More Idiocy - Guns

I'm among the group of progressive thinkers (though to call me a "thinker" might be overly praising) who believes that Americans ought to be able to own guns of almost any variety. I say "almost" because I can't see a reason to own an Uzi or other machine gun. Other than that, though, I say enjoy it and please don't shoot me.

But we have to do something about the morons like the guy today who went and fired shots at a Georgia (the U.S. state, not the country that used to be part of the Soviet Union) elementary school. The fact that no one was hurt and the shooter was taken alive, was amazing and rare. The latter fact suggests that the police there deserve a lot of praise.

But come on. I don't know if this guy was certifiably insane prior to the shooting, but if he was and we don't have background checks on gun buyers, why not? Lots of people objected to the legislation last year that would require buyers to be background checked, even when the purchase takes place through a private sale or a gun show.

Why the objection? People already have to get background checked if they buy through a dealer and most sales take place at dealers.

Do those who object to background checks just feel more secure because they know they could obtain some serious firepower without the government knowing about it?

As we all now know, if they listen to your phone conversations and read your e-mail through the NSA, they'll know anyway.

But aside from that, the gun show and private sale exceptions mean that a nut can go buy a gun. A person who's got a serious felony record can buy a gun. Someone who's been convicted of domestic violence can purchase a gun.

I believe you should be able to buy a gun if you perceive you need one. I don't think you should be able to buy a gun and then qualify for food stamps or that you should be able to buy a gun and have the taxpayers support you with disability payments, but I think otherwise you should be able to get a gun.

Unless you're a convicted felon or a spouse-beater or certifiably nutso (on 2 of those 3 my ex-wife might be prohibited). Then you shouldn't be able to get a firearm. And if you agree with that (and why wouldn't you?), I don't know how you can be against the legislation that would've required those background checks. I guess the question can best be put as: What Is Your Problem?

Please tune in to our radio program, The Jeff Bushman Show at http://GoingBeyondRadio.com on Wednesday evenings, starting at 9:00 PM Eastern time, or the archived programs, anytime. Also, if you'd like to see our other writing (on the subject of Radio), let me invite you to: JeffOnRadio.blogspot.com.

Thanks.