FBM wrote:Definitely. And I certainly do see a big problem with the current state of things. Step one, I think, should be cracking down on illegal firearms and increasing the scrutiny of people who are buying them.
Please be specific about this 'scrutiny'.
People with licenses and training aren't the problem, or not much of it.
The majority of states do not require a license to own firearms. Those of us who do actually train have been told that training is indicative of mental problems, Rambo fantasies, and blood lust. If we don't train, you say that's bad.
Tougher penalties on people caught in illegal possession, especially when committing a crime, stricter requirements on training and background checks for people buying, etc.
I support harsh penalties for people who commit crimes with guns. Far too often charges are reduced so that the case can be plea bargained and criminals are put right back out on the street to cause more harm.
The only people here who have said they own firearms and
don't like them or train with them are folks like Ian who said visiting the firing range once a month is something he hasn't got time for, and that he has had a pistol for five years and never fired it.
Federal law requires background checks on all purchases from federally licensed dealers. The background check is processed on a while-you-wait basis by the National Instant Check System (NICS). It is illegal to sell, give, or transfer a firearm to a prohibited person. It is illegal to purchase a firearm on behalf of another person whether that person is prohibited or not. What would you change? What is 'etc'?
Strict prohibition, however, isn't going to be a realistic option for a very, very long time.
But it is your ultimate goal, I take it. This is why you see the NRA, the GOA and the JPFO using the death-of-a-thousand-slices logic. Because every compromise that firearm owners make leads to another call for compromise that is one step closer to a total ban. That is the writing on the wall, but at least you were direct enough to say it's going to take a very, very long time for the strict prohibition to be a 'realistic option'. Most anti-gun people just leave it at claiming they want reasonable, common sense measures.
I can tell you this: you will never get mine so long as I live.
'Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! ..But He loves you.' - George Carlin