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Kirata -> RE: Oregon Shooter had fifteen firearms (10/12/2015 12:31:01 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tweakabellequote:
ORIGINAL: Kirataquote:
ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
If the pro-gun lobby are as serious about reducing the levels of gun violence as they insist they are, then they must accept this responsibility, as indeed must all sectors of US life
We already have laws against illegal possession and trafficking. But in many states the penalties for illegal possession are trivial, and too little effort is made to track down the traffickers and prosecute them. The problem lies where it always has, with our legislatures. You won't find any law-abiding gun owners objecting to stiffer penalties and more enforcement. Every time some new gun law is proposed, they're the first to suggest that we enforce the ones we already have.
Now this is something that mystifies me. You are asserting that the pro-gun lobby doesn't have a problem with existing laws being enforced rigourously. I doubt if the anti-gun people would have any problem with that. So it would appear that this is a change to the status quo that all parties can support.
You'd think so.
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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
The obvious question to me is : Why isn't this happening now? An earlier post stated that the registration and checking system was grossly underfunded. Is this the case? Given the NRA's undoubted clout in Congress, is it pressuring its 'friends'in Congress to fund existing programs? If not why not? Why, in your view are the legislatures responsible? I note that in one of your links, the Obama Administration is blamed, yet Republicans control Congress which in turn controls the purse strings as I understand it. So why isn't the GOP pushing it? Is this anything more than rhetoric and blame-shifting?
In my estimation, money is more important than lives these days. This came up in one of the other threads. Yes, NICS is underfunded and broken. And our criminal justice system is notorious for plea-bargaining. Get a confession to lesser charge, you chalk up a clearance and save the often exorbitant cost of a trial. This results in the perp being back on the street in short order, doing good to one and all. Too, investing time and manpower in tracking back the chain of possession of illegal firearms also costs money. So again, it's money over lives.
You mention the NRA, but the NRA's mission is defending gun rights, not lobbying for criminal justice reform. They're far from silent about the need for it, however, and the trade organization for the firearms industry has been trying to get NICS fixed for some time. They've even fund a website devoted to the effort. Why doesn't anything happen? Money. It's ever so much cheaper to just stir up people's emotions and pass another "feel good" law that will have no measurable effect on violent crime.
quote:
ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
It does seem to me that if there is an area where all agree, then that is one way of moving this whole sorry situation forward. After a few years, everyone will be in a position to judge whether existing laws enforced rigourously has achieved a significant reduction in gun violence. If it works then terrific - job done! If it doesn't then the case for furher legisalation will be indisputable.
I couldn't agree more.
K.
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