For Those Of You Who Say I’m Liberal
Lawmakers down state want to make gun owners register their weapons every 3-5 years in an effort to have greater control over weapons. This is a result, they say, of the Binghamton shootings.
On the surface I thought this might be a good idea, mostly because it’s a way to make money and help the deficit. I also get the intent of such a law… limit idiots from having guns.
After thinking about it though, I HATE this idea. Despite my huge concerns for people with guns, it is our right to carry them. See the 2nd amendment of our constitution. Don’t roll your eyes, it’s a big deal.
If they pass a law that says you have to register your gun every 5 years then what do you, the responsible gun owner, get in return? The state will say they’ll use the new income to help the budget and fund state projects, but how many times have they thrown taxes at us and then pissed it all away on non-sense? Too many.
I like compromise. If you want gun owners to re-register every 5 years, fine… but how about something in return? Allow gun owners less restriction on what they can own. If a guy wants a fully automatic AK47, then let him (or her) have it, and in return make them register it consistently. That way the people get their guns and the government gets their oversight and money. Look, I know for gun owners this is not a perfect situation, but compromise is key with a lot of political issues. Don’t ask for the farm, but ask for some of the cows.
The other thing that blows me away is the people who introduced this bill are State Senator Eric Schneiderman, 31st district of Manhattan, and Assemblywoman Amy Pauling, 88th District of Westchester County. Both are down state politicians who are completely out of touch with what happens upstate regarding this issue. It’s easy to make policy when you are in rich communities that have had these laws for quite some time. To insist upon upstate that this is the proper policy for them is insulting. New York City’s issues are completely different from Rochester’s. We have a high murder rate because of drugs and ILLEGAL gun purchasing, something the current system does nothing to solve. We have more rural areas and much less crowding. We also get over taxed, under paid, and pay fee after fee after fee. Enough is enough.
This sort of policy making is short sighted and is another example of the state taking more of your rights and money away.
I know the intent is to stop a crazy perosn, like the one in Binghamton, from shooting a place up. That’s a noble cause. The reality is you can’t stop crazy people from being crazy. You can take everyone’s gun away and guns will still end up in a crazy person’s hand. Or they’ll come up with a different method all together. Don’t punish the many for the actions of a few. I’d also like to point out that this proposed law will solve nothing in terms of violence. Most gun violence is a result of illegally possessing a gun. Ugh, headache.