Assault weapons

[Oerets]

Only speaking from personal experience. Come from family friends all shooting sport fans. Family get together’s cookouts would on occasion have target practice. Most hunt fish enjoy outdoor activities. Competition shooting for bragging rights or even Turkey shoots.
Even my wife was raised knowing how to use firearms.

In this country it is a sad state when more attention to changing laws. Is now being given to the sexual in nature content exposed to our children. Then to lethal weapons exposure and availability.

[donquixote99]

The current sex panic is ridiculous, as these panics always are. Remember when everyone went nuts over the imagined Satanists at the daycares?

There's a saying from the Talmud, the last part of which is quoted a lot: "But man was created alone to teach you that whoever kills one life kills the world entire, and whoever saves one life saves the world entire."

People who say that the school shootings kill few in our nation of hundreds of millions need to ponder the first part. Even one child killed is an infinite loss.

[Oerets]

I be fine with a complete ban on what is called Assault weapons. With a buy back from current owners of some type. Or just a strict hurdle of permitting to own one. High capacity mag semi auto pistols also be included into any legislation enacted.
Buying back money funded from licensing fees and the gun industry. For the gun industry is behind the sales. Driven to ever increasing levels.

Even a requirement of carrying high liability insurance.

Again in this country having a Drag Queen show, Transgender student, ect....books that have subjects some dislike..... gets quick and draconian action.
Yet what number of shooting's is the magic one to finally get some real action?

[Pio1980]

Historically "free" countries seem to do just fine without a version of the US second amendment.
https://impakter.com/why-gun-ownersh...d-not-same-us/

[Pio1980]

I doubt the FFs foresaw the unregulated proliferation of relatively affordable high capacity rapid fire lethal weaponry in the hands of irresponsible untrustworthy individuals.
History seems less than clear on the actual purpose of the 2nd Amendment as an alternative to a standing army or a poison pill for national Constitutional regulation to attract slaveholding states to the union against losing their "way of life".

[Pio1980]

What research I've done on the subject indicates that civil discussions on realistic solutions solving the problems with firearm overcommercialized proliferation and responsible firearm custodianship is rare and typically adversely contentious, leading to nothing other than more of the status quo.

[Human]

The problem as I see it is that there are just so many freaking gun sales year that even if the laws are 99.5% effective that still puts guns in the hands of too many people who should never have been allowed to buy them.

Case in point: In the Highland Park shooting, the shooter's father approved the sale of an assault weapon to his 17 year old son, despite the fact that the son had previously threatened to kill himself and his entire family (an incident the father characterized as "overblown" after his son killed 7 people). Police came to the family's home multiple times and confiscated numerous weapons.

Yet, because the shooting occurred after the son had turned 18, there appears to be no criminal liability for the father for approving the sale. Also, assault weapons are banned in Highland Park (one of the few cities in the US to have such a ban) but the seller sold the gun to the family despite them being residents of that town.

And this is just for legal gun sales. You could also just drive 20 miles to Chicago and buy who knows what on the streets.The point being, there are going to be far too many cases where sales will slip through the cracks and people will die as a result.

Just too damned many guns is the problem. It's a disease infecting the U.S. How long before someone you know is a victim of this disease? For me, that happened last July.

[Oerets]

If having more guns would make a person safer. Then why would not more countries owning nukes make the world safer?

The problem is that there are many gun owners who will never harm another. They may well own tens of them and never use in anger or self defense. Then there is the few who have no place in a civil society owning deadly weapons.

The issue should be how to keep them out of the hands of those few. Licensing registration training may not cure the problem. Until it is tried we will never know.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by barbara

I know many of you guys support gun ownership in general. But What do you think about the ban on assault weapons that Biden is trying to get Congress to act on?

The only gun ownership I would support, and which I believe is right in line with the Second Amendment, would be for long barreled hunting rifles and shotguns. Single shot only, no magazines, no tube magazines, no revolving cylinders. Break down or other types of single round loading only.

Thorough, agonizing background checks, which would disqualify the usual suspects, felons, and anybody who has ever had an order of protection from them approved by the court. Hideously expensive license cost. And...anyone owning a hunting firearm, must also have a current, active federal hunting license which is hideously expensive and also requires thorough background checks. If the hunting license lapses, the ATF comes to your home and confiscates your firearms until you renew your hunting license. You have six months to renew, or your firearms are melted down.

Obviously possession of anything else, including assault rifles and handguns would be illegal. All the data shows a significant decrease in firearms homicides during the assault weapons ban.

Nobody's grandfathered in. Possession of unlicensed firearms is illegal. No screwing around, no appeals, no excuses, no ignorance. Get caught...first offense five years. Second offense fifteen years. Third offense...bye, bye.

[Oerets]

Being a realist at heart and knowing in this country for as long as there are free elections. That politicians wanting to be elected will never completely enact a close to total ban.

That now stated my hope is the leaders will go instead for laws to screen for the ones who should not own weapons. Do proper training and tracking of the firearms in the country.

The ship has sailed on eliminating so controlling them are steps towards reducing violence forward.