McCarthy magazine bill an affront to common sense as well as liberty

Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 15 January, 2011 | David Codrea

[marktwain]

“On Tuesday, January 18, I will introduce legislation to restore the prohibition on large capacity ammunition feeding devices in the United States,” Rep. Carolyn McCarthy writes to her Congressional colleagues.

Shall we examine the congresswoman’s “reasoning”?

The United States Constitution guarantees to our citizens the right to keep and bear arms. At the same time that we can all acknowledge this basic right, I believe that we should also be able to come together to develop reasonable laws designed to ensure that the right to bear arms is exercised safely and responsibly. Just as we all celebrate and defend the first amendment but also understand that practical limits must be in place, such as not shouting, “Fire” in a crowded theater, so too should we be able to respect the second amendment while at the same time supporting commonsense regulations.

No, the United States Constitution says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” And you can yell fire in a crowded theater. Any damn time you please:

The government can impose no prior restraint on anything that you may say or write. To do so violates your unalienable rights under the Constitution; the only ones bound by prior restraints in such matters are the government.

I would, however, advise that there actually be a fire. Because if there's not, it's proper for your reckless action to meet with a penalizing response. And if someone is threatened or injured, it's just to expect punishment for your actions and restitution for your victims.

McCarthy continues:

I believe there are many aspects of our nation’s gun laws that deserve close scrutiny and updating.

Note she said “many.” She’s just warming up here.

She also believes a barrel shroud is “that shoulder thing that goes up.” And her state-level partner in citizen disarmament believes .50 BMG ammo has heat-seeking incendiary devices that cook deer from the inside (seriously—see sidebar video). Why should what these demonstrably incompetent, oath-breaking, malpracticing harridans believe be binding on anyone who isn’t a subversive loon?

The only purpose for the existence of these devices is to be able to shoot as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

That’s why she carved out an “Only Ones” exemption? Is that what she wants the police to be able to do?

There is no reason that these devices should be available to the general public.

Sure there is. What if we have another LA riot? Or another Hurricane Katrina? You know, where government abdicates its primary function and cedes wide swaths of disaster area to rampaging, murderous mobs? And where the cops who haven’t gone AWOL or joined the looters are opening fire on unarmed citizens…?

These are the ones McCarthy thinks should “be able to shoot as many people as possible as quickly as possible”?

But there I go again, disparaging the proven, Liberty-enhancing benefits of a state monopoly of violence…

What if the disaster is even larger, even more widespread, and of longer, even indefinite duration? Might just the sight of an adequate capacity magazine on a firearm be enough to persuade a savage mob that vastly outnumbers a defender to turn around? Might that even happen without a shot being fired? And might the outcome be different if an adequate deterrent has been denied to the innocent, giving the advantage to the aggressors—under force of state arms?

McCarthy tells us her legislation will not ban the possession of currently-owned magazines (yet):

Instead, the bill will prohibit the transfer of those devices currently in existence. This allows individuals who currently own the devices to legally retain possession but works to prevent the spread of thedevices by making it illegal to transfer them to another individual.

And when I die? Will the government come to collect what I have lawfully and morally owned? Must my heirs turn them in, or face having their lives destroyed for being the recoipients of an "illegal transfer"? How would the government know? They wouldn’t?

Sounds to me like another “loophole” to be hysterically decried once they get this piece swallowed.

And then there’s this final bit of offensive nonsense, an admission that illustrates what an irrational zealot this evil little noisemaker truly is:

It is a sad fact of reality that we will never be able to prevent every instance of gun violence. We also will not be able to keep these large capacity magazines out of the hands of every criminal who would use them. This reality, however, does not make our efforts irrelevant.

In fact, that’s exactly what it does.

As irrelevant as Rep. McCarthy, her legislative co-conspirators, her ignorant followers and her complicit media cheerleaders… Because here’s the thing: She and they can pass any damn law they want, and ultimately, they’ll be faced with a core of Americans who simply will not be threatened or intimidated into obedience.

And we are everywhere.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***“On Tuesday, January 18, I will introduce legislation to restore the prohibition on large capacity ammunition feeding devices***

It would not have stopped Patrick Henry Sherrill who murdered 14 people at the post office in Edmond, Oklahoma back in 1986.

His firearms were two National Guard issued 7 shot .45 auto pistols.

[wastedyears]

The Bill of Rights simply enumerates certain Rights that were given to us by our Creator.

[blackie]

Be Ever Vigilant!