Freebase Dali

While I won't presume to predict a trajectory based on our current events, and I won't even blame Obama for the whole of what I disagree with, I do have to make the following observation and wonder why it is not considered by most:

More and more of our state legislatures, congress in general, and an increasing number of media-fueled individuals seem to be latching onto the argument of saving lives as it relates to removing assault weapons and high-capacity rounds on the basis of "They're designed to kill", and "We don't need that sort of thing anyway".

The problem I find with the argument about saving lives being based on how these devices were designed and whether we actually need them as a culture is this:

Why are cigarettes not being proposed for bans? We definitely don't need them to live our lives, and they not only hurt the person using them, they hurt those around them when they choose to ignore the laws that are in place to limit such a thing.
Cigarettes don't add anything positive to anyone's life. Yet, guns do have a positive effect. We see that effect in the legitimacy of police forces' ability to neutralize situations, armies to protect a nation, and individuals to protect themselves and others in the ways that they see fit.
If we were to use a comparison between tobacco-related deaths versus assault weapon deaths in the civilian population, we wouldn't even need actual figures to know which should be the higher priority.

And what about alcohol? Does it benefit our lives in any significant way? Maybe for the personal enjoyment (which can be applied to any other thing a person likes doing), but does it assume the role as a causal factor in many deaths? Yes. So this is another situation where major loss of life is being ignored because it is not politically advantageous to attack it at the moment.

What about swimming pools? Many children die accidentally in swimming pools because of negligence of parents (and because we can't breathe underwater). Shouldn't we be banning swimming pools? Or would such an action seem like an assault on personal liberties, simply because swimming pools don't seem as nefarious as assault rifles, even though there are probably more accidental deaths in them than there are assault rifle homicides in the United States.

As for why these things are not banned in order to save lives, regardless of whose lives they are, I am only left to the assumption that, at this point in time, government officials simply can't pass such legislation because too many people enjoy these things and have not cultivated a demonized perspective of them yet, and would isolate those people and lose votes.

When we have a tragedy involving mass murder, ESPECIALLY one involving innocent children, we are understandably affected on an emotional, irrational level. The propensity of this is what makes new legislation against such things more of a political strategy because of the emotionally-driven support that doesn't actually look at the effectiveness of that legislation.

Ultimately, if the argument is about saving the most lives as efficiently as possible, assault weapon bans are probably the very last thing we should even be looking at in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately, in order to do this, we'd have to assail the freedom of a lot more people to do so, and it's just a simple fact that, right now, after Sandy Hook, the easiest ones to get to give up their own freedoms are going to be the public who is seeing things from an emotional reaction, versus a practical one.

And that's exactly why it will work, which is sad and unfortunate. Because it sets a precedent not for the government taking away freedoms, but for the people willingly submitting them, because they are mislead into thinking that if they can save one life by stopping the new manufacturing of assault rifles or mandating 10 bullets to a magazine, that somehow that will make everything ok, while they puff on their cigarettes, drive drunk, and allow their children to drown in their swimming pools, and god forbid if those freedoms are taken away.

If we are going to ban items that are designed for killing, we might as well just start banning hunting knives (and not steak knives), pesticides and killing poisons (and not any other dangerous chemical), and anything else that kills so many people but isn't "designed" to do something productive.
While we're at it, we can just start banning things we don't actually need. Why stop at assault rifles? If the argument is that we don't need it, and it's harmful to ourselves and others, I can think of a million other things that should be looked at, rather than a knee-jerk emotional response to what amounts to a very low percentage of loss of life in comparison with all these other things we currently enjoy, that kill, but aren't needed.

Ultimately, I think people need to focus more on the actual problems, rather than allowing themselves to be proponents of agendas simply because they're that predictable and provide opportunities for those in power. Maybe then we could get things done around here, instead of being herded like a bunch of sheep because that's where the media led us.

Scarlett O'Hara

Can someone explain to me what Obama's actually done in simple terms? I'm interested in understanding how this will change gun laws?

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Euronomus

Basically he just ordered government agencies to enforce/refine/inform people of existing laws and set up a few task forces to streamline the background check system. He signed 23 executive actions(not orders there is a difference), Everything else he wants has to be passed by the legislature.

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make itwidely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effectiveuse of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to developinnovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

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Janszoon

He hasn't done much of anything at all actually. He's just talked, very moderately, about gun control, which is enough to get conservatives in certain parts of this country so riled up that they threaten impeachment.

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Scarlett O'Hara

Wow! Is he actually going to enforce anything serious and if so can he be impeached for THAT?!

I still feel like he's not quite hitting the nail on the head with this. It seems he's only scratching over the surface. But thank you for the reply. The Vice President has been the one trying to create a solution is that correct? I read on Cracked that he's working with violent video game makers to address the violence in the games themselves. But that won't sell games.

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Janszoon

I doubt he'll be able to enforce anything serious. And impeachment would mean he would have to have committed a crime.

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Euronomus

It's really all he can do on his own, any real reforms need to go through the legislature. You could make the argument that he has the power to do more, but the wacko's on the right are already threatening to impeach him because they say those 23 executive actions are outside his power, so doing anything that's even remotely close to being questionable would probably be political suicide. And yes, the VP is heading the presidents task force on gun control but I'm not real sure whats going on with it at the moment.

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djchameleon

It's going to fall to individual states to enact something that is slightly serious and of course it will vary from state to state.

Recently, New York passed an Act that has cops up in arms because there is a provision that limits the amount of bullets that can be held in the magazine.

Here are a few of the outlines from it.

1. Bans possession of any high-capacity magazines regardless of when they were made or sold. Only clips able to hold up to seven rounds can be sold in the state. Clips able to hold seven to 10 rounds can be possessed, but cannot be loaded with more than seven rounds. If an owner is found to have eight or more bullets in a magazine, he or she could face a misdemeanor charge.

2. Requires ammunition dealers to do background checks, similar to those for gun buyers. Dealers are required to report all sales, including amounts, to the state. Internet sales of ammunition are allowed, but the ammunition will have to be shipped to a licensed dealer in New York state for pickup.

3. Requires creation of a registry of assault weapons. Those New Yorkers who already own such weapons would be required to register their guns with the state.

4. Requires any therapist who believes a mental health patient made a credible threat of harming others to report the threat to a mental health director, who would then have to report serious threats to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services. A patient's gun could be taken from him or her, as well.

5. Stipulates that stolen guns should be reported within 24 hours.

6. Tightens the state's description of an "assault" weapon. Previous state law defined an assault weapon as having two "military rifle" features, but the new law reduces that specification to just one feature

7. Requires background checks for all gun sales, including by private dealers except for sales to members of the seller's immediate family.

Scarlett O'Hara

Wow that is really intense! I hope the Republican's just calm down about it.

That's really disappointing, yet people will blame Obama if he doesn't make the changes that the liberals want with gun laws.

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gunnels

I've found this to be a pretty good summary of American politics right now.

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