Do you support banning semi-autos? Yes or no.

[spin]

64. No. For the following reasons. ....

Last edited Thu Oct 5, 2017, 05:58 AM - Edit history (1)

For one thing and perhaps the most important reason is the banning and confiscation of all firearms with the exception of those capable of firing only one round will never pass in Congress and if our party pushes for it it will cost us many seats in Congress and any potential future presidency.

If by some miracle it would ever pass and be signed into law any attempt to implement it would lead to violence against those who try to enforce it as well as our government. We might well see our nation split right down the middle as many red states would secede from the union. Sure our national government could try to subdue the uprising with tanks and planes and if so our nation would rapidly resemble today's Syria. Many people in this nation currently have little trust in our government and would take up arms to resist it if they felt their freedom was threatened. I am now in my seventies and there is more hatred and distrust between liberals and conservatives than I have ever seen before.

Many states do not require the registration of firearms and therefore it is nearly impossible to know who owns them. I've known a good number of gun owners over the years who have said they have buried caches of firearms and ammo in case confiscation became a reality. While some may have been pulling my leg I have reason to suspect some were telling the truth. For years we have tried futility to implement a national registration system and have constantly met failure. Gun owners seriously believe that the only reason for a national registration system is confiscation.

There are a good number of "patriotic" veterans in our nation who have received excellent training from their time in our military and have combat experience. They understand the concept of guerilla warfare as they have been on the receiving end of it. They could easily disrupt life in our nation by attacking our infrastructure.

Also realize that firearms are used frequently for legitimate self defense. Both my mother as well as my daughter successfully used a handgun to deter an attack from someone who meant them harm. Both were attractive young females at the time and might have been raped had they had been disarmed or missed the first shot with a single shot firearm. As it was both their attackers fled when a revolver was pointed at them.

I support passing legislation to improve our national background check system and better enforcement to stop the straw purchase and illegal smuggling of firearms in our nation. Perhaps anyone found to have straw purchased or of smuggling a firearm into our inner cities for illegal sale could be charged as an accessory to any crime committed with the weapon.

I also feel that the attempt to ban the sale certain firearms has proven unsuccessful in the past and will in the future. If nothing else the attempt will cause the sale of firearms to skyrocket as it did during the Obama administration. There were times when I have walked into a gun store and found the shelves bare of firearms and ammo. Many of the buyers had little experience or training with firearms which will lead to tragedies in the future. Few people have any reason to own an AR-15 but they were selling like hot cakes and on back order in many areas of our nation.

On the other hand I was surprised when the sale of bump stocks that effectively turn semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic firearms was approved. I remember at the time I thought that was a bad idea. We could and should work on making the sale of such devices illegal.