What gun laws do you feel ARE appropriate?

[ditchdigger]

Who is responsible for determining who is a responsible gun owner?

 

[Blackbeard]

I'm ok with the no-guns-for-felons rule, ONLY because we release most felons way too early. If you get sentenced to 30 years and only serve 5, your gun rights should be gone for the full 30 years at least.

I also think the crimes for which one loses gun rights should be trimmed a bit. Take them away for offenses against people -- murder, assault, robbery, rape, selling drugs, etc. Do not take them away for "petty felonies" like posession of a lobster.

 

[Owens]

Sort of a difficult thing to answer fully. I tend to agree that there are too many on the books at present that are open to too much interpretation. Same holds true of most laws too.

If any firearm laws are based on 'competency', who determines that? Who sets the standards? Etc. Etc...

Felons: Rights probably shouldn't be removed if of a non-violent type. Violent types lose right for length of sentence, NOT just length of incarceration.

Who gets to own: At what age is good sense suddenly bestowed? I've seen the legal age for alcohol consumption changed several times from 21 to 18 to 19 to 21 again. No good sense seems to come with that. And your right, I don't have a clear answer for the age to own a firearm. I know it is not the same for everyone.

sigh....questions, but no clear answers.

 

[MiddleAgedKen]

I can't think of one offhand.

 

[csmkersh]

Who is responsible for determining who is a responsible gun owner?

Sadly, the same folks who'd like to disarm the law abiding.
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[moooose102]

use a firearm in a crime, go to jail. use a firearm in a felony, loose your life! the biggest problems we have concerning guns, is with the criminals using them. get rid of the criminals, get rid of the problems.

 

[ronwill]

Laws making it harsher on those who use firearms in a crime. Shall issue permit laws with background checks for violent crime and verified mental instability are acceptable. Unacceptable laws are those that restrict carry by law abiding citizens.

 

[mojohand]

I definately feel felons should not be allowed to own guns, especially since most crime is done by repeat offenders.

 

[K3]

I definately feel felons should not be allowed to own guns, especially since most crime is done by repeat offenders.

Let's say a released felon has a family. Should he not be able to effectively defend his family? Should his wife and children be potentially more at risk from a home invasion than your family or mine?

Is that OK with you and the others here on the felon shtick?

 

[TexasRifleman]

I definately feel felons should not be allowed to own guns, especially since most crime is done by repeat offenders.

What if the crime that made them a felon didn't involve any violence or guns in the first place? Some white collar CPA decides to do something dumb etc. Some dumb kid hacks into a website and gets nailed for it, cleans his act up and decides to become a computer security expert.

Are these people that should never again be allowed to own a firearm?

Hard for me to get to that in my mind.

 

[csmkersh]

Who here realizes that laws banning the possession of a firearm by a felon are ridiculous. If the felon want a gun, he'll get one.

The reformed felon, OTOH, is a potential victim especially if he was a hood-rat and now an ex-gang member. Fortunately, some states recognize a felon's right to self defense and allow a firearm to be kept at home.
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[JesseL]

Gun laws I would like to see:

• Firearms and ammunition are not to be taxed.
• Any man portable weapon system used by the military must be available on the civilian market for the same price paid by the military or better.
• Civilian possession of firearms shall be unimpeded in all publicly owned facilities and locations, except criminal detention centers.
• Any privately owned premises where the owner or operator prohibits possession of firearms shall be liable for the safety of visitors/patrons while on the premises and until they return to wherever their defensive firearms might be stored.

 

[IllHunter]

I have an idea...

After reading this thread, I suggest, instituting a universal draft. If you drop out of high school, 4 years required service. If you graduate 2 years min reqd. That's where you learn firearms, if not earlier, you also learn discipline. Any citizen over 18 buys what guns they desire/afford. Commit a felony, go to jail, come out, re-join society, vote and keep arms. Screw up again and go to jail, this time no restoration of rights upon release, if released.
We must recognize that society will re-form as citizens defend themselves and many of the stupid will die. We must harden our hearts as many will perish establishing the rule of law. Either by citizen or by government. Attempts to rob, rape or assault will be met with a trained cadre of armed citizens dedicated to freedom, goodness and right. The battle will take years as it has taken years to devolve from those days when we policed ourselves.
The government will not gently restore those police powers and we must consider the concept of a fight for those powers. We really don't need any gun laws, if you get down to it, we could do very well with just 10 commandments. Everythig else is man's attempt to split hairs. Let's get back to basics.

 

[Soybomb]

After reading this thread, I suggest, instituting a universal draft. If you drop out of high school, 4 years required service. If you graduate 2 years min reqd. That's where you learn firearms, if not earlier, you also learn discipline.

Land of the free 'eh?

Lets keep people who point guns at others out of malice in jail for a very long time. That should about cover it for me.

 

[JesseL]

After reading this thread, I suggest, instituting a universal draft.

Slavery is your fix?


Sorry, that's on my short list of things that I consider grounds for immediate revolt.

 

[csmkersh]

Originally Posted by IllHunter
After reading this thread, I suggest, instituting a universal draft.

Slavery is your fix?

No, but I do believe government service should be required to earn the right to vote. Not necessarily military service, but some service.

I do like your list of "gun laws." To me, it should be federal law that I may do anything I wish as long as it does not bring harm to another.

​

 

[ronnyreagan]

If a felon wants a gun, he'll get one.

The fact that people will break a law is not reason enough to do away with the law. Now if that law infringes your rights, that's a great reason to do away with it...

The reformed felon...

I think everyone agrees that reformed criminals deserve their rights back. The problem is that there is some difficulty determining whether they are "reformed" or not. The number of repeat offenders suggests to me that very few prisoners are being reformed.

recognize a felon's right to self defense

There's a pretty good chance they'll need to defend themselves at some point while in prison, but we're not going to let them have guns then are we? So if it's OK to deny them while in prison, why not for a probationary period after release? I think it's less of an infringement of their rights to deny them legal gun ownership for a time, than to keep them in prison for that same amount of time.

 

[Thernlund]

I read several people saying that a felon should still have the right to protect his family. As well, I hear that, laws be damned, if a felon wants a gun, he'll get one.

Fair enough. Now I' just throwing this out there, so everyone stay calm...

Maybe laws barring felons from having a gun is not to make us safe, or so that he can't absolutely get one. How about laws barring felons from having a gun as the remainder of their punishment. Sure they'll get one anyway. But such a law puts them on thinner ice. They can get in trouble for doing the same things you and I do all the time. Maybe a similar penalty if they're caught in line at a polling place, even just hanging with a buddy. Or make them retest every year for a drivers license, and pay whatever fee the test normally is for teens getting their first license. Put a wrinkle in their everyday lives for some predetermined period of time.

Their punishment. Not our fear. If they didn't want their rights infringed, they should not have become a felon.


-T.

 

[ochmude]

I don't think anything should be required to "earn" any right. That sorta contradicts the concept of a right, IMHO anyway. I am in favor of harsher sentencing for gun-related crime or any violent crime, and MUCH harsher sentencing for repeat offences.

 

[JesseL]

Their punishment. Not our fear. If they didn't want their rights infringed, they should not have become a felon.

The problems:

One, I feel that once a criminal has paid for their crime they should get a fresh start. Disenfranchising them strikes me as an incentive to recidivism more than anything.

Two, as I said before this kind of thinking provides a very easy path to the people in power who would like to systematically deprive everyone of their rights. What happens when everything becomes a felony (even if most people only get a slap on the wrist) and everyone loses their right to own firearms or vote?

There are plenty of people who aren't above using jaywalking as a pretext for stripping you of your rights if we give them half a chance.

 

[Hokkmike]

1. Felons should lose rights as citizens....

2. Those adjudicated as mentally unstable for whatever reason....drugs, alcohol, psychotic disorders....

Leave everyone else alone. Make SOME provisions for repair of some of the above to classifications.

 

[anygunanywhere]

Being submarine qualified, I have been acccused of being mentally unstable.

Does that prevent me from owning a firearm?

Someone else telling me I do not deserve to own firearms based on their standards really rubs me raw.

I don't care who they are, what position they are elected to, how much money they have, how big they are....ad nauseum.

The second amendment is literal.

Anygunanywhere

 

[zxcvbob]

I think everyone agrees that reformed criminals deserve their rights back. The problem is that there is some difficulty determining whether they are "reformed" or not. The number of repeat offenders suggests to me that very few prisoners are being reformed.

That's really easy, if people would let it be easy: When their original sentence has lapsed, their debt to society is paid-in-full in my opinion and all rights should be restored automatically.

If they are sentenced to 20 years, and only serve 8, then in 12 years they get all their civil rights back, no petition or appeal necessary. (Keep the petition process around for possibly having their rights restored early, although this should be rare like a pardon)

Two, as I said before this kind of thinking provides a very easy path to the people in power who would like to systematically deprive everyone of their rights. What happens when everything becomes a felony (even if most people only get a slap on the wrist) and everyone loses their right to own firearms or vote? There are plenty of people who aren't above using jaywalking as a pretext for stripping you of your rights if we give them half a chance.

Precisely.

 

[RockyMtnTactical]

Prosecute people harder who commit crimes with guns, or any deadly weapon.

However, I am not supportive of any laws really. Maybe laws that limit the age at which someone can buy one... Let's say 18, I am fine with that. But I don't believe in limiting them to rifles.

 

[Rachen]

The only gun control laws that are sensible in my opinion are GUN CRIME CONTROL. Like many others said, if a person is not to be trusted with a firearm, he/she shouldn't be out in the streets in the first place.