The Boston Globe Lovejoys for gun rationing

[friendly_iconoclast]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/06/17/a_lethal_gun_battle/

A lethal gun battle
By Yvonne Abraham
Globe Columnist / June 17, 2010

Will it really kill legal gun owners if we restrict them to one gun purchase a month? It may kill children if we don’t....






Several readers noted that the straw sales Abraham decries are doubly (on both state and federal levels) illegal already. I guess if we make them super-duper triple illegal, crooks won't be able to buy guns.

Or something like that...

[krispos42]

1. How about 12 per calender year instead? n/t

[Euromutt]

3. It's funny that that's never an acceptable alternative

After all, a straw purchaser who can only buy 12 guns a year isn't much more use to a trafficker than one who can buy one gun at a time, but for some reason, the proponent of "one gun a month" laws insist it has to be one gun a month. Which tells you something right there, namely that it's not making purchases difficult for traffickers that they're interested in.

[Euromutt]

2. The piece reads like a goddamn Brady Campaign press release

It contains all the usual irrelevancies presented as "evidence," from the invocation of the Tiahrt Amendment as if it somehow prohibited the ATF and/or local law enforcement from publicly announcing arrests made in connection with suspected straw purchasing, to wailing about how "terrorist suspects" aren't prevented by NICS from buying firearms, blithely ignoring the fact that the term "terrorist suspect" has no legal meaning, and merely indicates someone whom the executive branch of government thinks might possibly be involved, however tangentially, with some group who might as some unspecified future date try to commit some unspecified act of terrorism. Or someone who has the same name as someone whom the executive branch thinks might possibly be involved etc.

Yussuf Islam (the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens) was labeled a "terrorist suspect" because he donated money to a Palestinian charity that was suspected of being tangentially linked to Hamas (probably true, but then, groups like Hamas and Hezbollah do fund and perform actual charity work as a means of gaining popular support, and there's no reason to assume Islam's donations was used for anything other than humanitarian aid). Catherine Stevens, wife of former Alaska senator Ted Stevens, was prevented from boarding a plane because she goes by the nickname "Cat" and "Cat Stevens" is a name on the "No Fly" list. The late senator Ted Kennedy was barred from flying because some suspected IRA member had once used the alias "T. Kennedy." A Marine reservist from Minnesota was placed on the "No Fly" list because gunpowder residue was detected on his boots when he was returning from a tour in Iraq (gee, a guy returning from a war zone has gunpowder residue on his uniform boots; whodathunkit?). That makes these people all "terrorist suspects."

[Remmah2]

4. Sigh

"Will it really kill legal gun owners if we restrict them to one gun purchase a month? It may kill children if we don’t."


Don't they care about adults who might get killed. The media is shameless.

[Callisto32]

5. This is as useless as "you can only own 6 guns" type restrictions I've heard proposed.

How can any person use more than 2 firearms at the same time? Beats me, too.

Just like almost everything else these people propose, this has nothing to do with guns and everything to do with control.

[spin]

7. Firearms are like screwdriver bits ....

both firearms and screwdrivers are tools and can be used for many different tasks. It's best to match the tool to the job.

A 44 magnum handgun or a 50 BMG rifle would be a poor choice for squirrel hunting while a .22 cal handgun or rifle would be a far better choice. A snub nose 38 cal revolver might be a poor choice for competitive target shooting while a Colt Gold Cup National Match .45 auto could do the job.






I have more than six guns, but I also have more than six jobs for my firearms to help me perform.

[gorfle]

6. How many people buy that many firearms anyway?

I'm lucky if I can buy one firearm every 5 years.

How many people are out there buying more than one firearm a month anyway?

[slackmaster]

8. The most I have bought at once is six

I collect them.

[spin]

9. The one time that I can think where that might benefit me is if ...

I bought or sold a collection of firearms.

I remember an individual who had a large collection of S&W revolvers many of which were rare and valuable. His collection included 20 or 30 different firearms. I doubt that if he ever wanted to sell me the collection, he would be willing to wait for 20 or 30 months. (I couldn't afford the collection anyhow.)

When I retired, I decided to sell some handguns which I rarely used. I had a friend and fellow shooter at work who was interested in five, which I sold to him for a good price. (He also had a concealed weapons permit, which is my requirement before I sell a handgun.)

[gorfle]

10. But these are private sales and unregulated anyway.

Private sales are unregulated anyway.

[spin]

11. That's a fair point ...

I have never purchased more than one gun a month at a dealer.

[Hoopla Phil]

13. For now. . .

but of course, we are only one "reasonable" gun law away from changing that.

[Hoopla Phil]

12. I bought eight at one time. All consecutive serial numbered.

When a special deal comes around there should not be some silly, stupid law (that only the law obeying will follow) in the way.

So exactly how many letters to the editor should a person be allowed to write? How many posts on internet forums does one person really NEED to make?

[oneshooter]

14. I have bought as many as 10 at a time.

When a national chain of sporting goods went belly up I bought 10 firearms from them at one time. These included 4 Swedish Mausers($70ea.), two 10/22 rifles($80ea), a Astra A-75 in 9mm, 2 S&W M411(1-4"&1-6"),and a Ruger Super Blackhawk 44mag 7 1/2" bbl. Filled out all of the paperwork, showed my CHL and paid cash. Out the door in 20min..

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[Hoopla Phil]

15. Don't ya just love that CHL exemption? I sure do!

[oneshooter]

16. Ya it's really nice!

I don't know how many states CHL allowes the same freedom. Texas has a very strict back ground check system.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[Taitertots]

17. I'd like to see how they calculated that this would save children

Something tells me they didn't. Which makes it convenient that they used the phrase "It may kill children". Sounds like baseless fear mongering.


What they don't tell you is that "Suspected Terrorists" is a group of over a million people that included the late Ted Kennedy.