Posted on 02/01/2008 8:30:56 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Protesters at the South Carolina Statehouse calling for tougher gun laws Wednesday attracted counter-protesters who are against more restrictions on gun rights.
The first group was part of ProtestEasyGuns.com, a grassroots effort that was formed after the Virginia Tech shootings, during which 32 people were killed. The protesters wore ribbons in the Virginia Tech school colors.
The demonstration was organized by Joanne Hafter of Irmo, whose daughter, Lizzy, was shot and killed in 2006 by a man who had stolen a gun. The owner of that gun had not reported it stolen. Hafter wants state lawmakers to pass a law requiring gun owners to notify police if a gun is lost or stolen.
"We're asking gun owners to act like adults," she told reporters. "We're asking them to act responsibly. We're asking this South Carolina government to act like adults and to enact laws to make all gun owners to act responsibly."
The group says it's not against people lawfully owning guns, but it is against lax gun laws.
The counter-protesters are members of GrassRoots GunRights. They wore t-shirts that read, "Guns Save Lives" across the back and carried signs that said things like "My gun makes you safer" and "Murderers prefer unarmed victims".
Bill Rentiers, executive officer of the group, said, "What happens when you ban guns from a school or a church or a college campus is you, the thugs, the madmen, they're crazy but they're not stupid. They know where they can go to get the biggest body count and no one can fire back."
He says the answer to shooting rampages like the one at Virginia Tech is not fewer guns, but more, since the campus was already a "gun-free" zone. Had there been someone on campus with a concealed weapon, the gunman might have been stopped, just as an armed security guard stopped a gunman at a Colorado church recently.
The anti-gun protesters laid down in the grass in front of the Statehouse in remembrance of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. The protesters stayed on the ground in silence for three minutes, the amount of time they say it takes to buy a gun in the United States.
You mean it only takes 3 minutes to buy a gun in NJ? Where is this?
Maroons
I assume they have a small inkling of good intentions, but they’re still completely oblivious.
I assume they have a small inkling of good intentions, but they’re still completely oblivious.
Sorry for the double post.
Protestors acting like adults
“You mean it only takes 3 minutes to buy a gun in NJ? Where is this?”
heck it take m that long to stop drooling over the display.
pure bs
Somebody remind me what reporting your gun as being stolen will accomplish? No, really.
I think you mean morons....
“Somebody remind me what reporting your gun as being stolen will accomplish? No, really.”
It will aid in the effort of turning law abiding citizens into criminals who can no longer legally own a firearm.
I live in SC and it has taken a whole lot longer that 3 min to buy a gun. I had to go through a background check that took at least 15 min.
“You mean it only takes 3 minutes to buy a gun in NJ? Where is this?”
Must be illegally in Atlantic City, Trenton, Newark, Camden etc .
In reality a gun virgin in NJ would have to get a Firearms ID ( 2-8 months ) then a handgun purchase permit ( another 2-5 months) depending on where you live) and use it within 90 days or it would expire .
But of course I’m not a criminal. If I were I would buy it from someone that do background checks I can see that taking 3 min. Or heck I would just steal one.
Can you even own a handgun in NJ?
Sure! Pass all the background checks and fill out the paperwork. Need the Firearms ID card first . You even need a “firearms” ID in the Peoples Republic of New Jersey to purchase a BB gun or pellet gun .
Thanks for the info!
I call BS on this. I bought a gun yesterday in South Carolina at it took 5 times that long.
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