2nd Amendment

There should be stricter penalties for irresponsible gun owners

Here we go again, having to explain to hayseeds why it is important to lock the door of your car and your house.

I have often felt one key piece to better gun control without infringing on the 2nd Amendment rights of others is having stricter penalties on irresponsible gun owners.

If your gun is stolen because you don’t properly lock it up or secure it, aren’t you partially liable? I think so.

I think if your gun(s) goes missing (because you didn’t lock them up) and you report it missing there should be a $500 fine for each gun and gun license revoked for 5 years.

If your gun(s) is stolen and used in a crime, there should be a $5,000 fine for every gun stolen and used in that crime. License should be revoked for 10 years.

If your gun(s) are stolen and used in a crime in which someone is injured, you should get a $20,000 fine each gun stolen and up to a year in jail for each count. Gun license revoked for life.

If your gun(s) are stolen and used in a crime in which someone is killed, you should get a $100,000 fine, 5 years in prison and license revoked for life.

I have often said it isn’t the responsible gun owners that are the problem in this country, it’s the irresponsible ones and the criminals that take advantage of their stupidity and laziness. They should suffer the consequences or just choose to be responsible. The 2nd Amendment is a right, but that doesn’t mean you can abuse that right.

When are we going to get serious about Gun Control?

As we both know, the best advice we get from A+ Rating from the NRA senator John Thune is that people need to learn how to dodge bullets;

“I think people are going to have to take steps in their own lives to take precautions,” he opined. “To protect themselves. And in situations like that, you know, try to stay safe. As somebody said — get small.”

Thanks John for your leadership.

Some wonder why our DC representatives are so scared of gun control? Well the first reason is obvious, the gun lobby and the NRA owns them.

But as others have pointed out, years ago when someone poisoned a handful of people using non-childproof Tylenol bottles, we childproofed them and required seals.

When terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center, we created the TSA and have restricted every kind of cutting device you can imagine, shoes and even shampoo.

But for some reason, we don’t want to restrict guns.

It would actually be quite simple. I have suggested a few of the things we could do;

We could limit the number of guns people can legally have and rounds of ammo. I don’t think anyone should be allowed to own more than one rifle, one shotgun and one pistol.

I think everyone who owns a gun should go through an extensive mental health and criminal background check, along with a gun safety course (you have to know how to safely operate a gun, lock up a gun, etc.)

You must have a license that says you passed these tests and it should be renewed each year with a renewal fee.

People have a 2nd amendment right to own a gun, but that doesn’t mean we cannot limit that ownership legally. If we can prevent felons from voting, we can prevent them from having a gun.

But I think one of the most blistering criticisms comes from Rosanne Cash, who has been a gun control advocate for decades;

“For the past few decades, the National Rifle Association has increasingly nurtured an alliance with country music artists and their fans,” Cash wrote. “You can see it in ‘N.R.A. Country,’ which promotes the artists who support the philosophical, if not economic, thrall of the N.R.A., with the pernicious tag line ‘Celebrate the Lifestyle.’”

“That wholesome public relations veneer,” she continued, “masks something deeply sinister and profoundly destructive. There is no other way to say this: The N.R.A. funds domestic terrorism.”

Cash went on to claim that “a shadow government exists in the world of gun sales.”

I agree 100%, not just because it is true but has been blatantly obvious for years.

“The stakes are too high to not disavow collusion with the N.R.A,” she concluded. “Pull apart the threads of patriotism and lax gun laws that it has so subtly and maliciously intertwined. They are not the same.”

Some say gun control won’t work, they of course have stood by this mantra for years, because the NRA has been giving them their talking points and loads of cash.

I say, “What’s the harm in trying?” things certainly are NOT getting better with our current policies.

Thom Hartmann: The Second Amendment Was Ratified to Preserve Slavery

snookigun

Big ‘B’ found this interesting article from 2013;

The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says “State” instead of “Country” (the Framers knew the difference – see the 10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia’s vote.  Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on that . . . and we all should be too.

Little did Madison realize that one day in the future weapons-manufacturing corporations, newly defined as “persons” by a Supreme Court some have called dysfunctional, would use his slave patrol militia amendment to protect their “right” to manufacture and sell assault weapons used to murder schoolchildren.

If congress was to actually uphold the true meaning of the 2nd Amendment, none of us would have guns, except cops and the military.

Tri-Valley first to pull a stupid

Well, we all knew it was coming, eventually, some po-dunk school in South Dakota would take up the state legislature on the School Sentinel law;

The Tri-Valley School District is considering a policy that could change the look of school safety in South Dakota.

On Monday night, the school board passed the first reading of a school sentinel policy that would allow the district to arm certain employees.

I guess I never expected a school that large to take up the suggestion. Either way, whether you are for or against this (I’m against it) it seems the school board was being sneaky about the way they went about it.

Like I said, there is mountains of evidence why this is a very bad idea, but let’s not talk about that.

The school board decided to try to sneak this under the radar;

The second and final reading of this policy will be on April 11, which is open to the public. 

Yes, they mentioned it in some agendas, but notice they took the first reading without any input. It should have not gotten to first reading if the media would have known about their intentions ahead of time.

Cory also points out the continuing secrecy;

The icing on this bad policy is the secrecy clause. Parents will have no right to know which staff are carrying deadly weapons in school. Parents get no check on the board’s decision, no opportunity to say, “Good grief! They let that yahoo carry a gun? I don’t think so!” Parents get no opportunity to pull their children from an armed teacher’s classroom and demand that their children be placed in classrooms where no guns are present.

I’m willing to bet that most parents would be against an armed sentinel at Tri-Valley, but I guess we will wait and see.