Congressman shot

[Sandy]

[Jon Estes]

[Sandy]

One is accountability. Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter, did not own the guns he used in the shooting. Nor did Jared Lee Loughner, who shot Congresswoman Gabirelle Giffords and killed 6 and injured 13. Both had a history of run-ins with the law, drug use and mental illness. Both had access to weapons in the house in which they lived. A simple law, going one step further, requiring their parents to ensure that they couldn't get their hands on the weapons, would have prevented both shootings. A 48 hour waiting period, to allow for a thorough background check, would have prevented Charles Roberts from obtaining the weapons he used in the West Nickle Mines Amish School shooting. Owning a gun is a right, but if you've run up a record of misdemeanors, have a pattern of run-ins with the law, or have been arrested for using illegal drugs, you forfeit that right. Conservatives want to take welfare benefits away from people for less than that. How many mass shootings would have been prevented if a shooter had to have a full year with a clean record, and no misdemeanors or drug or alcohol violations before being allowed to purchase a gun. If they live in a house with someone--relatives or their parents--who are gun owners, they should be required to ensure that access is restricted.

The deeper registration requirements, longer waiting periods and more extensive background checks for which Democrats have advocated at least since Columbine do not restrict anyone's right to bear arms. If the NRA is genuinely interested in defending "law abiding citizen gun owners," then this kind of legislation would do exactly that.

[Jon Estes]

[Sandy]

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

Oh, I don't know Keith. You know that target practice with assault rifles and automatic, rapid fire weapons is part of the right to bear arms. And of course, we are talking about responsible, gun owning citizens who want this stuff, not criminals, or anyone like that. You know that if you have a couple of parents who don't have anything else to do, they can come and hang out with their arsenal at their kids' elementary school, to shoot down an intruder if one happened to walk up, right? Besides, the right to bear arms means that private citizens must be allowed to own the weaponry they might need in the event that they have to overthrow a tryannical government, like all those Trump supporters who went on camera to advocate for that if he didn't win.

[Haruo]

Privatize the nukes. Ŵhy ŝhould they all be in the hands of the oppressiv, tax-stealing Feds?

[Mrs Haruo]

I'd be worried that if I went hunting with a rocket launcher I would end up with Vaporized Venison. I prefer doing my hunting with a 35mm Minolta, but I am pretty "old school".

[Haruo]