CT to prohibit children from shooting machine guns

[seamusTX]

The Connecticut Senate passed a bill prohibiting children younger than 16 from shooting or handling machine guns. The House is expected to pass the same bill.

Last year, an 8-year-old boy in Massachusetts accidentally shot and killed himself with an Uzi submachine gun.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30503741/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[Oldgringo]

In most states, one must be at least 16 to qualify for a Driving License. I guess it makes sense that one shouldn't shoot a machine gun before one can legally drive.

[barres]

I have a friend with a fully automatic (and fully legal) M-16. He also has a .22LR conversion for it. Why shouldn't I let my son shoot it, while supervised, since my son has proven that he has great firearm safety awareness and good skills with a .22 rifle?

And I learned how to drive a vehicle when I was 11 years old. Private property and all that.

Just another "common sense gun control law" that can't regulate common sense.

[tfrazier]

Another case of impeccable government logic.

I heard that last year an 80 year old guy accidentally fell off his balcony and died. Someone needs to pass a law making it illegal for senior citizens to enter a balcony.

This would be a great thing to not implement. Was it posted on halfbaked.com before a law maker picked it up and made it a bill?

Parents should be held responsible for what happens to their children in these cases. Sure, you need "You must be this tall to ride this ride" signs and rules in some cases, but some common sense needs to be used in where those rules are placed.

Now I'm struggling with my own logic here.

[seamusTX]

Now I'm struggling with my own logic here.

Seeing to the well-being of one's own children is the first duty of every parent according to the laws of God and nature.

If parents fail to do so, the state cannot make up for them. The child welfare system is a mess, placing children in abusive foster homes, returning them to abusive parents, and even losing track of them.

Some things are wrong, but the state can't effectively do anything about them.

- Jim

[KRM45]

Another case of impeccable government logic.

Unfortunately the government passes laws to try to protect stupid people from themselves.

[atxgun]

Another case of impeccable government logic.

Unfortunately the government passes laws to try to protect stupid people from themselves.

I'm reminded of a Futurama quote: "Owww... Yes fire indeed very hot!"

[WildBill]

It angers me when laws are passed based on the basis of a single or an extremely small number of incidents. Of course the behavior of the people behind these laws is based on exploiting an opportunity rather than rational thought.

[KFP]

It angers me when laws are passed based on the basis of a single or an extremely small number of incidents. Of course the behavior of the people behind these laws is based on exploiting an opportunity rather than rational thought.

... and this is what lawmakers love to do. "Reelect me, I wrote a bill that decreased the number of kids under 16 who killed themselves with a machine gun from 1:100,000,000 to 0:100,000,000 of the course of just ONE year!"