The pistol packing cultists-those who are get-'em-while-you-can gun owner enablers- are as strident as any "far away" tribe whose indignations justify absent conscience and allow slaughters to go uncircumscribed.
15
Once states began allowing guns in bars, a dam of common sense was breeched. Soon, kindegarten teachers will be armed, along with checkout clerks, pastors and ministers, garbage collectors, UPS drivers, nuns, barbers & hairdressers, bankers, CPAs, sex offenders, house painters, refrigerator repairmen, McDonald's cashiers, Walmart greeters, NASCAR racers, sports fans in every public venue, certified crazy people and on and on and on. Guns will be allowed everywhere except the Senate and House chambers in Washington (worth pondering).
It's been all downhill as America becomes an armed camp.
It's been all downhill as America becomes an armed camp.
46
Next thing you know, they'll be letting people drive their cars into one state with a license from another, and since cars have always killed more people than guns, we all better panic. Relax, most of America's gun owners would sooner set foot in North Korea than New York.
15
Follow the money, folks. Have normal people who enjoy gun sports been co-opted and twisted up in the muddy waters of the 2nd amendment? Who is telling them that “the government” is coming to confiscate their guns? That they need arms for every occasion? Are they being whipped into a froth by the firearms industry which, seeing the decline of hunting, has moved the hunting rifles to the back of the display and moved higher-priced, sexy military style weapons to the front?
As recently as 2008, shotguns, rifles and other traditional hunting weapons made up half of all new civilian gun sales in America, according to SEC documents – a billion-dollar business. Today, hunting guns account for less than a quarter of the market, and the hunting industry is forecasting a 24 percent drop in revenue by 2025. So - it's time for us all to be afraid - very afraid - of our fellow human beings. Buy more guns! Protection!
Seems to me, we need to understand our role as citizens. We need to think long and hard about what’s right for us, collectively. If that means standing up to powerful corporate interests, so be it. It’s our duty as citizens to understand what we’re talking about and not allow ourselves to be swayed by cynical manipulation - and then vote. Fat Chance, I'm afraid...
As recently as 2008, shotguns, rifles and other traditional hunting weapons made up half of all new civilian gun sales in America, according to SEC documents – a billion-dollar business. Today, hunting guns account for less than a quarter of the market, and the hunting industry is forecasting a 24 percent drop in revenue by 2025. So - it's time for us all to be afraid - very afraid - of our fellow human beings. Buy more guns! Protection!
Seems to me, we need to understand our role as citizens. We need to think long and hard about what’s right for us, collectively. If that means standing up to powerful corporate interests, so be it. It’s our duty as citizens to understand what we’re talking about and not allow ourselves to be swayed by cynical manipulation - and then vote. Fat Chance, I'm afraid...
33
forget outside forces or the apocalypse. this country will be brought to its knees by its own gun bearing zombies.
34
Well, maybe they could just go ahead and issue firearms to every citizen and be done with it. One pistol, and one say AR15 or AK47. No permits, just guns for everyone - free guns!
19
Try as I might I just can't equate "a well organized militia" with "let any fool that wants one go anywhere they want with a gun (or several) It's interesting (and pathetic) that the two top issues in conservative/tea party agenda are guns and women's reproduction.
56
Can't carry a concealed weapon or gun into the Fla. legislature. These malooks had to run back to Tallahassee to amend the bill that allowed open carry in our parks. See the NRA doesn't always get its way.
18
So have gun will travel, but marriage licenses (when they are held by gay couples) not so much. What a country!
50
With my Texas CHL I can already carry in 35 states, including their cities. Visitors with CHLs from 43 states, including New York, can already carry in Texas. Nobody but the anti-gun folks have any problems with that.
The dirty little secret NYC and the other jurisdictions don't want to get out, as it will if reciprocity goes national, is that it really isn't difficult to get a concealed handgun license in NYC, provided the applicant is politically connected. If there's no "special" status, of course, it's impossible. On any other issue, that would be called "discrimination," and the NYC powers that be would have hissyfits.
The dirty little secret NYC and the other jurisdictions don't want to get out, as it will if reciprocity goes national, is that it really isn't difficult to get a concealed handgun license in NYC, provided the applicant is politically connected. If there's no "special" status, of course, it's impossible. On any other issue, that would be called "discrimination," and the NYC powers that be would have hissyfits.
12
For a marvelous exposition on how local gun control and gun rights have always co-existed in America from colonial times to the present read Gun Fight. The only bad part about the book is that the author hoped that with the Supreme Court affirming both the 2nd ammendment as an individual right AND allowing localities to continue with regulations short of outright bans, the NRA would lose its political leverage. Guess not, but this is probably more about Obama bashing than gun rights anyway. As a multi-firearms owner it is annoying to have to comply with varying state regulations, but I do and that's life.
4
"In many crowded cities, gun safety means there’s almost nobody carrying but the cops."
Incorrect, Gail.
Gun safety means that I am able to walk to areas in the city without fear of being mugged or robbed, since Ohio allows open carry. In some areas, such as Cincinnati, I can walk downtown and freely enjoy the urban environment, then go uptown a bit, and with such a high crime rate, I know I can protect myself if one were to try to mug me along the way. My weapon is not intruding on your rights as a citizen because you do not know I even have it.
Liberal quixotism as its finest: you get mugged, the police show up, you weren't armed but the assailant gets caught. What a beautiful ideal.
Reality: you get mugged and the assailant flees.
I have a few friends who were in electrician school downtown in another city, at night. One close friend had to pull his weapon on a would-be mugger. And once again when a man came out of his car with a baseball bat over a confrontation on the road. Point is, neither instance the aggressor knew he had a gun. Both situations were hastily deescalated with the weapon. No one was shot. Of course, NYT disservices its readers by reporting nothing positive on weapons.
Incorrect, Gail.
Gun safety means that I am able to walk to areas in the city without fear of being mugged or robbed, since Ohio allows open carry. In some areas, such as Cincinnati, I can walk downtown and freely enjoy the urban environment, then go uptown a bit, and with such a high crime rate, I know I can protect myself if one were to try to mug me along the way. My weapon is not intruding on your rights as a citizen because you do not know I even have it.
Liberal quixotism as its finest: you get mugged, the police show up, you weren't armed but the assailant gets caught. What a beautiful ideal.
Reality: you get mugged and the assailant flees.
I have a few friends who were in electrician school downtown in another city, at night. One close friend had to pull his weapon on a would-be mugger. And once again when a man came out of his car with a baseball bat over a confrontation on the road. Point is, neither instance the aggressor knew he had a gun. Both situations were hastily deescalated with the weapon. No one was shot. Of course, NYT disservices its readers by reporting nothing positive on weapons.
14
I guess, in John Cornyn's eyes, it's safer for convicted felons to carry guns than for gays to marry. Heaven forbid that should be allowed in all 50 states!
42
Gail, you say, "Maybe our best hope is that Congress will do what it does best and fail to pass any legislation whatsoever for the rest of the year."
Maybe our best hope is that this country, and the representatives that so many put in congress, grow up and stop acting like adolescent brats. No mature, responsible grown up would carry a gun in public places. Period. And if you think the venal, NRA has logical explanations, you have a lot of growing up to do. They're selling a product, like the tobacco industry, the fast food industry and all the other industries that prey on the feeble minded they exploit for profits.
Maybe our best hope is that this country, and the representatives that so many put in congress, grow up and stop acting like adolescent brats. No mature, responsible grown up would carry a gun in public places. Period. And if you think the venal, NRA has logical explanations, you have a lot of growing up to do. They're selling a product, like the tobacco industry, the fast food industry and all the other industries that prey on the feeble minded they exploit for profits.
29
The widely varying "requirements" from different states to get a carry permit is reason enough for this insanity to be stopped in its tracks.
Ms. Collins piece, as well as yesterday's piece in which a Nevada Assemblywoman says that "hot, young girls on campus" should be carrying weapons, highlights the true and complete dumbing down of America.
We have met the enemy - and he is us.
Ms. Collins piece, as well as yesterday's piece in which a Nevada Assemblywoman says that "hot, young girls on campus" should be carrying weapons, highlights the true and complete dumbing down of America.
We have met the enemy - and he is us.
39
I'm guessing that if the next administration ends up in Republican hands, and the status quo is maintained in Congress, a bill of this sort will likely pass.
What to do? Buy a gun, since it will be the only way to protect yourself from every one else in America, who will also be carrying concealed.
Conservatives will be thrilled. The nationwide return of the Wild West!
What a country.
What to do? Buy a gun, since it will be the only way to protect yourself from every one else in America, who will also be carrying concealed.
Conservatives will be thrilled. The nationwide return of the Wild West!
What a country.
12
I'd actually be more comfortable with the average Floridian walking around armed than the average New York city cop.
11
This column is not funny in the least. The U.S. has gone stark raving mad and no amount of slaughter of innocents would seem to be enough to bring people to their senses. Americans vote for politicians who vote for more guns-simple as that.
31
If Doctor Lee Silverman did not carry his gun, despite hospital policy prohibiting him from concealed carry of a gun at the hospital, he would not have shot deranged and armed mental patient Richard Plotts at the Darby, Pennsylvania Mercy Hospital, after Plotts shot to death one caseworker and wounded the doctor, on a shooting rampage, July 24, 2014. Dr. Silverman saved the lives not only of countless hospital workers and patients, but he saved his own life as well.
16
So someone can be trusted to carry a firearm in their home state but can't be trusted when they visit New York?
What makes New York so different or special that someone suddenly can't be trusted simply because they are now in New York?
What makes New York so different or special that someone suddenly can't be trusted simply because they are now in New York?
13
Does Senator Cornyn think we are living at the OK Corral? This ranks up there with the dumbest legislative ideas in history. Cornyn is the puppet speaking on the lap of his benefactor, the NRA.
32
I agree that too many states issue permits too readily. However, your arguments that in crowded cities only cops should have guns is simply a fantasy. Chicago and NY, with some of the strictest gun laws in the country, do not suffer from people who legally own and carry guns. When was the last time you heard of a jeweler or a security guard shooting someone ?
The problem continues to be the ILLEGAL guns, not the legal guns.
For those who point to the ability to obtain a FL or Utah or other permit simply through an administrative procedure, a better route is through changing the requirements to issued a permit in states like FL, TX, AZ, VT, etc.
And, by the way, just because someone has a drivers lic does NOT mean they have even a fundamental ability to drive. When was the last time you saw an inept driver (this morning ? 10 X ?). Frankly our requirements for passing a road test also fall far short of where they should be.
Cornyn is of course foolish to compare pistol permits and drivers lic but so is everyone else who is willing to use these as points of mutual reference. And I do not agree that the NRA is running out or arguments. But that seems to be a favorite comment of the anti crowd (Schwartz, A, "A Bid for Guns on Campuses to Deter Rape", NY Times, 2/18/15, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/us/in-bid-to-allow-guns-on-campus-weap...
The problem continues to be the ILLEGAL guns, not the legal guns.
For those who point to the ability to obtain a FL or Utah or other permit simply through an administrative procedure, a better route is through changing the requirements to issued a permit in states like FL, TX, AZ, VT, etc.
And, by the way, just because someone has a drivers lic does NOT mean they have even a fundamental ability to drive. When was the last time you saw an inept driver (this morning ? 10 X ?). Frankly our requirements for passing a road test also fall far short of where they should be.
Cornyn is of course foolish to compare pistol permits and drivers lic but so is everyone else who is willing to use these as points of mutual reference. And I do not agree that the NRA is running out or arguments. But that seems to be a favorite comment of the anti crowd (Schwartz, A, "A Bid for Guns on Campuses to Deter Rape", NY Times, 2/18/15, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/us/in-bid-to-allow-guns-on-campus-weap...
3
Forced-to-Carry Laws
I'm afraid Ms. Collin is quite wrong that we have gone as far gun-crazy as we can go. Playgrounds are hardly the end of it. Guns are now part of the commodity structure of permanent accumulation... in fact, they are the ideal "forced" commodity.
The more the NRA permits felons, abusers, bullies, drunks, and schizophrenics to carry as many military assault weapons as they wish... well, the more the rest of us will be forced to carry a gun or at least wear massive body armor.
After all, you really don't want to be the only guy at a bar, the only fan at a football game, the only patient at a mental hospital, or the only girl in your school without a loaded machine gun. That kind of makes you the only soft target.
I'm afraid Ms. Collin is quite wrong that we have gone as far gun-crazy as we can go. Playgrounds are hardly the end of it. Guns are now part of the commodity structure of permanent accumulation... in fact, they are the ideal "forced" commodity.
The more the NRA permits felons, abusers, bullies, drunks, and schizophrenics to carry as many military assault weapons as they wish... well, the more the rest of us will be forced to carry a gun or at least wear massive body armor.
After all, you really don't want to be the only guy at a bar, the only fan at a football game, the only patient at a mental hospital, or the only girl in your school without a loaded machine gun. That kind of makes you the only soft target.
15
Ok lets hand out the guns and start the shoot out! Why even bother with the permitting?
9
This idea and open carry laws are what makes our police over react as they fear being shot first.
I think that if Craig Hicks hadn't had the right to walk around with a gun in his belt he would not have shot anyone over a parking dispute.
Displaying guns is the sign of fear and being a bully.
I think that if Craig Hicks hadn't had the right to walk around with a gun in his belt he would not have shot anyone over a parking dispute.
Displaying guns is the sign of fear and being a bully.
38
The purpose of such a bill is to stop making felony criminals out of innocent citizens because they cross a state line. How can it be constitutional for one state to criminalize possession of any object licensed by another state?
As it is, someone traveling between states can be imprisoned because a state denies the privileges given by a home state. Minutia can make someone a criminal. Was the gun locked up in a specific, state approved container? Was a box of ammunition too close to the hunting rifle when the rifle was in the trunk and the ammo was in the glove compartment? You can be imprisoned if you guessed wrong.
My liberal friends have been known to become hysterical when it is suggested that a state doesn't have to recognize a gay marriage performed in another state. Their response would be the same if their drivers' license wasn't honored.
Whether some like or not, there is a second amendment and the courts have rightly held that it applies to individuals. I personally might vote for modification of the amendment if given the opportunity but none of us have had the opportunity so it is time to halt one state criminalizing innocent people just because they crossed a state line without a lawyer whispering advice in their ear.
As it is, someone traveling between states can be imprisoned because a state denies the privileges given by a home state. Minutia can make someone a criminal. Was the gun locked up in a specific, state approved container? Was a box of ammunition too close to the hunting rifle when the rifle was in the trunk and the ammo was in the glove compartment? You can be imprisoned if you guessed wrong.
My liberal friends have been known to become hysterical when it is suggested that a state doesn't have to recognize a gay marriage performed in another state. Their response would be the same if their drivers' license wasn't honored.
Whether some like or not, there is a second amendment and the courts have rightly held that it applies to individuals. I personally might vote for modification of the amendment if given the opportunity but none of us have had the opportunity so it is time to halt one state criminalizing innocent people just because they crossed a state line without a lawyer whispering advice in their ear.
17
A chicken in every pot, a gun in every car. Let's just make guns mandatory like driver's licenses. This way when a cop stops you he will demand to see your driver's license, your insurance card and your gun license. The gun itself is optional. If you are missing any of the three, an arrest and fine are possible.
Great new business: gun licenses, good in every state, available on the Web.
No background checks required. Come one, come all. Coupons good on firearms provided.
Great new business: gun licenses, good in every state, available on the Web.
No background checks required. Come one, come all. Coupons good on firearms provided.
9
Gun interests use the Second Amendment to push for freedom from gun controls, but "freedom from standing armies" was what the amendment intended, according to Thomas Jefferson.
11
OK Sen Cornyn, let's treat guns EXACTLY like cars and drivers' licenses. There are fairly uniform rules in all the states about who can drive (nobody under 16 for eample), everyone has to pass first a written and then practical examination by a state employed official, maybe even a federal background check or two. And then all vehicles and drivers must be insured. Once that regime is instituted then I'm OK with Sen Cornyn's proposal (after all it is kind of his idea).
12
Of course, guns, concealed or otherwise, are not permitted to be carried into the Capitol where they might do the most good.
15
If carrying a gun is analogous to carrying a driver's license, will tourists in Sen. Cornyn's view be able to carry their guns into the Senate's chambers?
10
Gail you are so negative. All Senator Cornyn really wants if for Americans to share in the glory days of the Wild, Wild, West. Think of all the fun people are missing out of when they are drunk out of their skulls in bars, discos, or other drinking establishments that are no longer denoted as Saloons. Now add a gun with the ability to fire off multiple rounds without the need for reloading. So much more fun!
10
The NRA's credo: Bullets are speech.
20
I bet Cornyn doesn't think abortion rights should be carried from state to state.
13
You're right about there being a difference. One is a constitutional right and the other is not.
7
Hey, If we are going to start comparing guns to cars - how about the same registration and insurance requirements?
16
Loose gun laws are crazy and should stay in their states or be abolished. I have a better idea. Let me export the gun ban in Chicago to the rest of the state and the other 49.
6
I've exhausted all the commonsense arguments as to why open-carry - and in general, the liberalization of gun ownership laws - is a terrible idea, so for today I'll just point to the heartbreaking and preventable case of the Las Vegas woman who was killed after she and her son (armed) went looking for the (also armed) man who had frightened or insulted her and her young daughter while driving earlier in the day.
When it comes to guns, 1 + 1 = senseless tragedy
When it comes to guns, 1 + 1 = senseless tragedy
23
Campaign finance reform would go a long way toward emasculating (so to speak) the NRA. Despite the express wishes of an overwhelming majority of Americans, and to promote the "right" of gun and ammo manufacturers to turn a buck at our expense, they are turning our country into an armed camp. Gun fever will continue unabated until no politician has to worry about being primaried or facing an opponent funded by gobs of NRA money in a general election. The names of legislators taking NRA money and their votes on gun bills should be front-page news; instead, everybody including the media cowers in hopes the NRA won't train its sights on them.
8
Traffic cops and convenience store workers are going to love this law!
1
Your rights and freedoms mean minimally the duties of non-interference of all others and often compliance/obedience duties (the unfreedoms) of many.
The USA's rhetoric of "freedom, liberty, rights" etc. is incoherent and childish. Count W Bush's use of them in his second Inaugural (49); could he--or even his writers define them?
"Freedom/liberty from foreign rule"--constraining the colonials--morphed into "freedom" (simpliciter--as though an elixer) and then into "freedom from government itself."
Your gun freedoms practically correlate with everyone else's duty to get shot. The Wild West rides again.
The USA's rhetoric of "freedom, liberty, rights" etc. is incoherent and childish. Count W Bush's use of them in his second Inaugural (49); could he--or even his writers define them?
"Freedom/liberty from foreign rule"--constraining the colonials--morphed into "freedom" (simpliciter--as though an elixer) and then into "freedom from government itself."
Your gun freedoms practically correlate with everyone else's duty to get shot. The Wild West rides again.
6
Everyone freaking out about the ability of US citizens to carry across state lines probably(?) doesn't realize how much reciprocity already exists for license holders. I have Pennsylvania (License to Carry Firearms) LTCF and Utah Concealed Firearm Permit (CFP). I am ALREADY legally allowed to concealed carry in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
The same or similar situation exists for other state permit holders - we can already carry in a majority of states based on our state licenses. The ridiculous dire predictions if National reciprocity was passed have not come to pass with all of the existing reciprocity in place.
The same or similar situation exists for other state permit holders - we can already carry in a majority of states based on our state licenses. The ridiculous dire predictions if National reciprocity was passed have not come to pass with all of the existing reciprocity in place.
22
It's no secret that concealed weapons have always been carried all over this nation. Cross-country truck drivers, drivers and passengers on road trips in a pickup, SUV, RV, bus... even Amtrak doesn't screen for guns. Here in Georgia you can carry a gun with you, exposed, to just about anywhere, so gun slinging is not limited to Texas. Our beloved airline was even transporting them, unknowingly. I ride our public transit systems regularly and have no doubt that guns are in people's handbags, backpacks, or jackets. I have reached the point where I just automatically assume everyone out there is packing heat-- except me and I never will.
58
If Sandy Hook couldn't motivate Congress or the rest of us to act responsibly and demand accountability on this issue what ever could?
144
I am a licensed commercial pilot ... a license which is valid anywhere in the US, and in fact honored by international treaty through the whole world.
I would accept licensed gun carriage when those licensees are subject to the training, testing, licensing, & registration requirements comparable to those that commercial pilots must meet.
Until then don't bother me with the idea that every paranoid yahoo has a "right" to a gun. Those who want to live in gunistans can move to Florida or Arizona, be my guest. I don't want to live in your world, don't want the paranoia and the crazy shootings that go with it.
I would accept licensed gun carriage when those licensees are subject to the training, testing, licensing, & registration requirements comparable to those that commercial pilots must meet.
Until then don't bother me with the idea that every paranoid yahoo has a "right" to a gun. Those who want to live in gunistans can move to Florida or Arizona, be my guest. I don't want to live in your world, don't want the paranoia and the crazy shootings that go with it.
25
Here we go, gun control proponents on parade, demonizong gun owners as insane, or violent depraved monsters.
The Times is just so shrill and pointless on guns ... just a broken record.
The Times is just so shrill and pointless on guns ... just a broken record.
7
I grew up on a farm with rifles and shotguns used for hunting - they were locked in a safe place and rarely taken off the farm - and no one ever contemplated using them for personal defense. It seems handguns make people crazy - people carrying handguns seem to live in some movie where, like Dirty Harry, they're hoping for a "make my day" experience. The rest of us have to live with the insane collateral damage. Having once lived in Europe I miss the feeling of immense safety knowing that people are NOT carrying guns. The statistics do not lie - guns do not make us safer.
22
School shootings, mall shootings, road rage shootings, "stand your ground" shootings, accidental shootings by children who find loaded guns, guns in bars, guns in church, guns on airplanes, guns for people with mental illness, guns for people guilty of domestic violence, military assault weapons made readily available to anyone who might have a notion to extinguish a wide swath of humanity.....this is the society we now live in.
If guns, and especially rapid fire assault weapons, had not permeated the fabric of America to the extent in which they have, I highly doubt that we would be reading so many stories of mass murder that have happened in places like Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and Aurora. And of course the NRA would have us believe that the remedy for such tragedies is more guns in the hands of more people.
I am 58 years old, and I do not remember growing up with the amount of gun violence that we now read about on a daily basis. If the politicians who are responsible for allowing such limitless gun rights as what Senator John Cornyn is proposing, then they should have absolutely no problem with allowing concealed weapons throughout ALL the hallowed halls of Washington D.C. where they work. Of course, this is not the case, and the hypocrisy is not lost on me or the millions of other Americans who favor sensible gun control.
If guns, and especially rapid fire assault weapons, had not permeated the fabric of America to the extent in which they have, I highly doubt that we would be reading so many stories of mass murder that have happened in places like Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and Aurora. And of course the NRA would have us believe that the remedy for such tragedies is more guns in the hands of more people.
I am 58 years old, and I do not remember growing up with the amount of gun violence that we now read about on a daily basis. If the politicians who are responsible for allowing such limitless gun rights as what Senator John Cornyn is proposing, then they should have absolutely no problem with allowing concealed weapons throughout ALL the hallowed halls of Washington D.C. where they work. Of course, this is not the case, and the hypocrisy is not lost on me or the millions of other Americans who favor sensible gun control.
202
And yet, another strong indicator that our country has gone off the deep end.
9
Back in the days of the "wild west' some sheriffs/marshals understood what was causing the violence in their towns and to combat that violence, (in some towns), you were required to leave your guns with them when you came to town. These wise lawmen understood that guns=violence and death. Nothing has changed that. I only wish we could ask Trayvon Martin.
Target practice aside, what else are guns for? If open carry becomes policy in this country, I think a lot of people, like myself, will try to do most of their shopping online and stay away from public venues like malls and movie theaters for fear of their lives. We have already seen a tragic case, where a baby picked a gun out of his mother's purse, and accidentally shot her dead. The mother was just shopping in a store, legally carrying a loaded weapon. Something for business people to contemplate.
Target practice aside, what else are guns for? If open carry becomes policy in this country, I think a lot of people, like myself, will try to do most of their shopping online and stay away from public venues like malls and movie theaters for fear of their lives. We have already seen a tragic case, where a baby picked a gun out of his mother's purse, and accidentally shot her dead. The mother was just shopping in a store, legally carrying a loaded weapon. Something for business people to contemplate.
9
If Senator Cornyn wants owning a gun to be like owning and driving a car, then let's do! The gun must be registered and licensed, the gun owner also must have a license and to get the license he/she must pass a test administered by the government to show that he/she knows how to operate the gun safely, the gun must pass a government safety inspection which would such things as trigger locks, there would be a limit on magazines like the speed limit for cars, people with a history that might make owning a gun dangerous (felons, domestic abusers, people with certain mental illnesses, etc.) won't be permitted to own a gun (like people with a history of dui's), and the gun owner must have insurance to cover any damage that he/she causes with the gun.
21
And we've seen what cops do to people they even think might have a gun.
7
"In many crowded cities, gun safety means there’s almost nobody carrying but the cops" is an hilariously ignorant and inaccurate statement. In most crowded cities, the people with guns are cops, and criminals. Or have you never been to Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Miami, Los Angeles, Ms. Collins, and never read their newspapers? Try as you might, wish as you list, you can't solve gun violence by restricting the rights of honest citizens.
5
As a gun owner for well over 50 years, I think you should have to qualify with a weapon upon purchase. That training and qualification could be run by the nra, a worthwhile activity, for a change. Cornyn, like most of the rest is bought and paid for by the nra.
11
Cornyn wants to make gun permits like driver's licenses, but opposes anything that smacks of registering weapons just like we do cars. Can't have it both ways, senator.
230
Less than 24 hours ago, I read, in this very publication, that the NRA is floating a measure that would legalize anyone on a college campus to carry a gun to fight sexual assault. My comment was, '...right, put a gun in the hands of a drunken frat boy...' I stand by that.
The NRA is a lobbying group for gun manufacturers. They don't give a hoot for the individual.
The NRA is a lobbying group for gun manufacturers. They don't give a hoot for the individual.
21
I personally think that the 2nd Amendment was a way for the Founding Fathers to be able to have a militia on call, since those were the days before the U.S. had a huge standing military with permanent military bases.
I bet the Founders would be appalled if they could see what unrestricted, uncontrolled gun ownership has done to this country. They'd probably be wondering why civilians are allowed to keep arsenals with military-grade weaponry--overkill if someone was simply hunting game animals.
I bet they'd wonder how their wording could have allowed this nation to go so off the rails.
I bet if anyone tried drafting the gun nuts into today's army, they'd be screaming bloody murder and probably go off shooting up an army base.
I bet the Founders would be appalled if they could see what unrestricted, uncontrolled gun ownership has done to this country. They'd probably be wondering why civilians are allowed to keep arsenals with military-grade weaponry--overkill if someone was simply hunting game animals.
I bet they'd wonder how their wording could have allowed this nation to go so off the rails.
I bet if anyone tried drafting the gun nuts into today's army, they'd be screaming bloody murder and probably go off shooting up an army base.
16
The math is really, really easy...if you walk around with a loaded gun you are increasing your chance of someone getting killed, more than likely accidentally. There was a recent incident where a 2 year old fished around in his mom's purse, found a loaded concealed (it was legal) gun, and shot and killed her. Expect more of these avoidable tragedies to increase exponentially if this stupid law is passed.
14
The problem is that the NRA has become an industry, just like our defense establishment. Questions of right and wrong, of what is or is not good for the country, haven't been on the table for a long time. The only issue is power and money, and both the MIC and the NRA will manipulate public sentiment -- using the most powerful of all emotions, fear -- to increase their wealth and their power base.
The unfortunate thing is how easily Americans allow themselves to be manipulated. There are no other advanced economies in which this kind of insanity could gain a foothold, much less prosper.
The unfortunate thing is how easily Americans allow themselves to be manipulated. There are no other advanced economies in which this kind of insanity could gain a foothold, much less prosper.
9
Every night on the 5 o'clock news there is a report of gun violence, often leading to the death of someone. This is in California where we have so called "stricter" gun laws. Cornyn's bill is insane.
14
Why should anyone who can't be responsible about a revolver in a glove box be permitted to operate an automobile at all?
8
Israel, facing annihilation threats and full of soldiers and people trained to shoot, "limits gun ownership to security workers, people who transport valuables or explosives, residents of the West Bank, and hunters. People who don't fall into one of those categories cannot obtain a firearm permit. Moreover, Israel rejects 40 percent of firearm permit applicants, the highest rejection rate in the Western world. Both Switzerland and Israel require yearly (or more frequent) permit renewals to insure that the reasons are still applicable." Permits are renewable, tests must be repeated after a certain age, andno guns are allowed in airports, hospitals, schools, etc. The ME may be muddled, but the U.S. is meshugina. Look it up. Cornyn is no mensch.
Result : 22% of the U.S. firearms death rate. Gee, guess that's because
Result : 22% of the U.S. firearms death rate. Gee, guess that's because
12
What a hypocrisy! Just look how Senator John Cornyn lobbies for guns everywhere, except where he lives. Finally, the Republicans turn out to be ensuring citizens have an extraordinarily good chance of getting killed by a gun. That is so sad..
9
Should someone point out to Republicans that the following two goals are incompatible?
1) unlimited wealth for the few
2) unlimited firearms for the many
1) unlimited wealth for the few
2) unlimited firearms for the many
21
"The Cornyn bill would set a national bar at the lowest denominator."
Do they really want to dismantle the gun laws of New York so that some paranoid tourist from Iowa can walk in to Time Square with a pistol in his waist band?
It would be a total abdication of 'States Rights' to pass this bill. As Charles Schumer recognizes, densely populated areas such as New York City need and deserve different gun laws than Alaska where hunting to put food on the table is customary. Any sane person knows that this will lead to more gun deaths but what does John Cornyn care, look at how well he's protected when he goes to work.
Do they really want to dismantle the gun laws of New York so that some paranoid tourist from Iowa can walk in to Time Square with a pistol in his waist band?
It would be a total abdication of 'States Rights' to pass this bill. As Charles Schumer recognizes, densely populated areas such as New York City need and deserve different gun laws than Alaska where hunting to put food on the table is customary. Any sane person knows that this will lead to more gun deaths but what does John Cornyn care, look at how well he's protected when he goes to work.
12
Is this another wonderful example of Democracy we want to peddle to other Countries?
The American exceptional experience brought to you by the NRA and its Republicain lackeys.
The American exceptional experience brought to you by the NRA and its Republicain lackeys.
7
In most jurisdictions obtaining a driver's license requires some training, a practice period and a TEST. I believe that in many jurisdictions NO TEST is required to obtain a gun permit. Cornyn is a house pet of NRA and a fool.
13
Wonder what the NRA promised to Cornyn to sponsor this bill? Well, of course, we won't see it in writing, but c'mon.
8
Some years ago Sen.John Thune suggested that if guns were permitted freely in NYC there would be less murders in Central Park.Of course, that year and for some years previous there were no murders in CP. Sen.Cornyn may be intelligent but he is unsophisticated.Texas culture is different than NYC culture.I know no one with a gun in NYC and he might know no Texan without. What is an insult in Texas may not be one in NYC. Let Thune and Cornyn have their guns in their own states and not subject others to unneeded weapons.
8
Regarding the Republican hypocrisy about choosing what things the states should have control over such as same sex marriage and abortion rights but not guns, Ms. Collins might also have added as an example Rand Paul's complaint that Kentucky law was unfair because it wouldn't allow him to be on the primary ballot for both president and senator in 2016 while Wisconsin had no problem with Paul Ryan running for two offices on the same ballot in 2012.
7
Gail, I think you are missing the point of the Open Carry Anytime Anywhere campaign. It is very simple: If carrying a gun is the solution to the problem of varmints, coyotes, and wolves in the countryside, it stands to reason that carrying a gun is the solution to most, if not all, social problems. Sexual assault of drugged or intoxicated women? Give 'em guns! Somebody disrespects your favorite team in the bar? Brandish your .22 or your .45! Your school district insists that you vaccinate your kids? Bring your shotgun to the next School Board Meeting!
As I said, it is very simple: if one gun keeps one person safe, then arming everyone keeps everyone safe.
As I said, it is very simple: if one gun keeps one person safe, then arming everyone keeps everyone safe.
7
Automobiles require insurance, let's do the same individual ownership of rifles and pistols,
8
It isn't like a driver's it is more like a medical degree that you can purchase on line. What Doctors could you trust to be competent? Which armed felons could we trust?
3
Three cheers for Senator Cornyn. The Second Amendment applies to all Americans.
8
We require driver's licenses because cars are dangerous. Guns are even more dangerous. Therefore if any state is going to allow concealed carry, the licensing procedures should be more difficult than getting a license to drive. Is there any state where that is the case? What does that tell us about the NRA et al.?
7
This is such an outrageous bill that one hardly knows where to start criticizing it. Perhaps if you don't understand the danger in legislation of this sort, an explanation will have little resonance.
10
The NRA and its puppets are making these wild proposals to get gun control folks off task. By making us have to spend energy to reason why there should not be open carry everywhere, including on college campuses (see NYT yesterday) we are not then spending our energy on promoting safe controls. We need to push for safe gun legislation. The technology for fingerprint recognition is there, we need to continue to push it politically. Don't let the NRA rule the conversation any more!
122
Start with accountability, therefore traceability: Make it difficult to disown a working gun. The 2nd doesn't talk about that.
4
Gail, Congress has already set the national bar at the lowest denominator.
8
The article fails to observe one important point on "state's rights" there is NO federal law on state driver's licenses. Your driver's license in Florida is valid in Alabama because the latter state has decided to honor that license, not because there is any federal mandate they must do so. Why should it be mandated for firearms? State's rights. If Alabama wants to honor Florida's gun laws, so be it. If all 50 states want to voluntarily enter into reciprocity agreements to honor each other's gun laws (like DL's), great. But why on earth do we need any of this federally mandated. What a hypocritical position.
13
Well said, Profln.
1
The arguments against common sense measures such as this never stand up to rational scrutiny and are the same failed arguments that are used against concealed carry in general. I have been licensed to carry (and have frequently carried) for over two decades in all of the states that I have lived (even more if you count states with reciprocity) and never have I drawn my firearm or been involved in an incident. Despite this, opponents worry that just because I cross an imaginary line on a map, I'm somehow become more of a danger? So, why haven't I been a danger since moving from New Hampshire to Florida? Why haven't I been a danger when travelling from Florida to Georgia or South Carolina?
Also, the critics fail to consider the fact that many states already have reciprocity (Florida has with over 30 states) and yet this hasn't been an issue. Instead of worrying about a law abiding gun owner who chooses to conceal carry, perhaps you should be more concerned with the criminals who are allowed to prowl the streets of place like Newark, NJ or Brooklyn, NY.
Also, the critics fail to consider the fact that many states already have reciprocity (Florida has with over 30 states) and yet this hasn't been an issue. Instead of worrying about a law abiding gun owner who chooses to conceal carry, perhaps you should be more concerned with the criminals who are allowed to prowl the streets of place like Newark, NJ or Brooklyn, NY.
4
You missed the point. You have a carry permit issued by Florida, and you are apparently just happy to carry a gun around for whatever reason. Sounds like there isn't one, but be that as it may. Are you a felon, a child-molester, have a mental illness, been involved in any domestic violence incidents, etc? If so, Florida does not care, they'll give you a permit if you give them the money. If you were any of the above, plus had no idea how to safely handle, load and unload, clean and secure the gun, I would have a problem with you coming to my state. Indeed, I would have a problem with being in the same room with you and your gun. See what I'm saying?
7
All states require that those with drivers’ licenses and car registration carry medical and liability insurance for human injuries and property damage from auto accidents--and uninsured motorists coverage. Every concealed carry law in states and Cornyn's bill should require similar insurance.
In the 19th century in the Wild West, saloons did not allow any guns inside. They had more common sense than all the individual and states' rights advocates now in the 21st century!
In the 19th century in the Wild West, saloons did not allow any guns inside. They had more common sense than all the individual and states' rights advocates now in the 21st century!
14
Linda,
Are you sure all states require insurance to possess/receive a drivers licence and auto registration? Wisconsin has only required insurance for a few years, and I've never been asked to prove I have it to renew a licence or register a vehicle. Even if it is finally required, Wisconsin law enforcement and the dmv do not enforce the law.
Are you sure all states require insurance to possess/receive a drivers licence and auto registration? Wisconsin has only required insurance for a few years, and I've never been asked to prove I have it to renew a licence or register a vehicle. Even if it is finally required, Wisconsin law enforcement and the dmv do not enforce the law.
1
Cornyn overlooks some really important points in his driver's license/firearms permit analogy.
By itself, a driver's license or a gun license gets you absolutely nothing. You need a car to use your driver's license, and you need a gun to use your firearms permit.
But while a car is registered, most guns aren't. Registration demonstrates that the car meets mandated legal safety requirements, but there aren't meaningful legal safety requirements for guns. Registration makes it possible to document the ownership and history of a car; we have no such record for most guns.
A car can't be driven unless it's owner has insurance; no such requirement applies to guns.
A car comes with locks designed to keep anyone but the owner, or the owner's designee, from driving. Very few guns come with locks like that.
It's impossible to drive a concealed car, but lots of states permit the carrying of concealed firearms.
You can't get a driver's license without passing a test that shows you know how to use it legally and proficiently. Most firearms permits are issued without either written or field exams.
It's illegal to use a car while intoxicated, but you're allowed to shoot while drunk.
If Cornyn honestly wants to compare driver's licenses to firearms permits, he should buy into the whole suite of responsibilities and obligations that accompany driving. Instead, his line seems to be that only driver's rights should be transferred to gun owners.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
By itself, a driver's license or a gun license gets you absolutely nothing. You need a car to use your driver's license, and you need a gun to use your firearms permit.
But while a car is registered, most guns aren't. Registration demonstrates that the car meets mandated legal safety requirements, but there aren't meaningful legal safety requirements for guns. Registration makes it possible to document the ownership and history of a car; we have no such record for most guns.
A car can't be driven unless it's owner has insurance; no such requirement applies to guns.
A car comes with locks designed to keep anyone but the owner, or the owner's designee, from driving. Very few guns come with locks like that.
It's impossible to drive a concealed car, but lots of states permit the carrying of concealed firearms.
You can't get a driver's license without passing a test that shows you know how to use it legally and proficiently. Most firearms permits are issued without either written or field exams.
It's illegal to use a car while intoxicated, but you're allowed to shoot while drunk.
If Cornyn honestly wants to compare driver's licenses to firearms permits, he should buy into the whole suite of responsibilities and obligations that accompany driving. Instead, his line seems to be that only driver's rights should be transferred to gun owners.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
35
Incorrect. A drunk 5 year old may drive any vehicle they wish on private property. The car can have 4 flat tires and no windshield, be unregistered and uninsured, and it would be perfectly legal. However, there is no right to have a car or drive a car. Any doctor can get a hold of your driver's license and say "this person is no longer allowed to drive because I saw so", and the state will take your license. Driving is a privilege, not a right. Nowhere in our federal or state laws does ir say everyone has a right to drive a vehicle, even under certain restrictions.
However, if you look at both federal and state laws, you will notice that owning a firearm is a right. How about we compare gun laws to vehicle laws? Suddenly, your driver's license in only good in whatever state decides to let you drive. In Wyoming, only four wheel drive vehicles are allowed, my front wheel drive Mazda is not. For driving a Mazda in Wyoming, I am now a felon, and am going to spend the next 10 years in prison, and never allowed to drive any car ever again. Fair huh?
Let's say in the wonderful Commonwealth of Pennsylvania I can drive a car with an automatic transmission. I need to go to Ohio, and they only allow manual transmissions. Looks like I'm walking. The speed limit in Pennsylvania is 65 MPH, but New York decided that no car or truck needs to go faster than 20 MPH. Since my car will do more than 20 MPH, it is a felony to drive in New York. Two sides of every coin...
However, if you look at both federal and state laws, you will notice that owning a firearm is a right. How about we compare gun laws to vehicle laws? Suddenly, your driver's license in only good in whatever state decides to let you drive. In Wyoming, only four wheel drive vehicles are allowed, my front wheel drive Mazda is not. For driving a Mazda in Wyoming, I am now a felon, and am going to spend the next 10 years in prison, and never allowed to drive any car ever again. Fair huh?
Let's say in the wonderful Commonwealth of Pennsylvania I can drive a car with an automatic transmission. I need to go to Ohio, and they only allow manual transmissions. Looks like I'm walking. The speed limit in Pennsylvania is 65 MPH, but New York decided that no car or truck needs to go faster than 20 MPH. Since my car will do more than 20 MPH, it is a felony to drive in New York. Two sides of every coin...
12
How would John Cornyn feel if someone with a concealed weapon permit, carrying a concealed weapon, approached him? How about his staff? The nonverbal answers would contradict the verbal. Perhaps the moment has arrived to begin looking through the looking glass from the other side on this issue. I understand the relationship of interest groups and elected representatives, but a time comes when the stupidity must cease. It is perfectly clear the Second Amendment requires amending.
6
If it's concealed how would he know?
2
But what about empathy for one's fellow citizens who are frightened ?
I am frightened about the idea of one of my fellow citizens carrying a concealed or unconcealed weapon, & imagining that person sitting or walking next to me (no matter how apparently non-threatening they appear to be).
To paraphrase. appearances are not always what they appear to be.
I am frightened about the idea of one of my fellow citizens carrying a concealed or unconcealed weapon, & imagining that person sitting or walking next to me (no matter how apparently non-threatening they appear to be).
To paraphrase. appearances are not always what they appear to be.
5
I am a gun owner and shooting enthusiast but I agree with this writer and think this proposal is absurd. There a too many people with too little self-control.
14
A Congress not passing legislation, once you explained, makes a lot of sense if the republicans are in control. By allowing the ownership and use of deadly weapons in such a 'happy-go-lucky' way, is a travesty of the most basic rule: First, do no harm. This is a tempest in the making; once unleashed, there won't be any way of stopping it. M. Cornyn is an idiot and a hypocrite; just wondering how much is he getting paid for such a stupid move; that the N.R.A. has lost all decency and common sense is legendary, as it sold its soul the the gun lobby. But a representative elected to safeguard the health of the people? Incomprehensible.
5
First, observe the Civil Rights mandated in the Constitution.
2
If there are more guns per capita, there will be proportionally more gun-induced deaths per capita. Given the fact that you are more likely to die from the use of your own gun than from another's, self-defense is an indefensible rationale.
10
Checked-out Switzerland's guns-per-capita and their gun-murders per-capita? Study GunPolicy.org's statistics and show us the correlation. Anyone who invests a couple hours studying GunPolicy.org's data will quickly conclude that it's really tough to find a positive correlation between these two rates.
Aha! I finally get it!
The NRA is funded by ISIS.
Not content with mere beheadings, the middle-eastern terrorist group is now promoting gun proliferation in the United States. One-by-one we are eliminating ourselves as a threat to their goal of world domination.
The NRA is funded by ISIS.
Not content with mere beheadings, the middle-eastern terrorist group is now promoting gun proliferation in the United States. One-by-one we are eliminating ourselves as a threat to their goal of world domination.
11
The NRA only does the bidding of the gun manufacturers. There is no market for guns in a peaceful world, hence all the FEAR and HATE mongering. We must be afraid of everything and hate it, too.
I don't want to live like this . . . I have an AK-47 and you have one, too, now how am I safer?
I don't want to live like this . . . I have an AK-47 and you have one, too, now how am I safer?
11
Ma'am you shamelessly mislead your readers. "Domestic violence orders" are actually restraining orders pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 741.30(6)(b). And anyone can take out this order against anyone else without any prima facie evidence. I can take one out on Gail Collins if I'd like right now.
Oh and by the way, the 2nd amendment is in the Constitution so you just can't take that right away if you commit a felony or have a warrant for your arrest. It needs to be violence related.
Here is an excerpt from the ACTUAL Florida law about domestic violence injunctions, aka restraining orders
"Even if you have not been physically battered, you can still qualify for an injunction if the judge believes you are in immediate danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence."
Oh and by the way, the 2nd amendment is in the Constitution so you just can't take that right away if you commit a felony or have a warrant for your arrest. It needs to be violence related.
Here is an excerpt from the ACTUAL Florida law about domestic violence injunctions, aka restraining orders
"Even if you have not been physically battered, you can still qualify for an injunction if the judge believes you are in immediate danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence."
3
This does not sound like a "well regulated militia." But what did those fool Founding Fathers know anyway?
13
we all need to carry a gun to protect ourselves.
when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
6
Let's do a test run by letting people carry firearms onto the Senate floor.
20
Without addressing the wisdom of the bill, I would like to reinforce that everyone poo-poohs States's Rights (the poor shredded Tenth Amendment) until it becomes convenient for their purposes, as for, say, the Fugitive Slave Act.
2
Successfully parallel parked one time? Maybe not even that, when I took driver's ed in Brooklyn they told us not to even attempt the parallel park because you could still pass the test but if your tire even touched the curb it was grounds for immediate failure. But I digress. This is a battle we have lost and we must accept that the "2A" is no longer a right but an obligation to bear arms and willingly or unwillingly to compete against every other citizen in a personal arms race.
3
I completely agree with you on this issue. Clearly the problem here is taking control away from voters. By allowing voting populations to have some influence over regulation within their state and then doubling back and claiming that regulation within their state is suddenly subject to the laws in another state is ridiculous. Frankly its undemocratic because each state's voters have made efforts to either loosen or tighten gun regulation legislation in accordance with their beliefs on the issue. To allow a gun permit to act like a drivers license, particularly where there are a wide range of standards among different states, puts a value on the opinion of one state over another. A state that overwhelmingly votes on strict standards for who should get a permit for a gun should not have to worry about their efforts being compromised by residents of other states with much looser regulation entering. Perhaps in the future such a standardization will make sense but for someone to even propose that policy in today's world makes me question their general sanity.
8
I've said this before, but the united states of American should hope that north korea never reverts to some sort of sanity. if it does the usa will be the weirdest, most dysfunctional place on the face of the earth.
18
Can you open carry in the Capital building under Cornyn's proposal If not, it should be allowed. Then we can find out how strong the GOP is on this proposal.
19
This is a states rights issue I can support. Citizens of a state deserve the right to pass legislation that supports "their way of life".
California issues concealed carry licenses, but the requirements are pretty steep. Not all states have such high requirements.
If John Cornyn wants to introduce legislation in Congress it should be to have a single national standard for concealed carry. One that acknowledges and respects the position of all 50 states on the issue.
I predict that "ain't gonna happen".
California issues concealed carry licenses, but the requirements are pretty steep. Not all states have such high requirements.
If John Cornyn wants to introduce legislation in Congress it should be to have a single national standard for concealed carry. One that acknowledges and respects the position of all 50 states on the issue.
I predict that "ain't gonna happen".
8
Alas, Ms. Collins, you almost make the case for us to feel sorry for the poor folks at the NRA who have been so successful in persuading politicians to pass all the possible "gun rights" bills in the states they own. Living as I do in a state where every politician in power is owned and operated by the NRA, I can assure you their creativity knows no boundaries and certainly respects none. Expanding gun carry permits nationwide? Let's not stop there. I expect any day now to receive a notice that my right to live in Florida depends on my being willing to purchase and carry a gun, sort of a return to state militias expanded beyond just men of military age as was true when the Constitution was written. Even those of us on Medicare can be counted on to patrol our beaches and playgrounds in case some unruly toddler or vacationing rule-breaker gets out of control.
9
I recently, somewhat reluctantly, joined the gun culture. Like most guys, I like things that make loud noises and I do enjoy target shooting. I even took the required 16 hours of training for concealed carry in Illinois. I was laughing to myself when we got to the point where we were practicing quick draw techniques.
I do my homework when I pick up a new activity and this was no exception. The scenarios being sold by the many Rambo wannabes out there are a) A collapse of society pitting the under classes against the "haves" perhaps stimulated by a Red Dawn type of invasion or b) A totalitarian government coming to enslave the populous or c) The sociopath shooting up a school or movie theater. To a rational being, the first two are laughably unlikely.
The third situation, most likely but still astronomically unlikely, is probably not going to be mitigated by the amateur gunslinger. In addition to numerous studies testing people in simulated situations, the real world evidence is the Columbine tragedy. The first officer responding in minutes to the call, presumably well trained and experienced - engaged the two attackers in an exchange of gunfire. No one was hit and the attacker went on to commit the majority of the murders.
So, I don't have a problem with upholding the second amendment, but the notion that widespread gun ownership and carrying makes our streets safer is simply delusional.
I do my homework when I pick up a new activity and this was no exception. The scenarios being sold by the many Rambo wannabes out there are a) A collapse of society pitting the under classes against the "haves" perhaps stimulated by a Red Dawn type of invasion or b) A totalitarian government coming to enslave the populous or c) The sociopath shooting up a school or movie theater. To a rational being, the first two are laughably unlikely.
The third situation, most likely but still astronomically unlikely, is probably not going to be mitigated by the amateur gunslinger. In addition to numerous studies testing people in simulated situations, the real world evidence is the Columbine tragedy. The first officer responding in minutes to the call, presumably well trained and experienced - engaged the two attackers in an exchange of gunfire. No one was hit and the attacker went on to commit the majority of the murders.
So, I don't have a problem with upholding the second amendment, but the notion that widespread gun ownership and carrying makes our streets safer is simply delusional.
15
Yeah... Except that police are pathetically untrained compared to even a modest gun enthusiast. They are required to practice once per year and fire less than 50 rounds. I shoot more in an average week than most cops do in their entire careers. Simple fact is, waiting on the police to save you is pointless. Being able to save yourself is critical. Every mass shooter attack has taken place in a "gun free" zone. Coincidence? I think not.
4
You touch upon gun ownership driven by fantasy life (irrational fears, yearning to be the "sheriff in town"). But there is more to that. First, as has been repeatedly stated and Gail Collins emphasizes once again, even felons and persons with attested psychological problems can get gun licenses including for concealed carry. Having a history of relevant medical or criminal record is one of the best predictors for repeat violence, and these people shouldn't have access to guns, period. Second, guns can be sold/bought on an unregulated market. The NRA would have you think that a gun registry would be living in a gulag, but the fact of the matter is we sorely need a gun registry where a gun's chain of ownership is known and ownership without registration would generate heavy fines and meaningful penalties - e.g. suspension of driving license for 6 months to a year.
Third, a factual point. I don't believe anything the NRA or anyone would tell me about marksmanship. Markmanship is something rare for a number of reasons. I've shot pistols and assault rifles (and other weapons) during my military service and most people will miss the target under any circumstances including shooting a paper target on a beautiful sunny day. The point is, aim the gun to a "bad guy" and I give you a fair 2/3 chances of wounding/killing any innocent bystander, and that 1/3 chance is being generous. Unless you are ready to take innocent lives, don't use a gun.
Third, a factual point. I don't believe anything the NRA or anyone would tell me about marksmanship. Markmanship is something rare for a number of reasons. I've shot pistols and assault rifles (and other weapons) during my military service and most people will miss the target under any circumstances including shooting a paper target on a beautiful sunny day. The point is, aim the gun to a "bad guy" and I give you a fair 2/3 chances of wounding/killing any innocent bystander, and that 1/3 chance is being generous. Unless you are ready to take innocent lives, don't use a gun.
6
I love how Republicans will kill, literally, to protect a fetus, but if children are gunned down at places like Sandy Hook, they will fall over themselves to do the bidding of the NRA.
What a courageous, great leader and statesman you are, Senator Cornyn.
What a courageous, great leader and statesman you are, Senator Cornyn.
41
There is already a national carry permit system in place called the LEOPA or by its enabling legislation HR-218 which has been Federal Law since 1994. It requires that the individual re-qualify on a yearly basis and has generated no problems since its enactment. The holder can carry concealed weapons in any state or U.S. territory, but some restrictions remain such as in Federal courthouses and on airplanes. I would be curious as to the roll call vote when it was passed by Congress.
4
You're confused.
http://www.gunlawsbystate.com/national-carry-permit/
http://www.gunlawsbystate.com/national-carry-permit/
1
The law only applies to "Law Enforcement Officers" so not sure why it was even mentioned.
1
The NRA to John Cornyn is a voting bloc that has an extensive and responsive contact list that covers the globe. You have to continually create issues about their freedoms to get them to the polls.Republicans use a divide and conquer strategy by keeping the "issue" voters ginned up. I like the car license analogy, but let's follow the whole policy and process, including a real healty insurance policy for each gun that provides financial liability to the registered owner for injury and death caused by whoever uses that gun. Every "right" has a responsibility accompanied by accountability. Bring it on John Cornyn.
11
The idea of insurance in interesting. First of all insurance only would cover accidents not intended acts. So, if you take your gun (or your car) and intentionally kill someone, do not expect your insurance to cover your expenses, Also, most home owners or renters insurance policies already would cover such actions.
Now perhaps Sen. Cornyn would agree that every gun owner carry a $10 million personal liability insurance policy with that 2nd Amendment right to open carry a gun into every imagined and unimagined location. I see possible scenarios such as road rage, airplane discomfort at having been offered peanuts in a plastic bag or the person in front of you with a tray table extended and the seat back extended crushing the six-footer behind who's legs are in a fetal position.
13
Liability insurance does not cover deliberate criminal acts. Tell me more about how you are required to carry insurance to exercise an inalienable right.
In the Jim Crow era, that would have been translated into a "poll tax".
Which effectively kept poor people from voting. As this would effectively also keep poor people from exercising their Constitutional Rights.
And by the way, the SCOTUS has repeatedly ruled that no Constitutional Right is completely unlimited.
Which effectively kept poor people from voting. As this would effectively also keep poor people from exercising their Constitutional Rights.
And by the way, the SCOTUS has repeatedly ruled that no Constitutional Right is completely unlimited.
2
Wrong analogy. A driver's license is not a right. It is a privilege, and the state can take it away if it is exercised irresponsibly. Is that the road the pro-gun rights folks want to go down? Interesting.
I for one am terrified to realize how many people are walking around carrying concealed weapons legally. So I am in a mall--or Times Square--and some "bad guy" starts shooting. Mr. Gun Rights draws his weapon to "potect himself" and what happens? Has Mr. Gun Rights been trained in law enforcement and how to deal with this kind of assailant? Is Mr. Gun Rights an expert shot? How do I know that Mr. Gun Rights isn't a "bad guy" himself? It is awful, as Sen. Schumer said. It's the wild west, and we put a stop to that a long time ago.
I for one am terrified to realize how many people are walking around carrying concealed weapons legally. So I am in a mall--or Times Square--and some "bad guy" starts shooting. Mr. Gun Rights draws his weapon to "potect himself" and what happens? Has Mr. Gun Rights been trained in law enforcement and how to deal with this kind of assailant? Is Mr. Gun Rights an expert shot? How do I know that Mr. Gun Rights isn't a "bad guy" himself? It is awful, as Sen. Schumer said. It's the wild west, and we put a stop to that a long time ago.
17
I seriously doubt Senator Schumer ever ventures to Times Square without an armed escort in his vicinity.
An interesting commentary on guns in America from an Aussie comedian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP3HJVp3n9c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP3HJVp3n9c
4
"[A]s with so many, many things in this world, states’ rights is a theory that people only like when it’s going to get them something they already want."
What a beautiful quote.
What a beautiful quote.
9
Here is another example of an analogous and widespread hypocrisy... The Arizona legislator is intent on punishing the City of Tucson for having the temerity to enact a few gun safety ordinances that go further than State law (which is essentially nonexistent in the area). Said Rep Mark Finchem, as reported in todays Arizona Daily Star: "There seems to be some confusion about what local control is. Local control is state control. Mr. Finchem was speaking to another issue (who sets educational standards), but his "slip" is indicative of the mindset of a good many conservatives. "Local control" means control by whatever level you control. Incidentally, one of the extreme ordinances that the AZ legislature is in the process of rolling back allows a police officer to run a sobriety test if someone discharges a firearm within the City limits and appears to be intoxicated. The driver's license parallel just keeps getting better and better.
2
To start with I'm not happy with the open carry laws. Imagine walking into fast food restaurant with your kids while a gangbanger is walking out with a pistol tucked into his waistband. We have people who live in neighborhoods where they don't need a gun for self defense creating havoc for people who live in neighborhoods where everyone ought to be disarmed, if necessary by declaring martial law.
2
I assume you know that the SCOTUS (and numerous other courts) have ruled that police or government has no duty or responsibility to protect any individual?
So, exactly who do you think is responsible to protect you from that "gangbanger walking with a pistol tucked into his waistband"? There are other bad people that do bad things that do not use a gun as a tool to accomplish them.
So, exactly who do you think is responsible to protect you from that "gangbanger walking with a pistol tucked into his waistband"? There are other bad people that do bad things that do not use a gun as a tool to accomplish them.
1
I think the NRA and anyone else who supports this bill should just come out and say it: The deaths of hundreds of children and the hospitalization of thousands each year from gun violence are OK, because gun rights are more important than that.
28
No, profit is more important than that. It has nothing to do with "rights", it has only to do with money.
2
I think the AAA and anyone else who supports any bill should just come out and say it: The deaths of hundreds of children and the hospitalization of thousands each year from automobile violence are OK, because car rights are more important than that
Although it is not not protected by as a Constitutional right, the right to drive a motor vehicle is considered more important than the rights of the tens of thousands who die each year in motor vehicle tragedies.
Question: If the rather peculiar interpretation of the "right to keep and bear arms" is defined as part of our amended Federal Constitution, shouldn't its regulation be National rather than an individual state process? I have no love for the Cornyn proposal, but shouldn't the ATF be taking the lead on this?
2
The Founding Fathers were quite content to EXCLUDE the people from just about any part of public business save the House of Representative. No popular election of the President, no popular election of the Senate, Three-Fifth rule, women excluded and so on and so on.
To assume that they would have been happy with all these excluded people running around armed to the teeth and mad as hell about being excluded from meaningful democratic participation in politics is ludicrous on the face of it. Well regulated militia? Sure, but led by the Republican (normative, not partisan) aristocracy, just like everything else in the very early Republic.
To assume that they would have been happy with all these excluded people running around armed to the teeth and mad as hell about being excluded from meaningful democratic participation in politics is ludicrous on the face of it. Well regulated militia? Sure, but led by the Republican (normative, not partisan) aristocracy, just like everything else in the very early Republic.
5
While it is true some Founding Fathers almost left out any Bill of Rights for the citizenry, it is equally true they included the Bill of Rights because they couldn't argue against the fact the government derives all its power from the consent of the governed. See also: Article Five of the US Constitution.
3
I believe the 2nd amendment contains a typo. It was supposed to guarantee the right to "bare arms" that is, to wear sleeveless shirts. Let's get the Supreme Court to reinterpret it.
21
Let's just remember the facts. The gun lobby wants criminals to be armed. That's the only conclusion that makes sense given that they fight any effort to remove guns from felons. They love crime because it sells more weapons. That owning weapons make it more likely that you will be shot is only collateral damage. School shootings are just another way to sell guns and dead children don't matter.
27
Meanwhile, any number of liberals fight vigorously to help criminals stay, or get out, onto the streets.
Which include the criminally insane. Talk about not caring about school shootings except to sell an agenda of political chaos. The better to lobby for increased government control over each and every citizen.
An never mind the over all fact that US streets are experiencing a four decade low in violent crime. Even as the number of guns in the US exceeds 300 million.
And yes, correlation does not indicate causation; uh, except, ah, for the claims of gun control advocates.
Which include the criminally insane. Talk about not caring about school shootings except to sell an agenda of political chaos. The better to lobby for increased government control over each and every citizen.
An never mind the over all fact that US streets are experiencing a four decade low in violent crime. Even as the number of guns in the US exceeds 300 million.
And yes, correlation does not indicate causation; uh, except, ah, for the claims of gun control advocates.
3
I see no evidence that armed citizens or the groups that support armed citizens (like NRA, GOA, TSRA etc) have any interest to see dangerous people carry guns in public. In fact, all of the armed citizens that I know want laws that keep dangerous people out of the public by enforcing laws against bad actions, like murder, rape, assault, and robbery.
Another fact that seems to indicate your assumption is wrong is that while gun carry has increased since the Clinton gun laws expired allowing more gun carry, crime (all crime) has gone down by almost 50%
Another fact that seems to indicate your assumption is wrong is that while gun carry has increased since the Clinton gun laws expired allowing more gun carry, crime (all crime) has gone down by almost 50%
2
At some point, we need a balance between the right to carry guns and the right of citizens of a given state or city to make their own laws restricting guns. Why should the rights of gun owners trump those who favor safety? Why can't towns, cities, and states decide for themselves?
15
"At some point, we need a balance between the right to free speech and the right of citizens of a given state or city to make their own laws restricting speech. Why should the rights of speakers trump those who favor suppression of speech? Why can't towns, cities, and states decide for themselves?"
How's that?
How's that?
5
"... Why should the rights of gun owners trump those who favor safety? "
When have what gun owners own ever trumped your safety? How?
When have what gun owners own ever trumped your safety? How?
Just so you know, the Texas Legislature is considering bills to prohibit local governments from passing ordinances more stringent than state laws (or where there are NO state laws)---such as those that prohibit fracking and texting while driving. So there goes that potential solution in this crazy state.
Texas pols are so bad it is really hard to believe.
12
Time to boycott Texas.
27
Why can't we all have responsible, level-headed representatives in Congress like Staten Island's?
Some of us have been for some time and, best of all, it takes no effort. I just wish they would lower their voices-- we can hear them all the way over here.
3
It is a frightening thought to think the George Zimmermans of the world can come up to New Jersey and New York with their guns and anger management issues. Just recently a mother of four children was gunned down in Las Vegas over a road rage incident. Can you imagine that on I-95?The NRA spouts these ridiculous arguments such as a "polite society is an armed society" when in actually it is Yemen, Iraq or another such country where a lawful society has crumbled. It is important for everyone to start calling their Senators and tell them to vote NO.
278
For fairness' sake, Bernhard Goetz is a native of Queens.
1
"Just recently a mother of four children was gunned down in Las Vegas over a road rage incident. "
you need to read a bit more about the story. Though I am sad for her children, she appears not to be the innocent bystander of the original story, and her son was carrying and using a gun.
you need to read a bit more about the story. Though I am sad for her children, she appears not to be the innocent bystander of the original story, and her son was carrying and using a gun.
If Alabama can be forced to recognize a gay marriage from NY, NY can be forced to recognize a gun permit from Alabama. (For the record, I dont have a problem with either)
This is a non issue in bustling metropolises like Dallas, with a murder rate some boroughs of NYC should be envious of.
This oped is just more irrational hysteria from the hysteria mongers.
The real reason carry laws were enacted because of the sight of Black Panthers with guns in the 60s. Gun and drug laws principally impact minorities, as was intended. The fact is, where open carry is legal, having a gun on your hip is not probable cause to stop and frisk people. The real reason NY cops dont like people exercising their constitutional right to carry a firearm that they can no longer stop and frisk minorities.
This is a non issue in bustling metropolises like Dallas, with a murder rate some boroughs of NYC should be envious of.
This oped is just more irrational hysteria from the hysteria mongers.
The real reason carry laws were enacted because of the sight of Black Panthers with guns in the 60s. Gun and drug laws principally impact minorities, as was intended. The fact is, where open carry is legal, having a gun on your hip is not probable cause to stop and frisk people. The real reason NY cops dont like people exercising their constitutional right to carry a firearm that they can no longer stop and frisk minorities.
5
The two things aren't analogous at all. A same-sex couple's marriage affects no one but themselves; someone carrying a loaded gun in a crowd has the potential to affect a number of people in very detrimental ways (never mind affecting him/herself in a very detrimental way; e.g., Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg when he was carrying a loaded pistol). And please learn to read the Second Amendment; unless you're a member of a militia, there is no constitutional right to carry a firearm.
1
Agree with most of what you say, but the murder rate in NYC is actually incredibly low.
1
Another logic fail. Marriage licenses and gun licenses aren't even remotely analogous.
3
Your just gonna have to learn, how to say "Howdy" with the proper inflection of each of our 51 states! You won't offend anyone and be perfectly safe. Really!
After the recent spate of police shootings, I'm not sure that every cop should have a gun!!!
After the recent spate of police shootings, I'm not sure that every cop should have a gun!!!
6
In the late 1980's when I was a counselor at a Mental Health clinic in a small town near Atlanta, I had a married couple on my case load. Both of them worked for a private security firm, had no training or experience in law enforcement, and were being treated for schizophrenia with huge delusional gaps in their thinking. They saw themselves as having Secret Service potential, but their ultimate career goal was to become Ted Turner's personal security guards.
One day the wife arrived for her counseling session bursting with pride and holding in front of her her freshly issued license to carry a concealed weapon.
"Know what I'm gonna get," she asked in a voice full of enthusiasm just shy of mania. "I'm gonna get a .38; but instead of a three-inch I'm getting a two-inch snub nose!"
My curiosity overcame me. Being ex-military and knowing a good bit about firearms I had to ask why a snub nose.
"So the bullet will get there faster; you know, hit the target faster!"
Now with a law like this, maybe they'll move over here to South Carolina. Maybe get a job providing security for our former governor. After all, Ms Collins, as you've often implied he does appear to need a keeper. At any rate they'll be walking the streets of my state hopefully with their snub-noses AND their medication.
The thought really brightens my day. Thank you.
One day the wife arrived for her counseling session bursting with pride and holding in front of her her freshly issued license to carry a concealed weapon.
"Know what I'm gonna get," she asked in a voice full of enthusiasm just shy of mania. "I'm gonna get a .38; but instead of a three-inch I'm getting a two-inch snub nose!"
My curiosity overcame me. Being ex-military and knowing a good bit about firearms I had to ask why a snub nose.
"So the bullet will get there faster; you know, hit the target faster!"
Now with a law like this, maybe they'll move over here to South Carolina. Maybe get a job providing security for our former governor. After all, Ms Collins, as you've often implied he does appear to need a keeper. At any rate they'll be walking the streets of my state hopefully with their snub-noses AND their medication.
The thought really brightens my day. Thank you.
9
All rights are to support life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
If any one 'right', exercised in the extreme, violates this overriding principle rather than accordance with---we have death, oppression and fear; in my estimation, this is what the zealots of the second amendment have wrought.
If any one 'right', exercised in the extreme, violates this overriding principle rather than accordance with---we have death, oppression and fear; in my estimation, this is what the zealots of the second amendment have wrought.
14
Perhaps you are combining the wording of the Declaration of Independence with the wording of the US Constitution. While the former was considered an exercise in treason, and a call to violence, by the law enforcement authorities of the time, the latter is the law of the land, forged after long and bloody insurrection.
2
You have no enumerated right to life, liberty, or the persuit of happiness. Those words exist nowhere in our legal code. The Declaration of Independence has no legal standing.
1
No longer a joking matter. Yesterday we read that many states want to place a loaded weapon in every college student's bag or holster. Here we read of the further extension of American insanity (I am an American, not a Swede).
How far can this go before sane people from other countries choose any country but the US to visit? How far can this go before every scientific organization, for example AGU, must create a list of the small number of states where gun insanity is not supported by law?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
How far can this go before sane people from other countries choose any country but the US to visit? How far can this go before every scientific organization, for example AGU, must create a list of the small number of states where gun insanity is not supported by law?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
11
Having an out-of-state driver's license works because all cars are registered an law enforcement can look them up quickly. Does this mean we can finally have a national gun registry?
13
Your basic point is valid. Any law enforcement authority can check your driver's license regardless of what state issued it. But auto registration is separate from driver's license. You can have a driver's license without owning a car, and vice versa, and you can drive a car you don't own or let someone else (properly licensed, of course) drive your (properly registered and insured, of course) car.
Hey, you guys are making it too complex. Give everybody a standard issue service handgun at birth and tattoo the serial number on their forehead. Whenever there is gunplay in, say, a park, a stadium, an airport, or a shopping mall, the "good guys" or "good gals" will all have guns.
What, you say, how will we tell the good ones from the bad ones? We're all good, aren't we? Even when another driver cuts us off at an intersection? Or cuts in line ahead of us? Or there's a racial disparity involved?
What, you say, how will we tell the good ones from the bad ones? We're all good, aren't we? Even when another driver cuts us off at an intersection? Or cuts in line ahead of us? Or there's a racial disparity involved?
2
For years I have thought the Republican Party was the Stupid Party. Since Republicans have gained control of both houses of congress, I now know I was wrong. It is really the Insane Party.
13
This stopped being about the Second Amendment a long time ago.
Guns have now become a fetish for many scared right wing men in 'Merica.
Guns, leather, S & M, role playing it's all the same thing really, fringe sexual gratification.
Guns have now become a fetish for many scared right wing men in 'Merica.
Guns, leather, S & M, role playing it's all the same thing really, fringe sexual gratification.
14
Gail, you didn't mention yesterday's NY Times story about the Republican female legislator in Nevada (I think, the state may be wrong) who wanted all girls on campus, the 'hotties' (she called them) to open carry so they can kill anyone who attempts to rape them. Just another NRA ploy to get more guns in the hands of more people.
We are a sick, sick, sick society and we are dying. All of these are indications that we are crumbling from within, we have met the enemy and they are us kind of thing. A mega empire crumbling fast. So many people in power who absolutely should not be in power.
When will the people rise?
We are a sick, sick, sick society and we are dying. All of these are indications that we are crumbling from within, we have met the enemy and they are us kind of thing. A mega empire crumbling fast. So many people in power who absolutely should not be in power.
When will the people rise?
17
Not to outdo Nevada state Rep. Michele "all these young hot girls need a firearm" Fiore, what about the Michigan Republican official Christina Bond who fatally shot herself through the eye while trying to adjust the pistol in her bra holster?
THESE are the people "smart" enough to make decisions like this?
THESE are the people "smart" enough to make decisions like this?
3
The "logic" behind this bill is exactly the same as that behind the SCOTUS decisions that knocked down all laws from localities that sought to put some kind of control on gun ownership for purposes of public safety. This Court and this Republican led Congress believe in the Individual over and above and beyond any responsibility to the community. The Individual is their benchmark for what they call liberty and the Individual seems to owe nothing or nearly nothing to the society in which they live.
And let's bear in mind that there is little or no evidence of a gun ever having protected a woman from rape but evidence has never stopped the Nazis amongst us from claiming that they know better for everyone. There is nothing, absolutely nothing redeeming for society about the laws or the philosophy promoted by Republicans. When the Individual is the supreme arbiter of what is right, and regulation or law is nowhere to be found, society is the ultimate victim. That's you and me, kiddo and ironically, it's also the gun-toter.
And let's bear in mind that there is little or no evidence of a gun ever having protected a woman from rape but evidence has never stopped the Nazis amongst us from claiming that they know better for everyone. There is nothing, absolutely nothing redeeming for society about the laws or the philosophy promoted by Republicans. When the Individual is the supreme arbiter of what is right, and regulation or law is nowhere to be found, society is the ultimate victim. That's you and me, kiddo and ironically, it's also the gun-toter.
13
I had to go all the way back to Feb 11th, 2015 to find a woman who was saved from being raped and most likely murdered by her ability to deploy a handgun. That's over one week ago!
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/11/texas-woman-fatally-shoots-sex-offende...
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/11/texas-woman-fatally-shoots-sex-offende...
2
I agree with the last sentence. Please, Please don't pass anything this session. Surgeon's rule: first, do no harm!
2
If Congress passes ridiculous gun laws because they are funded by the NRA, wouldn't the problem be solved by changing how Congress gets its money?
9
You think it's about money? Compare NRA political contributions to oil, banks, agriculture, etc. The NRA gets its way because its members vote the gun rights issue.
Gail,
A couple of points. I do not believe that gun owners should be able to transfer registration from one state to the next. They should have to re register them each time. In fact, I would suggest a background in that state. Next, I think that
1) anyone with a domestic violence charge much less a conviction receive a lifetime ban
2) Anyone convicted of more than one drug offense is banned as well.
3) A psych evaluation will be completed (paid by the purchaser) before a purchase can be completed. If they fail or deemed a risk? They are prohibited for a minimum of 2 years at which time they can be reevaluated
4) Prohibit private gun sales
5) Any convicted felon is banned for life
6) Any gun owner must, by law, have a gun safe where it must be placed
Having said that I am a conservative Republican but I also worked for 23 years as a parole agent for the California Department of Corrections. And you will not stop any one of these people if they want to get ahold of one. If you think you will you're in denial. When one of my inmates set broke into an armory across the street from a police station (verified with law enforcement) to get AR 15's do you think more laws will stop them?
Also keep in mind that 42 countries make assault rifles. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Sweden, Russia, China, South Korea, Serbia, Croatia to name a few. Again, if they want one they will get it. They have the connections/contacts. If you think otherwise? Go to South Central LA and find out
A couple of points. I do not believe that gun owners should be able to transfer registration from one state to the next. They should have to re register them each time. In fact, I would suggest a background in that state. Next, I think that
1) anyone with a domestic violence charge much less a conviction receive a lifetime ban
2) Anyone convicted of more than one drug offense is banned as well.
3) A psych evaluation will be completed (paid by the purchaser) before a purchase can be completed. If they fail or deemed a risk? They are prohibited for a minimum of 2 years at which time they can be reevaluated
4) Prohibit private gun sales
5) Any convicted felon is banned for life
6) Any gun owner must, by law, have a gun safe where it must be placed
Having said that I am a conservative Republican but I also worked for 23 years as a parole agent for the California Department of Corrections. And you will not stop any one of these people if they want to get ahold of one. If you think you will you're in denial. When one of my inmates set broke into an armory across the street from a police station (verified with law enforcement) to get AR 15's do you think more laws will stop them?
Also keep in mind that 42 countries make assault rifles. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Sweden, Russia, China, South Korea, Serbia, Croatia to name a few. Again, if they want one they will get it. They have the connections/contacts. If you think otherwise? Go to South Central LA and find out
3
I assume a couple things might happen. Police departments will be eliminated or better yet add more staff to control the idiocy that will consist as a result of this. The courts will be even more backlogged than they are now with said idiots justifying why they shot someone. Prisons will obviously be more full than they are now and the Darwinian theory will be completed obsolete.
America, lets just put on our ten gallon hats, fit spurs on our boots, trade our cars in for horses, meet at the saloon for after work drinks and call it a day.
What a disaster, I weep for the future of this nation.
America, lets just put on our ten gallon hats, fit spurs on our boots, trade our cars in for horses, meet at the saloon for after work drinks and call it a day.
What a disaster, I weep for the future of this nation.
4
The gun lobby will not be happy until every newborn is given a license and a gun as a celebration of their new life.
Don't criticize Cornyn or the NRA, follow the money. Who profits by more lax gun laws? The manufacturers and distributers of guns. Let's have stories telling us about the lives of these people and their families.
5
But isn't the NRA simply an arm of the gun manufacturers & distributers? It's worrying to see senator Schumer pessimistic about this.This whole issue goes from bad to worse, as the US moves further away from the policies the rest of the world defines as civilized.
This is not such a bad idea. But, of course then, guns would have to be registered and controlled just like vehicles.
lff
lff
4
"In many crowded cities, gun safety means there’s almost nobody carrying but the cops. " This is not so.
Nobody but the cops and criminals who don't register their pistols on purpose and NEVER will. This leaves the good people and so why would you worry about them? You know, they're the good people.
Nobody but the cops and criminals who don't register their pistols on purpose and NEVER will. This leaves the good people and so why would you worry about them? You know, they're the good people.
4
EVERYONE is a "good people" until they do something bad. If you find a way to reliably determine the good people with guns from the people who haven't yet shot someone in anger or in a delusional frame of mind, or simply carelessness, then come see me. Until then respect my right to insist everyone who wants to own a firearm must first pass a thorough background check to protect the rest of us.
They are the good people until the gun goes off -- intentionally or by accident. Thank you, but I do not want to be in the line of fire under any circumstances.
In the early days, car manufacturers were concerned about price; safety was the consumer’s responsibility. But steady progress in safety was made over the years.
The earliest car headlamps were fueled by acetylene or oil because the flame was resistant to wind and rain. Cadillac integrated their vehicle's electrical ignition and lighting system in 1912.
A test of car brakes in 1902 against a four-horse coach and a Victoria horseless carriage was successful, a vast improvement spreading throughout the car industry.
In 1965, Nader wrote “Unsafe At Any Speed,” claiming that many American automobiles were unsafe to operate. GM tried to discredit him, but Nader sued and they settled leading to the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and safety belts and stronger windshields, but not without a fight. Once the public said they wanted to reduce fatalities, then other important safety features such as air bags followed.
The story of guns in America is almost the opposite. In most frontier towns the very first law was a gun control law for public safety and economic growth.
Gun manufacturing has changed little in design over the past century except for a move from revolvers to pistols, an increase in caliber, and an increase in ammunition capacity resulting in increased lethality of guns.
So, yes, if gun manufacturers were as responsible as the auto manufacturers, a simpler licensing procedure might be considered.
The earliest car headlamps were fueled by acetylene or oil because the flame was resistant to wind and rain. Cadillac integrated their vehicle's electrical ignition and lighting system in 1912.
A test of car brakes in 1902 against a four-horse coach and a Victoria horseless carriage was successful, a vast improvement spreading throughout the car industry.
In 1965, Nader wrote “Unsafe At Any Speed,” claiming that many American automobiles were unsafe to operate. GM tried to discredit him, but Nader sued and they settled leading to the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and safety belts and stronger windshields, but not without a fight. Once the public said they wanted to reduce fatalities, then other important safety features such as air bags followed.
The story of guns in America is almost the opposite. In most frontier towns the very first law was a gun control law for public safety and economic growth.
Gun manufacturing has changed little in design over the past century except for a move from revolvers to pistols, an increase in caliber, and an increase in ammunition capacity resulting in increased lethality of guns.
So, yes, if gun manufacturers were as responsible as the auto manufacturers, a simpler licensing procedure might be considered.
8
There is one wee difference that shoots down your false analogy: There is no constitutional amendment granting the right to bear an automobile or the right to bear a driver's license. The right to bear arms is a US Constitutional right, not merely a differing state-to-state right.
1
And there is one wee problem with your argument. The 2nd amendment refers to a "well-regulated militia." Licensed, tested, registered and insured. That sure sounds to me like a "well-regulated militia."
1
David Mallet - that amendment says 'a well regulated militia'. Let's set aside the debate of whether that word 'militia' implicitly ties that right to bear arms to availability for service in a militia, and focus on the words 'well regulated'.
Basically, plain meaning = the government has the right to regulate the bearing of arms. The issue then becomes, federal, state, or both? For the sake of the argument, let's say, 'the states'. If you insist on states' rights, as I'm sure you do, then what Cornyn's bill is saying is that a resident of state A should have the right to go into state B and violate its laws. I think if you think about this for more than three seconds, you will see why the idea that state rights travel with the individual across state lines won't work. And indeed it didn't, when slaveholders from slave states crossed into free states to reclaim their fugitive 'property'.
Basically, plain meaning = the government has the right to regulate the bearing of arms. The issue then becomes, federal, state, or both? For the sake of the argument, let's say, 'the states'. If you insist on states' rights, as I'm sure you do, then what Cornyn's bill is saying is that a resident of state A should have the right to go into state B and violate its laws. I think if you think about this for more than three seconds, you will see why the idea that state rights travel with the individual across state lines won't work. And indeed it didn't, when slaveholders from slave states crossed into free states to reclaim their fugitive 'property'.
2
So Cornyn feels that all states should recognize gun licenses from other states. I assume it is fair to assume that he believes that all states must recognize marriage licenses from other states, including providing all the rights and privileges associated with marriage that the other state provides.
12
That's a bargain I'd take in a New York minute!
It is the dawn of "High Noon" the dream of all these gun nuts.
Quick Draw McGraw will be the local do it yourself enforcer. Got a neighborhood dispute, shoot it out. Did your neighbors dog crap on your lawn, shot it, and when the owner complains show him what a big man you are with your 44.
One of thee nuts also thinks having the ladies on campus armed will stop the college rapes. I guess he thinks they are going to carry their gun to the parties, and when they have too much alcohol and wake up in bed with some guy they will shoot him.
What kind of mentality do we have in our elected representatives? Did they all suddenly take stupid pills?
Quick Draw McGraw will be the local do it yourself enforcer. Got a neighborhood dispute, shoot it out. Did your neighbors dog crap on your lawn, shot it, and when the owner complains show him what a big man you are with your 44.
One of thee nuts also thinks having the ladies on campus armed will stop the college rapes. I guess he thinks they are going to carry their gun to the parties, and when they have too much alcohol and wake up in bed with some guy they will shoot him.
What kind of mentality do we have in our elected representatives? Did they all suddenly take stupid pills?
27
David,
No, no, no, no, no! It's not sudden at all.
Been going on for years!
No, no, no, no, no! It's not sudden at all.
Been going on for years!
Your dire predictions have not been borne out over the past 20 years in the states that have significantly liberalized their gun laws.
Suddenly?
By the same token the full faith and credit clause must not apply to anything. Marriage and drivers licenses should not carry any weight outside of the state in which they are issued.
Most of this anti-rights sentiment is driven by the inherent fear humans have of the unknown. Since firearm knowledge and use is not known in some circles then firearms are an easy scapegoat for the ills of society. The same principle that causes people who don't know a muslim to fear all muslims based on propaganda they hear over and over again, or gays, or the people blame comic books and video games for children's violence. Anything that can totemically hold the spirit of evil and be ritualistically attacked to evict the demons of one's mind and excuse and abdicate any deep thinking on the issue will suffice.
Most of this anti-rights sentiment is driven by the inherent fear humans have of the unknown. Since firearm knowledge and use is not known in some circles then firearms are an easy scapegoat for the ills of society. The same principle that causes people who don't know a muslim to fear all muslims based on propaganda they hear over and over again, or gays, or the people blame comic books and video games for children's violence. Anything that can totemically hold the spirit of evil and be ritualistically attacked to evict the demons of one's mind and excuse and abdicate any deep thinking on the issue will suffice.
5
It is ironic that you cite "fear of the unknown" as the driver of anti-gun sentiment when it is more than abundantly clear that the NRA inspired religion of un-limited gun "rights" is predicated upon the maximizing of paranoia among the American people.
2
How would you defend a right to carry around a weapon for self defence when you are incompetent in its use? Surely your right to defend yourself does not come with a acceptable collateral damage rider? Innocent bystanders' right not to get shot trumps some dude with John McClane delusions right to carry a gun he cannot safely use.
1
Great comment. Major cities in the south are awash in guns and they are no more dangerous (and often less so) that cities in other parts of the countries with gun restrictions. Likewise, gay marriage in Alabama will not destroy society there anymore than it has destroyed it in any place it has already been allowed. On the whole we as a country have very little faith in people and we always seem to think the answer to everything is to ban something or someone.
I have long been made nauseous by legislators that are really nothing more than "deadbeats" on the public dole -- good salary, generous pension and savings plan benefits, health and welfare benefits -- all at taxpayer expense.
This initiative by Cornyn, another "deadbeat" legislator, makes me more distressed, and should make all of us sick, especially when I consider all the other issues that need attention and could advance the public/common good.
For all those that complain about those receiving welfare benefits and on the public dole, they need to take a close look at our legislators and all the useless and harmful pieces of legislation, such as this one by Cornyn, for which they advocate.
This initiative by Cornyn, another "deadbeat" legislator, makes me more distressed, and should make all of us sick, especially when I consider all the other issues that need attention and could advance the public/common good.
For all those that complain about those receiving welfare benefits and on the public dole, they need to take a close look at our legislators and all the useless and harmful pieces of legislation, such as this one by Cornyn, for which they advocate.
38
This is another example of our culture rapidly going in reverse. These insane ideas are supposed to be so out of the realm of reality they only appear as skits on Sat Night Live. many o the acts of congress, the insane ideas of Ted Cruz , Cornyn and others are from a period of time when we were trying to figure out what is civilization. We began to do this and things began to advance and now we are tumbling backwards in the control of people who belong in the far far past. It seems a lot of this is coming from Texas, maybe its the pollution in the air?
Please Texas, keep your craziness in Texas.
Please Texas, keep your craziness in Texas.
22
Let's establish a nationally recognized roster with id cards (which are supposedly the great fear of the right!) that registers into a data base everybody who believes voiding state laws to provide national certifications of guns to be transported is a good idea, esp. those who would attack tow hitches for howitzers on the back of their vans to shot off a few rounds as they entered the wilderness (for some, the inner city!) as part of the right to bear arms. Imagine the lines at the old New Mexico firing ranges! A whole new economy would spring up! And make that data base public!
1
Now wait. The ID cards..the right loves those, if it relates to voting. A nice little tool to create a additional step in the voting process. But forget about it if it pertains to firearms.
Not having any legal expertise, I believe the 2nd Amendment meant our militias at that time did not have the finances to provide arms so people were expected to bring their own arms before joining the militia. The 2nd Amendment was added to the Constitution so that private ownership of arms was protected as it should have been back in 1789.
It is now 2015, we have State National Guards and a Federal Military that protects our security interests. Perhaps the 2nd Amendment needs an honest reinterpretation by the Supreme Court. I'm not holding my breath.
It is now 2015, we have State National Guards and a Federal Military that protects our security interests. Perhaps the 2nd Amendment needs an honest reinterpretation by the Supreme Court. I'm not holding my breath.
23
The court's duty and obligation is not to 'reinterpret' the constitution. The court is bound by a principle known as stare decisis, which assures consistency. The court has not yet fully decided the full parameters and possible nuances regarding the Second Amendment. But, given the court's conservative bent, if the court renders a fully interpretive opinion, it's a good guess the decision will be a 5-4 split in favor of as literal as possible a reading of the amendment.
Thankfully the facts do not align with your belief.
If you're correct, the solution is not a "reinterpretation" of the 2nd Amendment, but revision or repeal. Good luck with that.
When the gun lobby unequivocally accepts and advocates that firearms and their owners should be licensed and regulated on a par with vehicles and drivers, maybe then we can talk about the credentials from one state being accepted elsewhere.
22
Even professional police officers are out of their ken when outside their regular beats.
Firearm ownership is a right. Driving is a privilege. We will NEVER register our firearms. The only way to achieve "universal background checks" is through registration, so it will never happen.
1
Let liberals unequivocally accept and advocate licensing of their free speech rights first.
I really feel sorry for these perpetually frightened souls who don't feel comfortable without their guns. I can't imagine what it must be like to live every moment petrified that highly improbable dangers and conflict await around every corner. It saddens me that these folks are so uncreative, intellectually limited, and socially inept that the only recourse they can imagine is the threat or use of violence.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but an overreaction to irrational fears seems to indicate either cognitive issues, or cowardice, or both. Guns don't seem advisable for folks like that, especially not all the time, or out in public where they're apparently quite uncomfortable.
Outside of certain careers, the only people I really trust to carry a gun on the street are the people who don't really feel they need one. Everyone else strikes me as prone to overreaction. Heck, we even see occasional overreaction in highly trained law enforcement
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but an overreaction to irrational fears seems to indicate either cognitive issues, or cowardice, or both. Guns don't seem advisable for folks like that, especially not all the time, or out in public where they're apparently quite uncomfortable.
Outside of certain careers, the only people I really trust to carry a gun on the street are the people who don't really feel they need one. Everyone else strikes me as prone to overreaction. Heck, we even see occasional overreaction in highly trained law enforcement
33
I really feel sorry for these perpetually frightened souls who don't feel comfortable around guns. I can't imagine what it must be like to live every moment petrified that highly improbable dangers and conflict await around every corner. It saddens me that these folks are so uncreative, intellectually limited, and socially inept that the only recourse they can imagine is the threat or use of violence.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but an overreaction to irrational fears seems to indicate either cognitive issues, or cowardice, or both. Guns don't seem advisable for folks like that, especially not all the time, or out in public where they're apparently quite uncomfortable.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but an overreaction to irrational fears seems to indicate either cognitive issues, or cowardice, or both. Guns don't seem advisable for folks like that, especially not all the time, or out in public where they're apparently quite uncomfortable.
Maybe it can be traced to a deficiency in Omega 3 fatty acids?
Same could be said about all the people who fear guns and want to ban everything that scares them. Personally, I fear rush hour traffic more than someone with a gun.
1
So let me see, even though I have an MD license to practice in Texas, indicating that I have passed multiple national exams and met national requirements, I cannot practice in any other state. That way each state I might move to gets a whole new chance to approve me for a large sum of money, and it makes it easier for MD's to escape a bad rap with the local medical board. Sure Sen Cornyn, instead of improving medical care with national licensing, let's make gun carry laws a priority. As usual, you will not be getting my vote in 2020.
61
Have you contacted your representatives and really pushed for this idea? It sounds like a good one to me!
Journalists have a blind spot when dealing with gun nut propaganda. They're trained and constantly reminded to be "balanced". Yes, even op-ed opinion writers are affected to a degree. There is one, only one, lie that is allowing this insanity of human slaughter device proliferation to take place. Gun proliferation supporters actually believe it. It's what drives them. They honestly believe that it's been proven that arming everyone makes society safer and that there are millions of cases of legitimate self defense with a gun. It's been completely debunked as the ignorant nonsense that you'd assume it to be, but it is seldom reported. "Balance" has assumed a greater importance in our news media than the urgent need to inform the population of the truth.
40
Although I am a Texan, with weapons in my home, I'd prefer not to be placed in situations outside the home in which I would feel the need to be armed.
However, the Cornyn bill does, perhaps, have some merit in a much broader sense of application as regards "professional" licensing.
For example, a license to teach in, say New York, doesn't have immediate application in, say Texas.
Nor, for that matter, do licenses in one state necessarily carry forth in other states. The following come to mind (my short list, but could be extended to hundreds of professions):
Taxidermy, embalming, medicine, nursing, hair styling, barbering, plumbing, electrician, engineering, etc., etc.
Yes, I know all about "protecting" local turfs, but if Congress deems gun carriage a national necessity, perhaps it can make some real progress on making "licenses" for the professions and trades an equal need. It could certainly help the economy when workers in a depressed economy in one state seek to relocate to another.
However, the Cornyn bill does, perhaps, have some merit in a much broader sense of application as regards "professional" licensing.
For example, a license to teach in, say New York, doesn't have immediate application in, say Texas.
Nor, for that matter, do licenses in one state necessarily carry forth in other states. The following come to mind (my short list, but could be extended to hundreds of professions):
Taxidermy, embalming, medicine, nursing, hair styling, barbering, plumbing, electrician, engineering, etc., etc.
Yes, I know all about "protecting" local turfs, but if Congress deems gun carriage a national necessity, perhaps it can make some real progress on making "licenses" for the professions and trades an equal need. It could certainly help the economy when workers in a depressed economy in one state seek to relocate to another.
12
It is part of the American experience, back to the founding of the republic, that, whenever sports or firearms are involved, a lot of smart, middle-aged white men get stupid pretty quickly. It is sort of how men from around the world can behave whenever sex is involved, only with firearms, the results are what the statistics say they are. As for sports: the results are relatively harmless, unless you live in one of those cities where a city council composed of those astute gentleman decides that what the populace truly needs to satisfy civic wants is a new sports stadium with luxurious skyboxes. But I'm a smart, middle-aged white guy, so what do I know?
16
Or to put the question a different way: Do we want to make it even easier to export greater gun violence to the few places in America which try to regulate guns and gun ownership more robustly? I think not.
Too many Americans continue to live under the delusion that more guns make our society safer when all the evidence (our standing as the most gun violent and murderous among advanced countries) is to the contrary.
States who have had the good sense to impose meaningful and sensible (not to mention constitutional) restrictions on their own residents should not have to endure the legal presence of poorly vetted gun owners from other states who have caved to the influence of the gun lobby.
Too many Americans continue to live under the delusion that more guns make our society safer when all the evidence (our standing as the most gun violent and murderous among advanced countries) is to the contrary.
States who have had the good sense to impose meaningful and sensible (not to mention constitutional) restrictions on their own residents should not have to endure the legal presence of poorly vetted gun owners from other states who have caved to the influence of the gun lobby.
27
Right. NYC restrictive gun laws. Very safe place, they just went 12 days without a murder.
Look at gun ownership rates and crime rates over the past 20 years. There is a strong inverse relationship.
1
Yes, and just yesterday we had the story about arming women on college campuses. Obviously the solution to every problem facing our nation is MORE GUNS! We're stuck with this insanity for the foreseeable future, I'm afraid. The 2nd amendment, an attempt to avoid having a standing army by substituting a "well regulated" citizen militia was obsolete by the time of the War of 1812, when it should have been rewritten or repealed. Somehow it's been transmogrified into a basic component of human freedom, with horrific results in this country and, with the proliferation of military weapons, around the world.
79
Cornyn - One more Vietnam-era Republican member of Congress who draft-dodged his way out of serving in a well-regulated militia.
130
Does Texas still want to secede from the Union? I say let 'em.
83
Works for me...
as long as we can prevent them from having nuclear weapons.
as long as we can prevent them from having nuclear weapons.
1
And then they can "secure the border." No more posturing against the federal government. Won't that be fun?
2
Can Gabrielle Gifford offer to testify before Congress when this comes up for the vote?
20
Great idea. Apply your state's screwy laws wherever you might be. Let' see, how about "Stand Your Ground" on the NYC subway?
17
It's almost surreal how the conservative tide of destruction in America keeps finding more and more adherents. And they do it while waving a very specious flag of patriotism. I think it was George Washington who said "beware of pretend patriotism". His prescience cannot be overstated. There is nothing, absolutely nothing patriotic about today's Republican party. They use the Constitution as a tool to enable a higher order to which they serve. Case in point, just ask a Republican gun owner what they would do if the Second Amendment is repealed. You'll always get the same answer: "you can take my gun when you pull it from my cold dead hand".
The NRA and gun owners don't care about the Second Amendment - they just want to have guns, no matter how menacing it becomes for America. And then, in the ultimate manifestation of irony, they promote universal gun ownership as the guardian against malevolent use. Everyone should have a gun! And with that expansion would come the expansion of Stand Your Ground laws. Soon, a few words of protest would become grounds for shooting someone, because, well, you felt threatened.
Sounds crazy? This is exactly what Wayne LaPierre promotes on a daily basis. And guess what, he's winning.
The NRA and gun owners don't care about the Second Amendment - they just want to have guns, no matter how menacing it becomes for America. And then, in the ultimate manifestation of irony, they promote universal gun ownership as the guardian against malevolent use. Everyone should have a gun! And with that expansion would come the expansion of Stand Your Ground laws. Soon, a few words of protest would become grounds for shooting someone, because, well, you felt threatened.
Sounds crazy? This is exactly what Wayne LaPierre promotes on a daily basis. And guess what, he's winning.
27
Chuck Schumer is right. This measure is "awful, awful, awful."
If the measure gets to President Obama's desk he must veto it, not only on states rights grounds but also on the strength of his legacy on what's the right thing to do. We can't rely on a feckless Congress on either side of the aisle for anything constructive.
Let the "right to death" thugs shoot up their own back yards. Leave ours alone.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
If the measure gets to President Obama's desk he must veto it, not only on states rights grounds but also on the strength of his legacy on what's the right thing to do. We can't rely on a feckless Congress on either side of the aisle for anything constructive.
Let the "right to death" thugs shoot up their own back yards. Leave ours alone.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
18
what next? Will Cronyn now try to push through international trade agreements such as The Iowa Corn and Colt law, requiring purchasers of necessary US goods to buy guns … or else?
6
If its tragedies weren't played out every day, America's gun culture would be like a blend of a Sam Peckinpah movie and "Blazing Saddles." Just when you think it couldn't possibly become more bizarre or just, there's no other word that fits, stupid, someone like Cornyn proves you wrong. In New Hampshire they're arguing about who can show you they're carrying a gun and who can hide the fact. It's not just guns that are being concealed in this country; it's reason and intelligence.
35
Of the roughly 30,000 Americans who die every year from being shot about 20,000 or 2/3rds kill themselves. There is "no good guy" with a gun around to save them from their mental emotional despair. More guns means more suicides.
Of the other 10,000 deaths most involve family, friend, thugs, neighbors and acquaintances from the same racial ethnic sectarian socioeconomic political educational community neighborhood class.
Besides with $ 640 billion spent on it's military-industrial complex America has lots of guns for it's citizens willing to defend Uncle Sam.
John Cornyn ,like his fellow Senator from Texas the Canadian Cuban Rafael Eduardo Cruz, Jr., was never patriotic enough to volunteer to put on an American military uniform. Indeed, only .75% of Americans have been willing to take that step since September 11, 2001.
Instead of "a gun on every corner" a gun for every American willing to back up their clucking war hen mongering drum beating to "Go Over There" should be the duty and obligation of any one wanting to be a member in good standing of the Republican Tea Confederate Aryan Brotherhood Fox News National Rifle Association Evangelical Christian Party. Maybe they will even make a movie about your heroic exploits.
Of the other 10,000 deaths most involve family, friend, thugs, neighbors and acquaintances from the same racial ethnic sectarian socioeconomic political educational community neighborhood class.
Besides with $ 640 billion spent on it's military-industrial complex America has lots of guns for it's citizens willing to defend Uncle Sam.
John Cornyn ,like his fellow Senator from Texas the Canadian Cuban Rafael Eduardo Cruz, Jr., was never patriotic enough to volunteer to put on an American military uniform. Indeed, only .75% of Americans have been willing to take that step since September 11, 2001.
Instead of "a gun on every corner" a gun for every American willing to back up their clucking war hen mongering drum beating to "Go Over There" should be the duty and obligation of any one wanting to be a member in good standing of the Republican Tea Confederate Aryan Brotherhood Fox News National Rifle Association Evangelical Christian Party. Maybe they will even make a movie about your heroic exploits.
27
Just yesterday, there was an article about proposals to arm "hot young girls" on campus, supposedly as protection against rape. Georgia's Guns everywhere law, it seems, is the envy of other states, whose legislators will look for any argument, however specious, to promote guns. The NRA and its elected mouthpieces won't rest until the country is a replica of the Wild West.
21
In the Wild West they had to leave their guns with town Marshall. Too dangerous to bring to town.
I guess once you have your little friend strapped to your side or your ankle, it's hard to leave him behind. It's like your smartphone. If I drive off without my smartphone, even if I have gone a half mile, I have to double back and get it. I feel incomplete without it. It's psychological. You get used to these technological aids. The only difference is I can't kill anyone except angry birds with my smartphone... I wouldn't mind having an espresso machine the size of a wallet, though... just thinking out loud.
22
Many of the readers are missing the point of this bill. It is not about Texans or other fellow Americans from south of the Mason-Dixon wanting to invade NY with there legally owned guns to paint the town red, notwithstanding all the warmth for them exuded in the comments here. This is about a legal gun owner from say Maine who wishes to drive to visit relatives in Virginia. She does not risk becoming a felon because she drives through MA, CT, NY, NJ, and Maryland with her legally owned firearm in the car which is currently the case, if for some reason she were to stop in any of those states for a prolonged time. Like a night in a hotel or an auto accident.
8
why does she need her gun when she is visiting relatives in Virginia?
12
I read Cornyn's press release. The bill "would allow individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home state to exercise those rights in any other state that also has concealed carry laws, while abiding by that state’s concealed carry laws." It says nothing about keeping a gun in a sealed space in a car. The obvious problem with this is that the criteria for obtaining a concealed carry license in Texas may well be quite different than in NY. Why not leave it to the states to decide if they want to offer reciprocity? If this was really about what you are describing, Cornyn could propose a bill addressing the specific situation of gun owners in transit to another state. No, this law is about the proliferation of weapons onto the streets of cities where they are not wanted.
9
So let's open the discussion to a mechanism by which that weapon can be secured by law enforcement officers in Maine, and unlocked by the same in the destination state. Insisting on unfettered access to deadly weapons at all times is not the answer.
2
With all the issues confronting this country and this is what congress spends its time on. Honestly, who are these people in national office? I just can't imagine waking up in the morning, as a Senator, and thinking, you know, we need to make it possible for everyone in the country to pack some heat. What really bothers me, is the carelessness of such measures. We know Cornyn didn't wake up with this idea, it was handed to him by the NRA. His thinking was: easy bill to pass, I will please the NRA, and who cares about NY, they won't vote for me anyway --- a lot of upsides, and some pockets of urban downsides.
389
If Senator Cornyn believes that gun and driving licenses are essentially analogous, and what's valid in one state should be valid in all 50, should we now assume that both he and his Republican colleagues are comfortable with extending the same line of reasoning to all another licenses, including marriage?
7
The way to stop such a bill is to include a requirement that concealed or open carry into Congress or any Congressional office is allowed for anyone, felons and victims of mental illness included. What Congress thinks is okay for the country, and what it thinks is okay for Congress, are two different things.
63
The Poet McTeagle -- you nailed it. Allow gun toters to sit in the gallery when Congress is in session. Allow anyone entering the Supreme Court building to carry a gun. The knuckleheads like Coryn are fine with everyone else being exposed to nuts with guns at their workplace or on the road or at school or anywhere else but they DON'T want to be exposed to the gun nuts at their work place. Sort of just as they don't want to have to buy the same healthcare as you and me -- they have their own "special plan." Force the toads in Congress to have to buy health insurance on the open market and see how quickly single payer would be passed.
1
Can visitors bring loaded guns into the U.S. Senate chamber? No, and the reason is to protect the lives of the Senators. Do those lives count for more than the lives of people at a mall, or a movie theater, a playground or a school?
896
'Do those lives count for more than the lives of people at a mall ...?'
Interesting example. Gabby Giffords' life and health, which was of paramount importance when she was in the Capitol. apparently became just one more discountable casualty when she mingled with her equally vulnerable constituents at (if memory serves) a shopping centre.
Interesting example. Gabby Giffords' life and health, which was of paramount importance when she was in the Capitol. apparently became just one more discountable casualty when she mingled with her equally vulnerable constituents at (if memory serves) a shopping centre.
4
I think you've answered your own question.
1
You act genuinely surprised that they do--at least in their own eyes.
1
I would encourage anyone....anyone....who is thinking about moving to Texas to seriously evaluate why they are doing so. All of our officials..the governor, and the other distinguished senator, Ted Cruz, feel the same way as Cornyn. These kinds of ideas seem to always originate here, rather it be guards along the border, executing people like they were proud of doing it more than any state, ignoring any kind of environmental regulation, denying gay people the right to marriage, and allowing people to walk through a grocery store with their Uzis proudly raised over their heads. Dallas has been officially designated as one of the noisiest places in the country. At least that drowns out the gunfire. Do you really want ignore all of this for a lower cost of living? Please do some research. Our state bird should be the loon. It is no longer about living, it's about surviving.
36
Is it true in Texas that there is a state law banning any municipality from writing and enforcing fire codes? I have heard that Texas fertilizer companies would be forced to undergo great hardships by regulations such as those.
You read like a nice person so no offense, but the border i want to see secured is the Mason Dixon line, all the way across the northern border of OK.
You read like a nice person so no offense, but the border i want to see secured is the Mason Dixon line, all the way across the northern border of OK.
4
Don't malign the loon. It's a wonderful, beautiful bird. Minnesota already has it as our state bird, and things have been going quite well here lately.
1
I don't even like to say "Texas". I prefer "Baja Oklahoma".
1
I just don't get the fascination or the need for everybody gotta have a gun. The "fear" in law enforcement that anyone anywhere might have a gun has led to a lot of police shootings of unarmed innocents in recent years. The 2nd amendment is absolutely the worst and most misinterpreted (to the benefit of gun manufacturers) particle of our constitution. It has led to multitudes of lawless behavior, murders and suicides, and I have yet to hear a story about how someone was actually "saved" because he had a gun. The "right" to bear arms carried a heavy responsibility - and that's the part that lawmakers are shirking. Who gets to own and carry a gun needs to be heavily regulated, background checks need to be more extensive not less, it definitely should not be easier than getting a driver's license-which it now is in many parts of the country. And the open carry laws are even more ridiculous, because if you are the wrong color carrying openly-you are likely to get killed by law enforcement-no questions asked. Let's wake up to the reality that guns kill, and they are killing us.
16
more gun deaths than all terrorist attacks combined. we pay in blood EVERY year. no less cruel than Al Qaeda, Isil, Taliban, etc. and the "enemy" is here in our country, no invasion necessary.
It is difficult to keep up with Republicans' inconsistent, contradictory, ever-changing logic. Is Cornyn arguing that when it comes to conceal-carry, federal law usurps state law? Isn't such an argument at odds with the conservative investment in states' rights and their calls for nullification, seen most recently in the gay marriage movement? To the Republican/NRA mind, freedom, independece, and liberty only applies to guns.
23
Typical hypocrisy from the republicans. As Gail wrote they want states rights when it's convenient to them.
Texas, please secede from the union, please, please, PLEASE.
32
So... if Roe vs. Wade were repealed and abortion was up to the states, anyone living in Massachusetts (lets say with the most liberal abortion laws) would have the right to an abortion on the same terms in Texas, right? Yeah, right! So why should someone living in Texas have the same gun rights in Massachusetts? Just because the Republicans are hypocrites.
41
The NPR program Market Place had a good story some time ago about the way the NRA motivates people to contact politicians and lobby for laws like this.
If everyone posting here on the NYT would contact their state and local representatives we might be able to make a difference.
Sadly Democrats missed their chance to make a difference last November when they stayed home instead of voting and now we're all paying for it.
If everyone posting here on the NYT would contact their state and local representatives we might be able to make a difference.
Sadly Democrats missed their chance to make a difference last November when they stayed home instead of voting and now we're all paying for it.
352
the "moderate" Republicans stayed home at the ballot box too. don't forget to blame them.
Don't expect the voting process to change much going forward. Peaceful people may not wake up until it's way, way too late. Like now.
1
Why don't we just tell people that it's fine to own a gun? However, in order to own one you have to take yearly classes in how to care for it, use it, store it safely, and, unless you are using the guns for hunting, you have to have a good reason for owning one.
9
And pay liability insurance premiums every year, just as auto owners do.
2
And you would enforce this how?
So here is a story from the future:
"A Texas man today shot nine people after he was accidentally pushed on a crowded rush hour train as it boarded passengers at Times
square. Police said the man had a hand gun licensed in and by Texas and that he carried under federal law that allows any licensed gun in the U.S. to be carried anywhere in the nation and that he said he perceived the pushing and shoving on the crowded car as an attack on his person.
Shooting wildly as the express train reached maximum speed and lurched forward the man killed a two-year old girl, her 79-year-old grandmother, a 32-year-old off duty transit policeman, four teenagers on their way home from high school soccer practice, a 49-year-old blind woman and a 19-year old college coed police said, adding another 29 passengers suffered wounds, nine of them critical.
A spokesman for the Manhattan D.A. said an investigation would proceed, noting in the years since the federal law has been in effect more than 3,000 people have died each year in similar incidents.
A spokesman for the gun lobby said, "It's regrettable but what would be more regrettable would be to take away the right of all Americans to be armed every day for self-protection. He had a Second Amendment right to meet the threat with a gun."
It's America. It's the wild, wild west. It's a lunatic asylum for people who love guns.
"A Texas man today shot nine people after he was accidentally pushed on a crowded rush hour train as it boarded passengers at Times
square. Police said the man had a hand gun licensed in and by Texas and that he carried under federal law that allows any licensed gun in the U.S. to be carried anywhere in the nation and that he said he perceived the pushing and shoving on the crowded car as an attack on his person.
Shooting wildly as the express train reached maximum speed and lurched forward the man killed a two-year old girl, her 79-year-old grandmother, a 32-year-old off duty transit policeman, four teenagers on their way home from high school soccer practice, a 49-year-old blind woman and a 19-year old college coed police said, adding another 29 passengers suffered wounds, nine of them critical.
A spokesman for the Manhattan D.A. said an investigation would proceed, noting in the years since the federal law has been in effect more than 3,000 people have died each year in similar incidents.
A spokesman for the gun lobby said, "It's regrettable but what would be more regrettable would be to take away the right of all Americans to be armed every day for self-protection. He had a Second Amendment right to meet the threat with a gun."
It's America. It's the wild, wild west. It's a lunatic asylum for people who love guns.
64
The Gun lobby would also probably say, "Those nine people should have been carrying a weapon to shoot back!"
1
The reality: A North Carolina man today shot three people in a dispute over a parking place....
It's not the future at all. It's the present, and will continue to be so...
It's not the future at all. It's the present, and will continue to be so...
2
The NRA of the past 40 years is not the NRA intended by the men who founded the organization. For one thing, NHA would be a more accurate acronym now, since handguns are the firearm most vigorously promoted. As for rifles, anything not in the mold of the assault style - the AR-15, AK-47 and their knock-offs - gets very little attention from the NRA. Any discussion of marksmanship, one of the basic tenets of the original NRA, has been reduced to irrelevance by the promotion of rapid-fire semi-automatic weapons capable of spraying a wall of lead. No marksmanship necessary with this baby. As with a car, no license is needed to purchase one of these weapons. Unlike a car, however, no license is necessary to operate a gun.
The requirements for a concealed carry permit are minimal: a perfunctory background check amounting to little more than taking at face value the answers given on a yes/no questionnaire; a few hours of lecture leading to a test no harder than filling out the background checklist; a demonstration that the applicant is capable of hitting a silhouette target of a large man from distances of two to fifteen yards. And this is required only in some, not all, states. Hardly a guarantee of uniformity of minimal competence.
John Cornyn has been shilling for the NRA his entire political career. He's not an unintelligent person; I find it hard to believe he truly believes the things he has been bought and paid to say.
The requirements for a concealed carry permit are minimal: a perfunctory background check amounting to little more than taking at face value the answers given on a yes/no questionnaire; a few hours of lecture leading to a test no harder than filling out the background checklist; a demonstration that the applicant is capable of hitting a silhouette target of a large man from distances of two to fifteen yards. And this is required only in some, not all, states. Hardly a guarantee of uniformity of minimal competence.
John Cornyn has been shilling for the NRA his entire political career. He's not an unintelligent person; I find it hard to believe he truly believes the things he has been bought and paid to say.
33
It's not the NRA, it's the people of Texas, few of whom apparently agree with you.
"Bought and paid" captures the essence of the problem, particularly evident now with Keystone bought Congress.
1
No wonder police have become trigger happy. If EVERYONE from ANYWHERE is roaming the streets with a gun, the cops will surely continue to shoot first and ask questions later. Wild west here we come.
13
Congress should show good faith by first allowing guns in the house and senate. As well as the courts, embassies and private clubs of DC. Next year we can take a recount and see where we stand.
22
Welcome to the USA, Country of Stupid. I only wish I could afford to move to a safer country!
14
After the horrific mistake Collins made in her last column, how can she have an credibility writing about any topic.
6
Nice try.
2
I just went back and re-read her previous column, and I don't see any such thing. You are obliged to be specific.
2
Okay, if Cornyn wants guns everywhere like driving licenses, how about mandatory gun insurance for them? Every gun owner should be required to carry insurance to indemnify anyone harmed by one of their weapons even if the gun was stolen or borrowed. The insurance companies could get rich on gun insurance in place of health care coverage (which gets skimpier every year) and we get universal health care in exchange. Would that be a win-win?
24
The NRA could launch such insurance as a membership booster.
Yes, they should have to carry insurance.
You drive, you pay; you carry, you pay.
And, like in some places where you have to get your car checked out every now and again, I think you should have to show proficiency with a gun at the same rate.
You drive, you pay; you carry, you pay.
And, like in some places where you have to get your car checked out every now and again, I think you should have to show proficiency with a gun at the same rate.
Except that the untold damage and heart-ache in the process would be unfathomable and a disgrace.
The American mantra:
Guns, God and Government.
Guns, God and Government.
2
Actually, it's:
Guns, God and no Government!
Guns, God and no Government!
2
Such a concealed weapons permit would only dramatically increase the possibility of a brainwashed lone wolf trying to replicate a Sydney café, or a Paris grocery store, or a Copenhagen cultural center type scenario in New York or Washington D.C. or any big city in the U.S. It’s high time that gun enthusiasts removed their heads from within the deep recesses of the 18th century and realized the realities that we face living in the 21st century.
7
My right to not get shot by some paranoid gun owner with a mail order carry permit trumps their imagined right to issue guns to every toddler. Just as speech is limited- so is the right to a firearm despite the claims of the NRA and others.
Concealed carry should be outlawed nationwide. Open carry should require education, testing, registration, a background check, a psychiatric evaluation and liability insurance for the owner.
Seriously.
Concealed carry should be outlawed nationwide. Open carry should require education, testing, registration, a background check, a psychiatric evaluation and liability insurance for the owner.
Seriously.
32
Open carry should require a badge. Concealed carry is patently absurd. Even the VA legislature, which approved carrying in the state, was smart enough to prohibit it in the state house. Go figure.
2
I imagine that every published opinion like this sells more memberships in the NRA.
Gail Collins's columns are not getting funnier. This might have something to do with the growing dysfunction in the alternative universe that she shares with the rest of us.
Gail nails it squarely on the hypocrisy of the "states rights" demagogues who behave much like the right-to-lifers, the Obamacare-haters and the opponents of "judicial activism" who advance sanctimonious pleas of "principle" except where they apply to them.
What's right for me is wrong for you, and vice-versa.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
Gail nails it squarely on the hypocrisy of the "states rights" demagogues who behave much like the right-to-lifers, the Obamacare-haters and the opponents of "judicial activism" who advance sanctimonious pleas of "principle" except where they apply to them.
What's right for me is wrong for you, and vice-versa.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
11
Let's be clear on the states rights argument. The Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution reads, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Which means that if it is in the Constitution, e.g., the 2nd Amendment, the States cannot overrule it. If it is not in the Constitution, e.g., marriage, the states or the people decide what to do about it and not the federal government, of course, unless that is perverted by everyone claiming that the 14th Amendment trumps all state law.
1
Boconnel, since you changed the subject, the rights 'reserved to the people,' that is, to the individual, would include the right to enter into a civil contract of marriage.
1
The political formula on gun rights is pretty basic; The more fear and violence we have in America, the better for the Republican Party. Republicans are perceived as the party that is tougher on crime and more dedicated to hardline public security. So, the more liberal the gun laws, the more violence, which translates into more public support for the Republican Party. Peace and prosperity, at home and abroad, is a losing formula for Republicans on Election Day.
21
Seriously, Gail? How many times since getting your license have you had to pass a road test? Having gotten through a 20 minute road test at 17 years old hardly proves proficiency at any later age. Furthermore, how many more people die in car accidents every year than by guns, with all of those proven capable drivers?
The Constitution of the United States, which covers the whole country, expressly states "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Bear, verb, "To hold or carry." To bear arms means to carry arms.
To keep and bear arms is a constitutional right, to drive is a privilege.
Furthermore, in places like New York, if you pass the written test and you pass the road test you cannot be denied a driver's license. If you apply for a concealed carry permit, all that is required for you to be denied is the whim of the government. New Your is known as a "May Issue" state. If you apply for a concealed carry permit, they may give you one, they may not.
The Constitution of the United States, which covers the whole country, expressly states "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Bear, verb, "To hold or carry." To bear arms means to carry arms.
To keep and bear arms is a constitutional right, to drive is a privilege.
Furthermore, in places like New York, if you pass the written test and you pass the road test you cannot be denied a driver's license. If you apply for a concealed carry permit, all that is required for you to be denied is the whim of the government. New Your is known as a "May Issue" state. If you apply for a concealed carry permit, they may give you one, they may not.
7
"The Constitution of the United States, which covers the whole country, expressly states "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." "
You very conveniently left out the first part of the sentence, which provides the context: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State...". The NRA and its army of lawyers have simply hijacked the phrase, using your same dishonest omission. The proliferation of firearms in this country has nothing to do with preserving a well-regulated militia, or anything else but the profits of the gun industry and the politicians it buys.
And, btw, your comparison is ludicrous - a car is made for driving (however badly some do it), a gun is made for killing.
You very conveniently left out the first part of the sentence, which provides the context: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State...". The NRA and its army of lawyers have simply hijacked the phrase, using your same dishonest omission. The proliferation of firearms in this country has nothing to do with preserving a well-regulated militia, or anything else but the profits of the gun industry and the politicians it buys.
And, btw, your comparison is ludicrous - a car is made for driving (however badly some do it), a gun is made for killing.
20
Odd, my version of the 2nd Amendment reads:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
When was the last time you were part of a "well regulated Militia"? My guess is never.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
When was the last time you were part of a "well regulated Militia"? My guess is never.
Since you like to quote the Constitution, or at least parts of it, I'm sure that you are part of a "well regulated militia"---you remember those, right? The very first words of your favorite amendment.
2
A classroom of first graders get slaughtered, prompting the possibility of slaughtering many more. Guns are considered living things, worth feeling victimized. ("Don't blame the gun.")
I slammed a door the other day, angry with someone who had been rude. I lose my temper once in awhile. When fury results,isn't that temporary insanity, someone with a loaded gun in his pocket more dangerous? A husband, say, in a domestic dispute? A father?
I'm old enough to be forgetting more things that I should be doing. ("Hmm...did I leave that loaded gun unlocked in the back bedroom? No; I think I locked it.") Then a child comes to visit--maybe a grandchild--one who is never too young to be subjected to media violence of some sort.
Tragic, this no-holds-barred demand for "freedom" is the role it plays in alienating us even further from our neighbors and community. I've lost wallets that have been returned to me, everything intact, by perfect strangers. My husband and I are couch surfers--as couch surfers we have welcomed strangers from throughout the US and the world to our homes, and have built friendships with many of them. In our town almost everyone smiles at everyone else, strangers included. But what if I get in the way of a fellow supermarket shopper? Could I be a victim?
Driving a car doesn't mean we might need to kill someone. Carrying a loaded gun in the car does. We lose our humanity when we worship guns, and that is what we're doing.
I slammed a door the other day, angry with someone who had been rude. I lose my temper once in awhile. When fury results,isn't that temporary insanity, someone with a loaded gun in his pocket more dangerous? A husband, say, in a domestic dispute? A father?
I'm old enough to be forgetting more things that I should be doing. ("Hmm...did I leave that loaded gun unlocked in the back bedroom? No; I think I locked it.") Then a child comes to visit--maybe a grandchild--one who is never too young to be subjected to media violence of some sort.
Tragic, this no-holds-barred demand for "freedom" is the role it plays in alienating us even further from our neighbors and community. I've lost wallets that have been returned to me, everything intact, by perfect strangers. My husband and I are couch surfers--as couch surfers we have welcomed strangers from throughout the US and the world to our homes, and have built friendships with many of them. In our town almost everyone smiles at everyone else, strangers included. But what if I get in the way of a fellow supermarket shopper? Could I be a victim?
Driving a car doesn't mean we might need to kill someone. Carrying a loaded gun in the car does. We lose our humanity when we worship guns, and that is what we're doing.
23
'Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.'
1
Gun safety means only the police are carrying guns.? Seriously? It's a nice idea, but total fantasy. My Second Amendment rights are worthless in many states, and that I don't understand. It's just like saying people of color have rights in NY but not in Mississippi....oh wait, we fixed that!
8
Your second amendment rights allow you to carry a gun as part of a well trained militia. So, join the National Guard. But, don't try to push your misinterpretation of the second amendment on the rest of us. We don't want your guns.
2
Your 2nd amendment right, in plain English, entitles you to join a well regulated state militia.
1
Larry,
The purpose of the Second Amendment was to permit the raising of an armed militia to counterbalance an oppressive Federal force NOT to enable you personal protection against petty criminals. You may wish it were different but that was the motivation of the authors.
The purpose of the Second Amendment was to permit the raising of an armed militia to counterbalance an oppressive Federal force NOT to enable you personal protection against petty criminals. You may wish it were different but that was the motivation of the authors.
I think that with a little careful thought this is the right direction to go in to eventually have federal, nationwide gun control. First, a driver's license is not guaranteed in the constitution in any shape or form. Second, driving a car has potentially lethal consequences. The national government along with all state governments have built over many years an essentially ad hoc system to regulate the potentially violent impact of driving a car.
The reality is that guns are, at least, on a par with cars in terms of lethality, and there is a right to their ownership in the constitution (no matter how interpreted). If a citizen of this country is able to maintain ownership of and operate a device that can harm other citizens then there is a federal obligation to providing for the safety from harm from those citizens.
If you have to with cars in the state you live in, then you have to with guns in the nation you live in. Keep your constitutional right, even expand it, but the gun owners will have to, perhaps: take a licensing test, register every single one of their guns, buy and sell from an extensive registry (like car BIN numbers) and hold insurance. The makers of the lethal devices would have to make sure their products couldn't accidently kill people and have oversight from the government on the level that recalls of faulty and dangerous products are on (faulty brakes on cars invoke recalls, what about guns that a two year-old can discharge?).
time to think
The reality is that guns are, at least, on a par with cars in terms of lethality, and there is a right to their ownership in the constitution (no matter how interpreted). If a citizen of this country is able to maintain ownership of and operate a device that can harm other citizens then there is a federal obligation to providing for the safety from harm from those citizens.
If you have to with cars in the state you live in, then you have to with guns in the nation you live in. Keep your constitutional right, even expand it, but the gun owners will have to, perhaps: take a licensing test, register every single one of their guns, buy and sell from an extensive registry (like car BIN numbers) and hold insurance. The makers of the lethal devices would have to make sure their products couldn't accidently kill people and have oversight from the government on the level that recalls of faulty and dangerous products are on (faulty brakes on cars invoke recalls, what about guns that a two year-old can discharge?).
time to think
3
While you're thinking, think up an enforcement scheme.
The author's strawman is faulty. There are numerous examples daily that verify that a segment of the driver's license holders are incapable of driving. Period.
4
The commenter's analogy is faulty, because the columnist is correct in her statement that the driver's license and the gun license are apples and oranges.
Although it is true that people do drive incompetently, resulting in accidents, and even occasionally (very rarely, especially compared with guns) deliberately use the vehicle as a weapon to commit mayhem, the driver's license indicates that, at some point, its possessor has demonstrated a certain minimal ability to drive a car and that even if he violates the rules of the road, at least when the license was issued, he knew them. It has nothing to do with the purchase or ownership of a car, which is a separate issue. (You can own a car even if you don't have a driver's license - you just can't drive it yourself. See 'Driving Miss Daisy'.) And any car that's going to go on the roads and be driven must carry insurance.
The gun license is the exact opposite. It's the equivalent of the car registration - with no insurance requirement. All it says is, you own this gun. As Ms Collins correctly notes, there is no requirement you demonstrate that you know the rules of safe usage, which would be equivalent to a driver's license.
We really, really need to teach critical thinking and logic in the schools - and reintroduce the analogy section in the SAT.
Although it is true that people do drive incompetently, resulting in accidents, and even occasionally (very rarely, especially compared with guns) deliberately use the vehicle as a weapon to commit mayhem, the driver's license indicates that, at some point, its possessor has demonstrated a certain minimal ability to drive a car and that even if he violates the rules of the road, at least when the license was issued, he knew them. It has nothing to do with the purchase or ownership of a car, which is a separate issue. (You can own a car even if you don't have a driver's license - you just can't drive it yourself. See 'Driving Miss Daisy'.) And any car that's going to go on the roads and be driven must carry insurance.
The gun license is the exact opposite. It's the equivalent of the car registration - with no insurance requirement. All it says is, you own this gun. As Ms Collins correctly notes, there is no requirement you demonstrate that you know the rules of safe usage, which would be equivalent to a driver's license.
We really, really need to teach critical thinking and logic in the schools - and reintroduce the analogy section in the SAT.
7
By "author" we mean Sen. Cornyn, right?
In the 1930's federal law was passed prohibiting ownership of automatic weapons (machine guns) without a very special permit.This law was subsequently strengthened. It is very difficult, nearly impossible, to get this permit. The penalties for posession of automatic weapons without that permit are severe.
How are non-auto weapons any different? Will this be the next NRA campaign? It is really only a small step from unlimitited magazine capacity (a favorite of the NRA) to machine gun ownership.
How are non-auto weapons any different? Will this be the next NRA campaign? It is really only a small step from unlimitited magazine capacity (a favorite of the NRA) to machine gun ownership.
8
All that is needed to own a machine gun (in many states) is a clean police record, unlimited tolerance for bureaucracy, and the price of a new car.
My neighbor has one, all perfectly legal.
My neighbor has one, all perfectly legal.
1
Not that the U.S. has ever been a peaceful place, but somehow over the past decade --ever since GWB lied and the media cheerleaded us into two bogus and deadly and unspeakable "wars" -- there has grown a culture of belligerence and incivility that I could not have imagined at the turn of the millenium. It's not just guns, it's the widespread and passive acceptance of the whole in-your-face, "Mama Bear," "stand your ground," pushy, adversarial standard of public conduct.
What we are willing to tolerate is bizarre. Public shootings barely make "breaking news" status any longer on CNN. Look at the killing the other day of the woman in Las Vegas; her family's road rage story is unraveling and what we really have is an angry clan who ran home to arm themselves and then hit the streets looking for justice when their interaction (road incident? drug deal? who knows..) went bad.
No one relies on public safety agencies any more? (When police are shutting off dashcams to hide their maltreatment of civilians, and killing 12-year-olds with impunity, who can blame us?) A friend saw an elderly man holstered-up and packing -- at the eye doctor!
It's a very interesting period in mass psychology. I am reminded of what happens to grasshoppers when their population gets to big for available resources. They physically morph into locusts and start destroying their habitat, and one another.
What we are willing to tolerate is bizarre. Public shootings barely make "breaking news" status any longer on CNN. Look at the killing the other day of the woman in Las Vegas; her family's road rage story is unraveling and what we really have is an angry clan who ran home to arm themselves and then hit the streets looking for justice when their interaction (road incident? drug deal? who knows..) went bad.
No one relies on public safety agencies any more? (When police are shutting off dashcams to hide their maltreatment of civilians, and killing 12-year-olds with impunity, who can blame us?) A friend saw an elderly man holstered-up and packing -- at the eye doctor!
It's a very interesting period in mass psychology. I am reminded of what happens to grasshoppers when their population gets to big for available resources. They physically morph into locusts and start destroying their habitat, and one another.
19
It's hard not to see this absurd and dangerous fixation with guns as just another aspect of the country's odd rightwing menopausal moment. These people simply will not accept the realities of modern society. Instead, we are subjected to a constant barrage of bad ideas based on deeply misguided nostalgia for a past that either never was or which should safely be left in the history books.
24
If the American people wanted gun rights to be curtailed, they would elect more Democrats who ran on that platform. Obama has introduced that exact proposition and was soundly and swiftly slapped down. People who call for gun control fail to recognize or admit that moral character is the determinant of gun crimes. Liberals can't have their cake and eat it too...if they are going to preach that moral judgments are obsolete and that moral relativism is more enlightened than any set of moral absolutes, then they can't decry gun crimes committed by people who do not value life and who refuse to live by an absolute moral code.
Lamenting the effects of your liberal agenda rings hollow.
Lamenting the effects of your liberal agenda rings hollow.
7
"Your" liberal agenda? Who is Stategerist barking at?
1
Actually, in a very Republican year last November, gun advocates were slapped down in Colorado. It was a bad election day for the NRA.
Then there's Scott Roeder, who decided that Dr. George Tiller didn't measure up to Scott Roeder's Rules of Moral Absolutism and James Holmes in Denver, who appears incapable of even understanding the concept.
I'm thinking Strategerist's moral absolutism lacks any sanctions for this kind of blatant intellectual/rhetorical dishonesty.
I'm thinking Strategerist's moral absolutism lacks any sanctions for this kind of blatant intellectual/rhetorical dishonesty.
If gun licenses were like driver's licenses, then one would expect (and hope) that there would be an accompanying requirement for comprehensive insurance coverage for the, er, device being operated.
Why can't gun people just leave the rest of us alone? I don't want a gun, I don't need one, I don't want to be around anyone who's carrying one, and I certainly don't feel at all safe when everyone around me is packing. Guns escalate the violence around disputes of all sorts, and they make some people feel invincible. (Those are the people who should never have guns, BTW.)
It's like denying climate change. People with guns kill people. Whether they really mean to or not.
Why can't gun people just leave the rest of us alone? I don't want a gun, I don't need one, I don't want to be around anyone who's carrying one, and I certainly don't feel at all safe when everyone around me is packing. Guns escalate the violence around disputes of all sorts, and they make some people feel invincible. (Those are the people who should never have guns, BTW.)
It's like denying climate change. People with guns kill people. Whether they really mean to or not.
18
So true, ef. I do not want to be around anyone carrying a gun. Tempers flare, perhaps a drink or two, and it's a recipe for disaster. Didn't the children of Sandyhook have any rights? What about my rights and all of us who prefer conversation to diffuse angry situations than guns? These fear mongers must be challenged and defeated.
Perhaps the NRA and people like Cornyn are really just trying to win the Darwin award on a mass scale. If only we could let them.
9
Will the cops turn their backs on the mayor New York City if he doesn't support Cornyn's gun-toting bill?
5
It is amazing and sad that guns which are killing machines have such a prominent role in our society.
9
If the Democrats have any sense (irrational optimism, I know) they would attach a rider that the concealed carry permit can double at a marriage license for LGBT couples. How will Jon Cornyn feel about armed married gay folks?
9
Cronyn's bill sounds like a modest proposal for population control.
How creative.
How creative.
11
Tell them!
The LAST thing Republicans want is population control.(Why else would anyone oppose both birth control AND abortion?)
Maybe that's the ultimate answer to the gun lobby. "Hey, do we need population growth to support economic growth or don't we? ? Who's gonna buy all the guns you'll be making 50 years from now? "
The LAST thing Republicans want is population control.(Why else would anyone oppose both birth control AND abortion?)
Maybe that's the ultimate answer to the gun lobby. "Hey, do we need population growth to support economic growth or don't we? ? Who's gonna buy all the guns you'll be making 50 years from now? "
They haven't scratched the surface. If they can team up with the carry on campus to prevent rape folks the next step can be what I would politely call an internal carry gun.
And if they were not so opposed to smart guns it could be programmed to, prior to firing, check online for a marriage certificate, ovulation, BAC, and whatever else the religious authority or state deems prudent. There would be no need for trials.
And if they were not so opposed to smart guns it could be programmed to, prior to firing, check online for a marriage certificate, ovulation, BAC, and whatever else the religious authority or state deems prudent. There would be no need for trials.
1
I don't mind people having the right to carry a gun license (concealed or not) all around the country. Just not a gun.
You can have a driver's license, but there are restrictions as to where you can take your car. Also, your car must be insured. Is there a no-fault insurance for shooting someone?
You can have a driver's license, but there are restrictions as to where you can take your car. Also, your car must be insured. Is there a no-fault insurance for shooting someone?
16
This country will only be free and united under one God when school children at every bus stop across these United States of America can open carry, keeping intelligence, good sense, and the absence of fear from infiltrating and attacking their lives, and the very institutions we use to all depend on.
5
Amen. We need to issue a gun license, and a college degree, with birth licenses. To every child his diploma and his shootin' iron.
Don't forget the Gun Lobby has now taken up Concealed Carry on Campus, as a way to prevent date rape. They want to force every university to allow concealed carry for all, even though most of their students are under 21; the minimum Federal age to buy a handgun.
Give every woman a handgun to carry in her purse, "Just in case".
And that Prof who gives you a bad grade? Just show him/her your S&W. Or your roommate who keeps loud Jimi Hendrix on in your dorm room?
Well you can solve that problem too!
Give every woman a handgun to carry in her purse, "Just in case".
And that Prof who gives you a bad grade? Just show him/her your S&W. Or your roommate who keeps loud Jimi Hendrix on in your dorm room?
Well you can solve that problem too!
13
Geez, don't forget "parking disputes!"
And now her rapist can carry a gun too. Who ever shoot first gets to live.
some brave senator needs to call for a law that creates " a gun free zone" in the USA.
4
I propose that NY state starts issuing licenses to cover your car in gay porn. Then, let's see how Texas feels about respecting other states' licenses.
4
Gail, what's happened to you? You used to write such humorous columns, but now you're getting really serious. You can't get any more serious than this op-ed piece. It's scary.
5
It's not the op-ed piece that's scary, any more than the mirror is scary when it shows Caliban his face.
1
Give Texas back to Mexico.
35
I think Mexico would rightly refuse to acccept the return of damaged goods.
Perhaps it would be a better idea to return Texas to it brief status as an independent republic. That way the US could build a restraining wall all around its borders as a means of keeping the nut cases in the asylum.
Perhaps it would be a better idea to return Texas to it brief status as an independent republic. That way the US could build a restraining wall all around its borders as a means of keeping the nut cases in the asylum.
7
Dear Matt,
What makes you think they'd take it?
What makes you think they'd take it?
3
Obtaining a state-issued driver's license and plates require the applicant to provide proof of insurance, along with proper ID, etc.
So, let's require proof of insurance for every gun license issued. The OWNER of each piece is liable for all damage and death caused by a mis-use of a firearm. A full umbrella policy for every possible mis-hap involving each "piece". It could even be another profit-center for insurance companies. No proof of Insurance? NO RIGHT TO CARRY LICENSE.
Don't ask me why drivers license/plates applicants aren't also subjected to mental behavior background checks. I don't know.
So, let's require proof of insurance for every gun license issued. The OWNER of each piece is liable for all damage and death caused by a mis-use of a firearm. A full umbrella policy for every possible mis-hap involving each "piece". It could even be another profit-center for insurance companies. No proof of Insurance? NO RIGHT TO CARRY LICENSE.
Don't ask me why drivers license/plates applicants aren't also subjected to mental behavior background checks. I don't know.
15
Gail, the example you gave about driver's licenses is perfect - and extremely scary. In 2012, there were more than 33,000 traffic fatalities in the US. Shooting deaths are fast approaching that number and, according to Bloomberg Business, should surpass motor vehicle deaths this year! We have so much to look forward to as our country continues to move forwards by going backwards.
13
The basics of this are simple. Cornyn loves his job. He answers only to the voters if Texas and the entities that buy his legislative votes: the NRA, the telecommunications companies, insurance companis, banks, Wall Street, Rupert Murdoch, the Koch Brothers, and wing-nut preachers. He does not answer to Senator Schumer' constituents. Unfortunately, on 25% of Texans eligible to vote actually vote. They leave the decisions made in the voting booth to wing nuts and oil company lackies. That who ultimately is on the verge of totally controlling this nation.
13
So let Cornyn butt out of legislation effecting the rest of the 49 states, and work on improving the health care and education in his own state.
4
This shows how dangerous having a Republican president would be. It should be a wake up call to all Democrats and Independents, and reasonable Republicans, that this next election in 2016 is not by any means a choice between equals. It could easily determine whether we are a country where there is no place you can go with the certainty that the person sitting or walking next to you isn't carrying a loaded weapon. Do you really want to live in that country?
20
No problem: pass any law you wish as long as it also applies to the visitor galleries of the House and Senate. Problem solved.
31
Cornyn receives how much money from the NRA?
13
I'm just waiting for the day when anti-choice advocates and the NRA get together and sponsor later term, fetal-carry legislation...you know, for fetal self defense.
8
Shakespeare told us "All the world's a stage..." and the NRA has managed to place the American stage in the Theatre of the Absurd. Where else but in America do irrational and illogical arguments that guns make us safe trump the obvious evidence that they terrorize and threaten the very fabric of society?
In Maryland a man shoots and kills another man for the crime of parking in front of his house, then chases down and kills his neighbor in the middle of a highway. In North Carolina a man shoots and kills 3 people over a parking dispute (and perhaps as a crime of hated of Muslims). In Nevada a mother is shot and killed after a road-rage incident (something that is becoming epidemic). In Oklahoma a 3-year old shoots dead his mother. In Idaho a 2-year old shoots dead his mother. We all know of many, many other such tragedies made possible by the proliferation of guns.
But, the NRA has told us guns don't kill people, bad people with guns kill people. Surely there are bad people with guns, but would everyone arming themselves make us safer? Should the driver who parked in front of the house pulled out a gun and fired back? Or, should the person who killed them not had a gun in the first place? Should the 3 young murdered people have had an arsenal of weapons and opened fire, or should the killer not have had a gun in the first place. What about the mothers killed by their children?
Absurd is the NRA's argument for guns and American society is at stake.
In Maryland a man shoots and kills another man for the crime of parking in front of his house, then chases down and kills his neighbor in the middle of a highway. In North Carolina a man shoots and kills 3 people over a parking dispute (and perhaps as a crime of hated of Muslims). In Nevada a mother is shot and killed after a road-rage incident (something that is becoming epidemic). In Oklahoma a 3-year old shoots dead his mother. In Idaho a 2-year old shoots dead his mother. We all know of many, many other such tragedies made possible by the proliferation of guns.
But, the NRA has told us guns don't kill people, bad people with guns kill people. Surely there are bad people with guns, but would everyone arming themselves make us safer? Should the driver who parked in front of the house pulled out a gun and fired back? Or, should the person who killed them not had a gun in the first place? Should the 3 young murdered people have had an arsenal of weapons and opened fire, or should the killer not have had a gun in the first place. What about the mothers killed by their children?
Absurd is the NRA's argument for guns and American society is at stake.
19
One more suggestion: Let's turn Senator Cornyn's demand around. States with stricter gun safety laws should not have to abide by the laws of the irresponsible open carry, concealed weapon, stand-your-ground gun-obsessed states. States with strict gun safety laws must protect themselves against states with lax or libertarian gun laws.
As an illustration, based on information from the Brady Center, CBS News reported that in 1998 Massachusetts passed a tough law restricting gun use. But while gun ownership rates dropped sharply, violent crimes and murders increased. Why? The influx of firearms from nearby states with weaker firearm laws was given as a reason.
Therefore, the recommendation for curbing gun violence requires not only reducing access to firearms, but also and strengthening interstate border controls to prevent the transport of guns.
Fact: States with the weakest gun control laws have the highest gun ownership and the highest rates of death and injury from guns.
Therefore logically, the anti-gun safety crowd must first prove that the states with the weakest gun control laws have lower rates of death and injury from guns.
It is ironic that with the exception of abortion, the Republican Party generally favors death over life--wars and preemptive wars, the death penalty, let's have more guns so we can have more deaths. And they certainly don't want to do anything to deter domestic violence against women
If you love violence and death, vote Republican!
As an illustration, based on information from the Brady Center, CBS News reported that in 1998 Massachusetts passed a tough law restricting gun use. But while gun ownership rates dropped sharply, violent crimes and murders increased. Why? The influx of firearms from nearby states with weaker firearm laws was given as a reason.
Therefore, the recommendation for curbing gun violence requires not only reducing access to firearms, but also and strengthening interstate border controls to prevent the transport of guns.
Fact: States with the weakest gun control laws have the highest gun ownership and the highest rates of death and injury from guns.
Therefore logically, the anti-gun safety crowd must first prove that the states with the weakest gun control laws have lower rates of death and injury from guns.
It is ironic that with the exception of abortion, the Republican Party generally favors death over life--wars and preemptive wars, the death penalty, let's have more guns so we can have more deaths. And they certainly don't want to do anything to deter domestic violence against women
If you love violence and death, vote Republican!
18
When it comes to guns, the real issue is why are people permitted to carry them? The answer is simple: because the Second Amendment stipulates the right to bear arms. But many experts agree that this is not a general right granted to individuals to defend themselves but granted only to possess and use firearms in connection with service in a state-organized militia. Now, how many of today's gun owners are called up regularly to serve in their state's militia, and if so, do they need to bring their own homemade uniforms and their own weapons? I don't think so. Keep in mind, the Second Amendment was intended to reflect the historical realites and necessities in the 2nd half of the 18th century. Most people (other than the NRA) would agree that times have changed since then. And maybe the time is now ripe to bring certain parts of the Constitution into line with the times. A first step - a step that could save untold lives in the future - would be to repeal the Second Amendment because it is simply an anachronism.
22
Conditions in 1787 were much different than today when we have standing armies and the National Guard. The interpretations of the Second Amendment have been ludicrous, motivated by anti-government lunatics and greed of gun manufacturers.
8
Let's ask the begged question: Are firearms the only "arms" that count?
Maybe the second amendment can be read as it was meant to be when scalia, thimsa, alito, roberts and kennedy are gone. Their opinion on the second amendment is bizarre.
I do not believe that the founding fathers wanted an unregulated militia. The whole pretzel logic of gun ownership being an irrefutable right not to be infringed by law or regulation is a product of cafeteria constitutionalism ignoring due process defined in the fifth and fourteenth amendments. Carrying a loaded gun in public should not be prohibited but ownership should be regulated at the same level that pubic officials (police officers and member of the military). Senator Cornyn works in a secure building with metal detectors and armed guards which prohibits guns from being carried in to the capital building or on its grounds. He leaves work in a large SUV with a driver and a body guard and lives in a large house with a security system (paid for by tax payers) and priority police protection from the local police. Given the shooting of Representative Gabby Giffords and the deaths of John Gibson and Jacob Chestnut in the capital shootings in 1998 let alone the the shooting that occur with regularity within one mile of the capital building (3 shootings with 5 people shot since January that I know of) his actions are unconscionable. I would suggest that he include the provision that the treatment of gun permits as licences also also be extended to visitors to the Capital and the Senate Gallery but then he is a Senator and we are just citizens.
13
What the founders wanted is not really relevant, because they lived in an entirely different zeitgeist. Thomas Jefferson envisioned an agrarian society of honest yeomen, plantations and small towns, defending the homestead against occasional attacks from bears and natives. (And undoubtedly conceded the usefulness of firearms in retrieving fugitive slaves.) John Adams was a city boy, but his Boston was more like today's small town than what we think of as a city. When Adams and Jefferson died (on the same day, 4 July 1826 - 50 years to the day after the Declaration), the Industrial Revolution was just gathering steam (pardon the pun) in England; more than half the continental US was still wilderness; and the population was around 10 million, less than the NYC metro area. And the firearms their citizens carried were comparatively cumbersome, fragile things. Before the invention of interchangeable standardised parts and assembly lines, they were handcrafted affairs, difficult to repair, laborious to load and re-load. You didn't waste ammo or shoot for fun, and you certainly couldn't get off dozens of rounds in less than a minute.
For all the founders' insight and acuity, they were not psychic and could not have foreseen - nor even have imagined - our world. It's as nonsensical as trying to apply their horse-and-buggy rules of the road to the New Jersey Turnpike.
For all the founders' insight and acuity, they were not psychic and could not have foreseen - nor even have imagined - our world. It's as nonsensical as trying to apply their horse-and-buggy rules of the road to the New Jersey Turnpike.
4
Shocking, what about criminals/murderers with concealed and or illegal weapons - what an additional sentence
1
Lets try the middle ground approach to the senator's idea:
1. Require all current and prospective gun owners pay an annul gun license fee of 500.00 paid in monthly installments. This fee would go to a National Trust Fund for victims of gun violence i.e. school,workplace, and police shootings(where the victim wasn't a criminal suspect).
2. The gun owner and and all guns in his or her possession would be entered into a national FBI/ATF database accessible at the state and local levels. So if that owner or gun was used in a crime it would be easier for law enforcement to track down the perpetrator.
3. All current and prospective gun owners would undergo a background check paid by that gun license fee.
4. For a gun national license to work one would need uniform standards to register for one and take a a written test like you would for a driver's license. Also take a mandated 8 hour gun safety class.
5. If commit a crime with said firearm your gun license would be permanently revoked specially in felony and homicide cases.
6. Finally concealed carry permits would be permitted only for active duty military and civilian law enforcement.
1. Require all current and prospective gun owners pay an annul gun license fee of 500.00 paid in monthly installments. This fee would go to a National Trust Fund for victims of gun violence i.e. school,workplace, and police shootings(where the victim wasn't a criminal suspect).
2. The gun owner and and all guns in his or her possession would be entered into a national FBI/ATF database accessible at the state and local levels. So if that owner or gun was used in a crime it would be easier for law enforcement to track down the perpetrator.
3. All current and prospective gun owners would undergo a background check paid by that gun license fee.
4. For a gun national license to work one would need uniform standards to register for one and take a a written test like you would for a driver's license. Also take a mandated 8 hour gun safety class.
5. If commit a crime with said firearm your gun license would be permanently revoked specially in felony and homicide cases.
6. Finally concealed carry permits would be permitted only for active duty military and civilian law enforcement.
13
This list of restrictions is almost a compromise. It would slightly open up gun ownership in very restrictive areas, but be a massive restriction in most of the country. A true compromise might get somewhere. Here are some improvements. Explicitly state that new rules would overide local restrictions. There are places in America that effectively outlaw gun ownership at the local level (NYC, Boston, LA, etc). Explicitly state that registered guns are de facto legal and can't be banned, nor can substantially similar firearms. As far as concealed carry permits go a nationwide restriction to just law enforcement/military is not a compromise it is a massive restriction. Even anti gun states issue some carry permits. A compromise would be a national standard on training, refresher training and a standardized list of acceptable carry guns (basically guns least prone to accidental discharge). Finally tie all the registrations, and restrictions into some sort of booby trapped quasi federal agency/database that self destructs if it is messed with. For instance if the agency was compelled by law or warrant to provide a list AR 15s owners for confiscation it would have the pre existing legal requirement to destroy it's database.
1
A comprise with the additional caveats could be palatable to gun control crowd and as well to the those who support the NRA. But having having honest discussion on this explosive issue will never happen in this country.
1
We need fewer guns, not more. We need reasonable, common-sense restrictions on purchases, ammunition, and open-carry. And we will, one day, have these. The only question is how many more senseless tragedies will we endure before we demand these measures?
22
If I were to write a book in the scholarly tradition of Mr. Mike Huckabee it would be titled, "Guns, Drones and the American Worker Bee." It would simplify the state of our great nation into men playing with toys earned with the wages from their nuclear-aged occupations. A patriotic drum roll with a trumpet playing taps signifies the importance and symbolism of gun culture. This is especially true in big, deep pocketed states like Texas where the size of a man's cowboy boots matches the power of his gun. "Don't mess with Texas," is the colloquial equivalent to "Howdy Partner" when greeting the good ol' boys at the local pancake house.
Drone culture, in contrast, is more of a high tech, coastal upswing, Washington DC hobby. These party drones which are hand held, similar to a gun, are remote controlled to do just about everything including flying onto the White House lawn. There could be an argument presented to the Huckabee club that drones are just as macho & empowering as the all powerful gun. After all, in their extreme, drones have the capability of destroying entire building including the guilty or innocent folks that inhabit them. Although to the blue states of the U.S., drones are a modernized symbol of masculinity.
As Huckabee espouses the political ideology of "don't talk, just kill ISIS rattlesnakes," the blue state ideology would counter, "don't send boots in, just drone enemy targets." The big question is, why are men measured by the size of their toys?
Drone culture, in contrast, is more of a high tech, coastal upswing, Washington DC hobby. These party drones which are hand held, similar to a gun, are remote controlled to do just about everything including flying onto the White House lawn. There could be an argument presented to the Huckabee club that drones are just as macho & empowering as the all powerful gun. After all, in their extreme, drones have the capability of destroying entire building including the guilty or innocent folks that inhabit them. Although to the blue states of the U.S., drones are a modernized symbol of masculinity.
As Huckabee espouses the political ideology of "don't talk, just kill ISIS rattlesnakes," the blue state ideology would counter, "don't send boots in, just drone enemy targets." The big question is, why are men measured by the size of their toys?
3
I always wonder, what happened to the well regulated militia?
37
Scalia's copy of the amendment has a red line through that clause and the word "fire" inserted before the word "arms."
1
Apparently, it went the way of the flintlock.
1
Let me ask the following:
At one time under federal law violent felons were barred from owning guns.
The NRA successfully pushed to have this ban modified so that in some states violent felons re-obtained gun rights.
see http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/us/felons-finding-it-easy-to-regain-gu...
Suppose state X still has this ban but state Y does not.
A violent felon in state Y re-obtains his gun rights. May he then carry his gun into state X.
In regard to driving.
Different states have different age requirements for obtaining a license.
May a 17 year old driver in a state with a 17 age requirement drive in a state with an 18 year old minimum.
If seat belts are required in state X but not in Y may a driver licensed in Y drive in X without using a belt.
If right on red is allowed in X but not in Y may a licensed driver in X ignore restrictions on right on red when in Y.
I apologize to anyone who has read my nonsense.
This Cornyn proposal is just NUTS.
Arguing about different driving license requirements in different states is irrelevant.
What may be appropriate in a rural state like Wyoming is NOT appropriate in states with big cities.
Do we want to reduce gun deaths in these cities.
That is the issue.
The Cornyn proposal is NUTS and LETHAL.
At one time under federal law violent felons were barred from owning guns.
The NRA successfully pushed to have this ban modified so that in some states violent felons re-obtained gun rights.
see http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/us/felons-finding-it-easy-to-regain-gu...
Suppose state X still has this ban but state Y does not.
A violent felon in state Y re-obtains his gun rights. May he then carry his gun into state X.
In regard to driving.
Different states have different age requirements for obtaining a license.
May a 17 year old driver in a state with a 17 age requirement drive in a state with an 18 year old minimum.
If seat belts are required in state X but not in Y may a driver licensed in Y drive in X without using a belt.
If right on red is allowed in X but not in Y may a licensed driver in X ignore restrictions on right on red when in Y.
I apologize to anyone who has read my nonsense.
This Cornyn proposal is just NUTS.
Arguing about different driving license requirements in different states is irrelevant.
What may be appropriate in a rural state like Wyoming is NOT appropriate in states with big cities.
Do we want to reduce gun deaths in these cities.
That is the issue.
The Cornyn proposal is NUTS and LETHAL.
23
It's called the National Guard. Is your neighbor with that .38 in his jacket pocket a member of your state's National Guard, which is under the jurisdiction of your Governor? I didn't think so.
Even if such legislation is passed (or not) all gun carrying people should be required to have liability insurance and provide proof of insurance when buying firearms of any kind or anything related to ammunition (or ammunition making materials). Consider this: police officer says to out-of-state driver "may I see your drivers license, registration and insurance card and your gun permit and firearms insurance card?"
23
Let us not overlook that the most egregious precedent for this kind of thing was the South's pressure prior to the Civil War for enforcement oft he Federal Fugitive Slave Law passed as part ofthe Compromise of 1850
12
How about a compromise? If you have a carry permit, you cannot be criminally prosecuted in another state, but you won't be allowed to carry a gun there either. The police will seize your gun, and return it to your home address.
3
One can only hope that the gun nut zealotry that we are increasingly assaulted with will finally reach a tipping point and the sane elements of our society - still, I think, a majority- will rise up in rebellion and stand against the armed free for all apparently envisioned for us by the NRA and its shills. The voting booth would be the place to start.
34
I agree with you Mary, but alas, the sane members of society are fully outweighed by the deadly combination of money, politics, and fanaticism that is the backbone of the pro-gun nut lobby. Things are going to get a lot worse, I fear.
Did you see the recent NYT article about the insane proposal to allow students to carry guns on campus, to deter sexual violence? Many politicians and lobbyists are supporting that crazy idea. Sure, lets mix guns, alcohol, and disinhibited young adults. What could be a safer and saner solution to sexual assault?
Did you see the recent NYT article about the insane proposal to allow students to carry guns on campus, to deter sexual violence? Many politicians and lobbyists are supporting that crazy idea. Sure, lets mix guns, alcohol, and disinhibited young adults. What could be a safer and saner solution to sexual assault?
I think that tipping point occurred two years ago in Connecticut. It didn't do the cause much good.
@mary shayler: Yes, the voting booth would be the place to start but since so many states in Republican hands are making it much more difficult to vote, that's hardly the answer. What IS the answer....I really don't know. Somehow we must reach that tipping point you speak of and push back hard. The people must find a way to restore common sense to to our laws.
1
I do not care to comment on this topic because it does absolutely no good. This gun culture we live in is lacking in empathy, common sense, or a recognition that when we shoot down small children we should all be crying and asking forgiveness from whatever god we do or do not believe in. Where are the moral voices of the so-called religious extremists in this country? I never hear a word from them except when it comes to the unborn. The blood of all innocent victims lies at their feet, too.
99
Why don't Cornyn, Roberts, Scalia and the rest of the gun sycophants for the NRA allow guns into the Senate and the Supreme Court?
What trumps their safety over our safety?
Hypocrites.
What trumps their safety over our safety?
Hypocrites.
304
@V: I agree, Open Carry in Congress and Supreme Court and, I'll add, with a bar serving alcohol right next to the chambers. Yes, that makes sense. Hope it happens.
3
The face of Texas presented to the country at large is not so good. This bill, from Senator Cornyn, a former attorney general of Texas as is the present governor, is a dangerous and foolish piece of legislation. It represents the LCD indeed, and aims to present owning guns--the general, not specific--as a constitutional right, a human right, a necessity. I learned to shoot as a child, to drive as a teen. The two are not equal in terms of the overall good of the people. What is the point of this? Yes the standard slogan is to protect ourselves, our children, wives, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, in-laws, dogs, parakeets, hamsters, and what else? While we bemoan terrorists, we ignore our own weaknesses: too many deaths, lives ruined from the vast array of guns and firepower citizens hold today. In our country. Isn't there something positive the senator can do? He stands by McConnell in all photos with a concerned look on his face. Oh, Texas.
48
Here's a proposal guaranteed to enrage everyone. Let's pass a bill that requires that marriages and gun permits be treated identically. That is, if states have to recognize gun permits from other states, they also have to recognize marriages (including same sex marriages) from other states.
Let the fun begin!
Let the fun begin!
48
Without a gun
The day would never end,
Without a gun,
A man ain't got no friend
Without a gun
To the Pit we descend,
Without a gun.
The day would never end,
Without a gun,
A man ain't got no friend
Without a gun
To the Pit we descend,
Without a gun.
27
Sen. Conryn obviously doesn't support states' rights or local control.
ISIS and other terrorist groups are wasting time and resources. They need only say that they are against gun control and the NRA and their lapdog politicians would be encouraging the U.S. Gov't to give them official recognition.
ISIS and other terrorist groups are wasting time and resources. They need only say that they are against gun control and the NRA and their lapdog politicians would be encouraging the U.S. Gov't to give them official recognition.
40
GOP: More guns, eliminate health care and education, deport immigrants, reduce women's rights (forget equal pay). while we are at it stagnate minimum wage, reduce taxes on the wealthy, stop supplementing education, forget infrastructure (except oil pipelines and bridges to nowhere), reduce food supplements for the 25% children in poverty-heck stop early education for them too! Get directly involved with more wars and above all put another Bush in the White House! Oh yeah, now we are talking solid, proactive reform:)
227
You left of restrict the right to vote.
2
Can we keep a running list of our elected representatives' most favored lobbies? I believe from this and other recent linkages we can put Senator Cornyn down for the gun industry and Senator Orren Hatch down for the herbal and vitamin supplement industry.
If we keep such a list we might one day come up with a name or two that actually has we the people at the top of their to-work-for list. It would, of course, have to be clear from the outset that while there may be most favored lobby status, there would be several other lobbies running close seconds and thirds.
How well represented we should feel knowing we are ruled and manipulated by the best Congress money can buy.
Interesting that while one could presumably carry a drivers' license into the Capitol building, a gun, well not so much. Cornyn isn't crazy just a bought man.
Yikes. KA
If we keep such a list we might one day come up with a name or two that actually has we the people at the top of their to-work-for list. It would, of course, have to be clear from the outset that while there may be most favored lobby status, there would be several other lobbies running close seconds and thirds.
How well represented we should feel knowing we are ruled and manipulated by the best Congress money can buy.
Interesting that while one could presumably carry a drivers' license into the Capitol building, a gun, well not so much. Cornyn isn't crazy just a bought man.
Yikes. KA
41
i don't want to live in the US anymore. I want to move to Australia or Canada or Scotland, places with saner gun laws..
http://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/firearms-control.pdf
Lest you think this is naive, I've seen plenty of people in the emergency room who are unsafe and threatening in a state of intoxication. So lets make guns more plentiful, in the hands of the impaired people and those who are self-deputized in their fantasies. A perfect combination to injure and kill the rest of us who have the misfortune of being nearby. I hate this.
http://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/firearms-control.pdf
Lest you think this is naive, I've seen plenty of people in the emergency room who are unsafe and threatening in a state of intoxication. So lets make guns more plentiful, in the hands of the impaired people and those who are self-deputized in their fantasies. A perfect combination to injure and kill the rest of us who have the misfortune of being nearby. I hate this.
208
Go for it. Then you will discover that moving to the country of your choice is much more difficult than you might think. If your impression of ability to move to any country is like those coming to the U.S. illegally through a border as porous as ours, which has allowed, what, 10 or 11 million to enter and then be granted amnesty and all of the benefits of legitimate citizens, you will be sadly disappointed. But please, go for it.
I think Cornyn would answer that we need to give guns to all the ER personnel so that they can take care of these threatening intoxicated people - an extension of "good guys with guns taking care of bad guys with guns". That'll show 'em not to drink and carry.
1
Good
god
Good God! Don't we have enough unnecessary shootings already in this country? Not everyone apparently thinks so. I believe this proposal - if it becomes a federal law, would up the death toll and essentially raise the odds or dying for everyone who might be unlucky enough to be in the way of gunfire. What about hospital costs, insurance settlements, and - far more important - the misery, suffering, and extra deaths of purely innocent bystanders, heads of families, youngsters who haven't begun to live or achieve their potentials, etc. If either of my two U.S. senators from Illinois (currently Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk) ever vote for such a bill, I swear I will do everything legal to make sure they never get elected to anything againl Fortunately, I think they are intelligent enough to anticipate the potential carnage. And my repesentative is Tammy Duckworth, who knows first-hand the pain, anguish, and consequences of being wounded - she lost both legs while piloting a helicopter in Iraq!
Jan Bone, Palatine, Il - who calls on everyone with common sense to write their Senators and Representatives NOW to urge defeat of this frightening proposal!
god
Good God! Don't we have enough unnecessary shootings already in this country? Not everyone apparently thinks so. I believe this proposal - if it becomes a federal law, would up the death toll and essentially raise the odds or dying for everyone who might be unlucky enough to be in the way of gunfire. What about hospital costs, insurance settlements, and - far more important - the misery, suffering, and extra deaths of purely innocent bystanders, heads of families, youngsters who haven't begun to live or achieve their potentials, etc. If either of my two U.S. senators from Illinois (currently Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk) ever vote for such a bill, I swear I will do everything legal to make sure they never get elected to anything againl Fortunately, I think they are intelligent enough to anticipate the potential carnage. And my repesentative is Tammy Duckworth, who knows first-hand the pain, anguish, and consequences of being wounded - she lost both legs while piloting a helicopter in Iraq!
Jan Bone, Palatine, Il - who calls on everyone with common sense to write their Senators and Representatives NOW to urge defeat of this frightening proposal!
23
Just another expected consequence of the mid term elections. "Awful. awful, awful."
31
Dear Mr. McManus,
I agree with you save one, salient point; in this government "of, by and for the people", in 2014, only 36% of registered voters nationwide chose to vote.
If nobody votes, anybody can get elected.
I agree with you save one, salient point; in this government "of, by and for the people", in 2014, only 36% of registered voters nationwide chose to vote.
If nobody votes, anybody can get elected.
1
Actually the analogy of gun and auto licenses being alike could be very useful for those of us who would like a little sanity injected into this whole gun thing. Before I can drive, my car must be registered with the state, issued license plates, and carry insurance in case I do damage with it. Voila!! There you go, Senator, we're with you on this one.
61
Unfortunately the proposed bill would not ensure any of the protections you cite. No registrations,no insurance...just the desire to carry a deadly weapon, whether or not you have a clue as to how to safely use it.
1
A sanity clause would be great, but ...
to quote the great & wise Marx Brothers from "A Night at the Opera" -- " we don't need a sanity clause -- every one knows there is no Santa Claus"
Well, this might be a good time to start believing --'it would be nice to have a little sanity in this gun debate. To me thoughtful regulation, registration and background checks would be a major step towards achieving this.
to quote the great & wise Marx Brothers from "A Night at the Opera" -- " we don't need a sanity clause -- every one knows there is no Santa Claus"
Well, this might be a good time to start believing --'it would be nice to have a little sanity in this gun debate. To me thoughtful regulation, registration and background checks would be a major step towards achieving this.
1. America has a gun problem, & we need to treat it as a medical, health, and safety issue.
Facts:
The US has more guns and gun deaths than 27 other advanced countries, with 88 guns per 100 population & 10 gun deaths per 100,000 pop. Next highest is Switzerland with 45.7 guns & 3.84 deaths per capita. (Medical News, ABC News)
In 50 states over a 10 year period, women and children in states with many guns have a greater probability of being killed by guns due to homicide, suicide, or unintentionally. (Harvard studies)
Twice as many children in the US are killed by guns as die from cancer (Amer. Acad. of Pediatrics).
The conclusion: More guns do not make people safer; more guns make people less safe.
2. The undue influence of the NRA and gun lobby on Congress and Senate
The NRA claims to have 4.5 mil. members (disputed & more likely is 2-3 mil.; Wash. Post art.), and in 2010 had a budget of $243 mil.
Most of NRA political contributions go to Republicans: In 2012, 81% of House and 93% of Senate Repubs. received NRA contributions, compared to 4 out of 53 House Dems and 8% of Senate Dems.
The NRA political contributions go both to endorse and defeat candidates. In 2012, NRA spent $880K to defeat Sherrod Brown (D-OH), $612K to defeat Bill Nelson (FL), etc.
Republicans want to defund CDC research on gun injuries & deaths. Ban seeking the truth
90% of Americans want background checks to buy guns, and 6 states have such laws (NY, CO, DEL, MD, WA, CT). NRA is panicked
Facts:
The US has more guns and gun deaths than 27 other advanced countries, with 88 guns per 100 population & 10 gun deaths per 100,000 pop. Next highest is Switzerland with 45.7 guns & 3.84 deaths per capita. (Medical News, ABC News)
In 50 states over a 10 year period, women and children in states with many guns have a greater probability of being killed by guns due to homicide, suicide, or unintentionally. (Harvard studies)
Twice as many children in the US are killed by guns as die from cancer (Amer. Acad. of Pediatrics).
The conclusion: More guns do not make people safer; more guns make people less safe.
2. The undue influence of the NRA and gun lobby on Congress and Senate
The NRA claims to have 4.5 mil. members (disputed & more likely is 2-3 mil.; Wash. Post art.), and in 2010 had a budget of $243 mil.
Most of NRA political contributions go to Republicans: In 2012, 81% of House and 93% of Senate Repubs. received NRA contributions, compared to 4 out of 53 House Dems and 8% of Senate Dems.
The NRA political contributions go both to endorse and defeat candidates. In 2012, NRA spent $880K to defeat Sherrod Brown (D-OH), $612K to defeat Bill Nelson (FL), etc.
Republicans want to defund CDC research on gun injuries & deaths. Ban seeking the truth
90% of Americans want background checks to buy guns, and 6 states have such laws (NY, CO, DEL, MD, WA, CT). NRA is panicked
76
One may wonder why Switzerland is the second developed country in gun possessions and gun deaths. Switzerland has pretty general military conscription, and citizens get to take home their personal arms after their service time. Another indication that availability of guns leads to related deaths....
1
You're talking sense. That's got nothing to do with the gun mania, which is all about emotion, fear, stupidity and the deeply cynical strategies of the firearms industry to keep selling more hardware.
Jeb Bush who signed the Stand your ground law in Florida will (would if elected) sign it.
80
What a strange combination of beliefs Jeb Bush has. He thinks it okay for someone to shoot another person because they are an interloper in the gun owner's house, and yet he was adamantly against allowing a young woman totally brain dead to have her life support system turned off because he believed in the sanctity of life.
1
The dirty little secret in Florida is that you can't take your dog to the beach but you can bring your gun. Guns are in golf bags, purses ,at the movie theater, in supermarkets and all places in between and yes, even at Disneyland. Obviously this is not publicized when we see photos encouraging people to come to the state and enjoy the sun. If they only knew...
108
I do know, and your state - along with many others - is on my do-not-visit list.
5
If what you say is true, then you would expect Florida to be a war-zone, with guns causing as much violence as they do. I have been to Florida quite few times and the worst thing that ever happened to me was a sunburn.
1
I have a few gun owning friends, and most of them flunk common sense 101. One buddy plastered stickers on his rural home windows that said his house was protected by Smith&Wesson. His house has been burglarized when his car wasn't in the driveway. Someday maybe someone with his gun in their lap will be waiting for him to come home so they can go to the ATM together. Another friend had one of his guns stolen by the cleaning lady. When he reported it to the police, they came to his house and confiscated all his other guns.
61
We Americans just get stupider and stupider with each passing day. More guns in the hands of more unskilled shooters will reduce gun violence? Really? I am glad that I will be able to retire outside the US in a couple of years in a relatively gun-free country.
80
There are more guns in circulation right now than ever before and gun violence is the lowest it has been in decades. How is this possible?
1
Just remember, Mr. Cornyn represents Texas and the majority of those who voted (61.55%), voted him into office. What does that tell you?
16
Let's see: 61.55% of the 28.5% who voted comes to 17.5%. So a little over one sixth of the Texas electorate got what they thought they wanted. And I'm ignoring the disenfranchised voters.
7
It tells me that the Stupid Party has found its audience.
3
Dear Ms. Collins,
Okay, a not so comedic response to senator Cornyn; certainly owners of "concealed weapons permits" should be able to "pack heat " in all 50 states provided each and every one of them passes "Federal Nationwide Background Checks" and all of their weapons are identified and catalogued along with a "photo license" clearly identifying who they are.
Not a solution, by any means, to rampant gun violence but, minimally, a possible beginning to curb "straw purchases" of hand guns; all 50 states would have to agree to a stringent, concealed permit program.
I realize with the money the NRA "contributes" to our lawmakers, such an ID and Registration program has the proverbial "snowball's chance" of passage but instead of belittling Senator Cornyn, let him stew on these "amendments' to his proposal on the Senate floor; it would be interesting to see him explain how such oversight would be wrong for his "driver's license" suggestion (I find equating cars and hand guns quite a stretch).
Otherwise, the good Senator is playing to his "crowd' in Texas. His concern for "gun violence" is obvious for he has no concern. His interest lies in the interest generated by the campaign financing he receives from the money "donated" by the likes of the NRA and the gun industry.
Money rules in DC no matter how many children must die from gun related incidents. Perhaps Senator Cornyn would explain his stand to the Sandy Hook parents of my home state.
Okay, a not so comedic response to senator Cornyn; certainly owners of "concealed weapons permits" should be able to "pack heat " in all 50 states provided each and every one of them passes "Federal Nationwide Background Checks" and all of their weapons are identified and catalogued along with a "photo license" clearly identifying who they are.
Not a solution, by any means, to rampant gun violence but, minimally, a possible beginning to curb "straw purchases" of hand guns; all 50 states would have to agree to a stringent, concealed permit program.
I realize with the money the NRA "contributes" to our lawmakers, such an ID and Registration program has the proverbial "snowball's chance" of passage but instead of belittling Senator Cornyn, let him stew on these "amendments' to his proposal on the Senate floor; it would be interesting to see him explain how such oversight would be wrong for his "driver's license" suggestion (I find equating cars and hand guns quite a stretch).
Otherwise, the good Senator is playing to his "crowd' in Texas. His concern for "gun violence" is obvious for he has no concern. His interest lies in the interest generated by the campaign financing he receives from the money "donated" by the likes of the NRA and the gun industry.
Money rules in DC no matter how many children must die from gun related incidents. Perhaps Senator Cornyn would explain his stand to the Sandy Hook parents of my home state.
19
At one point Virginia enacted a sensible law allowing only the purchase of one gun per person a month, this year this year the law was killed (no pun intended).
These are the same men who tried to enact a law demanding a vaginal ultrasound if a woman wanted/needed an abortion.
These are the same men who tried to enact a law demanding a vaginal ultrasound if a woman wanted/needed an abortion.
61
I don't consider a law to be "sensible" that allows each person to buy one gun per month. If I read that correctly, each person could buy 12 guns in a year w/o any questions asked? Where is the sense in that? A family of five could build up a 60 gun arsenal by next February! Killing that law just opens it up even wider, but honestly 12 new guns in a year per person makes zero sense to me. I agree with other comments that guns s/b treated like cars - register, pay insurance, and keep track of who owns what.
1
Sounds "sensible" until your grandfather gets sick and you want to transfer an entire collection to someone. Or sell off a collection acquired over years when you retire or need money. These laws forced people to sell to dealers at very low prices.
We agree that the state should stay out of when or how often a person has an abortion please extend that idea to includes things you do not like such as buying a gun. Government regulations you want lead down the path to the regulations you do not like.
We agree that the state should stay out of when or how often a person has an abortion please extend that idea to includes things you do not like such as buying a gun. Government regulations you want lead down the path to the regulations you do not like.
1
NJ passed the same law and it has only made it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to purchase a hand gun. Every time you go into the police station to get your paperwork, you are treated like a criminal. It has been a complete waste of time and money.
The Second Amendment is your permit.
The Second Amendment is your permit.
2
Glad to see congress iis finally getting its priorities straight.Enabling everyone to carry concealed weapons all around the country,presumably for self protection.
Is this a Republican prelude to maybe suggesting we can save money by eliminating police departments or just Their latest suggestion for being stupid.
Is this a Republican prelude to maybe suggesting we can save money by eliminating police departments or just Their latest suggestion for being stupid.
31
The U.S. population is expected to double in fifty years. Project that along with the spread of gun ownership and you get an unimaginable increase in the gun-death rate. Eventually, guns in private hands will have to be outlawed altogether, including those owned by people who like to watch birds and animals die.
12
"Eventually, guns in private hands will have to be outlawed altogether"
This is exactly why pro-2A people will never compromise any anything because every compromise is a small step toward the ultimate goal of their opponents as you have just described. Gun restrictions and regulations have been eating away at the core of the 2A since the 1930s. Note that few regulations have been rolled back, only many new ones have been prevented.
This is exactly why pro-2A people will never compromise any anything because every compromise is a small step toward the ultimate goal of their opponents as you have just described. Gun restrictions and regulations have been eating away at the core of the 2A since the 1930s. Note that few regulations have been rolled back, only many new ones have been prevented.
3
John Q, if what you say is true, why is the rate of gun ownership in the US up significantly, while gun murders, gun aggravated assaults, and gun robberies are down?
1
Do they get to carry them into the Capitol under this proposed bill?
57
Puerto Rican nationalists shot 5 members of the House in 1954. No one was killed. If the house is so enamored with guns that guns are allowed in church, in bars, in the schoolyard then why not in the Capitol. Makes sense to me.
1
The NRA, by the way, bans guns at its headquarters' offices. Smart fellas.
That is a ridiculous comment. Michael Bloomberg spent $50 million to get strict gun control passed despite the fact that every member of his security detail was armed. I guess hypocrisy is not limited to Republicans is it.
Does he intend to extend this same logic to marriage licenses ?
78
Dear Sen. Cornyn, do you also agree that it is legal for someone to carry their pot from Washington or Colorado into Texas? Not that that is a trade I would be willing to accept.
80
Gail, that's not true about Florida. A non resident permit requires the fee, and also verification of an 8 hr. safety course, a set of fingerprints , as well as a background check.
3
I'm tired of this over the top gun culture and certain politicians sucking up to the NRA. I'm not against the Second Amendment. I'm tired of people overreacting to the regulation of the sale of guns as the government trying to take my gun away. No one has ever said that the government is taking your gun away, just stopping the sale of assault rifles. This idea of Senator Cornyn is not good. Owning a gun and having a drivers' license is two different things.
62
Lisa although I believe the issue of carry permits and reciprocal carry is a states rights issue recent laws in NY and NJ do take away certain types of guns and politicians like Cuomo and Schumer would like to ban guns if they could.
The last sentence was the silver lining to this nightmare scenario:
"Maybe our best hope is that Congress will do what it does best and fail to pass any legislation whatsoever for the rest of the year…"
Personally, I am looking more and more forward to my gun-free retirement golf resort condo [Delaware, don't mess this up!],
Anne
"Maybe our best hope is that Congress will do what it does best and fail to pass any legislation whatsoever for the rest of the year…"
Personally, I am looking more and more forward to my gun-free retirement golf resort condo [Delaware, don't mess this up!],
Anne
24
So let's see - if other states should accept TX's (among others') rights to have a ccw license, then shouldn't the same reasoning apply to those who are legally married in, say MA, , whether LGBT or not, with respect to accepting their status as 'marital' with all the rights and obligations granted/imposed on ALL married people in TX (and those other states)?? The hypocrisy in all areas is what ties me in knots. Bad enough there's so much wrong-headed 'thinking'. I've been around 70+ years and still don't 'get it'.
66
"It" is the capacity to murder another person for whatever reason the ccw carrier may choose. Very different from the other licenses you cite.
13
And the right to practice a profession in any state if you are licensed in one state, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
67
The right to keep and bear arms is in the Constitution, marriage is not. Personally, I believe government should get out of the marriage business.
3
In a way it can be sadly said that deep in the heart of Texas John Cornyn and his conservative cronies continue to hold backward views compatible with those of Daniel Boone who once stated: "All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse, and a good wife."
18
Curious thing about Congress is they have security and metal detectors at all entrances to their office buildings and the Capital. In fact when there was a shooting in the capital they made the rules even tighter. Not the NRA or any congressman are working to make the buildings more open to guns.
Hypocrisy, of course.
Hypocrisy, of course.
98
they want to put guns on campuses to prevent sexual assaults, guns in schools to prevent violence against kids, the list goes on. why not empower each congressman or woman to carry a gun and free ourselves from the expense of protecting them.
1
The same is true with all proposed gun restrictions. They only apply to the lowly ordinary citizens, never to the police or active duty military or various government employees. I guess some really are more equal than others.
2
Pro gun lefty,
Democratic societies with rule of law have given the state a monopoly on violence. Prevents lynchings, vigilante justice etc. definitely an improvement in society.
Democratic societies with rule of law have given the state a monopoly on violence. Prevents lynchings, vigilante justice etc. definitely an improvement in society.
2
In the wild and woolly old west everybody had to check their guns with the sheriff. Freedom was never unlimited, no matter how loud the libertarian/conservative apostates of Ayn Rand scream.
48
The problem here is that Republicans are only into the TV version of the Old West.
1
I wouldn't visit some parts of the country even with my gun.
17
Yea, especially areas dominated by Democrats for 70 years, such as Detroit and Newark!
1
This idea is as patently ridiculous as the push for more guns on college campuses. If a trained ex-Navy and ex-law enforcement officer can accidentally shoot herself to death with the gun in her bra, anyone can. More guns? What could possibly go right?
64
Thank you so much for writing about this dangerously stupid bill from the now not so great state of Texas.
Someone - anyone - should add a rider to this bill requiring that, if it passes, guns MUST be allowed EVERYWHERE. Movies, churches, schools, trains, etc. AND the state and national legislative offices of all senators, representatives, governors and the president. There must be no "gun free" zone for anyone for any reason.
If we all let this madness happen, then we all should try to live with it. And make no mistake about it, this is, in the famous last word of that great movie, The Bridge on the River Kuai", "MADNESS".
Someone - anyone - should add a rider to this bill requiring that, if it passes, guns MUST be allowed EVERYWHERE. Movies, churches, schools, trains, etc. AND the state and national legislative offices of all senators, representatives, governors and the president. There must be no "gun free" zone for anyone for any reason.
If we all let this madness happen, then we all should try to live with it. And make no mistake about it, this is, in the famous last word of that great movie, The Bridge on the River Kuai", "MADNESS".
26
Including, I would add, the Supreme Court.
8
Remember this, all those who cynically say that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. Yes a few Democrats from empty states support craziness like this but the vast majority of them will hold the line of sanity against Republicans who would force us to let armed tourists roam freely in Times Square and on the subway.
54
Senator Cornyn is a disgrace to the Senate.
Wasting my taxpayer's money on nonsensical legislation while so many important things need to be addressed is just another example of why we are a joke.
Wasting my taxpayer's money on nonsensical legislation while so many important things need to be addressed is just another example of why we are a joke.
220
Democracy is dead.
Polls show that most American's want responsible gun legislation.
Congress' response: 'So what!'
Polls show that most American's want responsible gun legislation.
Congress' response: 'So what!'
82
When the gun control crowd comes up with a huge amount of money for bribing members of Congress.( a la the NRA) then the gun laws will change but not before. Boehner and his ilk hears the rustle of money but constituent pleas fall on deaf ears.
1
I've truly come to believe that our Founders made a serious mistake by including the 2nd amendment in our Constitution. It's being flagrantly abused and misinterpreted by the pro gun zealots, and created a grave danger to our society on the whole.
61
The only forseable hope is that the NRA will stretch logic so far with things like this that the band will snap back in their face and the collective American people will wake up.
44
It's amazing how vacuous the slogan "states rights" has become.
Cornyn's idea -- like most of his ideas -- seems to take inspiration from the Fugitive Slave Law.
Cornyn's idea -- like most of his ideas -- seems to take inspiration from the Fugitive Slave Law.
36
This legislation, and all gun legislation, is about the NRA helping the gun industry make money. To make substantial profits the gun makers need to continually grow their business, they must continually increase the mass production and sale of lethal weapons. As Ms. Collins points out, once you have convinced people that not being able to carry concealed weapons on a playground and in a church is a violation of their Constitutional rights as Americans, you are running out of ways to substantially increase your sales. If as a citizen or resident of the US, you have been convinced by the NRA (the PR arm of the gun manufacturers) that any control over where you can carry and use a lethal weapon is a violation of your rights, then you can be convinced that if you live in Georgia, when you are visiting New York, you have the fundamental Constitutional right to carry and use your lethal weapon.
Congress wants the money the gun makers give them and they do not want the enmity of the gun makers lobby, the NRA, who has managed to convince an amazing number of Americans that it enhances their masculinity to carry a gun or that it is needed for protection because of all the mentally ill or otherwise dangerous people out there carrying guns (don't try to follow the circular logic - it will make your head ache).
The question: is this finally going too far? Is there such a thing as too far on the question of guns in America?
Congress wants the money the gun makers give them and they do not want the enmity of the gun makers lobby, the NRA, who has managed to convince an amazing number of Americans that it enhances their masculinity to carry a gun or that it is needed for protection because of all the mentally ill or otherwise dangerous people out there carrying guns (don't try to follow the circular logic - it will make your head ache).
The question: is this finally going too far? Is there such a thing as too far on the question of guns in America?
23
When is the Supreme Court going to take the 2nd Amendment seriously and interpret it correctly: The right to bear arms is strictly limited to the formation of militias. Since that problem has been resolved, there is no separate right to bear arms. The 2nd Amendment has two parts. Not one. Who gives the Supreme Court the right to decide the second part is unimportant? Where are all the strict Constitutionalists? Like State's rights, it's only when it suits them.
101
Our 2nd Amendment states that our government shall not infringe on the right of the people to bear arms. Our 2nd Amendment does not state that we the people may or may not infringe on the right of the government to bear arms. Our 2nd Amendment is part of our Constitution's Ten Bill of Rights recognizing the inalienable rights of American citizens to freedom of expression, worship, assembly, self-defense with a firearm, etc. Our Constitution limits the powers of our government to regulate every aspect of our lives, limits the government control of the way we worship, think, vote, protect ourselves with a firearm and above all it restricts the power of our government. A free people with the freedom to uphold as well as to break our laws needs a broad lawful mechanism such as our Bill of Rights to hold our police, our military, our justices, our official bureaus, our politicians and, yes, ourselves accountable for faithfully observing and executing our laws. Otherwise, we forfeit our freedom to the whims of a monarchy or a government of unlimited powers accountable only to whoever holds the office.
2
There have been movements to repeal or modify the 2nd Amendment, but we know with our current Congress and the NRA's activism those won't go any where -- but it's what I think is needed at this point. In spite of all the tragedies of loonies with automatic weapons shooting up schools & movie theatres we can get no action. Wait until an aircraft is shot down in the USA by a legal shoulder-mounted weapon like a grenade launcher (yes, it's for "hunting and sports use" and maybe, MAYBE, then there will be a conversation about reasonable gun control.
4
Gun advocates universally ignored the clause "In a well regulated militia" -- remember at that time the USA had no standing army and depended upon citizen-shoulders in local equivalents of the National Guard for defense (England was still a threat -- remember War of 1812?). In fact, George Washington was an advocate of gun control as were other founding fathers. The goal of the 2nd Amendment was never to create an insurrectionary force to defy the US Government, as is now the theory.
9
I guess Mr. Cornyn would also support having marriage licenses of same sex couples recognized all around the country. So, for example, if a couple is married in New York, they're married all around the country.
72
With ISIL running around killing innocent civilians, it's way past time we allowed our citizens to arm and therefore defend themselves. This allows them to become 'hard' targets and would thus make ISIL attacks much less frequent and much less deadly. We would all thus be much safer.
3
Nobody is stopping you from arming yourself.
Last time I looked on a may, though, I saw that NH is a long way from Mosul.
Last time I looked on a may, though, I saw that NH is a long way from Mosul.
33
LOL Right, because those pesky ISIL guys are running all around us.
24
If this law somehow passed, you'd be complaining that Obama is trying to ram a gun down your throat.
1
And the heck of it is, the same folks who think a gun permit from one state should be valid in all 50 don't think the same reciprocity should apply to marriage licenses.
39
Why is it easier to carry a gun then vote in these states? Why do people think that taking a mentally ill man to a shooting range is good for him? How much does it cost to buy a politician like Cronyn?
209
If you have to ask how much it costs to buy him you can't afford him.
15
Much better to take a 9-year old to a shooting range.
1
Try to look at the positive side of the gun proposal. All over the country, schools have stopped offering programs in things like music, art, athletics and foreign languages even as they've also reduced school security expenses because of limited financial resources. With financial assistance from the NRA and gun industry, we can eliminate the need for school security guards and devices by providing free guns to every student and teacher in America. Sure, there will be the occasional murderous rampage, but that's just part of the experience of growing up in America -- and it's better for kids to learn it now so they can be prepared to carry and use guns after they graduate. Right?
37
Finally, a gun advocate has compared gun license to automobile licensing! This is good news! Now we can legislate liability laws for guns like automobiles. We can ask gun owners to have insurance as well as a license. We can sue gun manufacturers for defaults in their product just like automobiles. Now we can legislate national limits (such as magazine capacity: what hunter needs more than 3 bullets to bring down any game?). Now we can limit the age of gun owners and where people can have a gun (drive).
216
Great ideas, and they make perfect sense. The pro gun crowd wants unrestricted rights, but non of the responsibility. They should be required to have insurance, take classes, and be held accountable when guns get into the wrong hands, unless they can prove the gun was stolen. When their children get hold of the gun and accidentally shoot someone, the parents should be held accountable. All guns should be required to have an id number, like a car, and so should the ammo. There are so many things that can be done to help curb the gun violence.
24
Brilliant! Perhaps these people are so stupid as to fall into the trap of a national license, which would allow the sane majority to overcome the American Idiot brigade.
6
Bet you can't take that concealed gun into the Senate Chambers.
46
What good would a handgun be against all those loose cannons ?
10
Driver licenses are primarily used for going to work, the grocery store, the hardware store, the doctor, school, to visit friends, family, and attend public events.
And guns are used primarily for manslaughter, murder and war, as well as to soothe the exceptional American paranoia and gun psychosis that afflicts a certain swath of citizens who only sleep comfortably with Glock under each pillow and a daily stream of 82 gun deaths across our fruited plains every single day of the year.
Drivers licenses have publicly searchable databases because of the seriousness of the responsibility associated with it and there is publicly funded research that has made cars incredibly safer, while our right-wing nihilist Congress has specifically banned gun research by the CDC, ATF and NIH - another one of their giant victories of GOP ignorance and darkness over education and transparency
Country - Guns per 100 People - Gun Deaths per 100,000 People
United States 89 10.2
Switzerland 46 3.84
Finland 45 3.64
Sweden 32 1.47
France 31 3
Canada 31 2.44
Germany 30.3 1.1
New Zealand 22 2.66
Denmark 12 1.45
Italy 12 1.28
Spain 10 0.63
Ireland 9 1.03
Israel 7 1.86
------
England 6 0.25
Netherlands 4 0.46
Japan 0.6 0.06
The GOP Death Panels are hard at work again.
When not stripping poor people of health insurance or sending them off as cannon fodder in senseless wars, the GOP is ensuring citizens have an extraordinarily good chance of getting killed by a gun.
And guns are used primarily for manslaughter, murder and war, as well as to soothe the exceptional American paranoia and gun psychosis that afflicts a certain swath of citizens who only sleep comfortably with Glock under each pillow and a daily stream of 82 gun deaths across our fruited plains every single day of the year.
Drivers licenses have publicly searchable databases because of the seriousness of the responsibility associated with it and there is publicly funded research that has made cars incredibly safer, while our right-wing nihilist Congress has specifically banned gun research by the CDC, ATF and NIH - another one of their giant victories of GOP ignorance and darkness over education and transparency
Country - Guns per 100 People - Gun Deaths per 100,000 People
United States 89 10.2
Switzerland 46 3.84
Finland 45 3.64
Sweden 32 1.47
France 31 3
Canada 31 2.44
Germany 30.3 1.1
New Zealand 22 2.66
Denmark 12 1.45
Italy 12 1.28
Spain 10 0.63
Ireland 9 1.03
Israel 7 1.86
------
England 6 0.25
Netherlands 4 0.46
Japan 0.6 0.06
The GOP Death Panels are hard at work again.
When not stripping poor people of health insurance or sending them off as cannon fodder in senseless wars, the GOP is ensuring citizens have an extraordinarily good chance of getting killed by a gun.
743
Pleae provide a citation for the statistics.
thanks,
pd
thanks,
pd
1
Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/09/19/u-s-has-more-guns-and-gun-...
Drs. Sripal Bangalore and Dr. Franz Messerli studied the statistics of guns per capita and gun deaths.
They used firearm injury data from the World Health Organization and guns per capita data from the Small Arms Survey to put together a list of 27 developed countries.
They said they carried out their study because of what they said are seemingly baseless claims on either side of the gun control debate.
“I think we need more of what I would call evidence-based discussion and not merely people pulling things out of their hats,” Bangalore said. “We hear time and time again about these shootings, especially in the last year or so. A lot of claims are made…so we wanted to look at the data and see if any of this holds water.”
They concluded that more guns do not make people safer.
David Hemenway, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health who specializes in injury research and is considered one of the top gun violence researchers in the country, said the there’s “no question” that the relationship between guns and gun deaths is real.
“It shouldn’t be really a surprise to people,” Hemenway said
The Republican 'Culture of Death' continues unabated against the American people.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/09/19/u-s-has-more-guns-and-gun-...
Drs. Sripal Bangalore and Dr. Franz Messerli studied the statistics of guns per capita and gun deaths.
They used firearm injury data from the World Health Organization and guns per capita data from the Small Arms Survey to put together a list of 27 developed countries.
They said they carried out their study because of what they said are seemingly baseless claims on either side of the gun control debate.
“I think we need more of what I would call evidence-based discussion and not merely people pulling things out of their hats,” Bangalore said. “We hear time and time again about these shootings, especially in the last year or so. A lot of claims are made…so we wanted to look at the data and see if any of this holds water.”
They concluded that more guns do not make people safer.
David Hemenway, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health who specializes in injury research and is considered one of the top gun violence researchers in the country, said the there’s “no question” that the relationship between guns and gun deaths is real.
“It shouldn’t be really a surprise to people,” Hemenway said
The Republican 'Culture of Death' continues unabated against the American people.
39
US - Number One with a Bullet.
8
There is no level of gun violence which could induce 2nd amendment fundamentalists to change their minds. We could have a per-capita homicide rate on par with Honduras and they would insist the answer is ... more guns.
Why? Because gun deaths just prove it's a dangerous world, and therefore more guns are needed to counter the threat. It doesn't matter if these extra guns actually increase the homicide rate; the point is that individual citizens should be able to respond with deadly force when they think it's necessary.
"The more you have the more you use" -- the very same logic that governs heroin addiction. Had enough yet?
Why? Because gun deaths just prove it's a dangerous world, and therefore more guns are needed to counter the threat. It doesn't matter if these extra guns actually increase the homicide rate; the point is that individual citizens should be able to respond with deadly force when they think it's necessary.
"The more you have the more you use" -- the very same logic that governs heroin addiction. Had enough yet?
37
The “supporters” of the second amendment only support part of it – the right to keep and bear arms. They completely ignore the beginning that states “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state”. Clearly, armed untrained citizens carrying unregistered weapons do not constitute a well-regulated militia.
Additionally, the amendment was adopted in 1789 when only single shot weapons existed with a cyclic rate of perhaps two shots a minute with marginal accuracy. They could not have foreseen the weapons we have now.
Additionally, the amendment was adopted in 1789 when only single shot weapons existed with a cyclic rate of perhaps two shots a minute with marginal accuracy. They could not have foreseen the weapons we have now.
58
“A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state”.
I say, let's arm the National Guard!
I say, let's arm the National Guard!
The Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom, ignored that part too.
1
I totally agree, Gail, that some of these really "out there" gun laws proposed are due to the NRA's recruitment efforts. I mean, once you have everyone carrying a gun, what's left to sell even more guns? So travel guns, sure: a whole new category, maybe in a different color, maybe with an official box for the car with NRA stamp of approval, whatever: the only way to get more guns into more people's hands is to develop more rationales for why you would want to say, expand your personal arsenal, from 2 or 3 to 5 or 6.
Very very hand for the rich with fancy houses in multiple states. Handy for those visiting the Martha's Vineyard, in particular--challenge those liberal, anti-gun elitists in MA.
Hand in hand with traveling guns, is the proposal to arm sorority sisters who will feel safer once they're packing at a party and can simply put a bullet into the heads of a guy who gets too fresh. Great idea, that, from Nevada's Fiore, who must need an infusion of NRA cash into her campaign.
We don't have a 2nd amendment or gun issue in this country: we have a sanity issue. Like, in we're giving it away, piece by piece, to the NRA. The only reason for a Texan flourishing his gun in Times Square is to give the finger to the liberal elite. Guns are part of the great culture war: it's not states rights, or gun rights, or Republican rights, or Democratic rights: it's a war to see how much power a potent lobby can have to exert its will over an entire nation.
Very very hand for the rich with fancy houses in multiple states. Handy for those visiting the Martha's Vineyard, in particular--challenge those liberal, anti-gun elitists in MA.
Hand in hand with traveling guns, is the proposal to arm sorority sisters who will feel safer once they're packing at a party and can simply put a bullet into the heads of a guy who gets too fresh. Great idea, that, from Nevada's Fiore, who must need an infusion of NRA cash into her campaign.
We don't have a 2nd amendment or gun issue in this country: we have a sanity issue. Like, in we're giving it away, piece by piece, to the NRA. The only reason for a Texan flourishing his gun in Times Square is to give the finger to the liberal elite. Guns are part of the great culture war: it's not states rights, or gun rights, or Republican rights, or Democratic rights: it's a war to see how much power a potent lobby can have to exert its will over an entire nation.
48
I try to vote against political candidates who are supported by the NRA. Maybe it's just Republicans. I forget.
16
Gun permits come from the Department of Agriculture?
4
It due to anticipated growth and the notion that Round Up Ready is a call for a posse. There may have be a mishap in the legislation, but to avoid "confusion" it was let stand 'cause it's probably going to happen real soon and the NRA felt it apt. AnyWho, better be prepared for the call.
Maybe it's an experimental program to "grow" gun ownership.
4
Once again, the same Democrats who control the most violent districts of the country want to share their "wisdom." They need to worry less about lawful gun owners and worry more about people with Obama/Biden bumper stickers.
2
NYC is far safer than rural America today and it has been for many years. The meth epidemic, poor schools, childhood poverty, no jobs (and lack of skills to get them).
Whats did Jesus say about casting the first stone? What kind of gun would the prince of peace and love own?
Whats did Jesus say about casting the first stone? What kind of gun would the prince of peace and love own?
12
Because guns don't kill people, bumper stickers kill people.
26
A internet search of Brookville, Indiana came with the following:
1) population as of 2010 census: 2596.
2) Most notable person: Walter Bossert, Grand Dragon of the Indiana KKK back in the last century. Bossert was also a bigwig in the state Republican party, which is interesting given that many Republicans seem to think that the Democrats had a monopoly on racism before the Civil Rights movement.
1) population as of 2010 census: 2596.
2) Most notable person: Walter Bossert, Grand Dragon of the Indiana KKK back in the last century. Bossert was also a bigwig in the state Republican party, which is interesting given that many Republicans seem to think that the Democrats had a monopoly on racism before the Civil Rights movement.
23
I'm trying to find something funny in this. But it's just sad. It's sad that I put my life in danger simply by going into public. It's sad that some people can only solve their peoples through violence. It's sad that so many of us trust one another do little we feel justified in murderimg those who pose a supposed threat.
Shoot first. Ask questions.. never. God gave us this right.
Shoot first. Ask questions.. never. God gave us this right.
12
Seems to me that anyone obsessive enough about gun rights to advocate carrying a loaded weapon into a school, a house of worship, a saloon, etc., does not himself have the psychological makeup to be entrusted with a gun license. As for Mr. Cornyn and his ilk, is there any reason to wonder whether it's permissible to carry a gun into their own respective offices?
256
For gun rights, against women's rights. That's the 114th Congress and hope for substantial change in the right to carry guns from coast to coast and in Times Square and concealed or not is "awful, awful, awful" as Charles Schumer said. Women's rights to make decisions about their own bodies - re family planning and access to abortion - is being ashcanned by the Republicans and those in power in the House today. Every day people kill other people - accidentally like the 2 year old boy who took his Mommy's loaded gun from her purse and shot her, accidentally. Or on purpose, like the Mother yesterday in Las Vegas who got her son to assist her in killing the focus of her rage and was killed by the man she enraged. We could go on and on with every permutation of gun rights being wrong and kiling, killing, killing. A gun on every corner will be the undoing of our system of democracy, which is already on the cusp of being undone by income inequality, racial inequality, sexual inequality, depression (financial and mental), and all the inside ills that currently beset America. Looser gun regulation is an insult to caring, kind and empathetic human beings. Tighter restrictions against women's rights is even more insulting. And still the conservative Republican gunsels and anti-women lobbyists want more of the same. And if "permitted" guns can be carried all over the US "like drivers' licenses" - as Senator Cornyn of Texas wants oh, so bad! - then woe is us.
86
Sometimes I feel like a stranger in a foreign land. I had wished maybe Congress wouldn't be as bad as I anticipated but that was wishful thinking. Someday people will look back on all this and wonder if we were suffering from some kind of mass insanity.
32
"Mass insanity". Yes, but it's a comparatively small (probably 20%) of the country, mostly rural living, meth addicted, born agains.
Yes, Gail, but you have a brain. Might we apply your logic to Texans: just because they have the carte blanche respect of fellow Texans within state lines, doesn't mean they deserve any respect when they start shooting off their mouths in restaurants and theme parks across the nation, or in the biggest theme park of them all: Congress.
43
Cornyn, aside from his lazy eye when it comes to equal justice for black Texas Americans ala Tulia, was once a judge and an Attorney General. Proposing that carrying a gun become the norm is in keeping with the Right Wing philosophy of every man for himself. The aim of such a philosophy is to do away with those freeloading municipal workers we call the police. And, of course, it would be a boon to the private sector if they could sell a million or so guns in Manhattan. Those running funeral homes and hospitals would see an uptick in their economy. It would just be an economic positive to any Right Wing adherent. After al,l the political cry from the NRA is that guns don't kill. People do! And given Cornyn's proposal will they ever!!!!!
34
Cornyn a former TX Judge? I didn't recall that. You mean like Gohmert was a TX judge? I guess that explains it all!! Where' Molly Ivins and her class of people when we need them?
1
Nah, the New Yorkers who want guns just come down to Virginia to get them
This is madness of the worst kind: because it won't be the mad who will pay. It'll be those caught in their line of fire.
The whole point of the federal system is to enable individual states to make decisions about certain aspects of how they live. Unlike, say, gay marriage, gun carrying impacts on everyone, whether they choose to carry or not.
The parallel offered to drivers licenses is very unfortunate, given the death rate on the roads across the nation. The fact that anyone can drive in fact only underscores that anyone can, being human, also kill.
The whole point of the federal system is to enable individual states to make decisions about certain aspects of how they live. Unlike, say, gay marriage, gun carrying impacts on everyone, whether they choose to carry or not.
The parallel offered to drivers licenses is very unfortunate, given the death rate on the roads across the nation. The fact that anyone can drive in fact only underscores that anyone can, being human, also kill.
15
Geez, Gail, where are all the states rights folks on the issue of whether one's own state should be able to determine who should be authorized to carry?
Cornyn is wrong (again) and he knows it. Otherwise there'd be no need for a new law. The reason a drver's license works in any state is because of the legal principle of reciprocity. I honor your driver license in my state because your state honors mine in yours, and vice versa.
No such thing exists where such wide disparity in gun laws exists from state to state. New York doesn't necessarily want a flood of gun-toting Texans crossing its borders with a passel of firearms that aren't even legal for their own citizens to carry.
Any true "states rights" advocate should have been embarrassed to even broach the subject of a federal carry law, which so obviously usurps the power of a state or municipality to regulate gun ownership and/or use.
Cornyn is wrong (again) and he knows it. Otherwise there'd be no need for a new law. The reason a drver's license works in any state is because of the legal principle of reciprocity. I honor your driver license in my state because your state honors mine in yours, and vice versa.
No such thing exists where such wide disparity in gun laws exists from state to state. New York doesn't necessarily want a flood of gun-toting Texans crossing its borders with a passel of firearms that aren't even legal for their own citizens to carry.
Any true "states rights" advocate should have been embarrassed to even broach the subject of a federal carry law, which so obviously usurps the power of a state or municipality to regulate gun ownership and/or use.
35
As a fiscal conservative social liberal, I would have dearly loved to see guns banned, or at least controlled severely. But where are the progressive pols on this issue? Running away, that's where. When Dems had the senate, house, and WH did they do anything? Every so called centrist Dem from right leaning districts were touting how strong they are on pro guns, how many guns they own, it was disgusting.
I would cross parties and vote Dem just for gun ban. I think it is extremely important. But unfortunately, that's not happening.
I would cross parties and vote Dem just for gun ban. I think it is extremely important. But unfortunately, that's not happening.
20
We have no effective progressives.
8
Good idea. Let's put small New York abortion clinics in motor homes. And when I leave Colorado, with my stash in the glovebox, not a problem. We can all recall the history, when slavery was still legal, how the owners had the right to carry their property with them wherever, for awhile. If it's legal here, it should be legal everywhere. States rights ad absurdum.
36
My son is currently jumping through hoops to have the state of Virginia allow him to officiate at the marriage of his sister and her soon-to-be husband next month. He's spoken to 4 county clerks, made one trip down for face-to-face interviews, and is now writing additional letters that are required. He still doesn't know if he'll be granted permission.
How ironic to think that if all he wanted was a gun he could have taken an online test and been done with it!
How ironic to think that if all he wanted was a gun he could have taken an online test and been done with it!
33
I wonder if those who carry weapons have ever thought out their own intentions --- reached to the core of the heart and realized they intend to harm/kill someone -- commit murder.
And, somehow, when one suggests they might be able to save others from a rampage, I see a great big fire fight with nobody knowing who is who.
Maybe everyone seeking a permit should have to match the cost with a donation to a charity, and all should be required to do service work In an area prescribed by the administrator of the license.
(Please send the little old ladies from Florida who are going to the shooting range after church on Sundays to an "Uptown Funk" party. Get them dancing. And, please get them over this fear of "hoodies"? (a fear expressed in the NYTimes's comment section). And, depending on how deep the fear is --- make them attend a party every week. I personally believe we would all be better off, if we could get them hooked on vodka and parties more than guns.)
And, somehow, when one suggests they might be able to save others from a rampage, I see a great big fire fight with nobody knowing who is who.
Maybe everyone seeking a permit should have to match the cost with a donation to a charity, and all should be required to do service work In an area prescribed by the administrator of the license.
(Please send the little old ladies from Florida who are going to the shooting range after church on Sundays to an "Uptown Funk" party. Get them dancing. And, please get them over this fear of "hoodies"? (a fear expressed in the NYTimes's comment section). And, depending on how deep the fear is --- make them attend a party every week. I personally believe we would all be better off, if we could get them hooked on vodka and parties more than guns.)
15
And what it amazing about this is the same people who think this is a great idea are the same people who are the state rights crazies who rant and rave about the mean old federal government forcing the states to follow national rules against their wills.
54
As with so many of these issues, there is a unspoken upside down logic in concealed carry in the first place.
A hidden gun is far less useful than a open carry gun.
If you carry a concealed weapon nobody can see you're a certified gun nut, you may have the certificate but no one knows it.
As far as a deterrent to harm, having a weapon hanging on your waist or stylishly carried under your armpit, is much more effective.
The respect garnered in public is awesome.
It puts those puny little NRA stickers on other people's trucks to shame.
A hidden gun is far less useful than a open carry gun.
If you carry a concealed weapon nobody can see you're a certified gun nut, you may have the certificate but no one knows it.
As far as a deterrent to harm, having a weapon hanging on your waist or stylishly carried under your armpit, is much more effective.
The respect garnered in public is awesome.
It puts those puny little NRA stickers on other people's trucks to shame.
11
While in general agreement (as usual) with Ms. Collins, I must note that:
1. A vehicle is a dangerous weapon that kills as many people in the US as do guns (over 33,000 each last year). Yet (just as with guns) felons, persons subject to outstanding warrants, persons subject to domestic violence injunctions, and registered sex offenders all are legally entitled to a driver’s license in most states . So there is a greater similarity between gun permits and driver’s licenses than Ms. Collins suggests.
2. Guns account for 1.2% of the 2,596,993 deaths in the US last year. But only about half of these deaths are caused by licensed owners. Vehicles also account for 1.2%, but ninety-six percent of these are caused by licensed drivers. Cancer /heart disease account for 48% of all deaths. Almost half of cancer and heart disease deaths are self-inflicted by unwise lifestyles, yet nothing is done to make such lifestyles illegal. One could almost argue that death-by-gun is not terribly significant as a statistical matter.
But seriously, there is a simple solution if Senator Cornyn has his way. As he notes, “If you have a driver’s license in Texas, you can drive in New York…subject to the laws in those states.” Any state that does not want people to carry concealed weapons but is forced to do so under Federal law can pass a law that says “All persons carrying a concealed weapon in this state must wear a bright red beanie hat and a shirt with the phrase “I am armed and dangerous.”
1. A vehicle is a dangerous weapon that kills as many people in the US as do guns (over 33,000 each last year). Yet (just as with guns) felons, persons subject to outstanding warrants, persons subject to domestic violence injunctions, and registered sex offenders all are legally entitled to a driver’s license in most states . So there is a greater similarity between gun permits and driver’s licenses than Ms. Collins suggests.
2. Guns account for 1.2% of the 2,596,993 deaths in the US last year. But only about half of these deaths are caused by licensed owners. Vehicles also account for 1.2%, but ninety-six percent of these are caused by licensed drivers. Cancer /heart disease account for 48% of all deaths. Almost half of cancer and heart disease deaths are self-inflicted by unwise lifestyles, yet nothing is done to make such lifestyles illegal. One could almost argue that death-by-gun is not terribly significant as a statistical matter.
But seriously, there is a simple solution if Senator Cornyn has his way. As he notes, “If you have a driver’s license in Texas, you can drive in New York…subject to the laws in those states.” Any state that does not want people to carry concealed weapons but is forced to do so under Federal law can pass a law that says “All persons carrying a concealed weapon in this state must wear a bright red beanie hat and a shirt with the phrase “I am armed and dangerous.”
4
A vehicle is not a weapon. It's a vehicle. Its intent is not to kill someone but to be used a means of transportation. Do people die in car accidents, yes. People also die falling down the stairs or slipping on the tile floor in the bathroom. Indeed, falls represent the leading cause of unintentional trauma in the elderly.
Vehicles are also tightly regulated not only by state laws - seat belt laws, car seats for kids, insurance, state inspections, and so forth but there is national transportation safety board that attempts to get dangerous cars off the road.
Guns are specifically designed to kill — full stop. Guns are not regulated to the extent cars are — no required training, no insurance, no national department that looks at guns deaths to determine root cause and bring the number of injuries down.
The fact remains that our gun culture results in unnecessary death and disability and will continue to do so until we regulate guns to the extent that we regulate cars.
Vehicles are also tightly regulated not only by state laws - seat belt laws, car seats for kids, insurance, state inspections, and so forth but there is national transportation safety board that attempts to get dangerous cars off the road.
Guns are specifically designed to kill — full stop. Guns are not regulated to the extent cars are — no required training, no insurance, no national department that looks at guns deaths to determine root cause and bring the number of injuries down.
The fact remains that our gun culture results in unnecessary death and disability and will continue to do so until we regulate guns to the extent that we regulate cars.
48
If you reframed this in the context of time spent in a particular activity...ie, shooting your gun, driving your car...I think you'd come up with a pretty different idea of the relative risks.
Love the beanie hat and shirt idea!
Love the beanie hat and shirt idea!
4
Why should criminals who reside in Texas and who possess a firearm be robbed of their right to practice their trade when traveling to New York. It is un Americanto to deprive them of their freedom to pursue their livelihood.
9
The Congress should get a taste of its own medicine. If they force the rest of us to live with guns, they should have do so as well.
That is, if they tell us citizens we have to allow people with concealed guns among us, they should have to allow them in the halls and chambers of Congress as well. Recent incidents in the Texas legislature suggest that this would have an effect.
To see this and other ideas for saving America, go to YouTube and watch Comedy Party Platform. Then invite me to speak to your group -- you will be glad you did.
That is, if they tell us citizens we have to allow people with concealed guns among us, they should have to allow them in the halls and chambers of Congress as well. Recent incidents in the Texas legislature suggest that this would have an effect.
To see this and other ideas for saving America, go to YouTube and watch Comedy Party Platform. Then invite me to speak to your group -- you will be glad you did.
22
the only thing that stops a 2 year old with a gun is sanity !
17
Members of our Congress want healthcare for themselves even as they work hard to deny the rest of the country the same benefit. Likewise the Republicans want guns everywhere in the country except, you guessed it, in Congress!
Way to go Senator Cornyn!
Way to go Senator Cornyn!
143
When they pass a law allowing ordinary citizens to carry guns into the Capitol, House and Senate office buildings, and the Supreme Court, then maybe I'd entertain a law that lets ordinary citizens carry guns in my neighborhood. The hypocrisy.
62
From: Bazooka Owners and Zip gun Owners, LLC
To: Ms. Gail Collins
As CEO of "B.O.Z.O.", I commend Mr. Cornyn's attempts at allowing the well armed populace to defend itself from others in the well armed populace. But those of us who feel a "handgun" is just "not enough", allow me to explain our position on bazookas and zip guns for personal defense.
With pistols and semi-autos, the owner is reduced, in times of grave danger, to having to "point" the thing then "aim it" at the suspected "invader of the ground upon which you are standing" (A right guaranteed in the 2nd Amendment most certainly) leading to "missing" the target. With a bazooka, just kind of "point and shoot" and the missile takes care of both the assailant and the vehicle he might have been in or the building he came out of or any of his "buddies" that might be near him; no real experience needed.
That is why us B.O.Z.O.'es are advocating more mobility with our bazookas. No worry about "concealing" them; they are a tad bigger than most handguns. Rest assured, all of you namby-pamby hand wringing types, we B.O.Z.O.'es recommend the strictest training in the correct use of the weapon (At least 15 minutes on a "Bazooka Range"; it is a pretty simple weapon).
Our studies show that the presence of a bazooka reduces crime by 100% or so (Florida results not in yet).
So worry not about handguns, B.O.Z.O.'es will come to the rescue!
Zip guns? Not enough space here,
Yours Truly in Self Defense,
I.M. Agunnut
CEO/ BOZO
To: Ms. Gail Collins
As CEO of "B.O.Z.O.", I commend Mr. Cornyn's attempts at allowing the well armed populace to defend itself from others in the well armed populace. But those of us who feel a "handgun" is just "not enough", allow me to explain our position on bazookas and zip guns for personal defense.
With pistols and semi-autos, the owner is reduced, in times of grave danger, to having to "point" the thing then "aim it" at the suspected "invader of the ground upon which you are standing" (A right guaranteed in the 2nd Amendment most certainly) leading to "missing" the target. With a bazooka, just kind of "point and shoot" and the missile takes care of both the assailant and the vehicle he might have been in or the building he came out of or any of his "buddies" that might be near him; no real experience needed.
That is why us B.O.Z.O.'es are advocating more mobility with our bazookas. No worry about "concealing" them; they are a tad bigger than most handguns. Rest assured, all of you namby-pamby hand wringing types, we B.O.Z.O.'es recommend the strictest training in the correct use of the weapon (At least 15 minutes on a "Bazooka Range"; it is a pretty simple weapon).
Our studies show that the presence of a bazooka reduces crime by 100% or so (Florida results not in yet).
So worry not about handguns, B.O.Z.O.'es will come to the rescue!
Zip guns? Not enough space here,
Yours Truly in Self Defense,
I.M. Agunnut
CEO/ BOZO
37
When Charles Schumer states "They're not even open to argument," he's arguing what has become all too apparent in the gun debate. We're arguing with gun rights fanatics, and common wisdom says you can't reason with a fanatic. Add corrupt, bought politicians to the mix and we have a combustible combination. That's why the gun safety movement has moved to direct democracy via state referendums and the like, where the majority still rules.
22
Perhaps the angry and the fearful will all kill one another. Then the rest of us can go on with our lives.
9
Maybe but I'm afraid of the collateral damage they're likely to cause.
10
My question is, if carrying and using a gun is a right, what rights accrue to those under 18, and is there not an argument that someone under 18 can not vote because they are not mature enough, and by the same logic, not old enough to join our military (i.e. modern day militia), so should all youth use of guns be found unconstitutional? And if that were so, would that greatly reduce the number of people wanting to use guns in adulthood?
3
Interesting question. What licenses should be automatically honored between states?
How about marriage licenses?
False equivalency? Maybe. Except some people consider reciprocity of marriage licenses to be a states' rights issue. But here, Senator Cornyn assumes that federal law trumps all that silly statehood stuff. This is deeply ironic because Texans generally love all that silly statehood stuff and blue-state liberals generally don't.
Oh what a tangled web.
How about marriage licenses?
False equivalency? Maybe. Except some people consider reciprocity of marriage licenses to be a states' rights issue. But here, Senator Cornyn assumes that federal law trumps all that silly statehood stuff. This is deeply ironic because Texans generally love all that silly statehood stuff and blue-state liberals generally don't.
Oh what a tangled web.
25
What if we in Connecticut and other states less worshipful at the altar of gun rights (guns have the to vote? to drink? to carry concealed humans? to marry bows and arrows?) asserted OUR states' rights and refused to recognize Texas, Florida, and some others as states?
11
The gun problem reflects a lack of trust in our elected officials and our government which is not unjustified in many ways. But in my opinion the "wrong" people are encouraged to keep the guns. They are the extremists on the right, who are enflamed with religiosity and have been more easily deluded into supporting the captains of industry that run our country. It is not a partisan issue really. These captains own both parties. People who think for themselves are dangerous to them.
13
It is no coincidence that the same conservatives who fight for the expansion of the rights of gun owners are attacking the rights of women to access abortion and family planning. They are out to codify the rights of men as the ultimate arbiters of life and death.
280
Take the woman who went home to get her son and his gun to go looking for someone who offended her on the road with the end result a shoot out in her driveway (killing the woman), or the woman who shot herself in the face while adjusting her bra holster; or the 2 year old who reached into her mother's purse and shot mom to death in the Walmart; do we need more of these incidents?
205
It helps control the surplus population, as Scrooge would say....
5
We don't need them, but we will get them
3
Don't tell me that every state would not love to welcome Craig Hicks and his concealed hand gun, along with his concealed carry permit issued by the State of North Carolina!
15
Mr. Hicks would probably have gone on to be a curmudgeonly paralegal, holding forth on his parking lot soapbox, and we would still have these promising young people still with us, if gun ownership were discouraged. These politicians do us a disservice. Thank you, no, for your help, Senator Cornyn.
7
You said it, Gail. Nobody knows why we have a Congress anymore. They don't even know how to congress, let alone do politics.
As for guns in Time Square, Mr. Schurmer, I wouldn't worry so much about the folks with a license. It's the ones who sneak up on a police car and execcute two police officers in the name of racial equity.
I'm betting that perp wasn't licensed to carry.
As for guns in Time Square, Mr. Schurmer, I wouldn't worry so much about the folks with a license. It's the ones who sneak up on a police car and execcute two police officers in the name of racial equity.
I'm betting that perp wasn't licensed to carry.
5
You will bet that he wasn't licensed, but he easily could have been if he came from Florida or Mississippi. No problem, there.
19
There was an incident here in Iowa where there were shots fired and within a short time the police pulled over what they considered to be the " perp " car and found guns. After taking the guns and then questioning the " perps " it was determined that although highly suspicious they had licences to carry and had to give their guns back and sent on their way, to probably do another drive-by.
7
It would seem that the police were satisfied these "suspicious perps" were, in fact, not the shooters. It's pretty easy to tell if a gun has been recently fired. But no, to you they're guilty, they did it, no question, and got away with it. What was "highly suspicious" to you wasn't to the police, once satisfied they had the wrong guys. Or do you think they were bribed with donuts?
I am not a big gun control advocate, but I can't imagine anything more stupid. To my mind, the biggest problem with guns is that a number of gun owners are ignorant about gun safety and too stupid (or too filled with hubris) to safely own one. This will only make the situation much, much worse. Ms. Collins is correct when she says that having a gun permit is nothing whatsoevr like having a driver's license.
41
And yet they don't seem to pass a bill that says you can carry a gun to congress... hum.
170
Considering the wonderful job they do, If I were in Congress, I wouldn't allow guns in the Capital building either. Then again, I'd be ashamed of myself for job performance remotely as bad as Congress has.
Its the Institute for Legislative Action. This is a component of the National Rifle Association supported by their lunatic leaders La Pierre and Knox. The ILA has only one purpose. To write legislation to be rubber stamped by ignorant legislators and made law by incompetent governors.
37
And the moronic voters that vote these clowns into office in the first place.
8
If we take Senator Cornyn's logic to conclusion: then everyone with a gun permit will have passed a nationally sanctioned course in gun ownership, maintenance and safety and they will be able to produce, upon request, a registration document for that gun they are carrying, just as we do with our automobiles.
Maybe he's on to something.
Maybe he's on to something.
25
Yes. He is arguing for licensing, registering, and insuring guns just like automobiles. Plus, of course, all the consumer safety regulations with which auto makers must comply. Sounds like a great improvement.
12
By all means, guns and driving should be the same. First of all, driving is a privilege, not a right. It must be learned and is not automatically granted at birth.
All the more reason for gun insurance. If one drives a vehicle on the road, they must have insurance. If you rent a vehicle, you must have insurance or buy the rental insurance if you do not. And every vehicle you have must be insured. So should every gun, no matter how many one owns. And just like a car title, title each gun and track when it changes owners.
And gun permits, just like driver's licenses. To obtain one, a person must go and prove they know how to safely use a gun. No more online permits - you can't get a driver's license that way.
Using a gun while intoxicated - a crime, lose your privilege, just like a DWI.
Oh, and probably, there should be an ammunition tax, just like the gas tax.
Sounds pretty good to me.
All the more reason for gun insurance. If one drives a vehicle on the road, they must have insurance. If you rent a vehicle, you must have insurance or buy the rental insurance if you do not. And every vehicle you have must be insured. So should every gun, no matter how many one owns. And just like a car title, title each gun and track when it changes owners.
And gun permits, just like driver's licenses. To obtain one, a person must go and prove they know how to safely use a gun. No more online permits - you can't get a driver's license that way.
Using a gun while intoxicated - a crime, lose your privilege, just like a DWI.
Oh, and probably, there should be an ammunition tax, just like the gas tax.
Sounds pretty good to me.
543
Absolutely!
And, let's have those guns inspected annually, to make sure they're in good working order. If so, you get a gun sticker, good for a year!
And, let's have those guns inspected annually, to make sure they're in good working order. If so, you get a gun sticker, good for a year!
22
All great ideas that will go absolutely nowhere.
9
Well put. However, remember, you don't need a license to drive a car on private property. And self-defense is a right that legally predates even the Constitution.
But the law has always had the power (NRA notwithstanding) to regulate what means of self-defense one uses, in what circumstances, etc. But yes, let's have gun operator's licenses, registration, and gun liability insurance. Who knows? Let the underwriters and actuaries study the question, and maybe, depending on where you live and what you do for a living, you might get a discount on your life insurance if you carry a gun! If having a gun actually makes you safer, the actuaries should be able to prove it. The owner of record could then be held accountable for what is done with his gun, unless he reports it stolen.
But the law has always had the power (NRA notwithstanding) to regulate what means of self-defense one uses, in what circumstances, etc. But yes, let's have gun operator's licenses, registration, and gun liability insurance. Who knows? Let the underwriters and actuaries study the question, and maybe, depending on where you live and what you do for a living, you might get a discount on your life insurance if you carry a gun! If having a gun actually makes you safer, the actuaries should be able to prove it. The owner of record could then be held accountable for what is done with his gun, unless he reports it stolen.
9
Gail writes that "In many crowded cities, gun safety means there’s almost nobody carrying but the cops". Yet, how true is that, when we know that huge numbers of unregistered, illegal handguns are brought into NYC and Chicago, for example, every year? And not just by professional criminals but by regular Joes who wish to protect themselves but don't have years to spend to navigate the horrifically difficult barriers those cities have erected to lawful gun possession. How many unregistered weapons already are carried unlawfully by regular people?
But, apart from the fact that such a bill likely won't pass Congress, and if it does President Obama would veto it and Republicans just don't have the votes in the Senate to override, refusing the "license" analogy can be argued on normal grounds. The fact that you might possess a valid Texas driver's license entitles you to drive in NYC, but it doesn't allow you to ignore New York's ban against turning right at almost all lights on red, after stopping. NYC probably needs to pass laws, sanctioned by NY State, that further complicate legal carry while not banning it, and that would apply to everyone. Just in case.
But the real problem here isn't the Texas yahoo who wants to drive to NYC and walk around packin': it's the hundreds of thousands if not millions of New Yorkers who are packing illegally. Just ignoring that reality doesn't help Gail's argument.
But, apart from the fact that such a bill likely won't pass Congress, and if it does President Obama would veto it and Republicans just don't have the votes in the Senate to override, refusing the "license" analogy can be argued on normal grounds. The fact that you might possess a valid Texas driver's license entitles you to drive in NYC, but it doesn't allow you to ignore New York's ban against turning right at almost all lights on red, after stopping. NYC probably needs to pass laws, sanctioned by NY State, that further complicate legal carry while not banning it, and that would apply to everyone. Just in case.
But the real problem here isn't the Texas yahoo who wants to drive to NYC and walk around packin': it's the hundreds of thousands if not millions of New Yorkers who are packing illegally. Just ignoring that reality doesn't help Gail's argument.
6
Sounds to me like you just made up those numbers. I would doubt that there are "millions" of New Yorkers packing illegally.
26
How huge are those numbers? I smell a weasel (word, that is.)
4
Those who feel the need to walk around in public with a gun are irrationally fearful people. They watch a certain fake news channel, and listen to the various hate radio channels in their car, which stoke these fears with stories of a 'bad guy with a gun' around every next corner. Irrational fear and a gun are a dangerous combination, particularly to those who might happen to resemble a 'bad guy with a gun', when in reality its just a normal person going on about their business.
90
By definition, these people should not be allowed anywhere near guns!
5
I carry, don't watch Fox, don't listen to Rush in my truck (not car, silly) nor do I cook squirrels in a popcorn maker. I've twice used defensive display to unwind situations where I and others would undoubtedly have been seriously injured or worse. I'm not a hero, don't wear a cape and red boots, nor do I stand in front of mirrors saying "you talking to me?".
Given that there are many folks who have a visceral fear of even seeing, much the less touching a gun (unloaded even), there is little hope of rational discussion. Calling the other guy crazy is easy, but think about what it says about you. Perhaps some education, some training is needed on both sides of this coin?
Given that there are many folks who have a visceral fear of even seeing, much the less touching a gun (unloaded even), there is little hope of rational discussion. Calling the other guy crazy is easy, but think about what it says about you. Perhaps some education, some training is needed on both sides of this coin?
60
It is hard to have a rational discussion about some gun issues, but it is worth trying.
This bill proposes interstate reciprocity for concealed carry permits. I don't have an objection to individuals who are licensed for concealed carry after proper background checks and training. While I don't carry a gun myself, I know people who do, with proper licensing.
However, I oppose Representative Cornyn's bill because many states do not require adequate training. As Gail Collins states, in Virginia you do not need to take a course with a licensed instructor -- online is OK. In Ohio, only two hours of in-person training are required. Is that really sufficient? In California, sixteen hours of training are required. I feel much safer knowing that a licensed instructor has extensively supervised a novice gun owner in practice with unloading, loading, and target practice. Just because someone has demonstrated the capacity to check that a gun is unloaded once, or even five times in a row, doesn't mean that the person will engage in that behavior automatically.
This bill proposes interstate reciprocity for concealed carry permits. I don't have an objection to individuals who are licensed for concealed carry after proper background checks and training. While I don't carry a gun myself, I know people who do, with proper licensing.
However, I oppose Representative Cornyn's bill because many states do not require adequate training. As Gail Collins states, in Virginia you do not need to take a course with a licensed instructor -- online is OK. In Ohio, only two hours of in-person training are required. Is that really sufficient? In California, sixteen hours of training are required. I feel much safer knowing that a licensed instructor has extensively supervised a novice gun owner in practice with unloading, loading, and target practice. Just because someone has demonstrated the capacity to check that a gun is unloaded once, or even five times in a row, doesn't mean that the person will engage in that behavior automatically.
5
Hard to believe that this is true. But as they say, truth is always stranger than fiction. Who knows, maybe the carriers will have a big gun fight and improve the gene pool by snuffing each other out. But of course, they won't just take themselves down, there will be collateral damage too. I know of no solution to this issue. The country has reached a retched state, hit bottom, found a nadir, maybe. And then maybe not. Set up gunfight areas in the now gun allowed parks. Put them next to horseshoe area. It fits.
14
Think of the money it will save. We can get rid of the security detail for Congress. We can do likewise for any security detail for the Supreme Court etc.
25
If Senator Cornyn would extend this to concealed and open (because why not?) in the Capitol and Congressional office buildings, I might be able to support it. ( he says sarcastically...)
Here in PA, sheriff's departments do a background check before issuing a CCW but there is no training requirement. And we share long borders with NY and NJ, both of which have much more stringent gun regulations. So I can understand Sen. Schumer's concerns.
That said, we are still incapable as a society of having an adult conversation about guns.
Here in PA, sheriff's departments do a background check before issuing a CCW but there is no training requirement. And we share long borders with NY and NJ, both of which have much more stringent gun regulations. So I can understand Sen. Schumer's concerns.
That said, we are still incapable as a society of having an adult conversation about guns.
21
Undoubtedly the NRA is bucking for a national holiday in their honor. In lieu of that, the Fourth of July can merge with U.S. Open Carry Legislation Day. The 'give me liberty or give me death' crowd could actually have it both ways: lots of liberty and lots of death.
The double-o-seven 'license to kill' will no longer be only a James Bondian privilege: any citizen, sane or not, well-intentioned or not, can possess that dubious honor. And not in the secret service of Queen and Country.
Prepare for public events bristling with loaded weaponry, slung over the shoulders of patriots for whom the sun only shines when fully armed. The rest of us will be having rather gloomy days, surrounded by strangers packing heat to sports events, civic meetings, public parks, schools and malls.
A scenario never intended by the framers of the Constitution: semi-automatic weapons with massive kill power in the public square.
Suggest the NRA draft a Blunderbuss Bill to show concern for public safety: only one blast of limited range for true-blue blunderbuss lovers.
Quote Patrick Henry at length regarding early American self-defense.
We can then have a rational discussion as to the necessity of weapons in a densely populated democracy; all guns must be checked into a locked militia armory at the door before entering the commons.
Doubtful that gun libertarians will attend sans firepower if the topic threatens unfettered bearing of arms.
Give us Freedom in the Public Square !
The double-o-seven 'license to kill' will no longer be only a James Bondian privilege: any citizen, sane or not, well-intentioned or not, can possess that dubious honor. And not in the secret service of Queen and Country.
Prepare for public events bristling with loaded weaponry, slung over the shoulders of patriots for whom the sun only shines when fully armed. The rest of us will be having rather gloomy days, surrounded by strangers packing heat to sports events, civic meetings, public parks, schools and malls.
A scenario never intended by the framers of the Constitution: semi-automatic weapons with massive kill power in the public square.
Suggest the NRA draft a Blunderbuss Bill to show concern for public safety: only one blast of limited range for true-blue blunderbuss lovers.
Quote Patrick Henry at length regarding early American self-defense.
We can then have a rational discussion as to the necessity of weapons in a densely populated democracy; all guns must be checked into a locked militia armory at the door before entering the commons.
Doubtful that gun libertarians will attend sans firepower if the topic threatens unfettered bearing of arms.
Give us Freedom in the Public Square !
21
The author is missing the point . . . entirely. The Second Amendment protects a "fundamental" human right. The notion that one's basic Constitutional rights are abated by the crossing of a state line is a peculiar interpretation of the notion of civil rights.
7
The debate as to whether the 2nd amendment's right to bear arms is unqualified or whether it should be understood in the context of a well regulated militia has been raging for a long time. Its certainly not settled.
28
Except by the Supreme Court, which has unequivocally ruled that it defines and protects a fundamental individual right.
While some politicians may wish it were not so, this is well settled Constitutional law.
While some politicians may wish it were not so, this is well settled Constitutional law.
2
You are missing the point...entirely. Where in the Constitution does it say citizens have the right to bear concealed arms?
16
Once upon a time in the Wild Wild West there was no such thing as a gun permit. If you wanted a gun you bought one. And nobody thought it strange.
Still, lots of innocent people were getting shot by stray bullets. So a number of towns began requiring that people entering town deposit their guns with the local police.
Simply because it had become too dangerous. Want your gun back? Leave town. Not a problem.
The NRA thinks that having everybody armed solves a problem and manage to forget that there was a time in the US that everybody who wanted a gun for protection or whatever actually did have a gun. And too many people died.
I am not against gun ownership. I am against every Tom, Dick and Harry having one. Even driving requires proof of ability and soundness of mind.
Still, lots of innocent people were getting shot by stray bullets. So a number of towns began requiring that people entering town deposit their guns with the local police.
Simply because it had become too dangerous. Want your gun back? Leave town. Not a problem.
The NRA thinks that having everybody armed solves a problem and manage to forget that there was a time in the US that everybody who wanted a gun for protection or whatever actually did have a gun. And too many people died.
I am not against gun ownership. I am against every Tom, Dick and Harry having one. Even driving requires proof of ability and soundness of mind.
117
One correction to your assertion that the NRA thinks that everyone having a gun solves a problem. The NRA and its cohorts, the gun manufacturers, only want to solve one problem; how to increase their bottom line for the next quarter.
30
And Wyatt Earp, who did sometimes carry guns, mostly used them as a club to deal with unruly cowboys. The shootout at OK corral is remember because it was so unusual
7
It is also a fact that ordinances were used in many localities to limit carrying of firearms into towns and cities.
7
We see these awful pictures of insurgents riding in pickup trucks and everyone of them holding a big gun.
We see Americans riding around in pickup trucks with guns in a rack behind their seats.
We see all those awful pictures of insurgents marching into buildings with guns at their hip.
We see Americans carrying guns into eating places to prove they have a right to do so.
I don't see an awful lot of difference between all those pictures, just in the intentions perhaps.
But if you carry a gun into the store where I shop or the coffee shop I'm having my morning snack, how am I to know what your intention is?
We see Americans riding around in pickup trucks with guns in a rack behind their seats.
We see all those awful pictures of insurgents marching into buildings with guns at their hip.
We see Americans carrying guns into eating places to prove they have a right to do so.
I don't see an awful lot of difference between all those pictures, just in the intentions perhaps.
But if you carry a gun into the store where I shop or the coffee shop I'm having my morning snack, how am I to know what your intention is?
183
Don't forget churches. In some states, guns are welcome at church services--some states, concealed, some not.
12
You never know when a fellow church member may attack you with a hymnal.
14
"This is awful, awful, awful." Just like most ideas from Texas.
77
The whole gun lobby has become a denial of the first premise of our social contract, the delegation away of the power to kill, in favor of judicial resolution of conflicts.
How did they ever get this stupid?
How did they ever get this stupid?
201
"How did they ever get this stupid?"
Lots of money and the quest for relevance.
Lots of money and the quest for relevance.
9
Maybe the question is how did we get so stupid as to let them?
23
They have always been stupid.
5
I guess no one should be surprised that a lame brained idea like this was hatched in Texas . I'm just surprised it wasn't hatched in Florida first.
This follows the proposal to have young women on college campuses arm themselves to deter rapists. All you get with more guns is more death.
This follows the proposal to have young women on college campuses arm themselves to deter rapists. All you get with more guns is more death.
39
Sad thing is, there's more than one business plan floating around, posited on putting gun rental counters across from the car rentals by the baggage claim in airports. Hurts Full-Auto Rentals, and all that.
'Course, it wouldn't be long before independents were undercutting 'em. You know, short-term rentals from a local who has an extra piece, something along the lines of Air357 or maybe Under. What a world.
'Course, it wouldn't be long before independents were undercutting 'em. You know, short-term rentals from a local who has an extra piece, something along the lines of Air357 or maybe Under. What a world.
6
We need strict national standards for gun ownership. Most CCDW training is a joke; perhaps we need something like a system where everyone owns a gun, but they also know intimately how to use it, clean it, and above all understand how to safely operate and store it away from children.
Not just a free for all where any unstable nut can legally obtain a license.
Not just a free for all where any unstable nut can legally obtain a license.
4
There is something amiss, something flying loosely around in people's heads, if owning, using and worshiping guns is the most important issue in life.
For the NRA, it is a money making, money grubbing cause that never ends. What about the rest?
Is the gun the last, hard symbol of American maleness and "freedom"? On all sides, men are under challenge. What it means to be male has shifted beyond recognition to earlier generations. In many cases, the husbands no longer bring home the bacon, the wife of the house often earns more. Any errant remark in the workplace can be interpreted as sexual harassment. Gay marriage puts itself on a presumptively equal level to traditional marriage, which was under siege anyway.
The majority of undergraduates in colleges are now female and if the trend were to continue on the same downward slope, sometime in this century the last male graduate of college would receive his degree amid a sea of females. It turns out, in the minds of many, that equality was not about equality but providing a platform to assert superiority. People hang on to whatever they can find.
Yet, it is fair to ask whether some men love their guns more than they love their wives and families.
For Senator Cornyn's bill, the issue is pretty clear: how can he get more campaign contributions and more votes next time round? Present himself as a fighter for freedom coming out of the barrel of a gun? Sounds good.
Doug Terry
For the NRA, it is a money making, money grubbing cause that never ends. What about the rest?
Is the gun the last, hard symbol of American maleness and "freedom"? On all sides, men are under challenge. What it means to be male has shifted beyond recognition to earlier generations. In many cases, the husbands no longer bring home the bacon, the wife of the house often earns more. Any errant remark in the workplace can be interpreted as sexual harassment. Gay marriage puts itself on a presumptively equal level to traditional marriage, which was under siege anyway.
The majority of undergraduates in colleges are now female and if the trend were to continue on the same downward slope, sometime in this century the last male graduate of college would receive his degree amid a sea of females. It turns out, in the minds of many, that equality was not about equality but providing a platform to assert superiority. People hang on to whatever they can find.
Yet, it is fair to ask whether some men love their guns more than they love their wives and families.
For Senator Cornyn's bill, the issue is pretty clear: how can he get more campaign contributions and more votes next time round? Present himself as a fighter for freedom coming out of the barrel of a gun? Sounds good.
Doug Terry
23
Freud postulated that a handgun was the symbolic extension of the male sex organ...looks to me that he hit the nail on the head.
17
A substitute for men who aren't well endowed?
7
And sometimes a cigar is just that.
This is a fabulous entry, Ms. Collins, in your long-running and much needed series about the insanity of gun-rights advocates in this country. Senator Cornyn is either a fool (one could use a less charitable word) or a tool. Fortunately, we can count on President Obama to veto this proposal. The NRA's arrogance here is not surprising, but some of its more extreme elements would receive their just deserts if these efforts produced a backlash that led to a federal gun registry sometime in the future. They've nearly lost all of their Democratic allies in Washington so they will be vulnerable to tighter gun control legislation, perhaps as early as the next presidency.
17
I find it interesting that a number of states which are quite willing to set gun permits to the lowest common denominator among all states have also been fighting hard to not allow other state's marriage licenses being recognized in their own state. It strikes me that this is elevating gun worship to the highest level.
396
Texas should extend it's 40 foot border fence all around the state, protecting sane people in the surrounding States and Mexico from its deadly stupidity. Let Cornyn and the Texans go to town until no one standing if that's what they want, but let the rest of the nation live free from fear that blindly zealous gun nuts like him won't be around every corner "defending their liberty".
438
Texas is not uniquely nuts (Florida?): it is full of educated and civilzed people, but the crazies get all the press.
14
They seem also to get all the attention from Congress Reps and Senators.
7
Notice how Senator John Cornyn lobbies for guns everywhere, EXCEPT where HE works. No guns in congress, and there never will be. What a hypocrite.
1009
That's because Cornyn is bright enough to be aware that you can't go to the absolute lowest common denominator, Congress.
10
Nor are guns allowed in the Supreme Court building.
That's either irony or hypocrisy.
That's either irony or hypocrisy.
31
You nailed it!
3
Ms. Collins, I know I'm a day late and a dollar short for Valentine's Day, but I just want to say "I love you". Oh, and also, "would you consider taking over for Jon Stewart"?
It's been nine years since I left the US for a country where it's virtually impossible to buy any gun except a single-shot hunting rifle. Over those nine years I've watched the gun debate devolve the same way you watch a train wreck or an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians: with your hands over your eyes but peeping through your fingers, horrified by what you see but unable to turn away.
When the best hope to avoid further insanity is that Congress fails to pass any legislation (and you're right about that), I feel like I'm watching America from the other side of the looking glass. I suppose the good thing about that is it's possible to also hope, in that fantastical world where belief and rationality can be suspended, that Texas will indeed secede, taking John Cornyn and all its wacky states' rights notions with it.
It's been nine years since I left the US for a country where it's virtually impossible to buy any gun except a single-shot hunting rifle. Over those nine years I've watched the gun debate devolve the same way you watch a train wreck or an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians: with your hands over your eyes but peeping through your fingers, horrified by what you see but unable to turn away.
When the best hope to avoid further insanity is that Congress fails to pass any legislation (and you're right about that), I feel like I'm watching America from the other side of the looking glass. I suppose the good thing about that is it's possible to also hope, in that fantastical world where belief and rationality can be suspended, that Texas will indeed secede, taking John Cornyn and all its wacky states' rights notions with it.
548
My somewhat Swiftian and completely constitutional solution is to ban the manufacture and sale of bullets. People can then go back to the relevant technology of 1780 of making their own.
24
I have visited Paris many times, and in the last few years some of the French I have encountered have asked (after they say home much they admire the United States and President Obama) why so many Americans have so many guns and why there seem to be so few laws regulating gun ownership. My answer is usually that for some Americans, the 2nd Amendment trumps all the others and this group holds many members of Congress and State legislatures in their monied grasp. What I would love to say is that many people in the USA seem to have a fevered fetish for firearms fed by the NRA, right wing Radio and Fox News. Bonjour HeyNorris-an expat life sounds bon to me!
25
Good idea. Same as Dan Pat Moynihan's of 1993--he suggested taxing bullets.
10
I love and miss my country but this stuff, along with the let's carry guns on campus idiocy, makes me bittersweetly glad I'm living somewhere else.
238
@ Hugh CC -
. . . and have been following the news in Hungary?
. . . and have been following the news in Hungary?
1
In VA there is currently an effort to legalize carrying a loaded gun in one's car. Considering the monumental traffic jams here, and media stories of road rage, it's not hard to see where this lead. Sadly, gun fetishism in our state knows no limits, and the gun nuts will not rest easy until their dreams of an apocalyptic bloodbath are reality.
219
Re: loaded guns in cars. I would foresee running gun battles between left and right lanes of traffic.
7
Over twenty years ago when Florida passed the nations first "shall issue" carry permit law opponents spoke out expecting road rage incidents leading to thousands of shootings. It simply did not happen. The now eight million permit holders are among the most law abiding group in the country.
2
In AZ anyone can carry, even concealed, if they're not a legally prohibited possessor. As yet, we haven't experienced any running gun battles between soccer moms and pizza delivery folks, but it could break out any time now. Being so close to the hotheads in D.C., perhaps your situation is more volatile?
2
PART 1 OF 2
Vaccines are a lot like Gun control. Or Gun control is becoming like vaccines.
There are those parents who say: “It’s my right not to have to vaccinate my kids.” And so their unvaccinated children can spread disease and put other children in danger.
In a similar way, some people in States with lax gun laws want to bring their guns into my State even though their own State may not have “vaccinated” gun ownership enough by screening out people with felonies and mental illness.
And so now the States with sensible gun laws have their citizens’ lives placed in danger.
I think of the 29-year-old Mom who was shot and killed by her 2-year-old in December 2014, in an Idaho Walmart (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/31/woman-accidentally-shot-and-killed-... )
Vaccines are a lot like Gun control. Or Gun control is becoming like vaccines.
There are those parents who say: “It’s my right not to have to vaccinate my kids.” And so their unvaccinated children can spread disease and put other children in danger.
In a similar way, some people in States with lax gun laws want to bring their guns into my State even though their own State may not have “vaccinated” gun ownership enough by screening out people with felonies and mental illness.
And so now the States with sensible gun laws have their citizens’ lives placed in danger.
I think of the 29-year-old Mom who was shot and killed by her 2-year-old in December 2014, in an Idaho Walmart (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/31/woman-accidentally-shot-and-killed-... )
119
As Gail has told us before, GOP'ers in Congress are like rabid ferrets.
This is not legislation that law enforcement supports, and she's right that it's just a pay-off to GOP'er campaign donors, akin to the first order of ' bidness ' from this group - the Keystone Pipeline bill. But we know from Congress's inaction on stronger background checks following Sandy Hook that it doesn't matter if 90% of voters support something, Congress will only do what its donors want:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/04/03/90-percent-of-...
There is no clearer evidence of how dire our situation is, and how out-of-control the rabid ferrets are; furthermore, it looks like GOP'ers are bent on passing only legislation they hope will be vetoed.
This is not legislation that law enforcement supports, and she's right that it's just a pay-off to GOP'er campaign donors, akin to the first order of ' bidness ' from this group - the Keystone Pipeline bill. But we know from Congress's inaction on stronger background checks following Sandy Hook that it doesn't matter if 90% of voters support something, Congress will only do what its donors want:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/04/03/90-percent-of-...
There is no clearer evidence of how dire our situation is, and how out-of-control the rabid ferrets are; furthermore, it looks like GOP'ers are bent on passing only legislation they hope will be vetoed.
254
A gun license doesn't say anything about one's ability to use a gun responsibly. It merely says that one imagines deadly threats lurking around every corner, and that there is a reasonable chance that someone could confront you with deadly force anywhere, at any time, in any state, and you don't know where it's going to happen but man you know it's going to happen and what if some minority or crazy person is in your face and you're standing there all naked without a gun and they're going to kill you and you can't kill them and you have NO ABILITY to stand YoUr GroUnD and Treyvon Martin had a gun and what THEN well I'll tell you what then, ZimMerMan would be DEAD, that is WHaT!
So it seems perfectly reasonable that people who feel that way should be able to wander the country, armed to the teeth. The only alternative would be to provide these people with medical care to treat their paranoid delusions, but that might involve them signing up for ObamaCArE and you Must Be CRAZY if you think THAT is GoINg to HAPPEN.
Clearly, the only sane alternative is for Congress to approve Senator Cornyn's bill. Go Texas!
(Really. Please go.)
So it seems perfectly reasonable that people who feel that way should be able to wander the country, armed to the teeth. The only alternative would be to provide these people with medical care to treat their paranoid delusions, but that might involve them signing up for ObamaCArE and you Must Be CRAZY if you think THAT is GoINg to HAPPEN.
Clearly, the only sane alternative is for Congress to approve Senator Cornyn's bill. Go Texas!
(Really. Please go.)
658
you have just described most of my neighbors <<>> I only wish they would all move to Texas and leave the rest of us alone.
34
gemli,
Love your sarcasm with the capital letters.
Love your sarcasm with the capital letters.
36
Nice satire! But what’s with the random capital letters?
7