Think there will be confiscation?

[Fangs]

Another thing to consider, and I'll be the first to admit that someone else has said it before on the forum: What's to stop criminals from using fully automatics to do their dirty work when the punishment for getting caught is the same as for a semi-auto pistol? How long before Mexico starts importing guns along with herbs and exchange students?

[lanternlad]

"You know, you make a very good point. They repealed Prohibition because of gross noncompliance, and the lawlessness that ensued."

Then they should do it with drugs, too. Legalize drugs and many problems will end. They made drugs illegal and now you can get them on any street corner. Guns too, in cities that ban them. Making things illegal doesn't make them go away, it just makes them more attractive.

[bubba1876]

Making things illegal doesn't make them go away, it just makes them more attractive.

That probably explains why handgun violence is out of control in the cities that have banned handguns (LA, DC, Chicago...) Hmmm doesn't seem to be working. Banning handguns will do NOTHING to deter criminals. There mentality is "what's another felony gonna hurt?".

[Furyataurus]

And THAT'S the problem with liberals, they think that by just "passing" a law EVERYONE will obey it!!! . For some reason they can't understand WHY a law fails, they don't understand that laws only work when PUNISHMENT is enforced.

[BobCat]

lanternlad,

I agree with you - not that I want to see more people taking drugs, but I think that would be a passing phase. Drugs were not that widely used before they were made illegal.

The point is that banning anything just raises the price and the profit, makes proceeds invisible to the tax system, and enriches the powerful.

When some kid with no education and no prospects sees that the big wheels in his community are the drug dealers, what does he aspire to be?

However, I do not think that we, as a Nation, have the courage and will to roll back these bans. Alcohol was a special case because it was so much a part of the culture that nobody really wanted it banned except the WCTU and associated wackos.

But legalizing pernicious drugs and telling the kids, "We are warning you this stuff is poison, you will ruin or end your life with it" - and watching a number of them self-darwinate until the rest get the picture, is beyond the strength we can bring to bear.

I really ought to read and learn about guns, instead of posting... well, nobody made anybody read it.

Regards,
Andrew

[TacShot]

It is a great article, thanks for posting it.

The problem is that they don't need to confiscate your guns, just make it illegal for you to have them. So you hide them, hang on to them for years, and they are useless - you can't take them to the range to shoot, and if you use one in self-defense you go to jail for having the gun you used - and they tear your house apart, find the rest, and your family goes to jail as accessories to your crime of having all these illegal guns.

I apologize, the NRA magazine just came today, I started to read it, and my mood is foul.

Anyone with any sense would read Unintended Consequences and realize that pushing "gun control" is counterproductive and will alienate a substantial portion of the population. I don't think these people care who they alienate - they want a monopoly on power, guns represent power, and in their eyes the common man (or woman) "doesn't need" them.

I should not post this - the "cancel" button beckons - but this time I will ignore it's lure and post my despair. With luck, someone with better sense than I will come along and point out the flaws in my view.

Regards,
Andrew

Andrew, your view is not flawed. IMO it's one of the most objectively honest responses in this thread. Everyone needs to see the entire video posted in "Over There, the Brits Gun Free Zone Backfires" by casingpoint and "Britons want their freedom back" by atxgun. I'm not sure whether the gun used to defend the home was legal or not, but if it was illegal it sure didn't help his case. The man received a murder conviction, later reduced to manslaughter, while the surviving perp with 34 priors received 3 years and was out in 18 months.

Don't for a moment think it can't happen here! And, ask any attorney how an illegal gun would affect your case in an anti-gun prosecution.

[BobCat]

TacShot,

Thank you for your kind words... I think. When a rational person agrees with my depressive outlook it makes me even more gloomy.

However, I cling to what my brother tells me when the conversation turns this way. He tells me that we both have more guns, and better guns, than we had 30 years ago. We both have Concealed Handgun Licenses, which we could not have had a few years ago. I bought my first AR-15 in 1994 since "they're going to ban them!" and started shooting Highpower since I wanted a Garand from the CMP. All that might not have happened, had Bill Clinton not been elected.

The incidents you point to are excellent reminders for those tempted to embrace "gun control", that the right of self defense is useless without the tools. And the recent Supreme Court ruling (Heller) that the Second Amendment does indeed protect the right to have weapons for self defense, puts roadblocks in the path of civil disarmament. I may be left with a Smith Model 10 and Marlin 1984, but ban as they might, they can't take them all.

When I was a small child and read that someday the Sun would run out of hydrogen and go nova, incinerating the Earth, it really bothered me - until I got some idea of time and perspective; ain't happnin' soon. And in about 1965 the general decay of society started to get real clear, and the resemblance to the decaying Roman Empire came to mind - but the decline of a great civilization takes a long time, unless helped along by outside events (giant meteorite strike, nuclear war, world-wide depression, pandemic, that kind of thing). So we probably have some time left, to go to the range, live out our lives, and die in relative peace. And if not - well, everyone on this Forum has more guns than he or she can hold in their hands at once, and enough ammunition to feed them - and dying peacefully is probably over rated.

Anyway, I do not think there will be outright confiscation this time around. I think we have a fight on our hands, and the weapons will be words, pen and paper, envelopes and stamps, and votes.

Y'all remember the commercial for stomach-ache stuff, where the guy is moaning, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" - I can't believe I wrote the whole thing.

Regards,
Andrew

[Fangs]

BobCat, I like you're thinking. So now it's my sig.

[BobCat]

Fangs,

I am roaring with laughter! And I might need to change my screen name to "Claws".

Regards,
Andrew

[Purplehood]

I looked for Unintended Consequences at Barnes & Noble, and was told that it is out of print.

I am reluctant to buy a copy from Amazon, since I don't look forward to buying a copy that someone might have been reading on the porcelain-throne.

Anyone know where I can get a new copy?

[DMG]

I do not know where you can get a new copy, but it truly is a great read! DMG.

[Fangs]

Purplehood - PM sent on "alternative methods of book acquisition"

[austin]

If people would take one day off from work to mob the state capitol, this stuff would end.

10,000 people on the steps of the capitol with 100 inside talking one on one politely with the reps would change things.

People are complaining, but not standing up for their rights.

You will go shoot at a range several times a year, but when it comes to protesting - you go have a beer.

California is the next state to crack and the gun owners there need to get organized and just mob the capitol.

Ditto IL.

[bradfromearth]

It is a great article, thanks for posting it.

Andrew with all due respect that is a blog and a blog post. It is not what is known in American nomenclature as an article. "Article" still, (barely) implies a true respected journalist doing reporting of facts. Yes they are fact through the eyes of the journalist, but they are still NOT an op/ed piece. A blog is nothing more than an Op/Ed piece more than likely written by a non journalist.

Peace
Brad

[subsonic]

Amazon used to carry new copies of Unintended Consequences but you can still order it from the publisher (Accurate Press) for the cover price.