Gun Control

[Emptymag]

Ammo background check?

Sure, I'll buy all the ammo I can afford, and then... anyone care to guess how much ammo I could sell "on the streets", to legitimate, honest, normally law-abiding people who will not be subjected to such an intrusive government "checklist" of who buys what ammo, and how much of it?

OK, I wouldn't do it, but just like any other "regulated" item, it would not be difficult to obtain. ExCop, maybe I'm missing something, but since you already know that firearms may be obtained through illegal channels, I'm not sure how you hadn't considered this.

Honestly, the "licensing"/"checking"/"registration"/"tracking" of AMMO would be somewhat of a dream victory for those who desire nothing more than to disarm EVERYONE, for exactly the reasons you initially stated...

what good is a handgun without the ammunition

Nothing wrong with trying to stop crime, but to do so by restricting "the rest of us", is... well, not acceptable.

I'm not even going to attempt to address the "mental" issue... it's been hashed out here before and all I can say is that it is not a simple matter at all.
God help ALL of us when each of us begin to be "rated" and "charted" somewhere in a government database based on some "score" on a mental stability test. If we allow this to happen, we have a LOT more to worry about than our gun rights.

[pirateron]

WOW FRENCHY!!!
We can blame a whole slew of todays society problems on the health care industry. They have all kinds of pills to cure all kinds of ills except for the ills that bring them the most money. ie, cancer, aids, obesity etc.. They say they have a pill to cure depression but they can't grow hair on my head???? Friggin Doctors...

[ExCopInPhilly]

Originally Posted by Emptymag

Ammo background check?

Sure, I'll buy all the ammo I can afford, and then... anyone care to guess how much ammo I could sell "on the streets", to legitimate, honest, normally law-abiding people who will not be subjected to such an intrusive government "checklist" of who buys what ammo, and how much of it?

OK, I wouldn't do it, but just like any other "regulated" item, it would not be difficult to obtain. ExCop, maybe I'm missing something, but since you already know that firearms may be obtained through illegal channels, I'm not sure how you hadn't considered this.

Honestly, the "licensing"/"checking"/"registration"/"tracking" of AMMO would be somewhat of a dream victory for those who desire nothing more than to disarm EVERYONE, for exactly the reasons you initially stated... Nothing wrong with trying to stop crime, but to do so by restricting "the rest of us", is... well, not acceptable.

I'm not even going to attempt to address the "mental" issue... it's been hashed out here before and all I can say is that it is not a simple matter at all.
God help ALL of us when each of us begin to be "rated" and "charted" somewhere in a government database based on some "score" on a mental stability test. If we allow this to happen, we have a LOT more to worry about than our gun rights.

Ok, I have rethought the position on the ammo check, and agree with everyone who has rsponded. Maybe that was the old cop way of thinking, which is make things harder to get and hope it changes things, but you're right, it will only serve to hurt all of us. We all know that the anti's would like to take away guns from everyone, but what can we do to get the guns AND ammunition out of the hands of the criminals?

[WhiteWolf]

To re-state something from my previous post, what gives you me or this government the right to take weapons away from "criminals"?

If they aren't in jail, i.e. they have served their time, where do we have the right to say they can't defend themselves. Are they no longer one of "the people" anymore? We know that no law can possibly keep a law breaker from breaking the law and obtaining a firearm. All laws concerning firearms only serve to limit those that have no intent to do anything against the law.

You cannot legislate a perfect society. At least in this one we can protect ourselves. Take away that basic right, and what follows is slavery, either to the government or to the criminal organizations that will refuse to obey our laws anyway.

[RoyJackson]

but what can we do to get the guns AND ammunition out of the hands of the criminals?

No quick fix, unfortunately...

It took years of not enforcing the laws and allowing a revolving door criminal justice system to create this monster in Philadelphia. People don't respect the laws or law enforcement. So, there's a cultural issue to address...and Street, Johnson, Rendell aren't the ones with the credibility to fix it.

However, until you make the penalty for a crime severe enough that it isn't worth the risk, the thugs are going to continue doing what they're doing...
Until a cop or DA can do their job without being called a racist or picking on "poor deprived youth", this problem won't go away.

I hate the idea of mandatory sentencing and draconian laws...hate it with a passion. But I'm beginning to see the need for it.
There is a Jewish group in New Haven, Conneticut (I THINK it's there) setting up armed neighbor watches. Well, maybe it's time the folks (not the public officials) did the same thing.

[RocketFoot]

[Sarcastic tone] I wonder if ammo will be cheaper IF there was a background check before ammo purchases? [/Sarcastic tone]

Yet another dumb ass idea brought to you from the demo/lib/anti camp!

[Karys]

Originally Posted by ExCopInPhilly

...but what can we do to get the guns AND ammunition out of the hands of the criminals?

Right now the only thing we can do is lock them up. We can go around and around on how to prevent criminals from posessing firearms and ammunition and every solution involves further restrictions on the rights of law abiding citizens.

The only thing that has been proven to reduce crime is to remove the criminals from society. I'm all for the building of new prisons and longer and harsher sentences for violent criminals. Not only will longer sentences and mandatory minimums reduce crime, because the criminals will not be out on the street, but eventually, they will serve as a deterrent.

[dgg9]

Originally Posted by ExCopInPhilly

what can we do to get the guns AND ammunition out of the hands of the criminals?

Nothing. Commodity prohibitions have always falied and will always fail. Criminals are highly motivated to get weapons, AND they tend to see a stretch in prison as just another cost of doing business (to the extent they think about it at all).

[ExCopInPhilly]

Originally Posted by Karys

Right now the only thing we can do is lock them up. We can go around and around on how to prevent criminals from posessing firearms and ammunition and every solution involves further restrictions on the rights of law abiding citizens.

The only thing that has been proven to reduce crime is to remove the criminals from society. I'm all for the building of new prisons and longer and harsher sentences for violent criminals. Not only will longer sentences and mandatory minimums reduce crime, because the criminals will not be out on the street, but eventually, they will serve as a deterrent.

I couldn't agree more, but the reality is that the ACLU and other organizations feel as though it is wrong. I would love to see us free up some of the jail space that we have to lock up some of the more serious offenders for longer time, but that doesn't seem to be the way of the American judicial system. Nothing more frustrating than working hard to lock up a BG, and then when he gets to court, he gets a small sentence because of a plea or some other crap. Especially when the case is solid!

[dgg9]

Originally Posted by ExCopInPhilly

I couldn't agree more, but the reality is that the ACLU and other organizations feel as though it is wrong. I would love to see us free up some of the jail space that we have to lock up some of the more serious offenders for longer time, but that doesn't seem to be the way of the American judicial system. Nothing more frustrating than working hard to lock up a BG, and then when he gets to court, he gets a small sentence because of a plea or some other crap. Especially when the case is solid!

That problem is inter-related to the War on Drugs. A HUGE amount of the inherently limited CJS bandwidth is used up arresting, trying, and locking up noon-violent drug offenders. As a direct result, the real criminals know that the odds of them doing hard time for a violent offense are low, so they play the odds.