Obama has officially thrown down the gauntlet and declared his desire to punish all gun owners for the actions of a murderer (who obtained his firearms through theft):
The president said a “majority of Americans” back changes to some laws.
Those include the renewal of an assault weapons ban, limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines and an end to loopholes allowing gun purchases with no background checks, Mr Obama said.
He urged Congress to hold votes on those issues when it reconvenes in the new year.
“If there is even one thing that we can do to prevent anyone of these events, we have a deep obligation – all of us – to try,” he said.
This shouldn’t surprise anybody. The only reaction the state ever has to a tragedy is to exploit it in order to grab more power. Don’t bet on the Republicans either, they’re already meeting and it sounds like they will be selling us down the river:
Republicans need to “have a discussion on guns” in the wake of last week’s grade-school massacre in Newtown, Conn., Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told his conference Tuesday.
[…]
Boehner also told Republicans that they need to be “circumspect” in their observations, the lawmaker said, warning that “it’s not helpful” for lawmakers to call for arming teachers as a way to prevent mass shootings.
They’re looking for a conversation but that conversation won’t include remove schools from the list of gun-free zones and will likely include supporting some form of gun control. I wouldn’t be surprised if Boehner makes some kind of back room deal with Obama that includes supporting some form of new gun control legislation in exchange for items in the fiscal cliff negotiations.
We won’t hear the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) response until tomorrow but I’m not holding out a great deal of hope that they’ll have a plan other than telling members to write and call members of Congress. Unfortunately this fiasco couldn’t have sprung up at a worse time. Voters can threaten to vote against senators and congressmen but the next election is two years away and the politicians know that a majority of people will forget all about this current crisis and be focused on a different crisis by then. They also know that your vote doesn’t matter. Feel free to write and call them anyways, raising a little ruckus can be a spot of fun, but don’t rely on a political strategy to protect your gun rights.
I’ve also seen some gun rights activists claim that we need to focus on negotiations at this point and try to get the best “deal” possible. I refuse to be a party to such dealings. If you believe negotiating is the only option at this point then I won’t stop you but I will refuse to participate and point out the simple fact that negotiating with the enemy only leads to being stabbed in the back.
I still think our best bet is to flood the market with banned firearms. Previous prohibitions, namely the prohibitions on alcohol and drugs, were pointless. In the case of alcohol prohibition people made their own liquor and sold it to friends and family members. Speakeasies were established and people wanting to head out for a night of drinking and partying could do so. The current prohibition against drugs has been a complete failure. Anybody wanting to obtain marijuana can do so because so many people grow it. Other drugs are also easily obtained. There is demand and that demand will be fulfilled, that’s how markets work.
The nice thing about manufacturing AR lowers is that it’s perfectly legal so long as you don’t transfer it to another owner. Another benefit is that AR lowers manufactured for personal use need not be serial numbered. Without a serial number there is no way for a law enforcement agent to know whether your rifle is “pre-ban” or “post-ban” (which may not matter based on what provisions are put into the new “assault weapon” ban).
That’s not to say things won’t turn out well for us. Perhaps no new gun control legislation will make it through the legislative process. Perhaps any new gun control legislation will be shot down in a court battle. But seeing how quickly the rats are fleeing from the sinking ship I’m not holding out a lot of hope. Companies usually don’t dump profitable endeavors unless they are almost sure not doing so will hurt them down the road.