I just read through a lot of this... It has been pretty entertaining and thought-provoking.
I would like to draw a comparison that I haven't seen here yet. Voting ID card requirements and gun laws (ID, background checks, possible training).
I remember seeing someone mention that exact comparison somewhere on this forum, but it may have been another thread.
Why is it that Democrats are against voting ID cards but for tightening down gun laws significantly? As far as a I understand it, both are constitutional rights that have the potential to do a lot of good, but also to do a lot of evil. Ok, I know that a gun in the hand of one person is a lot more dangerous than one bad vote, but I still think this is a valid comparison.
Personally, I wouldn't mind requiring IDs and some training required for both. I know the issue is a lot more complicated than that, but I don't see why both of these things are such party-line issues.
What I don't understand is why is it that so many people hear liberals cry about 'sensible gun restrictions' when most of what they actually ask for are laws in the majority of states? Gun owners already do have to present an ID whenever buying a gun from any federally licensed dealer, which is all of them; and firearms training is socially expected and common even in the few states that don't actually mandate minimum training requirements. Every federal firearms dealers are legally bound to keep their sales records forever, so registration actually exists, it's just not centralized; so whenever a firearm is used in a crime, the ATF & FBI can track down it's last known owner rather efficiently. And anyone who buys a firearm without learning how to use it, or buys one for their kids without teaching them how to handle it, is a mouth-breathing moron who is bound to legitimately earn the Darwin award in some fashion eventually. There are dozens of privately funded training programs that go beyond the level of training that most military personnel get in basic training. Appleseed is one, (
http://appleseedinfo.org/) and 4H is another, (
http://4-hshootingsports.org/) both of those programs are nationwide, and there are many more that are local or regional. To most of the liberals who
honestly don't wish to ban guns, but just want to see laws designed to prevent the mentally deficient or criminal element from getting firearms; those laws already exist. Most of them are quite well crafted, and gun owners understand why they exist and are willing to put up with the rational ones; but no law is going to prevent all criminals from getting guns. They can't even keep drugs out of prisons, for cristsakes! The laws proposed by liberals who don't understand guns or gun owners are burdensome, ineffective and often counterproductive to their own stated ends. Please, educate yourselves on the topic before you support more of this 'common sense legistlation' that you keep hearing about.