I Am Livid

I am livid. I am incensed. I could not be more upset by today’s defeat of the already compromised gun bill background check amendment.

First things first. The right to bear arms is not absolute. You can’t buy a tank or mortar or go to the napalm store and stock up. Second Amendment rights are oversold.

I was for background checks before I read this morning’s NY Times. Then I found out about armslist.com.

Yes, there’s an online marketplace for guns. I’m not sure why I was surprised, but I was. There are no background checks nor do you have to register your purchase.

The Times quickly found a felon posting ads to buy. Is this really what we want?

Surveys show the vast majority of Americans want background checks. That majority holds for Republicans, Democrats, gun owners, even NRA members!

A majority of Senators voted in favor of checks today. That’s no longer enough. Majority rule has disappeared.

The NRA wields great power because they aggressively campaign against anyone they see as their enemy. Their money has been effective, and elected officials know it.

The only way to beat the NRA is to prove there’s a downside to today’s vote. Michael Bloomberg and friends will attempt to make that point in November 2014.

I have friends who are sportsmen and hunters. I have no desire to take away their guns.

I want purchases registered. I want trafficking stopped. I want majority rule returned to Congress. I want the NRA cut down to size.

Like I said, I’m livid.

12 thoughts on “I Am Livid”

  1. Geoff, I could not agree more. Since when does the minority rule? We have to take our government back from lobbyists like the NRA. I mean its just common sense that you should have a background check before being able to own a firearm. I stand with you and The POTUS I am so pissed off.

  2. I am with you and Debby, Geoff.

    This whole “Second Amendment” argument is for the birds. Existing gun owners are not going to be asked to go through background checks again. This only applies to purchases going forward. 99.7% of people who want to purchase will pass.
    This should have only required a simple majority to pass, not 60. That’s politics at its worst.

  3. I for one am glad it got defeated. Why should millions of law abiding citizens get punished because of the acts of a few crimminals? It is strange that the same people that wanted universal background checks get upset when you talk about requiring identification and citizenship to vote.
    I wonder if now there if be background checks to buy a pressure cooker?

    1. Charlie – The problem with voter identification isn’t that ID is needed, it’s the type of ID needed. They are often chosen to disproportionally disenfranchise minority voters–who tend to be Democrats.

      As for registering, we do it for cars and home sales without much trouble.

  4. What is the “punishment” to be inflicted upon law-abiding citizens — that they may have to wait 5 to 10 minutes for a background check to clear before they buy a gun? How long do we all wait at the DMV to register a vehicle? Seems like a very small sacrifice to ensure the safety of our children.

  5. Geoff, Susan and everyone else, I try to be understanding of the ignorant comments of anti gun people but enough is enough. You should be thrilled that the 2nd Amendment was protected today after all if this amendment can be violated or modified by the legislator what will prevent them from changing any other amendment.
    You are protected by the first amendment maybe we should change that and only allow people that have a license to write or say anything in public and if someone were to write offensive messages perhaps of a sexual nature we can jail them.

    There are existing background checks required when purchasing firearms from dealers and from internet sellers who must deliver firearms to a FFL for transfer. If people fall through the current system or if information is not current then fix the current system. And as for wait times the current system is easily overloaded resulting in long wait times. I personally have had wait times of over 2 hours of constant busy signals, that doesn’t sound instant to me.

    Even if the system was fixed and expanded it would do nothing to stop crime. All of the recent perpetrators of mass shootings either stole the weapons they used (Sandy Hook), or passed the background checks required for purchase. Combine that with the fact that only 44 people stopped from purchase were prosecuted last year and there is no indication that these laws prevent crime.

    I won’t even go into the fact that the numbers used by the anti-gun groups are based on a tiny survey done in 1997 before the Brady Laws created the background check system or that they ignore actual FBI data from criminals that says most of them use stolen firearms.

  6. The proposed gun control laws are not about safety. They are about control. If they really worked then Chicago would be a really safe haven. Yes we register cars but has that stopped drunk driving? The main purpose of registering cars and home sales is to collect taxes. Susan as to my reference earlier,
    who is going to do all those proposed background checks? Are they going to do them for free? I bet not therefore someone will be paying a fee or tax or fine to get the check made.

    1. Chicago says their problem is made worse by easy, unfettered access in Indiana. It’s the same way Connecticut kids used to drive to NY back when their legal age for drinking was 18.

      1. Good point Geoff. I really don’t understand the problem with background checks. I am not comfortable with the idea of so many people having access to guns. I mean, look at the way so many people drive – do we really want all these hotheads owning guns? As for loss of freedom – none of my friends in virtually gun free England are fretting about freedom loss.

  7. I’m upset too, but for different reasons. I’m OK with background checks, but we don’t have the text of the bill, so who knows what else was bundled in?
    Secondly, our mainstream media and our politicians have been parading the poor folks from Newtown around, and feeding them heaven only knows what information. If majority rules, then as sad as the events of December may be, 26 families do not get to dictate the way the rest of the 300 million Americans in this country are required to act.
    Finally, we can’t legislate crazy, but we need to hold people responsible. The Newtown shooter’s father knew he was unhinged; that’s why they didn’t live together. Why shouldn’t we hold him responsible for not attending to his son’s obvious needs?
    It’s not about the instruments; it’s about the people, and supporting community. That can’t be fixed by new laws.

  8. Gun owners should be required to carry mandatory multi-million dollar liability insurance. Failure to do so should result in jail time.That way if their weapons are misused they’re on the hook for their lack of personal responsibility. Let them convince insurance companies that their weapon storage is sufficient to keep their policies affordable.

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