more garbage again today in the Sun

Who needs to collect 12 guns a year? Well, who needs a motorcycle or a sports car? Who needs to go skydiving? Who needs to play a dangerous contact sport like football? Who needs to consume alcohol? Who needs a lot of things?

It's not a question of who needs. It's a question of who has the right to choose to have. Some in Baltimore and Montgomery County's socialist circles, would gladly take away the rights of other Marylanders over a society lunch of quiche and tofu. Especially our Second Amendment rights. After all, our betters know what's best for us, and must rush to save us from ourselves.

It's interesting the article mentions states with even more draconian gun laws than Maryland. States like New Jersey and Illinois, with fingerprinting requirements. My, I feel safe when I drive through Newark and Camden, don't you?

Lawful gun owners and collectors are not the problem. It's an easy place to lay blame, but no facts support it. We all know what the problem is, a complete social breakdown inside of Baltimore City that the city and state governments, and the residents themselves, have failed to manage for decades.

By their nature, violent criminals are not deterred by gun laws, and not prevented from obtaining guns. More restrictions on law-abiding citizens are simply a feel good measure that only makes things easier for criminals. This opinion piece is nonsense, and unsupported nonsense at that.

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Decoy said:

We need to jump on garbage like this article in the SUN. If you haven’t posted a comment please do so. It doesn’t require you to join.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opi...,5217918.story

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Like all of its other gun-related editorials, the Sun’s latest (“Who Needs 12") is long on hot air but short on facts. Despite the Sun’s misinformation, MD is graded among the highest five

states for gun control by the flagship gun control group the Brady Campaign, earning itself an “A-” rating, higher than even B+-rated New York where handgun purchases require a judge’s approval.

According the latest FBI data, rifles and shotguns are used for but a fraction of homicides in MD - a grand total of 22 among MD’s 546 homicides in 2006. You are almost SEVEN TIMES as likely to be stabbed or beaten to death than be killed with any type of rifle or shotgun (and that includes so-called “assault weapons”).

To buy a handgun or so-called “assault weapon” in Maryland, you must first present your state-issued drivers’ license. To get the drivers’ license, you must present definitive proof of identity, such as a U.S. passport, and residency in MD, such as a property tax bill. But before you can even start the gun purchase process, you must first complete an approved safety training course. Once you fill out the three pages of background check and registration forms (including a mental health records waiver), there is a seven-day waiting period, a state police review of no less than 12 databases to check the purchaser, and permanent registration of the transaction with the state police, including the serial number of the gun and the owner’s ID. Any further requirement beyond these would be redundant.

The reason Maryland has state preemption is because firearms are a statewide concern that need to be managed at the state level. As you may have noticed, localities can’t make up their own vehicle inspection or traffic laws, or laws for licensing health care providers. That is because car and traffic safety and the regulation of health care providers is, likewise, a matter of statewide concern rightly governed at the state level. Local regulation of all these areas would create a patchwork of conflicted and potentially dangerous regulations, to the detriment of public safety.

Microstamping is new technology that is already in danger of obsolescence. The microscopic markings can be easily removed with common household tools. Maryland has already spent untold millions of dollars to assemble its “ballistic fingerprinting” database that has yet to have any value to law enforcement. Those millions should have been better spent hiring more police officers, a policy with a proven track record of reducing crime.

The lost-and-stolen provision has the illusory appearance of possibly being of benefit, but someone who is willing to lie to the police about their gun being “lost” will have no problem making a false loss report to cover their tracks.

Maryland’s few remaining firearms dealers are already under strict supervision by state and local authorities. Contrary to the Sun’s assertions, localities indeed regulate gun dealers, as they do all the other businesses within their jurisdiction. There is no “free pass” for gun businesses.

The one shining example of reason in the Sun’s diatribe is the mandatory minimum for criminals with guns. Since a relatively few number of offenders commit most violent crimes, locking up violent offenders is a small step that will reduce crime tremendously.

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RipkinC said:

The only thing a anti-gun nut is good for is when the "shit hits the fan" I know where to go for food etc. without fear of my life

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RipkinC said:

The only thing a anti-gun nut is good for is when the "shit hits the fan" I know where to go for food etc. without fear of my life

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Half-cocked said:

I doubt it. In general, people of that mindset also believe that if a terrorist attack, nuclear strike, or other major catastrophe shuts down all power, water, shipping and distribution, Big Brother (i.e. "M.O.M." types) will pass some sort of rose-tinted legislation that will magically put bountiful supplies of food and other staples back onto all the local grocery stores, and Suzy Soccermom won't have to venture further than the local 7-11 for all of life's basic necessities. <sarcasm>You know, like what happened after Katrina.</sarcasm>

So your typical liberal is probably going to have less than 5 days worth of non-perishable consumables in their house, after which they're going to start pleading to their elected representatives to "go after the hoarders", i.e. people like you who prepared in advance by storing several weeks or months of emergency supplies.

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smores said:

I'm moving to Montana...

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Half-cocked said:

Gonna be a dental floss tycoon?

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