My Thoughts on Gun Control

With all the hype and hysteria that accompanies gun control these days, we need to think about the situation before we jump to conclusions.

For what it's worth, I think North Carolina does it right and I wish more states would copy what they do. To purchase a handgun, you need a purchase permit issued by the county Sheriff following a check of police records. Gun show and internet sales still require the permit and delivery of the gun to the purchaser must be through a licensed gun dealer.

To get a concealed carry permit, you have to undergo 8 hours of classroom training (which includes about 2 hours of legal training) followed by range certification. Then you have to undergo an interview by the Sheriff's department, a full background check, fingerprinting and a mental health background check.

The Manchin-Toumey Amendment to the Senate Gun Control Bill sounds a lot like this doesn't it? But this amendment was in fact an attempt to water down the requirements of the bill in the Senate to make it more palatable to moderates. But, the Senate Gun Control Bill goes so much further, I believe it to be unconstitutional. It seeks to control the types of gun you can buy. (Automatic weapons are already banned unless you have a federal permit.) It seeks to control the quantity of cartridges your gun can hold. It seeks to ban certain types of rifles because they look like military rifles, not because of the way they operate. There's also this thing about a federal registry of gun owners.

Two other things to consider:

One size does not fit all. Why should the rancher in Texas or Arizona be limited to a long rifle with 6 cartridges? If he is confronted with a smuggler trying to cross his ranch who is armed with an illegal automatic weapon, he should at least be able to defend himself with a modern AR-15 with a 15 or 30 round magazine.

Also, if there are abundant concealed carriers in an area, it is a big deterrent. There are armed people with training who can legally act in self defense or to prevent the loss of life or injury to others. Why is it that the 3 cities with the tightest gun control, Chicago, Detroit and Washington DC, have the highest rates of gun crimes? It is because of an unarmed citizenry. Only the criminals have guns.

If there is going to be gun control, it needs to be at the state level. Let the state's citizens decide the level of gun control that is needed in their state and then enforce the existing laws.