Don't take your guns to town

Mayor Sheila Dixon appears in a TV ad that's running around the country. In it, she's identified as a Barack Obama supporter.

[Henry Bowman]

Say it again with me:

"There is no gun show loophole. All gun purchases at a gun show must follow the same laws as any other purchase."

In MD, this means a 7 day minimum waiting period for all handguns and regulated long guns.

One more time:

"There is no gun show loophole. All gun purchases at a gun show must follow the same laws as any other purchase."

[bernie]

typical selfish Ehrlich supporters. Wants to leech off people as a lawyers, but not pay taxes.

[GOPinionPlus blogspot com]

Poor overworked Mr. Clifford. Filling those two full-time jobs is taking a toll.

He is blaming legally compliant purchasers and sellers for the illegal acts of others.

This brings to mind two lines from a popular play: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." and "But, what would you do if you had a brain?"

In follow-up to Henry Bowman's comment, above, don't be afraid to check facts before stating other's opinions as fact. You, Ms. Vozzella, are expected to state your opinions about the facts that form the basis of your coulumn, not use the rantings of the uninformed, ststed as facts, to support your opinions. GIGO applies here, too.

[Dirty Harry]

Baltimore is already a shooting gallery - to little to late

[Barry]

Baltimore PD confiscated 4000 illegal guns last year, eh. Ho many arrests were involved in those confiscations? How many prosecutions? How many convictions? How many of the mutts that were arrested got the mandatory sentence for handgun violations? Write a story, tell all the facts.

[Bulky Nantuck]

Nice to see that nothing has changed in the People's Republic of Maryland....

[Ben Miner]

And how many of those "4,000 illegal guns" were purchased from private sellers? According to the DOJ it's less than 2%.(the "gun show" article on wikipedia has a link to the study).

[JMullen]

Barry wrote:

Baltimore PD confiscated 4000 illegal guns last year, eh. Ho many arrests were involved in those confiscations? How many prosecutions? How many convictions? How many of the mutts that were arrested got the mandatory sentence for handgun violations? Write a story, tell all the facts.

That would only confuse them...

[Reasonable Adult]

bernie wrote:

typical selfish Ehrlich supporters. Wants to leech off people as a lawyers, but not pay taxes.

Bernie,

Lawyers that work for corporations don't "leech off people", they work for people that pay them. You are obviously confusing them with career politicians who most definitely "leech off people".

Perhaps the quote should be taken in the context of a young person who intends to apply himself and be very successful in his career. Of course, the more successful he is, the more money he will make. And living in Maryland, bastion of democratic socialism that it is, he will pay a higher percentage of his income in taxes than would some menial plodder who earns less. It's not that he doesn't want to pay taxes, per se (who does?). It's just that he wants to pay the same proportion as you and I, rather than be punished for his success.

Remember Bernie, that the special session that O'Malley called to address the (alleged) "structural deficit" not only increased taxes, but also increased spending. The result was a net INCREASE in the deficit by passing legislation for spending that was MORE than the tax increases.

[Reasonable Adult]

Instead of trying to get new laws, why not enforce the ones that we have? How many of those "illegal gun" owners were prosecuted? How many convicted? Instead of focusing on the problem (the criminal), Dixon is trying to distract us with non-essentials (the guns).

[Surf52]

"That is, unless someone can actually win the presidency by standing up for their beliefs."

It has been my observation that one wins elections by by standing up for one's constituent's beliefs. Or at least pretending to until after the election.

[bernie]

Bob Ehrlich is a very unsuccessful lawyer. What is his so-caled law office but a shadow campaign headquarters.

[fsilber]

Maybe if the Supreme Court forced all state and local governments to respect the individual right to keep and bear arms we could trust the government to supervise all firearms sales. With so many in government denying that carrying a gun is an individual Constitutional right, it is a higher priority to deny the government information it could use to infringe this individual Constitutional right.

[Bill Gray]

Felons are not "allowed" to buy guns at gun shows or any where else. They might be "able" to do so just like you are "able" but not "allowed" to exceed the speed limit. If a felon buys a gun or ammunition or even handles a single bullet he has committed a crime. You want to stop gun crime? Insist that judges sentence gun criminals to the max. When the math shifts away from slaps on the wrist, the gun carrying criminals will adjust in their own self interest. You can't make it any more illegal but you can create more hoops for law-abiding folks to jump through if they want the ability, not just the right, to defend themselves. Legally armed civilians commit less crimes than the general population.(They all passed a criminal backround check.)

[owlafaye]

Gun laws defeat your freedoms.

Guns don't kill people.

States/counties with "concealed carry" laws in place have remarkably less crime than others/previous.

Criminals will ALWAYS have guns, law or no law.

Criminals pay NO ATTENTION to laws, they are criminals, of course.

Of course!

[Seething in San Jose]

"All three mayors urge the presidential candidates to support closing a loophole that allows felons to buy guns at gun shows." Such reporting is irresponsible at best, since felons are not even allowed to touch a firearm, let alone purchase, carry, keep, or shoot one. Laura Vozzella is either uninformed/uneducated on the subject (and therefore irresponsible in her reporting), or she is intentionally misrepresenting the facts (the more likely explanation). I am convinced that ethics in journalism is a thing of the past.

[Wendy Weinbaum]

There have been many articles on guns lately, but as a Jewess in the US, may I remind you that criminals are stopped by FIREARMS, not by talk? And that America wasn't won with a registered gun? That is why all REAL Americans put our 2nd Amendment FIRST! And the anti-gun fanatic, Michael Bloomberg, "Mayor" of NYC? He is an EMBARRASSMENT to American Jewry. Shalom.

[Mountain]

It is a FACT that all transactions transferring a gun from a licensed dealer must go through the NICS federal check before the gun can be turned over to the purchaser, even at a gun show. The"gun show loophole" refers to the fact that transfers between INDIVIDUALS, whether at a gun show, a yard sale, a bulletin board posting or a newspaper advertisement are not regulated. It is already ILLEGAL for a felon or other prohibited person to possess (not own, merely possess) a firearm. Another law will not deter a criminal; by definition, he/she is already a criminal.