Time to expire assault-style gun ban
In response to the lunacy of the Indianapolis Star’s Time to outlaw assault-style guns Op Ed piece I have to correct some of their “facts”.
- The 1994 crime grandfathered all such weapons already in circulation and on store shelves. And it was not a “loophole” in the 1994 crime bill that allowed manufacturers to continue making new semi-automatic rifles. What the manufacturers did is comply with the law. As the law only banned certain features that the authors (i.e Democrats Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Schumer, etc) deemed evil (pistol grips, bayonet lugs, flash hiders, folding and telescopic stocks) because these features separate the so-called “assault rifles” from any other legal semi-automatic rifle on the market. The 1994 law was about cosmetics.
- The SKS is not a derivitive of the AK-47 but a predecessor. As a matter of fact it does not even meet the criteria of the 1994 law.
- Contrary to popular myth the 7.62×39 caliber round the SKS and AK fire is less powerful than most hunting rifles and is considered an intermediate cartidge.
- Amost any rifle round will penetrate a vests and strike plate at close ranges. The vests issued to Police are designed to stop most pistol rounds. When officers face an opponent with a firearm 98% of the encounters will be against a pistol. According to the FBI less than 2% of firearms used in the commission of crimes are long guns of any type.
- These rifles are not machine guns and little is done to set the record straight in this regard. These rifles are semi-automatic, one shot per one pull of the trigger.
- Semi-Automatics are used for hunting in many states that allow it. But that is beside the point. The semi-automatic clones of various military rifles are used for plinking and comptition and collected by many for various mechanical differences and the historic significance.
- Laws only apply to those who are honest. By law the bad guy here was barred from firearms ownership due to his mental instabilities. His purchase of the firearm alone may have constituted a Felony.
- And doctors will not report such mental problems to a central Federal database as is done with Felony convictions. They have their confidenciality rules on top of the fact that they’d have the ACLU down on them immediately for violating the patiences rights by disclosing the information.
- There are certain risks that come with living in a free society. Those who want the Government to be Mommy should look to move to Canada or Europe. The rest of us have a Mommy and don’t want another in Washington DC.
- If this bad guy had used a machette or a car or a golf club and had done the same amount of damage NO ONE would be calling for a ban on them. Most states have 300-500 drunk driving deaths annually, per state. Where is the drive to ban booze? Oops, we tried that once remember? How about the ban on cars which are the weapons of choice of drunks?
- Whether a firearm is good for hunting is irrelavent. The last test used by the Supreme Court to ascertain whether a specific weapon was protected by the 2nd Amendment to the Federal Constitution was whether the weapon served a military purpose. The 2nd Amendment is NOT ABOUT HUNTING.
plaud the officers who took out this mad man and my sympathies go to the family of Officer Laird. Do not turn his sacrifice into a crusade against honest and legal firearm owners here in Indiana or around the United States.