Now, THIS Will Solve Everything
First, they told us that tougher gun laws were needed, and that the Gun Control Act of 1998 would help curtail the rate of violent crime in our cities.
It hasn't.
Then they told us that also establishing an "Approved Fireearms Roster" would cut down on the bloodshed.
It hasn't.
Then they told us that also limiting the number of rounds our guns can hold would help.
Any guesses as to how well that's worked?
Then, not only were we told that the recent gun buyback program would reduce violent crime, but we were then told, point blank, that it had been a "major success".
Guess what. It hasn't.
So, when they tell us now that "microstamping" will help fight crime, well, take a look at their track record and decide for yourself.
This isn't the first time this topic has reared it's ugly [read: foolishly misguided] head in the Bay State (see previous post here), and you can bet it won't be the last.
Menino, BPD Pushing New Ballistics Technology
Yeah? Then what?
I suppose we'll just trace that gun back to the 16-year-old shooter who registered it with his local police department upon purchasing it from a federally-licensed firearms dealer.
Yeah, and it could prove to be as useless as tits on a chair. But, hey, when in doubt, why not err on the side of negatively impacting the firearms industry and its law-abiding customer base?
First up, fuck you, you lying sack of shit.
There is no crisis "across this country". There is a crisis in our inner cities, where the drug trade, the hip-hop "culture", and the lack of quality parenting have been feeding the fires of youth violence for decades.
And, where has this crisis loomed largest?
Hint: the answer is not "Vermont", a state with virtually no gun control in place at the state level. This crisis, of which you speak, is playing out on the streets of Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, and every other major city affected by drug-fueled gang violence.
Secondly, Menino would have us believe that requiring guns to imprint the serial number on the shell casing will (a) affect the ability of some murderous, scumbag drug dealer to illegally purchase an older model gun on the street, and (b) magically instill a set of moral values into the conscience the aforementioned scumbag, causing him to renounce his violent, lawless ways.
Some days, it's hard to tell if Mumbles is blowing smoke or smoking blow.
Fast forward to the summer of 2012:
"Hi, is this Mr. Bill Johnson, of 149 Elmwood Drive in Albany?"
"Yes it is. Who's this?"
"This is Detective Schifferbreins with the Boston Police Department. We recovered some shell casings at the scene of our city's latest homicide, and we traced them back to the Smith & Wesson .45-caliber handgun you reported stolen five years ago."
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"I know. It's this great new microstamping technology that made it all possible."
"So...you were able to catch the bastard who broke into my house, raped my wife, and stole my guns while I was out of town?"
"Well, um...not exactly."
"Oh. Well, did you catch the shooter from the homicide you're investigating?"
"Um...not exactly."
"But, you have a good idea who it was, right?"
"Um..not exactly"
"Oh. Well, did you recover the gun?"
"Um...not exactly."
"Oh. Well, when you do, can I have it back?"
"What are you, retarded?"
Yeah, I feel safer already.
Takes one to know one, I suppose.
So, tell me. After an afternoon at the range, what am I supposed to do? Sort through the hundreds of shell casings on the floor to pick up the ones with my guns' serial numbers on them, and destroy them, so they don't make their way into the spent shell casing black market?
And what, pray tell, would happen when I finally wore of the face of the firing pin after putting a sufficient number of rounds through the gun?
Would I then be in possession of an "illegal" gun? Would the law require me to purchase and register a replacement firing pin (for a reasonable re-registration fee, no doubt) with the local P.D.?
Would I be required to return my old firing pin to a licensed firearms dealer for disposal, so as to prevent it from making its way to the illegible firing pin black market?
And a 12-year-old kid with a bottle of rubbing compound or a sheet of emory cloth is all that would be needed to render it completely meaningless and ineffective.
"Yes, but we'll pass a law to make it illegal to do that."
(groan)
The only argument I can see, in favor of this idiocy, would be that this could act as a deterrent to potential straw purchasers (e.g. women who legally purchase guns and then sell them to their scumbag, drug-dealing boyfriends).
Of course, the fact that they're already committing a federal crime - one that carries a potential 10-year prison sentence - doesn't seem to be deterring them all that much, as it is. That's the funny thing about criminally-minded folks...they COMMIT CRIMES.
Also, if someone is smart enough to be deterred by the microstamping of a gun's serial number onto the shell casing, they're probably also smart enough not to be dating crack-dealing, gun-running scumbags in the first place. That's the funny thing about us educated, law-abiding folks...we DON'T commit crimes.
So, now we've got Menino, and his comrades down at Gun Ban Incorporated, arguing that this technology will work, on account of the average criminal not being clever enough to deface a gun's firing pin, to collect other people's shell casings(or pick up their own after conducting their business), or simply use a revolver which doesn't eject the shell casings, in a calculated attempt to circumvent this proposed technology.
While, at the same time, arguing it will work, because these potential straw purchasers (read: average criminals) are smart enough to be deterred by this technology, and any increase in the chances of getting caught that it might bring about.
So, you see, it wil work, regardless of a criminal's level of intelligence. Pay no attention to those who would argue it won't work, regardless of a criminal's level of intelligence. They're most likely Republicans, who need to be ignored, at all cost...for the children.
Shocking that Menino would come down on the gun control side of this fence, no?
Basically, what we're looking at (again) is a group of sadly-misguided individuals passing laws to supposedly deter the criminally-inclined from acting in a criminal manner. This is little more than an all-too-typical excercise in feel-good, do-nothing, legislative masturbation, based entirely on the flawed belief that you can actually legislate morality to the masses.
It failed miserably with Prohibition.
It's failing miserably with our so-called war on drugs.
And, likewise, the failure of this foolishness is equally as predictable.
The only people who will be negatively impacted by this nonsense would be our country's gun manufacturers and their law-abiding customers. But hey, what's more important? Actually making the streets safe for our kids to play in, or scoring political points against those whose ideology differs from yours.
You really want to make the streets safer?
Find the drug-dealing/using scumbags who are turning America's inner cities into their personal shooting galleries. Arrest them. Throw the proverbial book at them. And find yourself some judges who don't consider thirty years hard labor to be "cruel and unusual punishment" for these pieces of subhuman filth.
What's my "common sense" solution?
1. Mandatory 10-year sentence for illegal possession of a handgun by a prohibited individual.
2. Mandatory 20-years in the can for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (other than the felony of felonious gun possession - see above).
3. Mandatory death penalty for any unjustifiable homicide, whether the killer used a gun, or a rock, or a bathtub, or a Prius, or...
And, no, I certainly wouldn't expect any of this to have any kind of "deterrent effect" on the country's criminal population. As I've said before, I'm going more for the "detergent effect" - cleaning this scum from our streets (if even for a 10-year stretch at a time).
In the words of Travis Bickle*:
And, oh yeah...mandatory croquet mallet to the groin for any judge, politician, or police officer who has a problem with any of that.
* If you read that and had to ask, "Who's Travis Bickle?", I don't want to know you.
It hasn't.
Then they told us that also establishing an "Approved Fireearms Roster" would cut down on the bloodshed.
It hasn't.
Then they told us that also limiting the number of rounds our guns can hold would help.
Any guesses as to how well that's worked?
Then, not only were we told that the recent gun buyback program would reduce violent crime, but we were then told, point blank, that it had been a "major success".
Guess what. It hasn't.
So, when they tell us now that "microstamping" will help fight crime, well, take a look at their track record and decide for yourself.
This isn't the first time this topic has reared it's ugly [read: foolishly misguided] head in the Bay State (see previous post here), and you can bet it won't be the last.
Menino, BPD Pushing New Ballistics Technology
The Boston Police Department and Mayor Menino are touting new ballistics technology called "micro stamping". Guns with this technology would leave an imprint of the serial number on the bullet casings.
Yeah? Then what?
I suppose we'll just trace that gun back to the 16-year-old shooter who registered it with his local police department upon purchasing it from a federally-licensed firearms dealer.
Law enforcement officials say this new technology could potentially help them solve gun-related crimes.
Yeah, and it could prove to be as useless as tits on a chair. But, hey, when in doubt, why not err on the side of negatively impacting the firearms industry and its law-abiding customer base?
"There is a crisis across this country - guns are too easy to get and people are using them with little regard to the consequences," Mayor Menino said in a statement.
First up, fuck you, you lying sack of shit.
There is no crisis "across this country". There is a crisis in our inner cities, where the drug trade, the hip-hop "culture", and the lack of quality parenting have been feeding the fires of youth violence for decades.
And, where has this crisis loomed largest?
Hint: the answer is not "Vermont", a state with virtually no gun control in place at the state level. This crisis, of which you speak, is playing out on the streets of Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, and every other major city affected by drug-fueled gang violence.
Secondly, Menino would have us believe that requiring guns to imprint the serial number on the shell casing will (a) affect the ability of some murderous, scumbag drug dealer to illegally purchase an older model gun on the street, and (b) magically instill a set of moral values into the conscience the aforementioned scumbag, causing him to renounce his violent, lawless ways.
Some days, it's hard to tell if Mumbles is blowing smoke or smoking blow.
"This new micro stamping technology could help police officers solve gun crimes and make our streets safer.
Fast forward to the summer of 2012:
"Hi, is this Mr. Bill Johnson, of 149 Elmwood Drive in Albany?"
"Yes it is. Who's this?"
"This is Detective Schifferbreins with the Boston Police Department. We recovered some shell casings at the scene of our city's latest homicide, and we traced them back to the Smith & Wesson .45-caliber handgun you reported stolen five years ago."
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"I know. It's this great new microstamping technology that made it all possible."
"So...you were able to catch the bastard who broke into my house, raped my wife, and stole my guns while I was out of town?"
"Well, um...not exactly."
"Oh. Well, did you catch the shooter from the homicide you're investigating?"
"Um...not exactly."
"But, you have a good idea who it was, right?"
"Um..not exactly"
"Oh. Well, did you recover the gun?"
"Um...not exactly."
"Oh. Well, when you do, can I have it back?"
"What are you, retarded?"
Yeah, I feel safer already.
It would be one more tool in our toolbox to help combat crime."
Takes one to know one, I suppose.
So, tell me. After an afternoon at the range, what am I supposed to do? Sort through the hundreds of shell casings on the floor to pick up the ones with my guns' serial numbers on them, and destroy them, so they don't make their way into the spent shell casing black market?
And what, pray tell, would happen when I finally wore of the face of the firing pin after putting a sufficient number of rounds through the gun?
Would I then be in possession of an "illegal" gun? Would the law require me to purchase and register a replacement firing pin (for a reasonable re-registration fee, no doubt) with the local P.D.?
Would I be required to return my old firing pin to a licensed firearms dealer for disposal, so as to prevent it from making its way to the illegible firing pin black market?
Equipping guns with this technology will not be easy. A federal law would be needed to require gunmakers to add the technology.
And a 12-year-old kid with a bottle of rubbing compound or a sheet of emory cloth is all that would be needed to render it completely meaningless and ineffective.
"Yes, but we'll pass a law to make it illegal to do that."
(groan)
The only argument I can see, in favor of this idiocy, would be that this could act as a deterrent to potential straw purchasers (e.g. women who legally purchase guns and then sell them to their scumbag, drug-dealing boyfriends).
Of course, the fact that they're already committing a federal crime - one that carries a potential 10-year prison sentence - doesn't seem to be deterring them all that much, as it is. That's the funny thing about criminally-minded folks...they COMMIT CRIMES.
Also, if someone is smart enough to be deterred by the microstamping of a gun's serial number onto the shell casing, they're probably also smart enough not to be dating crack-dealing, gun-running scumbags in the first place. That's the funny thing about us educated, law-abiding folks...we DON'T commit crimes.
So, now we've got Menino, and his comrades down at Gun Ban Incorporated, arguing that this technology will work, on account of the average criminal not being clever enough to deface a gun's firing pin, to collect other people's shell casings(or pick up their own after conducting their business), or simply use a revolver which doesn't eject the shell casings, in a calculated attempt to circumvent this proposed technology.
While, at the same time, arguing it will work, because these potential straw purchasers (read: average criminals) are smart enough to be deterred by this technology, and any increase in the chances of getting caught that it might bring about.
So, you see, it wil work, regardless of a criminal's level of intelligence. Pay no attention to those who would argue it won't work, regardless of a criminal's level of intelligence. They're most likely Republicans, who need to be ignored, at all cost...for the children.
Shocking that Menino would come down on the gun control side of this fence, no?
Basically, what we're looking at (again) is a group of sadly-misguided individuals passing laws to supposedly deter the criminally-inclined from acting in a criminal manner. This is little more than an all-too-typical excercise in feel-good, do-nothing, legislative masturbation, based entirely on the flawed belief that you can actually legislate morality to the masses.
It failed miserably with Prohibition.
It's failing miserably with our so-called war on drugs.
And, likewise, the failure of this foolishness is equally as predictable.
The only people who will be negatively impacted by this nonsense would be our country's gun manufacturers and their law-abiding customers. But hey, what's more important? Actually making the streets safe for our kids to play in, or scoring political points against those whose ideology differs from yours.
You really want to make the streets safer?
Find the drug-dealing/using scumbags who are turning America's inner cities into their personal shooting galleries. Arrest them. Throw the proverbial book at them. And find yourself some judges who don't consider thirty years hard labor to be "cruel and unusual punishment" for these pieces of subhuman filth.
What's my "common sense" solution?
1. Mandatory 10-year sentence for illegal possession of a handgun by a prohibited individual.
2. Mandatory 20-years in the can for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (other than the felony of felonious gun possession - see above).
3. Mandatory death penalty for any unjustifiable homicide, whether the killer used a gun, or a rock, or a bathtub, or a Prius, or...
And, no, I certainly wouldn't expect any of this to have any kind of "deterrent effect" on the country's criminal population. As I've said before, I'm going more for the "detergent effect" - cleaning this scum from our streets (if even for a 10-year stretch at a time).
In the words of Travis Bickle*:
"Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."
And, oh yeah...mandatory croquet mallet to the groin for any judge, politician, or police officer who has a problem with any of that.
* If you read that and had to ask, "Who's Travis Bickle?", I don't want to know you.
