the field negro is not happy with the the D.C. gun ban decision. It looks like his crew disagrees...like most Black folks I know, everyone wants a gun because everyone has a gun. But one person said
Your argument goes only half way (the easy half). Many people would LOVE to see guns gone from our society.
TELL US YOUR PLAN FOR REMOVING THEM.
Its easy to sit back and say "guns are bad, more guns are worse" A little harder to have a workable plan to take them away.
Here's a physical fact. You can't take everyone's guns away. You have to just put that thought out of your mind. At this point, all you can do is mitigate the damage. Two methods come to mind: economic incentives and personal responsibility.
First, the economic incentives.
I know I'm not the first to link Mr. Rock in connection with this but he's actually hit on the solution. The classic economic method to encourage or discourage behavior is via taxation. I don't think there's any way to prevent New York City, say, from charging a $10 per round ammunition tax, proceeds to fund public hospitals. You can even make it kick in based on volume.
A huge underground market will develop, of course. This is where personal responsibility kicks in. We go back to 2004:
Calif. Proposal Would Laser-Brand ID Number on Bullets
Wed Oct 6, 2004 08:43 PM ETLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's attorney general wants to crack down on gun violence by laser-branding all handgun bullets sold in the state with tiny identification numbers nearly invisible to the naked eye.
The controversial proposal could open the way for the next major debate over gun control in California, a state that already has some of the toughest such laws in the United States.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer is expected to discuss his proposal at a meeting on gun crime on Thursday with Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn and a citizens group, an aide said on Wednesday.
Under the plan, all ammunition sold in California would have a serial number etched by laser on the bullet and casing. Bullets without such micro-markings, including those from outside the state, would be barred by law, with some exceptions for sport shooters who make their own ammunition.
No other U.S. state requires microscopic identification numbers to be etched on bullets, although similar technology is used to brand airplane and auto parts, backers of the proposal said.
This takes regulation off the backs of law-abiding citizens and doesn't interfere with any lawful use of your weapon. A key point in favor of this is the technology for branding each round already exists. A bar-code based identification and point of sale system can connect each round with the credit card or state-issued id used to purchase it, and the government's authority over interstate commerce means they can require licensed dealers to use the system.
This central point of sale system could operate the way Medicare payment authorization works at the drug store. It checks a central system to make sure you can't refill a prescription before the current allotment is used up. Each state can set its own monthly ammunition allotment, above which the bulk purchase tax kicks in.
The system would insure every round used to kill or injure someone could be traced back to the last legal purchaser. If the shot was not justifiable, that will be a criminal or someone who sells ammunition to criminals illegally. In either case, it would be someone you want to talk to, and personal responsibility is irrevocably established.
So what do you think?
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Newsvine
Furl
Google
Yahoo
i think this is worth saving
i think this is worth saving and storing for a minor project i've been working on. an excellent idea.
Yeah, I like this idea, too.
Yeah, I like this idea, too.
It's a good Idea, But.....
Being someone who is a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and happy with the Court's ruling on DC's gun ban I do agree with this idea. I am sympathetic to the reasons. But for years I've been predicting to fellow legal eagles that if DC's - and Chicago's - gun bans were ever challenged they would be overturned, as they should be. (I live in Chicago.)
But there are very pracrical problems with it:
First, in order for such laws to be successful every state would have to pass such laws, for obvious reasons. And 2nd, as stated, this would blast gun ammo wide open to the black market WITH ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO REGULATE OR TRACK AMMO PRODUCERS. Not only can one buy the kits at any gunshop or online, the kits and necessary tools are easy to make AT HOME. I recently saw one at a local pawn shop for less than $100. And i doubt any conservative or even moderate state pass such a law.
Like a I said, I agree with the reasons for such an idea. I just din't see how, practically, it can be done.
First, in order for such
No state NEEDS to pass any new law. Only those who want to cut back on gun use for criminal purposes needs to implement a bulk ammo tax.
The producers are easiest to track, with laser engraving of serial numbers on the shells and casings. And truthfully, I'm not but so worried about hand loaders. They don't produce enough to keep criminals supplied. And honestly, we DO catch some of them not. If you commit a crime using unengraved rounds, we're talking serious premeditation...grounds for murder 1.
The idea isn't to stop people for buying ammunition totally, just to make them not stockpile the stuff. And to make every round traceable to SOMEONE...that someone's jobs is then seriously to keep them out of dirty hands.
All hands on deck, as Obama says. Enforce the existing laws, as the NRA says
I get what you ar saying,
I get what you ar saying, P6. I'd go along with such engraving measures. Thinking legally, I don't see why it wouldn't pass constitutional muster. I'm not aware of any legal bases the Justices would use to overturn such laws, though I'm still researching. But my overall point here is that I don't see how such laws could be passed. There are just too many political and economic barriers which would make it impossible to pass such engraving laws.
"No state NEEDS to pass any new law. Only those who want to cut back on gun use for criminal purposes needs to implement a bulk ammo tax."
Only California has such engraving laws, and they only apply to new hand guns. This is good for California but what of the other 49 states that do not have such laws on the book? Whats stopping criminals from crossing over to neighboring states with lax gun laws to buy guns and unengraved ammo to bring back to California for nefarious purposes? I agree with the engraving measures and ammo tax; but how do we get states to go along with them? The engraving measure would no doubt be a state law, which will ultimately raise taxes in one way or another. And I don't think there is a state - or its people - that would go along with a ammo tax so hefty, if at all.
"They don't produce enough to keep criminals supplied."
True. But there simply isn't a need for criminals to go to home ammo producers for their ammo. So there is no need for a black market, currently. Like I said, I don't think this could be done.
Only California has such
I actually don't know if they passed it in California. But at any rate we're talking bullets, not guns. We're not touching or changing anyone's gun. We're not limiting their purchases...if they are a collector it's their business, whichthey need not explain.
The engraving measure must be federal law, as must the tracking of purchases of ammunition. The federal government's authority over interstate commerce gives it the power to mandate it. Tell you the truth, the tax part is optional, I just like the idea of the people who cause the damage footing the bill.
And again, it's a bulk ammo tax I'm suggesting, and that would be strictly local. New York City may charge the tax after 50 rounds per month, Albany may choose 100, Kentucky may choose 500. As long as the last legal purchaser of each round can be identified, you not only get the criminal shooters, you get the people that sell to criminal shooters.
The technology exists to do this...if it can't be done it's due to lack of will.
The "lack of will" is just
The "lack of will" is just it. The nation doesn't have the will nor desire for such laws, state or federal. An engraving measure might be possible with a veto proof Democratic Senate. But I think even with a Democratic Senate there would be enough Blue dogs and Rep. that would filibuster it to death. it will never get out of the Senate. And good luck on a tax. I don't think the nation will distinguish gun from ammo.
The nation doesn't have the
The nation didn't have the will to end segregation either.