Washington AG Calls For Semi-Auto Ban
Until 2014, Washington State was a nice place for gun owners. Then, Bloomberg pushed through so-called “universal background checks” (which is really back-door registration). Now, that state’s attorney general, Bob Ferguson, wants a ban on certain semi-auto rifles and shotguns.
Look, for the last full year data is available (2014), the combined total for rifles and shotguns of all types, not just “assault weapons” like AR-15s and Street Sweepers, was 510. Those numbers have declined each year since 2010, and that’s just from taking the less than 20 seconds it did to look up the FBI’s uniform crime report on a search engine. It also reveals I’m more likely to be punched or kicked to death than to be shot to death with an AR-15 or shotgun. So, why the push for this semi-auto ban?
If there is a gun violence problem, it isn’t because people are able to buy AR-15s. It’s because too many criminals don’t get prosecuted and put away with federal and state gun laws that can work if they are tried.
Chicago Cracks 500 Homicides
Chicago has been rocked with a lot of violent crime. In fact, over the Labor Day weekend, the city cracked 500 homicides for 2016. According to the Daily Caller, that’s twice the total for all of 2015. Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, and had a handgun ban until 2010, when the Supreme Court tossed it out.
Why do they have such violence? Because they don’t deal with the criminals. One column in the Chicago Tribune noted that many of the folks who carry out shootings have long criminal records, including charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm. 18 USC 922(g)(1) prohibits a felon from possessing any sort of firearm. The penalty is ten years in federal prison. Yet even as violence climbs, it’s not being used by the Obama Administration.
Daylight D.C. Shooting
The Windy City is not the only place with out-of-control violent crime. Washington D.C. also has draconian gun laws that target law-abiding citizens. Like Chicago, the city’s handgun ban got tossed out, albeit in 2008. Yet those gun laws didn’t stop a weekend of violence that included a shooting in broad daylight.
DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who is on her way out, has expressed frustration at a failure to keep the criminals locked up. Perhaps she should think about how law-abiding gun owners feel.
A New Record Pace
All the worries over the Second Amendment has lead to a lot of people buying guns now, before they get banned. In August, the trend continued, with a new record being set for NICS checks. This marks the 16th consecutive month that a new record has been set in that department.
Already, nearly 18 million NICS checks have been run. That is good news, but the real question is whether or not these gun owners are working to defeat Hillary Clinton in November, and thus save Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court.
This Week’s Case Study in Unenforced Gun Laws
Manuel Sanchez-Rojas was recently sentenced to 37 months in prison for illegally entering the United States after being deported five times. That’s bad enough. But here’s what should make any law-abiding gun owner’s blood boil. Sanchez-Rojas has a rap sheet that includes assault with a deadly weapon (usually a felony), and possession of a firearm.
Under 18 USC 922(g)(5)(A), illegal immigrants are forbidden from possessing firearms. That is a ten-year prison term. Having been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, Sanchez Rojas is also covered under 18 USC 922(g)(1). That is another ten-year sentence.
Sanchez-Rojas could be in jail for 20 years. Yet the Obama Administration refuses to use those laws to put criminals away for a long time. However, they are perfectly willing to tell law-abiding gun owners that we much accept various gun-control schemes. And they wonder why law-abiding gun owners and Second Amendment supporters get angry when they get blamed for mass shootings or crime?
Another Exhibit in the Failure of Gun-Free Zones
In recent years, the New York City J’Ouvert festival, a Caribbean tradition marking the start of Carnival that starts at 4 a.m., has been marred by violence. Shooting deaths in 2014 and 2015 prompted the posting of signs declaring violence was not tolerated. How well did they work? About as well as gun-free zones work at preventing mass shootings – which is to say, not at all.
This year’s festival saw several violent incidents, including two fatal shootings. This was despite the cops sending a beefed-up police presence, 200 light towers, and dozens of cameras. If someone’s decided to commit murder, a posted sign is not going to stop them. What will stop a shooter with minimal casualties is the quick and decisive use of countervailing force.
Guns Vets Might Like
As a vet, did you ever want to be able to own a rifle like the one that you trusted with your life when on the front lines? Well, now, that is almost the face.
FN has introduced the “Military Collector” series of rifles. These are configured much like the M4 carbines, M16 rifles, and M249 Squad Automatic Weapons currently in service, but they are purely semi-automatic (note to gun-grabbers, this means they fire ONE shot per pull of the trigger).
FN reported the first production run of these guns sold out quickly. Here’s hoping that future runs will be many in number – and that gun-grabbers don’t get in a position to pass a ban on them.