As the law was about to sunset in 2004, a Department of Justice evaluation determined that if the ban were renewed, then its effects on gun violence would be “small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement”.
Advertisement
Schumer was part of a team of Democrats who tried to advance the proposal Tuesday, only to see Republicans oppose it with a measure of their own: Delay gun purchases by those named on the watch list for 72 hours, giving authorities time to establish whether the prospective purchaser is in fact a terrorist threat. Tougher gun control laws would have. Titled “End the Gun Epidemic in America”, the editorial notes that perpetrators of mass shootings in our nation can easily acquire “weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection”.
President Obama also called for legislation to ban assault weapons like the ones used in San Bernardino. But this is important: There has been “a remarkable decrease in violent crime and gun crime in the US since the early 1990s, even though the number of firearms has increased by about 10 million every year”, Center for Research in Crime and Justice Director James Jacobs told Time magazine. I am sick of seeing people hurt, maimed and killed at the hands of idiots, madmen and religious fanatics.
President Obama took to the airwaves Sunday night and called on Congress to enact stricter gun control laws, including prohibiting anybody on the so-called “no-fly” list from purchasing a firearm. If you insist on owning a hunting rifle or a handgun (for defense-totally ridiculous and just another manifestation of fear engendered by the NRA), you must go through the same steps: age-appropriate; physical ability (mental ability should be included); training; testing; and licensing for every single gun (make it expensive); and most importantly, each gun owner has to pay for high-value liability insurance for every gun he or she owns. The statement is of course cretin.
I’m not American, and as such I am admittedly detached from day-to-day life there. I felt virtuous because at least I was supporting something. Rather than seek answers for how to prevent gun-related suicides or how to develop storage mechanisms that will be effective and will be used by gun owners, the NRA has clung to a belief that ignorance is bliss.
Fact: Guns are inanimate objects. You will be much more likely to become the victim of an accidental wounding or death by firearm.
Democratic proposals for tighter gun control were also in trouble. Mass shootings, one after another – 355 this year alone. I wrongly equated semi-automatic weapons with automatic weapons. I still do not understand why anyone should be able to buy (or have access to) an assault weapon. Everything took only a couple of months to implement.
Advertisement
On the heels of a heavy political debate over the wisdom of allowing Syrian refugees to have refuge in our country we had a deadly attack on a group of innocent persons having a holiday party. Since 1996, the tally so far stands at zero. The gun homicide rate has dropped nearly in half. Are you in favor or against owning guns?
