Americans and guns

Even in KY they still have a lot of liberal socialist bias, as evidenced by 
this:

http://www.kypost.com/2003/11/19/kylifemain111903.html

Americans and guns
Debate pits the rights of individuals against controlling the use of arms 
By Kerry Duke
Kentucky Life editor

When it comes to the issue of guns in America, there is never a cooling off 
period.

The debate over guns and controlling them always simmers hot, boiling over 
whenever a high profile shooting occurs, a new gun law is proposed or an 
advocacy group steps up its campaign.

Those who advocate gun control laws point to the daily headlines on gun 
violence and grim statistics on senseless slayings as proof of the need to 
curb handguns.

Those who advocate for gun rights point to the Second Amendment and counter 
anti-gun arguments by noting that crime rates have actually fallen as more 
and more states have allowed citizens to carry concealed weapons.

These are not just theoretical arguments. They shape laws, affect court 
decisions and influence politics. They end up on agendas at city hall, the 
state capital and Washington. Consider:

•  Anti- and pro-gun sides are marshalling forces for a fight next year in 
Congress over renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban. The law, which outlaws 
the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons in the United States, expires in 
September 2004 unless Congress and President Bush renew it.

•  Anti-gun forces are readying to battle a bill in Congress that would 
grant gun manufacturers and dealers immunity against many lawsuits, 
including ones already in court brought by shooting victims and 
municipalities. The lawsuits target gun makers for not adding safety 
features and gun dealers for practices that make it easy for criminals to 
get guns. Anti-gun forces claim the law would allow gun makers to build 
defective firearms and dealers to negligently sell to traffickers without 
recourse. The bill also seeks to prevent lawsuits that have merit and are 
in progress, such as one filed by the victims of snipers in the Washington, 
D.C. area against the dealer who sold the guns to both the accused and has 
been unable to account for over 230 weapons sold, including one used in the 
shootings. Pro-gun forces, like the National Rifle Association, 
characterize the law more as "tort reform," saying it will protect firearms 
manufacturers and dealers from malicious lawsuits aimed at bankrupting a 
law-abiding American industry. Already 33 states have enacted laws blocking 
such lawsuits.

•  Since 1998, at least 33 municipalities, counties and states have sued 
gun makers, many claiming that manufacturers, through irresponsible 
marketing, allowed weapons to reach criminals. No suits have been 
successful in collecting damages. Among the lawsuits filed was one by the 
city of Cincinnati, which was dropped earlier this year because of concerns 
Congress would grant immunity to gun manufacturers and make the case more 
difficult to pursue.

•  Gun rights advocates have made gains as an increasing number of states 
have enacted legislation permitting citizens to carry concealed weapons. In 
1986, a total of 30 states had laws allowing some form of the concealed 
carry of weapons. By this year, the number had grown to 43. In 1986, 19 
states forbade guns to be carried altogether; by this year, the number had 
dwindled to five.

•  Kentucky passed legislation seven years ago that established a 
permitting system under which most law-abiding residents are able to obtain 
permits to carry concealed weapons. The Kentucky State Police report that 
there are currently slightly more than 77,000 permits to carry concealed 
weapons in force in the commonwealth.

•  Legislation to permit Ohioans to carry concealed weapons bogged down 
this fall over disagreements between the House's version of the bill and 
the Senate's. And an Ohio Supreme Court decision upheld the state's ban on 
carrying concealed weapons in a case arising in Hamilton County, Ohio.

•  Gun-control forces have won on other fronts. New Jersey's state 
legislature this year voted to require all new handguns sold to be so-
called "smart guns," as soon as the technology is in place. Smart guns, 
which are still in development, use microchips inside the gun that allows 
only their owners to fire them.

Earlier, the state took another gun-control lead as the first to require 
guns to be sold with trigger locks.

Gun-control advocates say smart guns can help prevent accidental deaths or 
suicides as well as curb some homicides by rendering the weapon useless if 
stolen. Tennessee, New York and Ohio are considering similar smart-gun 
measures.

Every American, armed or otherwise, has an opinion on the role guns should 
play in our society.

Should handguns be outlawed? Is tough gun registration the answer? What 
about waiting periods, sales at guns shows and mail order weapons?

Because the Second Amendment was written hundreds of years ago in a 
different time, is it still relevant?

Is it only applicable today to the right of state militias to arm 
themselves?

Could our forefathers, who loaded single shots into muskets, have ever 
envisioned a world of weapons that rip off 400 rounds per minute?

Indeed, many who argue for gun rights say gun ownership is such a fundament 
right of individuals that its erosion might lead to the erosion of other 
individual rights such as free speech, right of assembly, right to worship 
and freedom from non-lawful search and seizure.

They contend more gun control laws wouldn't keep guns out of the hands of 
criminals since they don't obey laws anyway but only make it harder for 
law-abiding citizens to own them.

They say falling crime statistics point up that law-abiding gun owners and 
concealed carry laws are helping reduce crime.

When it comes to laws, they say there are plenty already on the books and 
that the problem is they aren't enforced.

-- 
Yours In Liberty, Melissa - Colorado, U.S.A.

License plate frame - "Guns Defend Life & Liberty"
http://www.cafeshops.com/melissa_photo.7734333

West Denver area -> Shaolin-based Martial arts, Rock music, Sci-Fi, Chess, 
Libertarian, Objectivist, Chess, RKBA & Shooting.