“No one should feel safe in the following states,” Leonard Steinhorn writes at huffingtonpost.com. “These are states with the most Wild West gun laws where you are most likely to encounter someone — anyone — with a gun: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Mississippi. It is legal in these states for people with absolutely no training to walk around armed and to carry their guns openly in the streets.” For the record, it is also legal in these states (and others) for citizens to speak and observe their religion without government-mandated training. “It is legal in these states to . . .
bring loaded guns into gambling establishments, sporting events and restaurants that serve alcohol. It is legal in these states to carry weapons into stores and shopping malls, and in some cases even onto college campuses and into bars and houses of worship.
In all of these states, it is legal to shoot first and claim self-defense much the way George Zimmerman did with Trayvon Martin and hundreds of others have done in less publicized cases.
Now hold on a minute there, pilgrim. You can’t claim self-defense before you shoot. (Well you could, but good luck with that.) And just as you can shoot someone and claim self-defense, you can hit them with a baseball bat or Taser them and claim self-defense, too. You can also claim they were possessed by demons or controlled by aliens if you like. It’s up to the police, prosecutor, district attorney, judge and/or jury to decide if your claim is valid.
And in all of these states, their background laws — if they even exist — are so full of loopholes that someone with a criminal record, a drug or drinking problem, or a history of mental illness can obtain a gun.
Hang on. ALL states require a background check for the purchase of firearms from a licensed FFL (gun dealer). That’s a federal law (shouldn’t be, but don’t get me started). A citizen’s ability to sell a firearm to another citizen without government knowledge, approval or permission is a feature, not a bug. [See: protection from government tyranny and the Second Amendment.]
And it bugs me that Mr. Steinhorn doesn’t understand that “someone with a criminal record, a drug or drinking problem, or a history of mental illness” can get a gun, with or without a background checks.
It’s no consolation that before many of these shooters pulled the trigger, they were once law-abiding citizens. That’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is that they were allowed to carry around and wield a lethal weapon, and because of that someone’s life was cut short.
Sigh. Here we go again. Steinhorn trots out the idea that everyone who owns a gun can snap at any minute and shoot an innocent so no one should be able to own a gun. Except the police and military, who are rock-steady. And since we’re recycling old “arguments” for gun control, here’s the Mack Daddy of anti-gun memes: the evil “gun lobby” is thwarting the will of the people:
. . . as much as we fear common criminals, we may face an even larger threat from citizens who are allowed to carry guns almost anywhere and anytime.
It is time to stand up to the gun lobby and tell the states most in their thrall exactly what you think: I don’t feel safe in your state. Sign this petition and make your voice heard.
Two-hundred-and-fifty signatures on the Boycott These Gun States! So far. What does that tell you?