Posted on 02/02/2003 5:56:41 PM PST by FSPress
Here are some to the same arguments that we hear today about guns. This was a plea that helped establish the Gun Control Act of 1967. Stop and Think. Would you have supported this legislation? The person who spoke the words is today a defender of the second amendment.
TWO WEEKS AGO, ROBERT F. KENNEDY BECAME ONE OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS STRUCK DOWN BY AN ASSASSIN'S BULLET. SOMETIME TODAY, IN SOME CITY IN AMERICA, A GUN SHOT WILL RING OUT AND SOMEONE ELSE WILL FALL DEAD OR WOUNDED. THE VICTIM MAY BE A PUBLIC LEADER OR A PRIVATE CITIZEN, BUT, WHOEVER HE IS AND WHEREVER HE FALLS, HE IS NOT ONLY THE VICTIM OF THE GUNMAN....HE IS THE VICTIM OF INDIFFERENCE. THE TRAGEDY IS STARK AND REAL. THE SCARS LAST FOREVER, AND THE ULTIMATE AND SENSELESS HORROR IS THAT SO MUCH OF THIS SLAUGHTER COULD BE PREVENTED. OUR GUN CONTROL LAWS ARE SO LAX THAT ANYONE CAN BUY A WEAPON....THE MENTALLY ILL, THE CRIMINAL, THE BOY TOO YOUNG TO BEAR THE RESPONSIBILITY OF OWNING A DEADLY WEAPON.
THE SOUND OF THAT GUNFIRE WILL ECHO AGAIN...TOMARROW, THE DAY AFTER, AND ALL THE DAYS TO FOLLOW, UNLESS WE ACT!!! 6,300 PEOPLE ARE MURDERED EVERY YEAR WITH FIRE- ARMS IN THESE UNITED STATES. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE AND WHEN IT IS COMPARED WITH THE FAR, FAR LOWER RATES IN OTHER FREE COUNTRIES, IT IS INTOLERABLE.
LIKE MOST AMERICANS, WE SHARE THE CONVICTION THAT STRONGER GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION IS MANDATORY IN THIS TRAGIC SITUATION. WE DO NOT SPEAK FROM IGNORENCE OF FIREARMS. THE FIVE OF US COUNT OURSELVES AMONG THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO RESPECT THE PRIVILEGE OF OWNING GUNS AS SPORTSMEN OR AS PRIVATE COLLECTORS. WE HAVE USED GUNS ALL OUR LIVES BUT THE PROPER USE OF GUNS IN PRIVATE HANDS IS NOT TO KILL PEOPLE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE CONGRESS HAS RECENTLY GIVEN US SOME PROTECTION AGAINST PISTOLS IN THE WRONG HANDS. BUT THAT'S NOT ENOUGH....NOT NEARLY ENOUGH, THE CARNAGE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL THERE IS EFFECTIVE CONTROL OVER THE SALE OF RIFLES AND SHOTGUNS.
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS MURDERED BY A RIFLE. MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS MURDERED BY A RIFLE. MEDGAR EVERS WAS MURDERED BY A RIFLE.
NOT LONG AGO, A DEMENTED SNIPER PERCHED ON A TOWER AND KILLED FOURTEEN PEOPLE IN COLD BLOOD......BY RIFLE. FOR MANY LONG MONTHS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS ASKED THE CONGRESS TO PASS SUCH A LAW... BUT THE CONGRESS WILL NOT LISTEN UNLESS YOU, THE VOTER, SPEAKS OUT....UNLESS THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY RISE UP AND DEMAND THAT THE CONGRESS GIVE US A STRONG AND EFFECTIVE GUN CONTROL LAW.
THE LEGISLATION HAS BEEN INTRODUCED. IN THE SENATE, IT IS S-3633. IN THE HOUSE IT IS HR-)7735.
THIS BILL IS NO MYSTERY. LET'S BE CLEAR ABOUT IT. IT'S PURPOSE IS SIMPLE AND DIRECT. IT IS NOT TO DEPRIVE THE SPORTSMAN OF HIS HUNTING GUN, THE MARKSMAN OF HIS TARGET RIFLE, NOR WOULD IT DENY TO ANY RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN HIS CONSTI- TUTIONAL RIGHT TO OWN A FIREARM. IT IS TO PREVENT THE MURDER OF AMERICANS. IT CONTAINS THREE SENSIBLE AND REALISTIC RULES.
FIRST, IT WILL OUTLAW THE MAIL ORDER SALES OF SHOTGUNS AND RIFLES. IF THIS LAW WERE IN FORCE SEVERAL YEARS AGO, IT MIGHT HAVE STOPPED LEE HARVEY OSWALD FROM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUYING THE HIGH-POWERED RIFLE HE USED TO MURDER PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY. EACH YEAR ONE MILLION RIFLES ARE SOLD THROUGH THE MAILS.
SECOND, IT WILL OUTLAW SALES OF SHOTGUNS AND RIFLES TO MINORS - PEOPLE TOO YOUNG TO BEAR THE GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY PLACED IN THE HANDS OF A GUN OWNER.
THIRD, IT WILL OUTLAW SALES OF SHOTGUNS AND RIFLES TO STRANGERS. PEOPLE WHO DRIFT ACROSS STATE LINES, TOO OFTEN WITHOUT CREDENTIALS, BUY THESE WEAPONS, AS EASILY AS THEY BUY CIGARETTES AND CANDY. THE STATES WHICH HAVE STRONG GUN CONTROL LAWS WILL BE PROTECTED.
WE URGE YOU, AS A RESPONSIBLE, SENSIBLE AND CONCERNED CITIZEN, TO WRITE OR WIRE YOUR SENATOR AND CONGRESSMAN IMMEDIATELY AND DEMAND THEY SUPPORT THESE BILLS. IN THE SENATE, IT IS BILL S-3633. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IT IS BILL HR-17735.
IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY....IN THE NAME OF CONSCIENCE....FOR THE COMMON SAFETY OF US ALL.... FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA, WE MUST ACT....IT IS UP TO YOU....YOU ALONE AND THE TIME IS NOW.
Why bother with regulating firearms sales when the black market is up and running for the persons inelligable for legal posession?
Because it's a lot easier to prove that someone has a gun than that he committed some specific crime.
I think it's something like the three strikes law. If you've committed two prior violent crimes, you can go to jail for 20 years for shoplifting bubble gum.
Some say that's excessive, but I'm not bothered at all.
If you've proven, though past behavior, that you cannot be trusted, you're put on notice that we will not tolerate behaviors that we accept in others.
If you're a released felon, we don't forbid you a gun because we think that we will prevent you from obtaining one, but so that if we ever catch you with one, we can throw you back in jail, without having to wait for you to shoot someone.
I am such a proponent of laissez faire capitalism that I probably could be convinced that anyone should be able to hang a "Doctor" sign in front of their office, and let the lack of a diploma, lack of insurance, and (even) death of patients and the subsequent lawsuits drive him from the market.
I am no fan of regulation.
I entered this thread as an intellectual exercise as to the Constitutionality of the proposals listed at the top.
(And not referring to any actual laws passed nor the historical abuse that arose from such passage, nor any abominations such as Brady)
We are not protected from bad laws being passed....just unconstitutional ones.
The "Prior Restraint" and the difficulty of determining "competence" are the best arguments that have arisen so far.
I still see no problem with denying anonymous "mail order" shipping of firearms.
That deals with interstate commerce and is in the purview of Congress.
Let's not make it any easier on any future Mohammed Atta.
(And before everyone jumps on this...I know he used boxcutters, but you also know what I mean)
"NO"
But that wasn't the question asked at the beginning of this thread.
Low powered: 20 mm or less
Medium power: Greater than 20 mm up to and including 50mm
High power: Anything greater than 50mm
(We're talking caliber here)
I would still ban anonymous mail order and sales to children without their parent or guardian.
Actually, I do not know what you mean.
Mohammed Atta et. al. were middle class Muslims smart enough to fly a World Class Airliner yet too stupid to take advantage of the opportunities their faith and intelligence could have provided them and their loved ones.
He was funded in his activities at a level far beyond the means of a large number of Americans (try it, call a flight school and tell them you want to take 747 lessons) and presumably should his type choose to strike again he will have entre to the level of society appropriate to the proper execution of his mission whether it be a dummy company to manufacture Fire Extinguishers or a Chicken Plucking plant.
I fail to see how regulating commerce through the mail between ordinary Americans will in any way hinder him or his cronies.
The Interstate Commerce Clause was intended to ensure uniformity of procedure (if you will) between the individual sovereign states.
That twisted Socialist FDR converted it into a bludgeon to wield against every citizen and transaction in every manner he could conceive.
My conjecture at this point is that you remain too much imprisoned in the voodoo logic of the muddlestream media.
Spend more time in Cyberspace, learn more about reality and live long and prosper.
Best regards,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.