Giving Gun Reform a Shot

[Atypical Liberal]

23. Responses to the article.

"The issue with gun legislation begins with the very process required to obtain a gun. In almost every state, according to an article in the The New Yorker by Jill Lepore, one must simply take a one-day, ninety-nine-dollar safety seminar to purchase a firearm. This alone does not seem like enough training to be able to manage a gun, but gun laws moreover have numerous loopholes. According to Arizona Republic reporter Max Jarman, over forty percent of all guns purchased can be bought without any requirements from private sellers at gun shows or through classified ads. "

I'd be annoyed if I had to take any classes or pay any fees to buy a firearm. In Alabama, and before when I lived in Georgia, I don't have to pay any fees or take any classes to buy firearms.

"Moreover, 49 states have laws allowing concealed-carry firearms in the United States. The main problem with this fact is that a majority of states only require a single test to “demonstrate proficiency” with a gun before giving a concealed-carry permit."

Again, not here in Alabama. Pay $10 and get your license. $20 if you want your picture on it.

Since CCW permit holders are hardly ever involved in crime, and hardly ever have their permits revoked, I don't see what the big deal is here.

"When you examine life in America today, the Second Amendment is simply outdated. When was the last time you had to defend your liberty with a loaded gun?"

Anyone who makes statements like this obviously believe that the government of the United States is the pinnacle of representative government and will forevermore be benign and beholden to the interests of the people.

"On the reform front, for starters, anyone who has been charged with a violent crime—such as George Zimmerman, who was charged with battery of law enforcement officer—should not be allowed to legally own a firearm, much less a concealed-carry permit. This is common sense: we don’t want to be giving people with a tendency to resort to violence the ability to enact wider-spread violence."

OK, so the author here is advocating the nullification of a Constitutional right without due process of law. Instead of having to be convicted of a crime, it is sufficient for the author to merely be charged with a crime.

Uh, no thanks.

"Furthermore, concealing weapons should not be an acceptable practice. A study by the University of Pennsylvania shows that people with concealed weapons are four times more likely to be in a violent altercation than those who go about their day unarmed or with a visible weapon. Thus, if we want to reduce violence in society, we can start by capping the number of concealed carry permits given out by states. "

But we also know that people with CCW permits are hardly ever involved in crime and hardly ever have their permits revoked. There simply is no pervasive crime problem associated with concealed carry.