Read this and email this idiot....I know I did!!!
OMMENTARY
Logic is lacking in our gun laws
By MIKE HENDRICKS
Columnist
Related Content
* Massacre weighs on veto override
My fellow gun owners tell me that our firearms laws are too complex.
I agree, especially given my trouble understanding the laws in Virginia. The proof is a correction on Page A2 in today’s paper.
Yes, if it were up to me, I’d simplify things. Make me king, and our gun laws would be plainer.
First, I’d make it illegal for private citizens to possess a handgun, be it a tiny one that fits in your sock or a Glock 9 mm semi-automatic, like the one used in the Virginia Tech massacre.
Want to target shoot? Make law enforcement your career or join the Army.
Same for rapid-fire long guns. Only commandos need guns that fire off multiple rounds in quick succession. To protect home and hearth, a hunting rifle or a pump shotgun like mine will suffice.
To encourage compliance, I’d impose severe penalties. First offense — 10 years. Second offense, 20. After that, life at hard labor and no chance of parole, whether the culprit was a gang-banger, backwoods survivalist or president of the NRA.
Of course, that’s not the way the wind is blowing.
Dozens of states have passed laws that effectively promote a domestic arms buildup. And like most other gun regulations, those concealed-carry laws are equally convoluted and often bear little logic when it comes to specifying where hidden firearms are allowed.
Take Kansas, where it’s only getting worse.
Next week, the Legislature returns to Topeka for the annual wrap-up session. Among lawmakers’ unfinished business is an attempt to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ veto of House Bill 2528.
You can read it and assorted documents here: http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-bills/searchBillNumber.do
But what 2528 mostly does is deny local governments the authority to add their own gun restrictions to the many the state has on its books.
For instance, some cities in Johnson County figured they deserved the same rights as other property owners to prohibit weapons on their premises. So Roeland Park, Olathe and others tried to prohibit weapons in parks and other city properties.
Sorry, cities, but that’s too confusing for gun owners licensed to carry concealed firearms, say the bill’s backers. After all, the so-called Personal and Family Protection Act already had more than 20 statewide exemptions where concealed weapons are prohibited. Polling places, libraries and churches, for example.
Adding new restrictions on a town-by-town basis would put too many gun owners unknowingly in danger of arrest, it was said. And what’s more important, after all, the rights of gun owners or the rights of people who might be killed or injured by an errant bullet?
So lawmakers passed a bill this year that forbids local governments from writing their own rules. And in the process of trying to clarify the rules, they only made things more complex, according to the governor.
“The bill is flawed,” Don Moler at the Kansas League of Municipalities told me.
Sure is, and no one denies it. Not even the chief architect of the legislation, Sen. Phil Journey of Haysville.
“There are a lot of moving parts,” he said.
I’ll say there are. Let’s see: State law already prohibits concealed weapons in bars (because guns and alcohol don’t mix). Also no guns at the State Fair (because there are large crowds and children around).
But under the new bill, cities would not be allowed to ban guns from city festivals, which are crowded (with kids and adults) and are sometimes well-oiled with alcohol. (Come to the Lenexa Barbecue Battle if you have doubts on this latter point.)
So obviously that part of the bill fails the logic test. Likewise, concealed weapons are now prohibited at school-sponsored sporting events. Yet under 2528, the whole crowd could be packing at a youth sporting tournament — so long as it isn’t school-sponsored — in a public park.
“The bill is a significant step forward, but they’re never perfect,” Journey said.
He’s got that right. Yet, Journey predicts an easy veto override, since one thing the bill also would do is tighten the reporting requirements that supposedly keep someone with mental problems from obtaining a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
In light of the horror in Blacksburg, Va., I can’t argue with that. But it’s clear that fixes are necessary, whether or not Sebelius’ veto stands.
“I’m certainly willing to look at this issue against next year,” Journey said.
To reach Mike Hendricks, call (816) 234-7708, or send e-mail to [email protected].
OMMENTARY
Logic is lacking in our gun laws
By MIKE HENDRICKS
Columnist
Related Content
* Massacre weighs on veto override
My fellow gun owners tell me that our firearms laws are too complex.
I agree, especially given my trouble understanding the laws in Virginia. The proof is a correction on Page A2 in today’s paper.
Yes, if it were up to me, I’d simplify things. Make me king, and our gun laws would be plainer.
First, I’d make it illegal for private citizens to possess a handgun, be it a tiny one that fits in your sock or a Glock 9 mm semi-automatic, like the one used in the Virginia Tech massacre.
Want to target shoot? Make law enforcement your career or join the Army.
Same for rapid-fire long guns. Only commandos need guns that fire off multiple rounds in quick succession. To protect home and hearth, a hunting rifle or a pump shotgun like mine will suffice.
To encourage compliance, I’d impose severe penalties. First offense — 10 years. Second offense, 20. After that, life at hard labor and no chance of parole, whether the culprit was a gang-banger, backwoods survivalist or president of the NRA.
Of course, that’s not the way the wind is blowing.
Dozens of states have passed laws that effectively promote a domestic arms buildup. And like most other gun regulations, those concealed-carry laws are equally convoluted and often bear little logic when it comes to specifying where hidden firearms are allowed.
Take Kansas, where it’s only getting worse.
Next week, the Legislature returns to Topeka for the annual wrap-up session. Among lawmakers’ unfinished business is an attempt to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ veto of House Bill 2528.
You can read it and assorted documents here: http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-bills/searchBillNumber.do
But what 2528 mostly does is deny local governments the authority to add their own gun restrictions to the many the state has on its books.
For instance, some cities in Johnson County figured they deserved the same rights as other property owners to prohibit weapons on their premises. So Roeland Park, Olathe and others tried to prohibit weapons in parks and other city properties.
Sorry, cities, but that’s too confusing for gun owners licensed to carry concealed firearms, say the bill’s backers. After all, the so-called Personal and Family Protection Act already had more than 20 statewide exemptions where concealed weapons are prohibited. Polling places, libraries and churches, for example.
Adding new restrictions on a town-by-town basis would put too many gun owners unknowingly in danger of arrest, it was said. And what’s more important, after all, the rights of gun owners or the rights of people who might be killed or injured by an errant bullet?
So lawmakers passed a bill this year that forbids local governments from writing their own rules. And in the process of trying to clarify the rules, they only made things more complex, according to the governor.
“The bill is flawed,” Don Moler at the Kansas League of Municipalities told me.
Sure is, and no one denies it. Not even the chief architect of the legislation, Sen. Phil Journey of Haysville.
“There are a lot of moving parts,” he said.
I’ll say there are. Let’s see: State law already prohibits concealed weapons in bars (because guns and alcohol don’t mix). Also no guns at the State Fair (because there are large crowds and children around).
But under the new bill, cities would not be allowed to ban guns from city festivals, which are crowded (with kids and adults) and are sometimes well-oiled with alcohol. (Come to the Lenexa Barbecue Battle if you have doubts on this latter point.)
So obviously that part of the bill fails the logic test. Likewise, concealed weapons are now prohibited at school-sponsored sporting events. Yet under 2528, the whole crowd could be packing at a youth sporting tournament — so long as it isn’t school-sponsored — in a public park.
“The bill is a significant step forward, but they’re never perfect,” Journey said.
He’s got that right. Yet, Journey predicts an easy veto override, since one thing the bill also would do is tighten the reporting requirements that supposedly keep someone with mental problems from obtaining a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
In light of the horror in Blacksburg, Va., I can’t argue with that. But it’s clear that fixes are necessary, whether or not Sebelius’ veto stands.
“I’m certainly willing to look at this issue against next year,” Journey said.
To reach Mike Hendricks, call (816) 234-7708, or send e-mail to [email protected].
