Comments | wellarmedsmurf: change is good!

wellarmedsmurf

change is good!

Nov 07, 2008 13:12

Well, that didn't take long.

As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense ( Read more... )

Comments 10

xer0rules November 7 2008, 18:16:55 UTC

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. And he really didn't dodge the question, no one in the media asked him about it.

I'm not worried yet. There's a reason why the AWB didn't get renewed when they tried a few years back and I don't think it'll get renewed again.

wellarmedsmurf November 7 2008, 19:48:04 UTC

no one in the media asked him about it.
the media didn't push the issue, certainly. He commented on Heller before and after the decision however, and it was a brilliant bit of issue-dancing. ;)

bride2bee24 November 7 2008, 19:22:47 UTC

Ok, so I may be a dummy, but it seems to me that giving law enforcement the ability to track down the illegal guns traded would be smarter than sweeping gun control laws aimed at making it harder to obtain guns, which pro-gun people always say doesn't do anything but make it harder for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves.

What do you suggest is the best way to keep guns out of the hands of criminals while making sure law-abiding citizens can enjoy their second amendment right?

wellarmedsmurf November 7 2008, 19:53:42 UTC

you're making the mistake of believing the talking point PR, and not what these things really mean. police already have the ability to trace down guns used in a crime; the Tiahrt amendment means they can only request that information with some measure of evidence for an actual investigation and people can't just use the database for a fishing expedition...much like one can't just look through mental health or tax records hoping to find a lead ( ... )

bride2bee24 November 7 2008, 20:52:18 UTC

The right question is how do we prevent violent crime at all.I think improving education and fighting poverty would be a start. Crime is way more complicated than "bad guy gets gun, bad guy uses gun." There's all sorts of things that play into it, socioeconomic factors, educational factors, mental health care, biology, upbringing, etc. There's a root to the problem, just like terrorism. When people grow up in shitty conditions and are indoctrinated with hate and insane ideologies, is it any wonder they grow up to commit violent acts against others? I dunno, I think there's a lot to be said for programs (be it non-profit, religious, or governmental) that aim at early intervention for children who are clearly at risk to commit violent crimes if their situation doesn't improve. And then if that doesn't work, I'm a fan of making sure violent offenders aren't given a chance to do it again (ie, if you break into someone's home and rape them, you aren't out on parole in 2 years). It'd be nice if we could sterilize some pieces of shit who ( ... )

3fgburner November 7 2008, 23:00:31 UTC

Note that that's 21 years after Roe V Wade. Fewer unwanted kids being born. (paraphrasing from Freakonomics)

Thread 5

don't blame me, i voted libertarian. whiskyroses November 9 2008, 04:35:40 UTC

i've never met a democrat with a sensible idea for social policy regarding gun control... it always seems to come down to "i am angry about inanimate objects! ANGRY I SAY!"

[please note that by "democrat", i mean people who describe themselves as and consider themselves to be democrats, not just anyone who votes democrat occasionally.]

Re: don't blame me, i voted libertarian. wellarmedsmurf November 9 2008, 14:43:14 UTC

To be fair, there are pro-gun democrats (Jim Web, for example). But the party line is "Rabid anti gun". its a pity...I think if more democrats understood how gun control originated (stopping black people from having a gun) I would wager they'd be a little less for it...

Re: don't blame me, i voted libertarian. whiskyroses November 10 2008, 03:06:55 UTC

i don't know. middle-class white hysteria is alive and well, it just wears a more pc dress.

everyone i know who is pro-gun control is convinced that more guns on the streets mean that they are more likely to get shot. when you point out that the criminals already have guns, and we're just trying to arm the law abiding citizens now, they cover their ears and scream "LALALALALA gangs LALALALA delinquent children LALALALA suicide LALALALA inner city thugs!" and they are all, of course, aware, that those inner city people, thugs or otherwise, are mostly black.

i don't believe racism is the main component of the movement, anymore, but it's definitely still there. we're all just so bleeding politically correct that we say "inner city" instead of "black" these days.