A ninth grader from Arizona called me yesterday for a school paper on gun control. “What new laws would you pass to prevent spree killing?” he asked. None, I answered. You can’t legislate away crazy. Not to mention the 500-pound amphetamine-crazed gorilla in the room: terrorists. (Cough Fort Hood cough.) While “lone wolf” spree killers like Jared Loughner, James Holmes and (finally) Adam Lanza inspired the current push for civilian disarmament, odds are this country will eventually face a Beslan-style terrorist attack. Whether it’s at a school, shopping mall, state house or whatever, when that s hits the f, the time for laws will be long past. I repeat: no law is going to prevent spree killing. Not that the New York Times wants to face that fact . . .
The gun lobby’s basic position is that the package [of gun laws about to be passed in Connecticut] would not have prevented the Newtown massacre. But it might have, if one of its provisions had been law: current state law requires secure firearms storage in households with anyone under 16; the bill extends that to households where the gun owner knows that someone living there poses a risk of imminent injury to himself or others. By significantly limiting access to the most dangerous firearms and ammunition, the package will not only contribute to public safety in Connecticut but will provide a laudable example to Congress and other states of what can be achieved with a serious bipartisan effort.
It must be said: you’ve got to be shitting me. Adam Lanza shot his mother in the head four times and stole her guns. Besides, as the Times’ editorial writer points out, the Constitution State already has safe storage laws. To wit:
The law imposes criminal penalties on people who store loaded firearms on their premises if they know or reasonably should know that a minor (person under age 16) is likely to gain access to them without the minor’s parent’s or guardian’s permission (CGS § 29-37i). A person is not criminally liable if the firearm is locked up or in a location that a reasonable person considers to be secure, or carries it on his or her person or close enough so that he or she can readily retrieve it.
A person is criminally negligent if the violation of these provisions results in a minor using the firearm to injure or kill himself or someone else (CGS § 53a-217a). A violator is strictly liable for damages if a minor obtains the unlawfully stored firearm and causes the injury or death of anyone (CGS § 52-571g). The provisions do not apply if the minor obtains the firearm by unlawful entry.
I guess Mrs. Lanza dodged that bullet. Or not. Are four head shots considered “unlawful entry”? More to the point, what changes in Connecticut’s new law will prevent that kind of action? Here’s the proposed change:
(a) A person is guilty of criminally negligent storage of a firearm when [he] such person violates the provisions of section 29-37i, as amended by this act, and a minor or, a resident of the premises who is ineligible to possess a firearm under state or federal law or who poses a risk of imminent personal injury to himself or herself or to other individuals, obtains the firearm and causes the injury or death of[himself] such minor, resident or any other person. For the purposes of this section, “minor” means any person under the age of sixteen years.
Yeah that’ll stop ’em!
Truth be told, Connecticut politicians are about to violate their residents’ Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms and make their state less safe by disarming the very people who can—and I believe should—protect innocent life from determined killers. Homicidal maniacs who couldn’t give a shit about gun laws. Never have. And never will.
Detachable magazine pump-shotgun with buckshot/slugs. Valtro MP5, a Baikal if you can find one…
Fantastic young Lady!
Excellent RF. Great piece.
Did the NY times just prove itself wrong? Lol
Has anyone even looked at the Henry Big Boy in the picture? Leaning against a pole lever closed and the hammer in the firing position! If you are going to do this at least put the hammer down where it belongs. If this gun is loaded and falls it could fire. Henry’s don’t have safety’s when the hammer is in the firing position. The safety is with the hammer down and it can’t go off with their safety mechanism.
maybe Adam transferred the guns to one of the first graders and this bill would make his spree more illegal ?
I hope the court challenges to that giant POS bill start quickly after a few weeks of strategy sessions among groups. This bill is completely unconstitutional and if the asses in CT don’t see it, they need to get slapped up the face by a Federal court.
Okay, let’s play along. Let’s suppose Nancy Lanza followed the new provisions to the letter, even though Adam was over 16. Guns were properly stored, ammo was kept separate, and Adam didn’t know the combination or have the key. Considering Adam was willing to shoot her four times in the head, I don’t know what would stop him from beating the combination or location of the key out of her first. Now we’re back where we started, except for the massive violation of citizens’ rights.
He still goes to the school, it’s still undefended, the teachers and kids still die. And still somehow guns are the problem.
So… more laws that Mrs. Lanza would have passed through with flying colors, and not one single law that would have locked up Adam Lanza.
The kids at Newtown would still be dead.
The odds are pretty damn good that this nation will face a Beslan-style attack in the future. I’ve heard some rumors from Iraq that soldiers have found blueprints of high schools in America after they killed or flushed out al-quaeda members from their holes.
Do they really think that more gun laws are going to stop a group of terrorists on a suicide mission?
Actually, more to the point, do you really think a group of hajjis who have been trained in Afghanistan to kill kafirs (Arabic for Infidel, ie: you reading this.) are going to ever say: “Gee Wiz! We can’t legally own those weapons, it says so right there on the ATF Form 4473, not to mention that we can’t really afford to buy a safe at the moment, so I guess we’ll have to give up this terrorizing business, and get real jobs… Come on Mahmoud, lets go put in an application at McDonalds…”
You can’t legislate away insanity.
The new mantra is that because Adam Lana had to reload, children’s lives were saved. This is why we are now told in CT that we can keep 30 round magazines but only load 10.
There parents are claiming this based on interviews with 6 year old children that claim Lanza had to stop and reload and this allowed 11 children to escape. There is no official support for this but it did not stop the media from running with it. I think someone forgot to remind them 6 year old kids also believe a giant fat guy in a red suit leaves them presents every use and a 6 year olds credibility might be suspect.
Oh and the bill has grown to 132 pages.
A 15 year old more rational, logical, and intelligent than any leftist.
Well, politicians are another matter. I’m sure plenty of leftist politicians are very intelligent, they’re simply morally bankrupt and use their intelligence to manipulate the drooling masses and spread their evil. Couple the villainous intent of progressive fascist politicians with the stupidity, weak will, and moral fickleness of their followers, and you have…well, every despotism that ever existed, and the future of this country.
and I believe karma will teach the fine people of Connecticut the error of their ways.
What are the odds this travesty was written with “suggestions” from Bloomberg’s MIAG and the Brady Campaign, just like in NY?
Not like it’s going to mean anything to the politicians who listened to her…
Everyone here knows exactly which way they’re going to vote.
Unless you buy ones that are the price of a small car, gun safes are a safety “illusion”. And they are thieve magnets. A hidden lockable place in the house with a motion sensor alarm on its approach is the best bet. These are some of the best ideas:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=stashvault.com&go=&qs=bs&form=QBIR
Permit me to propose a minor change to the wording of the CT law, one which will do far more to prevent future shootings such as Newtown:
“A person is guilty of criminally negligent practice of parenthood or medicine when when such person fails to commit to a mental institution a minor or a resident of the premises who poses a risk of imminent personal injury to himself or herself or to other individuals.”
There – do you think the ACLU will support that “common sense mental health law”? Hey, it’s for the children! And it will only violate the civil rights of a fairly small minority, right?
I enjoy the heck out of shooting IDPA, just not in Colorado. Guess CO is out of the running to host a future national IDPA event, oh well, lots of other fine states that respect our Bill of Rights.
I simply cannot get my head around the thinking that claims that more gun laws (even the existing ones) will somehow magically stop a determined criminal from perpetrating violence on the innocent and law-abiding. I just can’t.
In which universe does that make sense?
If politicians are truthfully [hah!] concerned only that a gun will be purchased by a criminal or other ineligible person, they should be happy to add these words to the bill:
“The provisions of this law shall NOT apply to sales of firearms to any person with a valid State concealed weapons license.” Because people with carry permits already have gone through an extensive background check, right? So they shouldn’t have to wait for another one, right? And the anti-gun politicians who refuse to add these words are providing proof (if anyone needs it) that their laws are really about universal registration of firearms owned by law-abiding citizens – a necessary precursor to confiscation.
Evidence is getting pretty lopsided. FL, TX, small towns, then compare to Chicago and CA’s 2012 crime stats (CA had a giant jump in crime last year!) Guns save lives just like CPR.
This is going to change nothing. Global government bans are about as effective as US government bans.
I can relate to this. I had a similar experience but from a completely different perspective. As a young private E-3 back in the late ’80s I was in the process of purchasing a cheap semi-auto rifle that was affordable both to buy and to feed, an SKS. The gun store where I lived sold guns on a payment plan and I went in and made a payment every two weeks. They had been in business for decades and were well know in the community. Unfortunately the old man passed on his business to his son, and his son was not cut from the same cloth.
I had just got paid on a Friday and was going to make my final payment but had a rather grueling day and so I decided to go the following morning (Saturday). Wrong decision on my part! I should have listened to my instincts which were telling me to go that very evening. Unbeknownst to me the son had started selling drugs out of the back of the gun store. The cops raided the shop that Friday night and everything in the store was seized under recently passed CA drug asset forfeiture laws.
I never got my SKS nor any of my money back. Just one more of many reasons not to operate on any sort of a consignment basis regarding guns.
While I’m happy they are working to take these guys down, I wonder why they aren’t going after the governor.
I’ll buy this man a beer if I ever run in to him here… all too often, especially in Denver, the cops are nothing more than tools wielded by the government to get things done any way they can. I am glad to see that not every Denver cop is a bad apple (though you still won’t catch me in LODO after dark since I don’t know which is worse the criminals down there or the cops assigned to patrol!!)
Donated.
Burn it down!
There is the first campaign ad against this guy, right there.
“We don’t care what you think nor wish to discuss it.”
I’ll go the distance and not buy anything made in Connecticut or do business with any company headquartered there. And then tell them why. If they decide to leave then we both win.
Hope they vote all of those fascist pigs out of office.
Nikon makes Optical products. They do make cameras which are imaging products, yet they also manufacture scanners, microscopes, rangefinders, binoculars and telescopes. Rifle scopes are nothing more than small telescopes, so what’s the big deal? Ah yes, someone always has to find something to cry about so a photog that uses their products for sighting wildlife, needs to go apesh!t because they make a product that can be used to assist in shooting wildlife……….Poor Baby……….get over it.
I don’t think so we should prohibit ourselves. We all know who is being talked about. It just makes the myth of “he who must not be named” more powerful. I usually put labels on them, like that insane murderous ba$tard Lanza. But what we should be doing is eliminating their power rather than increasing their notoriety.
If state LEOs can’t enforce federal law then federal LEOs shouldn’t be enforcing state laws. Federalism and all that.
“Know thy enemy!” And if I ever saw an enemy it was that wide-eyed dip-shit!
Charlie
The feds need locals to do leg work and provide local knowledge. While they can play with the small town cops and so forth, messing with the Chief LEO of a county would be tricky. The local support of the public means a lot. Sheriff Joe comes to mind
Just put my first box of 150 grain .40’s thru my g23 gen 4, and I love this gun! Shoots as smooth as my Ruger P944, but weighs 10 oz less and has more rounds in the mag. This is my first Glock because I’m a lefty, and with the gen 4 I was able to reverse the mag release–finally they made a left-handed gun! I like the stippled grip (I chose the medium boattail backplate–easy to install); the gun doesn’t move around even if my hands are sweaty in hot humid southeast Texas. The quality is impressive, it feels like only a 9 mm but hits “targets of opportunity” like my 357 magnums (I have several of those–that’s what I shot for over 30 years before getting the Ruger 10-12 years ago). I’m putting mepro night sights on the 23–supposed to be the brightest. I think I now have one of the best guns in the history of the world. I recommend getting the 23 instead of the 19; you lose 2 rounds capacity (13 vs. 15) but you get significantly more stopping power–almost magnum energy from a smooth gun.