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Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 | 2 a.m.
Another view?
View more of the Las Vegas Sun's opinion section:
• Editorials - the Sun's viewpoint.
• Columnists - local and syndicated writers.
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Have your own opinion? Write a letter to the editor.
To legally drive a motor vehicle, a person has to have a license and the vehicle has to be registered and insured, so that we know who is responsible for whatever happens in that vehicle. If an owner sells a vehicle, the person has to report when and to whom it was sold, no ifs, ands or buts.
This is for everyone’s protection.
The vehicles are not made to intentionally kill people. However, if someone accidentally kills someone with a vehicle, the owner can be tracked down in a matter of minutes, and the person will be held accountable.
Yet we tolerate the National Rifle Association dictating to all people that its members have the right not to be accountable for guns that are made not just for hunting animals but also for killing people.
It’s not unpatriotic to want to know who owns these killing machines and limiting their capacity to kill. It’s common sense.
We give a drivers license to every seventeen-year-old high school student who can pass a lowest-common-denominator Drivers Ed course. A course that can be successfully passed by a lobotomized chimpanzee.
In a large percentage of cases, we give drivers licenses to 16 year-old kids
who state that they have a particular hardship.
Tell me, Mr or Ms. Gun Grabber, that you want to license guns just like cars.
You'll give a gun license to every 17 year-old who wants one -- just like a
drivers license.
Any person who possesses a drivers license can drive on any public road on any state in the Union. They can drive on school grounds, they can drive on college campuses, and they can drive to any courthouse in the Union.
Tell me, Gun Grabber, that you want to license guns just like cars. You'll let
anyone with a gun license carry a gun anywhere they want to, in every State in the Union -- just like a drivers license.
Drivers licenses issued by one State must be honoured by all other States.
Anyone with a Texas Drivers License can drive any car he (or she) wants to,
anywhere in New York City that he can fit. And the New York authorities don't have a thing to say about the matter.
Tell me, Gun Grabber, that you want to license guns just like cars. You'll let
any 17 year-old cowboy from Bugscuffle, West Texas carry his gun anywhere he wants to in New York and tell the New York authorities they can't do anything about it -- just like a drivers license.
If you get caught driving a car without your drivers license, you get a $90
traffic ticket that comes off your record in three years.
Tell me that you want to license guns just like cars. Tell me that if that
Texas cowpoke is visiting Chicago, and gets caught carrying his gun without his license, he gets a traffic citation -- just like a drivers license.
No one must undergo a background check to get a license, any felon can get a drivers license, no mental checks are required for a drivers license.
Tell me again that you want to license guns just like cars. You'll let
everyone -- 17 to 70, felons, no mental checks, pay your money, take your
test, here's your gun license -- just like a drivers license.
If I'm on private property, I don't even need a driver license to drive any
car I want to, the only limit to the number of cars I can possess is the size
of my bank account, I can buy as many cars at once as my wallet can stand, and I can buy a car off a street corner in Compton today, another from a back-yard in New York tomorrow, I can import cars as many as a I want, from any country that I want, and I can sell or trade any or all of them to anyone I want -- and the Federal Government doesn't have word one to say about the matter.
I build any car I want to -- with no Federal permission; I can modify,
cut-down, trick-out, customize or skeletonize any car I want to without so
much as a "Yes", "No", "Boo", "Kiss my arse" or "By your leave" from the
Federal Government.
Tell me, Mr or Ms. Gun Control, that you really want to treat guns just like
cars. Tell me that your "gun license" that is "just like we license cars" will
let us treat guns just exactly like we treat cars.
I don't believe you've thought this through at all.
James,
When will we start addressing the factors that cause higher homicide rates among black and Hispanic youths? According to the CDC, males ages 15-19 years old had the following homicide rates per 100,000:
Whites = 3.4
Blacks = 69.1
Hispanics = 24.8
Register guns? Fine, but lets look closer at the factors causing homicide rates among youths. Fatherless teenage males? Poor graduation rates? Limited economic advancement opportunities including trade schools? Do we need to supplement funding of big brother organizations who could step in to help children from fatherless homes? Lets zero in on the underlying factors.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml...
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/3...
Physicians are supposed to inform the State when a person's medical or psychological state, and medications, could be a hazard in driving. An example is a person with a serious seizure disorder, and many other conditions. The DMV then makes a determination to license a driver or not.
The problem is that doctors don't make notifications because of our dependence on cars to get places.
Sometimes families have to take action, as in a person with Alzheimer's Disease.
I wouldn't want a patient with Alzheimer's to be licensed to have a gun. I wouldn't want a paranoid schizophrenic, or a delusional person, to have a license to have a gun. There are many conditions that make gun ownership potentially dangerous to the public. It isn't just felons that we have to be concerned with.
Here are some interesting statistics for those who like statistics.
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicid...
Where is the register of deranged mentally ill?
These are the people killing others with their hands, knives, explosives, fires, cars, poison, guns, and other means.
---
So Obama thinks we don't need any new laws. By executive orders Obama has established 23 new gun control programs.
Of course non of these will address controlling the deranged mentally ill or the criminal element.
---
We need healthcare intervention laws to force the mentally ill to receive help.
HIPAA-1996, Privacy Rules, passed under Clinton, must be modified to allow sharing appropriate information with immediate family and law enforcement.
Bottom line, if you own a gun then don't vote for Democrats.
It is that simple.
No view of common sense includes illegal invasion of law-abiding citizens' privacy.
CarmineD
At this hour, we have RefNV agreeing to register all guns. "Register guns? Fine"
CarmineD believes that if his loved ones are shot and killed that the police should not be able to trace the gun back to its owner. A person who might shed some light on the murder(s). I hope he never has to live through an event that would change his mind.
Then we have the echo chamber of the right: "Gun Grabbers". Seriously? The letter talks about registering them, not taking them. And the Second Amendment prevents the government from "Grabbing" the guns.
Future wants to relax HIPAA to allow the police to know who is mentally ill. You got your wish: Exec Order #2 looks at that.
The logical conclusion of Future's comment then is that Future wants all guns to be registered and all gun buyers to have background checks because the only value of a database of the mentally ill - in this context - is for background checks to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. By extension then, Future also wants background checks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals who, like the mentally ill, can buy guns at gun shows or from private sellers.
We agree that we need to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. The first step is a list of them and we have the list of criminals, inaccessible as it may be (or we wouldn't need 3 day waits in Clark County). The second step is the background check on all gun transfers to see if the buyer has a criminal record or another restriction on gun ownership. The third step is to register all guns so LEOs can figure out who owns them and solve gun-related crimes when the gun is found. If James Holmes had escaped but left one gun, the police would have had a starting point.
Why are these simple steps so ridiculously difficult?
There really are responsible gun owners who understand that their 2nd amendment right is not a blank check to do whatever they please with their firearms.
What some of us can't understand is why those responsible owners don't stand up to the hardline gun lobby (NRA and many others) and say enough is enough, or even go so far as to form their own organization (Non-Crazy Rifle Assoc?) independent of the unhinged characters who run those groups.
The recent NRA ad attacking the president (republican New Jersey govenor Chris Christie called the ad 'reprehensible') for having protective services for his two daughters is an example of the poisonous rhetoric coming from these extremist groups. They're inciting hatred in the most blatant divide-and-conquer fashion, all in name of gun rights.
If I were a gun owner I certainly wouldn't want a crazed loon like Wayne LaPierre claiming to speak for me on the issue. So why do so many sane gun owners stay silent and passive in light of the endless, heartbreaking carnage?
@Re....usual dissembling by throwing out randomly selected data. Alinsky tactic #71....confuse the issue with irrelavant crap;
@ Carmine....pithy bumper sticker
@ usual Teeps, trolls and troglodytes....no comments yet, haven't broke out the Icehouse.
Registering firearms, licensing owners and user, requiring insurance and knowledge of safe operation all fall squarely within the definition of reasonable regulation that the Roberts SCOTUS has said is constitutional.
More twaddle by a person obviously succumbed by the Liberal Pandemic! ... The same people that try to solve the world's problems by thinking out of their alimentary canal.
People with mental health issues may finally be prohibited from owning a gun, but they can still run for Congress with an excellent chance of success.
You are comparing apples to oranges. Nowhere in the US Constitution does it say you have the right to own a car. Reread the 2nd Amendment very carefully.
In the newly passed gun rules in NYC, it says your gun can only hold 7 rounds. This includes the NYC police department. Another stupid law, from the knee jerk, vote grabbing politicians trying to dupe the uninformed, uncaring public into thinking they are doing something meaningful. Something tells me that the NYC cops haven't unloaded their guns, and I don't blame them.
"You are comparing apples to oranges. Nowhere in the US Constitution does it say you have the right to own a car."
That comment reminds me of a famous Abe Lincoln quote:
"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt"?
Whoever thunk up the seventh round nonsense just opened a new can of worms. Since the majority of handguns load out at 10+
Dastardly sneaky politics at work, and in my opinion the symbol of the current administration.
Oh, and my solution:
What I would like to see happen is current laws on the books pertaining to firearms enforced and a case study on why so many criminals possess firearms!
What I don't want to see is the numerous pretentious (non-gun owning) liberals coming out of the woodwork spewing their irrational BS solutions!
Pay Hayes is correct, the gun owners are exactly like the republicans. They use the Saul Alinsky tactics on a regular basis while they blame the democrats for stealing their playbook.
To Carmine d, Don't you think it's an invasion of those young kids privacy to kill them? Or as you seem to think,gun owners privacy trumps other peoples right to live. How pathetic and sad.
To last throes, that Lincoln quote really fits that silly apples to oranges comment.What's the big deal about people registering their guns?
If you keep your car in the garage you don't have to register it and while vehicles are not made to intentionally kill people, they do, as a matter of fact it's the leading cause of preventable deaths in children and adults. Now on the other hand, just the mere thought of someone having an AR15 on the other side of their front door draws respect from even the looniest of loons. So it's acts as a deterrent also, and a dang good one at that. Let's enforce the laws we already have first.
Cars kill 3 times as many people as guns each year and they are driven on public streets, and driving is a privilege, not an inalienable, god given right that is ALSO protected by our constitution for the specific purpose of giving the citizens the power to insure that the government never goes rouge !
No wonder cars have to be licensed , they are a privilege not given by god and protected by our constitution !
"It's not unpatriotic to want to know who owns these killing machines and limiting their capacity to kill. It's common sense."
Witherspoon -- only one of the several flaws in your reasoning is motor vehicles aren't mentioned in the Bill of Rights. And you failed to mention what source of authority government would have to know what's behind my closed doors.
Next time, try thinking for yourself. If you can.
"Fear is the foundation of most governments." - John Adams "Thoughts on Government" (1776)
Cars are like guns.
Illegals drive cars. They don't have a license and they don't get the car registered or insured.
Illegals get drunk and kill people.
Illegals also own guns. The guns are purchased on the black market or they steal them.
Ilegals shoot people who don't have guns.
I see the letter writer's point.
Thanks for the 411. I am so much more informed now.
@Killer B - I think you've reached the height of hypocrisy when you say, "Next time, try thinking for yourself. If you can." This from the man who QUOTES everyone else?? Everything you say is always someone else's thought. That's MY original thinking.
What a great idea and the goverment could start by making it illegal to have a car with more than one cylinder because 8 cylinders are not neccesary and only lead to speeding and endangering the anti gun owners life much like guns that hold more than one bullet. The goverment should also mandate computers on cars that are controlled by gps signals that regulate the top speed of a car based on the speed limit( no more speeders). Better yet, how about mind altering drugs in the water that don't allow people to break any laws, problem solved.
Another mass killing yesterday, with an AR-15
assault rifle.
A fifteen year old boy killed five people,
including three young children, in Alburquerque,
New Mexico.
Each were shot several times.
We need a FULL AND COMPLETE BAN ON
ASSAULT RIFLES.
PERIOD.
KillerB- did you really use the argument that motor vehicles aren't mentioned in the Bil Of Right?
"To Carmine d, Don't you think it's an invasion of those young kids privacy to kill them? Or as you seem to think,gun owners privacy trumps other peoples right to live. How pathetic and sad." @ jspoon
If the government knows what guns the citizens have, it can take them away.
Germany has 80 million people and about 6 million guns. They have to register their guns with the government. By all accounts, the vast majority of German gun owners believe they are treated badly for owning guns. And will openly and outwardly say so.
CarmineD
BTW, the polizei in Germany can make unannounced visits to gun owners and inspect their weapons at will. And take them away if they choose. No questions asked.
CarmineD
"KillerB- did you really use the argument that motor vehicles aren't mentioned in the Bil Of Right [sic]?"
Hugh_G -- evidently you're not functionally literate here. My post only says what it says. It's an opinion, not an argument.
"If the government knows what guns the citizens have, it can take them away."
CarmineD -- good rebuttal. You antagonist seems to not have a clue what privacy in the Constitutional sense.
"Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have." -- Barry Goldwater (1909-1998), Republican Senator from Arizona, 1964 candidate for President
This thread is a test of the emergency comedy central team, there's nothing wrong with your monitor that a quick click can't fix.
What a waste of time reading this.
This is a great hoax, right?
"CarmineD believes that if his loved ones are shot and killed that the police should not be able to trace the gun back to its owner." @ By Victor_Eismine
Starting with the spree shootings in Arizona last year this time and up through the Sandy Hook Elementary school on Dec 14, [just to use the most recent], NONE, I repeat, NONE were committed with guns that were bought illegally and untraceable to their owners. NONE. Did I say NONE?
FAST & FURIOUS included. Although the criminals believed they bought these guns illegally, it was actually a hoax perpetrated and approved by the highest levels of the US Justice Department with the knowledge some say of Eric Holder's best friend in Washington, DC, the President.
CarmineD
"What a waste of time reading this."
Jeff -- as if you were forced to post anything. So go away
"Starting with the spree shootings in Arizona last year this time and up through the Sandy Hook Elementary school on Dec 14 ... NONE, I repeat, NONE were committed with guns that were bought illegally and untraceable to their owners. . .FAST & FURIOUS included."
CarmineD -- another good post. How quickly they all forget.
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Isaac H Tiffany (1819)
Quoting the rather unimpressive KillerB:
"Jeff -- as if you were forced to post anything. So go away
"Starting with the spree shootings in Arizona last year this time and up through the Sandy Hook Elementary school on Dec 14 ... NONE, I repeat, NONE were committed with guns that were bought illegally and untraceable to their owners. . .FAST & FURIOUS included."
CarmineD -- another good post. How quickly they all forget."
I say:
To continue your spoonfeeding...
...you have identified a weakness in our gun laws, that weakness being that we have a record of the weapons history if the weapon happens to be found. Lotta good that does the dead guy.
What is needed is a way to have friends, family, ammo suppliers, acquaintances, gun dealers, strangers, the entire quilt of America get the guns out of the Lanza home before his brain fries.
And if it turns out the complaint is just an ex spouse trying to use this new reporting as a way to affect custody issues or some other nefarious reason, the forgiveness of those falsely accused needs to be swift and certain and the penalties for wrongful accusation need to be severe.
In other words, it is time for Americans to grow up about guns and deal with them realistically.
If we listen to gun owners we would have no cars, no OB/GYNs, no knives, no ropes, no chainsaws etc......
Nothing left but guns ( semi automatic with 100 round clips) and horses.
"What is needed is a way to have friends, family, ammo suppliers, acquaintances, gun dealers, strangers, the entire quilt of America get the guns out of the Lanza home before his brain fries." @ Jeff
The damage to Adam Lanza's psyche was done long before he picked up a gun.
CarmineD
Carmine said :
"The damage to Adam Lanza's psyche was done long before he picked up a gun."
I say :
No doubt, however he DID pick up his 15 minutes of fame that had a trigger and 26 death certificates attached to it. The father, brother and friends may have known something wasn't right.
Unfortunately the authorities don't do much til after the crime. This needs to change.
"No doubt, however he DID pick up his 15 minutes of fame that had a trigger and 26 death certificates attached to it." Jeff
Plus Adam and his mother. Total dead on Dec 14, 2014 for the Sandy Hook tragedy: 28. I don't know what the relationships were, BUT I have to think that in their heart of hearts Adam's brother and father bear anguish and guilt for the murders, not just of Mrs. Lanza and Adam, but 26 others they never knew. And they both will hold, be affected by and carry these feelings to their graves. Unlike grieving, guilt becomes greater over time not lesser.
CarmineD
"Unfortunately the authorities don't do much til after the crime. This needs to change." Jeff
Authorities who pass into and out of Adam and his mother's lives can't be held accountable to the same degree as Adam's brother, mother and father.
20 percent of people in the US have mental and emotional problems. Only 12 percent of them seek and get health assistance for their problems.
All the authorities under the sun can't force them to get help and watch them 24 hours a day to make sure they do.
CarmineD