro gun rights folks are so vehement about protecting their rights?
Well, here are some statistics for guns reported lost or stolen in 2012 by state. That should keep the criminals who don’t care about laws amply armed.
http://www.governing.com/gov-data/stolen-guns-lost-firearms-by-state-data.html
The smuggled weapons thing is a hypothetical. Stolen or “lost” guns are a real, documented problem.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Stolen-guns-nuture-deadly-violence-3868619.php
again, it just goes on and on . . . here is one from last week
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Gun-in-2-killings-stolen-from-unlocked-car-in-6562039.php
This is from 2013 but describes how mandatory reporting laws including laws that strictly enforce “lost and stolen” weapons from licensed dealers could reduce the numbers of guns in the hands of criminals. Legal dealers lose track of a sickening number of weapons. Stricter laws and penalties around this might be a deterrent from selling weapons to buyers off the books on the black market.
http://smartgunlaws.org/reporting-lost-or-stolen-firearms-policy-summary/
Because the woman is stuck caring for and raising the kid, with as little help offered as possible from the same folks who want her to have it no matter what. It may be the product of rape or incest, and she is still going to be on the hook for the rest of her life. She is the one most impacted, and should be the one to decide.
Whereas most of the time the gun shoots someone else, and ruins that person and their family & friends lives.
So are there any reasons why run of the mill gun owners would not want serious action taken to curb straw man purchases and “theft”, “loss”, and off the books sales of guns by licensed dealers? (I mean outside of the slippery slope to government tyranny type arguments) In practice, how would that hurt the 2nd amendment rights of law abiding citizens? Combined with universal comprehensive background checks with a less porous reporting system it seems like a lot of guns could be kept out of the wrong hands. So . . . tell me why not.
Um, no. “Constitutional” is what the Supreme Court says is constitutional.
Right. Like the right to bear arms. The Supremes have upheld that right on multiple occasions. Pro-gun rights supporters don’t want their rights modified, even if it seems to many centrists that those modifications would be common sense. Pro-choice rights supporters don’t want their abortion rights modified, even if it seems to many centrists that those modifications would be common sense.
The problem (as always) is that the shouting extremists on both sides of any issue drown out the common sense centrists, and nothing ever changes.
It would be understandable if there were legislative proposals and a groundswell of popular support for banning the sale of all guns and a buyback/confiscation program on the table. But there isn’t…nowhere in sight.
Why the vehement resistance to some slight increase in inconvenience before law-abiders get the gun they want to purchase?
*Make sure nationwide that gun sellers have more than three days to get a background check completed.
*Make all gun sales subject to background checks, including private sales, using the system that’s set up for checking internet and gun show sales.
*Beef up gun storage laws in the states that are weak, to prevent thefts and gun deaths/mayhem involving children and teens. (To awc’s oft-repeated question about access to allow kids home alone to protect themselves…write into the federal law an exemption for “castle” defense…QED.)
Strengthening regulations for gun ownership does not eliminate 2nd Amendment rights…there is no “infringement” on rights. The bogeyman of “slippery slope” is how the NRA gets its membership to turn into nuts fighting every single thing when all they are protecting is gun sellers’ and manufacturers’ profits.
Surprising map of gun death rate by county in the US:
https://markgravesdesign.cartodb.com/viz/be764926-6bc7-11e5-9c32-0e8c56e2ffdb/public_map
That is not what I expected, at all. But I guess it makes sense. The majority of gun deaths are suicides, and people kill themselves with guns in places where guns are available.
Wow! Shocking to look at that. I’m surprised that Texas and Florida aren’t more red. And that Wisconsin is so blue, considering “Wisconsin Death Trip” and all that.
It’s strange that the colors seem to follow topography sometimes.