This is worth a look.
On December 15, Think Progress published a post titled The Five Gun Safety Regulations Even NRA Members Support. In this blog post, Igor Volsky cites a poll conducted by Frank Luntz for Mayors Against Illegal Guns that found a large majority of gun owners and NRA members support some gun regulations. Volsky describes these gun control policies as “sensible” and as “common sense measures.”
But as usual, statist policies with support from both liberals and conservatives serve to perpetuate privilege and injustice. At least two of these gun regulations would disproportionately disarm marginalized and oppressed groups, fulfilling the bigoted function gun control has often been designed to serve.
In 1967, conservatives led the charge in favor of gun control. California governor Ronald Reagan supported the Mulford Act, a gun control law designed to prevent the Black Panthers from carrying guns to defend themselves against racists, including racist police. While modern gun control laws are not so overtly racist in intent, some of the least controversial gun control laws disproportionately disarm people of color and other members of marginalized populations.
Take, for example, the first gun regulation discussed by Volsky. It turns out that a large majority of gun owners and NRA members polled favor “Requiring criminal background checks on gun owners and gun shop employees.” But who would be most impacted by these criminal background checks? People of color are disproportionately targeted by this country’s criminal justice system.
This is whole problem with gun regulations; when you uncork the genie out of that bottle, there is no putting it back. Statism, much like progressive politics, never recedes. It always goes forward and when you start taking liberty away, you never get it back completely. Unless you fight very hard for it.
Hence, my problem with gun regulations. Whenever Government enacts a law or a regulation, it assumes the people are not smart enough to make their own decisions. This is my issue with big government and regulation. I just do not believe that the Government has any business tell me or anyone else that they are not smart enough to make decisions on the buying and selling of guns. It is not their business.
Did the federal ban on assault weapons matter? http://bit.ly/TwG1VM
Except for 1999 (a year of five shootings including the Columbine massacre), the ’94-’04 assault weapons ban period was peaceful by US standards. Since the expiration of the gun ban in 2004, the number of shootings per year has doubled, and the number of victims per year has nearly tripled. Three of the bloodiest four years shown here occurred since the expiration.
I thought you weren’t coming back? 😀
Ya never heard me say anything of the sort.
No problem, you are quite welcome around here. I just wish there was about 500 more of you. 😀
Well, not just like you! 😯 that’d be like herding cats! But more commenting people.
either way, welcome aboard. 🙂