Winston

(Just saw what they were up to on Capitol Hill today. 535 intellectual midgets)

Gotta call it what it is, sorry.

I’ve railed against this inane, futile tendency to embrace the “Do Something!” delusion. Here is the case in point. I’m reading news releases highlighting the US Congress’ efforts to curtail gun ownership in an effort to limit “gun violence” (i.e. people committing violent crime with certain weapons). The current focus is to make it more difficult for anyone to purchase firearms.

First, let’s clear-up two blatant lies the media is circulating. The first lie is that you can just buy a gun and have it shipped to your door. I’ve purchased numerous firearms on-line over the last eight or so years, from different vendors. Each on-line marketplace clearly states that the weapon must be shipped to a FFL (Federal Firearm License) holder, and the merchant selling the gun must have a copy of the FFL’s license on file BEFORE the weapon ships. Is that clear? There is no “internet loophole”. Anyone not following these rules is committing a Federal crime, violating interstate commerce laws.

And this isn’t “some are, some aren’t” argument. I shop around before each purchase. EVERY on-line vendor follows there rules. Because they don’t want their business destroyed by the feds, and they don’t want to go to prison. As a matter of fact, in our ‘Labs of Democracy” (the individual States), there are now Byzantine layers of additional laws that vendors must follow. There’s a whole page of “…if you live in this state, we cannot…” warnings and admonitions, you must read and acknowledge before purchase. In overly restrictive states such as California, New Jersey and Illinois, if somehow an “illegal” weapon is shipped to an FFL, they ship it right back, because they don’t want to lose their license. See how simple this is?

And once at my FFL, I fill out forms, provide my ID and pay taxes. Just like I would at Walmart… if Walmart wasn’t a virtue-signaling sellout bag of hyena offal.

The second lie is that there is this huge problem with the “gun show loophole”. Modern gun shows are not some ad-hoc flea markets, with blankets on the ground and people selling out of their trunks. Guns shows are businesses, run by businessmen. They deal with other businessmen to make money. You don’t make money if most of your event vendors are Bubbas from the trailer park. That’s the route to insolvency. No. In most cases, all vendors at guns shows are FFL dealers. They follow state and federal laws.

There are some very infrequent exceptions where “private sales” (between two individuals) legally do not follow the strict rules already in place. This happens at some gun shows. It also happens in cul-de-sacs, apartment buildings and farmhouses. It’s called commerce. And while we want the government up in everyone’s business all the time (apparently), 100% compliance just may not be feasible. OK, it’s totally not possible. You may wish it so, but it isn’t.

Some of you may be up in arms at this point. How could anyone just buy a gun from someone without Federal regulation? Well, if it makes you feel better, the number of transactions that do not involve a FFL is less than 1% nationwide. Is that where you want to focus our national energies? Seems pretty damn futile to me.

And, just a reminder, most crimes committed with firearms involve pistols. Someone buying a Modern Sporting Rifle on-line or at a gun show is not a problem, statistically. Actually, almost all recent mass murderers either followed existing law, or disregarded the law. None used one of these so-called “loop holes”. They weren’t Machiavellian genius criminals. They were either crazy or evil, or both. And, in some cases, existing law wasn’t even enforced. You want to burden our officers and courts with more regulation, when they can’t even be bothered to enforce what’s already on the books?

Here’s some free advice: If you feel the urge to needlessly infringe on your fellow citizen’s rights, try it at the local level. This so-called “right to privacy” invented in 1972 surely will apply to any attempt at a national gun registry. That has no chance of passing our legislature, or the courts. I know, most socialists are lazy, and want a “one size fits all” solution to every problem. Unfortunately (for socialists), we’re still the United States, with our beautiful mosaic of laws and customs. If you don’t like what’s going on in your state, try to change the law there.

And be ready to be “triggered” when we challenge your ineffective, burdensome and unconstitutional laws in court. It’s nothing personal. Some of us still enjoy and respect freedom and individual rights.
So bring on the emotive arguments, misrepresentations and fabrications. I know my side has facts and logic, so we’re all good. !Buensas Surete!
And, uh, maybe move on to a problem you could actually fix? Instead of just scoring cheap political points? Just a thought.