The Gun Control Debate Thread

[China]

 

 

 

 

 

Wait, so guns don't make you safe and feel safe?

[Cooked Crack]

I also flee to a yacht after mass shooting events just like every other red blooded American.

[visionary]

 

[Larry]

I anticipate a lot of people who will be on opposite sides, when it comes to this law, as opposed to "sanctuary cities"  

[China]

Biden to unveil long-awaited executive action on guns

 

President Joe Biden will unveil a package of executive actions to curb gun violence on Thursday — a step that is likely to be cheered by increasingly impatient advocates despite being relatively modest in scope.

 

The announcement will come nearly three months into Biden’s term, a delay that had frustrated activists who wanted the president to fulfill a campaign pledge to take action on gun violence on his first day in office. That frustration only grew after a slate of mass shootings in Colorado, Georgia and California.

 

“The president will not wait for Congress to act before the administration takes our own steps — solely within the administration’s authority and the Second Amendment — to save lives,” a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday evening.

 

Among the actions Biden will take will be to direct the Department of Justice to begin, within 30 days, the process of requiring buyers of so-called ghost guns — homemade or makeshift firearms that lack serial numbers — to undergo background checks and, within 60 days, regulating concealed assault-style firearms, according to the White House.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[TheGreatBuzz]

So from what I am hearing, it sounds like these EOs are really just going to be to make proposed rules and legislation.  Am I hearing this right?

 

When I had initially heard the EOs were coming, I figured they would be taken to court immediately.  And I kind of disagreed with the attempt to change the laws through an EO.  So I guess they had the same thought?

[Burgold]

1 hour ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

So from what I am hearing, it sounds like these EOs are really just going to be to make proposed rules and legislation.  Am I hearing this right?

 

When I had initially heard the EOs were coming, I figured they would be taken to court immediately.  And I kind of disagreed with the attempt to change the laws through an EO.  So I guess they had the same thought?

I think that's true of most of them. That's the sense I get. I think the stuff immediately enacted sounds like the government will begin collecting data and studying the issue to make sure it is understood from a modern context.

 

The proposals left me hopeful, impatient, and doubtful. Like everyone else, I'm doubtful real reform can happen within the obstructive reality we are a part of.

[tshile]

Kind of like Obama’s EO’s. 
 

which I actually liked but weren’t really gun control. 
 

and yeah I’m not cool with legislating via EO. Don’t care what the topic is. 

[visionary]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[TradeTheBeal!]

 

[China]

I'll never understand incidents like this.  Doesn't the gun need to be cleared of all rounds before it can be properly cleaned?  There really needs to be some mandatory training and licensure for gun ownership.

 

Fla. Mom of 4 Is Accidentally Killed by Her Neighbor, Whose Gun Discharged While He Was Cleaning It

 

A mother of four was shot in the head by a neighbor who said his gun accidentally went off while he was cleaning it, according to Florida authorities.

 

Jennifer Edelen, 47, was killed inside her Jacksonville home on Sunday, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office confirms.

 

Edelen's youngest child called 911 for help at about 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

 

The child believed that the gunshot was thunder and lightning initially.

 

Officers arrived to find that Edelen was already dead.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Larry]

 

[visionary]

 

[Cooked Crack]

Can sleep better knowing no one will be challenging me to a duel this week.

 

 

[Captain Wiggles]

[China]

Good, law abiding citizens...

 

Vermont firearms training center owner says he won't comply with order to shut down

 

A Vermont firearms training center owner says he does not plan to comply with a court order to take down parts of the facility that were built without obtaining the proper permits.

A Vermont Environmental Court order issued in March demanded that Daniel Banyai end training activities on the center’s property, have the structures surveyed and remove any parts of the center that were developed without permits, according to The Associated Press. 

 

However, Banyai said during a weekend event at the center, Slate Ridge Vermont, that he is looking for “the proper constitutional attorney” to appeal the order. 

 

“We are not going to do that,” Banyai said when asked about the order, which he has until May 5 to appeal. 

 

“We have not done anything wrong, we haven’t done anything illegal,” he argued. 

 

Banyai said the facility, which also offers lessons in first aid and “anything to do with the outdoors and firearms,” was a safe and environmentally friendly place for local residents to shoot their weapons, the AP reported.

 

However, some community members have complained about the gunfire, and have also alleged that they have received threats from Banyai and his supporters. 

 

The town of Pawlet, about 50 miles northeast of Albany, N.Y., and home to about 1,300 people, requested that a judge hold Banyai in contempt for failing to comply with the court order by holding the event last weekend, called a 2nd Amendment Picnic.

 

The AP noted that several attendees shot handguns, as well as AR-15 rifles on a firing range. 

 

The outlet reported that Banyai was fined $46,000 for failing to comply with the order for his 30-acre property, which the news agency noted is only allowed to have a garage with an apartment. 

 

However, since opening the training facility in 2017, Banyai added a 500-square-foot structure and several outdoor shooting ranges. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Kansas governor rejects bill to lower concealed carry age to 18

 

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoed legislation on Friday that would have lowered the legal age to carry concealed weapons to 18 years old.

 

In a statement posted to Twitter, Kelly said that House Bill 2058 would allow more guns on school campuses, which would drive potential students away.

 

“Throughout my time in public office, I have been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and of Kansans’ right to own firearms,” Kelly said. 

 

“But we can respect and defend the rights of Kansas gun owners while also taking effective steps to keep our children and families safe,” she continued. “Legislation that allows more guns on campus is neither safe nor effective, and it will drive prospective students away from our schools.”

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Gun crazy: For too many Americans, guns are tied to masculinity, patriotism and white power

 

New research suggests that for many white men, owning a gun is a mark of "good citizenship" — and racial conflict
 

Too many Americans love guns more than they do other human beings.

 

There have been at least 50 mass shootings in America since the massacre and apparent hate crime attack against Asian Americans in the Atlanta area on March 16.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has done nothing to stop America's addiction to gun violence. Writing at the Nation, Tom Engelhardt explains, "In the first 73 days of Joe Biden's presidency, there were five mass shootings and more than 10,000 gun-violence deaths. In the Covid-19 era, this has been the model the world's 'most exceptional' nation (as American politicians of both parties used to love to call this country) has set for the rest of the planet. Put another way, so far in 2020 and 2021, there have been two pandemics in America, Covid-19 and guns."

 

Too many Americans love guns even more than money. It is estimated that gun violence costs the United States at least $150 billion a year.

 

New research from University of Illinois-Chicago political scientists Alexandra Filindra, Beyza Buyuker and Noah J. Kaplan offers insights into these connections between gun ownership, white masculinity, racism and patriotism.

 

In an essay for the Washington Post, they elaborate:

 

Quote

With two mass shootings in one week, in Georgia and Colorado, the United States is again discussing how to prevent gun violence. Within hours of the Boulder shooting, President Biden urged Congress to enact a ban on assault-style weapons. Recent history suggests that no such law will materialize. Studies find that gun rights supporters are highly politically organized and unwavering on their views, while gun regulation supporters are not.

 

Our research found a reason for this difference: racial differences in rates of gun ownership and beliefs about guns. White Americans are far more likely than any other group to own firearms and oppose gun regulations. To them, guns are potent political symbols. For many people, especially White Americans, guns are integral to who they are as citizens and what it means to be a good citizen.

 

Our data also show that Whites, and especially White men, are the demographic group most likely to associate gun ownership with good citizenship. Specifically, our 2015 nationally representative survey of 1,900 Americans, conducted by YouGov, found that 43 percent of Whites but only 23 percent of African Americans view owning a gun as a sign of good citizenship. That gap persists when we compare White and Black men and even White and Black men who live in gun-owning households.

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[TheGreatBuzz]

Supreme Court To Take Up 1st Major Gun Rights Case In More Than A Decade

Quote

In a major foray into gun rights, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a case testing how far states may go in regulating whether an individual may carry a gun outside the home.

More than a decade ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms guarantees the right to own a gun in one's home for self-defense. But since then, despite repeated pleas from gun rights' advocates, the court majority has declined to make any further decision about how far states may go in regulating gun rights. 

Now, however, the court, in NY State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Corlett, will review a New York law, upheld by the lower courts, that requires individuals to get a license to carry a concealed gun outside the home. The case will likely be argued in the fall.

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/26/990846329/supreme-court-to-take-up-first-major-gun-rights-case-in-more-than-a-decade  

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Captain Wiggles]

 

[China]

'Eye-popping numbers': Chicago sues Indiana gun store tied to 850 firearms recovered from crime scenes

 

The city of Chicago filed a lawsuit Monday against a northern Indiana gun store it claims is one of the main sources of illicit firearms for the city's criminal market.

 

Westforth Sports, Inc. in Gary, Indiana, has "engaged in a pattern of illegal sales that has resulted in the flow of hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal firearms into the City of Chicago," according to the lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

 

The suit, filed with the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and the law firm Mayer Brown LLP, seeks "long overdue accountability" in the form of unspecified damages and an order requiring the store to cease practices contributing to gun trafficking.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Florida Legislature OKs carrying guns at churches with schools

 

A proposal that would let people with concealed weapons licenses pack heat at churches or other religious institutions that share properties with schools is heading to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

 

The Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday voted 24-16 along party lines to give final approval to the measure (HB 259), which passed the House last month. DeSantis’ office did not immediately reply to a question about whether the governor will sign the bill.

 

Florida law generally allows people to carry concealed weapons at churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious institutions, but it bars being armed on school properties. That leads to people being prevented from carrying guns on properties shared by religious institutions and schools.

 

Senate sponsor Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, said the bill closes a “loophole.”

 

Click on the link for the full article