Guns, Hell No!

“…America is drowning in guns. Even if they were all banned at midnight tonight, it would probably take a century or two to get them out of circulation, and maybe not even then…” Stewart Staffort. Prospective home buyers used to look at a neighborhood and ask the realtor about the quality of schools and shopping. Today they ask how many drive-by shootings there have been this week. Between 2010 and 2020, gun related deaths increased by 43%. Last year, 4,994 people died of gun related violence. The country is literally awash with guns; neighborhoods, particularly in urban areas, are shooting galleries. Common sense has gone on vacation, the insanity of “permit-less carry” has people who previously couldn’t be trusted with a letter opener, now packing a gun. Gang Bangers cruise the streets randomly firing into crowds over the slightest “dis” or turf dispute. It’s like you’re in a time warp and you ended up back at the OK corral. Open carry, no background check, no training, no common sense-people shooting Uber drivers who came to the wrong house, blindly shooting through the front doors when someone knocks, parking space disputes, getting cut off in traffic. You used to give people the finger, not anymore, you’ll get shot. There’s an old joke, God made some men little and some men big; Samuel Colt came along and mad them all the same size. If you like carrying a gun, plan a trip to Chicago, they’ve got it down to a “science”. They do 40+ shootings a weekend, maybe you get involved. It always starts and ends as a people problem, the elimination of cash bail and reluctance towards pre-trial confinement is a revolving door. Before the cops get the paperwork done, the same guy is back on the street doing the same thing. You might as well just give him the gun back, too, and save a step when he’s re-arrested a few hours later. Parenting skills have been helpful in this crisis on more than one occasion when Mom & Dad were concerned about Junior’s media posts, withdrawal and sudden fascination with death and violence, they took a page out of the Ward & June Cleaver parenting handbook and bought him an AR-15 because he wasn’t old enough or sane enough to buy it himself. Recently, President Biden had a “come to Jesus” session” with the country and announced he was closing the gun show loophole. It made good press, but realistically, it does little if anything. Most weapons sold at gun shows are sold by reputable dealers with federal firearms licenses and they do background checks, they’re not going to risk their Federal Firearms License for one sale. The illegal sales take place in a parking lot from the trunk of a car. Most illegal firearms come from two sources (1) stolen firearms, many out of unlocked cars and home burglaries (2) “the pipeline” a route roughly paralleling I-95 between Florida and the population centers of the Northeast where individuals and unlicensed” hole-in-the-wall” operations sell large number of guns with no questions asked. The ATF has kept pressure on these operations and had success, but it’s akin to playing whack-a-mole. It always comes back to a “people problem”. If Biden really wants to do something that’ll make a difference, push hard politically to re-implement cash bail and pre-trial confinement. Double the penalty for any felony committed with a firearm present, including convicted felons in possession of a firearm, and automatically run these cases through the Federal courts. The Feds have more money, more time, and harsher sentencing guidelines. Take a few bad actors off street, and you’ll be amazed at how fast many of these neighborhoods calm down….