Lock and Load, Twist and Shoot

 If no one speaks up soon, every criminal will come to the gun shows to get the tools of their trade. Legally. The Gun Debate is so twisted that the issue is totally missed.  The laws being presented do not take my gun away.  That is because I am not diagnosed with a mental impairment nor have I committed a crime.

Here is the Debate from the New York Times:

Taking, and Restoring, the Rights of Felons and Misinterpreting the Right to Bear Arms

Felons Finding It Easy to Regain Gun Rights  This gradual pulling back of what many Americans have unquestioningly assumed was a blanket prohibition has drawn relatively little public notice. Indeed, state law enforcement agencies have scant information, if any, on which felons are getting their gun rights back, let alone how many have gone on to commit new crimes.

While many states continue to make it very difficult for felons to get their gun rights back — and federal felons are out of luck without a presidential pardon — many other jurisdictions are far more lenient, The Times found. In some, restoration is automatic for nonviolent felons as soon as they complete their sentences. In others, the decision is left up to judges, but the standards are generally vague, the process often perfunctory. In some states, even violent felons face a relatively low bar, with no waiting period before they can apply.

Here is the debate from:  Handgunlaw.us:

Gun SALES UP 2.6%, WHILE GUN CRIMES DOWN 2.4%. . . New statistics show that firearm and ammunition sales are on the rise, coinciding with steady downward trends in gun crime, suicide and accident rates in the U.S. The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released U.S. Dept. of the Treasury figures indicating that 2005 retail sales of firearms and ammunition rose 2.6 percent for a total volume of $2.1 billion.   For the year, approximately 4.7 million new guns were sold, bringing the estimated number of citizen-owned firearms in the U.S. to more than 290 million. The number of American households with at least one firearm is now estimated at nearly 110 million.
Of the various firearm types, the sharpest gains were seen in retail sales of handguns (pistols and revolvers). Handgun sales rose 3 percent while long-gun (rifle and shotgun) sales rose 1.8 percent. Ammunition sales rose 3.5 percent.

15 November 2011 Gun News Headlines  Grassley fires broadside at Eric Holder, DOJ subordinates.  False alarms over national CCW legislation only helps anti-gunners.  On the other hand, gun reciprocity shoots holes in states’ rights.  Carrying concealed weapons just keeps getting easier.  Big consequences for even small crimes.  Disarming Afghan politicians….

14 November 2011 Gun News Headlines  A look at Newt Gingrich.  From GOA “A” rating to “D”.  Little known colonial pamphlet tells us about the Constitution and Second Amendment.  The eloquence of…

12 November 2011 Gun News Headlines  Showdown looming on national concealed carry.  Nation needs right to carry reciprocity.  Grassley stays on point about falsehoods from DOJ.  ‘Furious’ excuse…

Today’s related NEWS:

Chair: House to strip Senate add-ons from repeat offender bill … act this week on legislation to restrict parole eligibility for habitual, … by the Senate that make sweeping changes to sentencing, drug and gun laws. …

Concealed gun carry cut from House gun bill  … another state — loosening DC gun laws in the process — did not pass a final hurdle on Monday night before major gun legislation reaches the House floor. …

Editorial: Gun reciprocity shoots holes in states’ rights‎ USA Today
Carrying concealed weapons just keeps getting easier‎ iWatch News
House to consider national concealed carry gun bill Tuesday‎ Daily Caller

Local handgun sales show steady increase in wake new law    Matt Robinson/Press-Gazette correspondent Handgun sales are steadily rising since the state’s concealed carry law took effect earlier this month, …

Knuckleheads and Worse, Bringing Guns in Carry-ons   That, it says, is “for the law-enforcement officer to decide.” And I should note an exception to all this. Travelers can carry guns — but only unloaded and …

Increasing US Gun Permit Checks And Relaxed Concealed Carry Laws …

In January this year:  CNN Poll: No change on gun law opinions after Arizona shootings   Washington (CNN) – Americans’ overall attitudes toward gun laws have not budged an inch in the wake of the shootings in Arizona, according to a new national poll.

On Nov 14, this year from The Telegraph, UK:   Gabrielle Giffords shooting: Why it is time to change gun laws   The comments following this article are too enlightening.

Tragedy gives reason to reflect on gun control laws

  Is your radical sub conscious desire to have an armed crazy break in to your home,  just  so you can blast them to smithereens?   And, of course, that would, no doubt, prove your point, if you survived.   You have defended your sacred home against the evil out there.  You are the hero of your neighborhood.  The alien invaders are trembling in their extra terrestrial boots.  You can own a small arsenal, but if the government really thinks you are a threat, they bring in the gun ships and blow a hole in the earth where your arsenal used to be.

I have my personal reasons for owning a gun, but they are not to threaten the government, commit a crime or kill animals.  It alarms me that my fellow gun owners are so way out of control on this topic.  The NRA has done an exemplary job of switching the debate to the Constitutional Rights of citizens … That’s all well and good.  The Founding Fathers were not faced with an overcrowded society with rampant mental illness and drug induced aggression.  You don’t give a crack head a gun.  You don’t give a convicted criminal a gun.  That’s the bottom line.  It is so easy to influence the mentally unstable public, that any restrictions to legally owning a gun is unconstitutional.  Bull Shit!  Granted the mentally ill and felons have most of their constitutional rights intact.  But, if Charles Manson were paroled today I don’t want him to seek out the first Gun Show and buy a .357 Magnum or an AK-47.  I don’t want him sitting next to me on a plane, either … bad me.  I don’t want some revenge motivated deluded nut case shooting up a school, mall or political rally, either.  Bless the incredible Gabrielle Giffords for surviving this disaster.

Time to arm the Democrats, the Tea Partiers are itching for a showdown …maybe they will be less enthusiastic if it is a fair fight. Of course, if a responsible law was passed, and we all abide by it, how many Tea Partiers would qualify for a permit?