Entries Tagged '2nd Amendment' ↓

Here we go again, having to explain to hayseeds why it is important to lock the door of your car and your house.

I have often felt one key piece to better gun control without infringing on the 2nd Amendment rights of others is having stricter penalties on irresponsible gun owners.

If your gun is stolen because you don’t properly lock it up or secure it, aren’t you partially liable? I think so.

I think if your gun(s) goes missing (because you didn’t lock them up) and you report it missing there should be a $500 fine for each gun and gun license revoked for 5 years.

If your gun(s) is stolen and used in a crime, there should be a $5,000 fine for every gun stolen and used in that crime. License should be revoked for 10 years.

If your gun(s) are stolen and used in a crime in which someone is injured, you should get a $20,000 fine each gun stolen and up to a year in jail for each count. Gun license revoked for life.

If your gun(s) are stolen and used in a crime in which someone is killed, you should get a $100,000 fine, 5 years in prison and license revoked for life.

I have often said it isn’t the responsible gun owners that are the problem in this country, it’s the irresponsible ones and the criminals that take advantage of their stupidity and laziness. They should suffer the consequences or just choose to be responsible. The 2nd Amendment is a right, but that doesn’t mean you can abuse that right.

As we both know, the best advice we get from A+ Rating from the NRA senator John Thune is that people need to learn how to dodge bullets;

“I think people are going to have to take steps in their own lives to take precautions,” he opined. “To protect themselves. And in situations like that, you know, try to stay safe. As somebody said — get small.”

Thanks John for your leadership.

Some wonder why our DC representatives are so scared of gun control? Well the first reason is obvious, the gun lobby and the NRA owns them.

But as others have pointed out, years ago when someone poisoned a handful of people using non-childproof Tylenol bottles, we childproofed them and required seals.

When terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center, we created the TSA and have restricted every kind of cutting device you can imagine, shoes and even shampoo.

But for some reason, we don’t want to restrict guns.

It would actually be quite simple. I have suggested a few of the things we could do;

We could limit the number of guns people can legally have and rounds of ammo. I don’t think anyone should be allowed to own more than one rifle, one shotgun and one pistol.

I think everyone who owns a gun should go through an extensive mental health and criminal background check, along with a gun safety course (you have to know how to safely operate a gun, lock up a gun, etc.)

You must have a license that says you passed these tests and it should be renewed each year with a renewal fee.

People have a 2nd amendment right to own a gun, but that doesn’t mean we cannot limit that ownership legally. If we can prevent felons from voting, we can prevent them from having a gun.

But I think one of the most blistering criticisms comes from Rosanne Cash, who has been a gun control advocate for decades;

“For the past few decades, the National Rifle Association has increasingly nurtured an alliance with country music artists and their fans,” Cash wrote. “You can see it in ‘N.R.A. Country,’ which promotes the artists who support the philosophical, if not economic, thrall of the N.R.A., with the pernicious tag line ‘Celebrate the Lifestyle.’”

“That wholesome public relations veneer,” she continued, “masks something deeply sinister and profoundly destructive. There is no other way to say this: The N.R.A. funds domestic terrorism.”

Cash went on to claim that “a shadow government exists in the world of gun sales.”

I agree 100%, not just because it is true but has been blatantly obvious for years.

“The stakes are too high to not disavow collusion with the N.R.A,” she concluded. “Pull apart the threads of patriotism and lax gun laws that it has so subtly and maliciously intertwined. They are not the same.”

Some say gun control won’t work, they of course have stood by this mantra for years, because the NRA has been giving them their talking points and loads of cash.

I say, “What’s the harm in trying?” things certainly are NOT getting better with our current policies.

Big ‘B’ found this interesting article from 2013;

The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says “State” instead of “Country” (the Framers knew the difference – see the 10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia’s vote.  Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on that . . . and we all should be too.

Little did Madison realize that one day in the future weapons-manufacturing corporations, newly defined as “persons” by a Supreme Court some have called dysfunctional, would use his slave patrol militia amendment to protect their “right” to manufacture and sell assault weapons used to murder schoolchildren.

If congress was to actually uphold the true meaning of the 2nd Amendment, none of us would have guns, except cops and the military.

This was a real eye-opener for me. Especially when it comes to mental illness and suicides in our country. The leading causes of gun violence in our country? Alcohol abuse and Domestic violence, not mental illness.

Well, we all knew it was coming, eventually, some po-dunk school in South Dakota would take up the state legislature on the School Sentinel law;

The Tri-Valley School District is considering a policy that could change the look of school safety in South Dakota.

On Monday night, the school board passed the first reading of a school sentinel policy that would allow the district to arm certain employees.

I guess I never expected a school that large to take up the suggestion. Either way, whether you are for or against this (I’m against it) it seems the school board was being sneaky about the way they went about it.

Like I said, there is mountains of evidence why this is a very bad idea, but let’s not talk about that.

The school board decided to try to sneak this under the radar;

The second and final reading of this policy will be on April 11, which is open to the public. 

Yes, they mentioned it in some agendas, but notice they took the first reading without any input. It should have not gotten to first reading if the media would have known about their intentions ahead of time.

Cory also points out the continuing secrecy;

The icing on this bad policy is the secrecy clause. Parents will have no right to know which staff are carrying deadly weapons in school. Parents get no check on the board’s decision, no opportunity to say, “Good grief! They let that yahoo carry a gun? I don’t think so!” Parents get no opportunity to pull their children from an armed teacher’s classroom and demand that their children be placed in classrooms where no guns are present.

I’m willing to bet that most parents would be against an armed sentinel at Tri-Valley, but I guess we will wait and see.

”He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.” – Ben Franklin

Voting is the cornerstone of a free democracy, so where should this exercise take place? Well, probably in a public place, but Brandon & SF School District officials are saying “Not so Fast”;

Sioux Falls Schools officials have told county election managers that Hawthorne won’t be available for voting this election, citing security concerns.

Bob Bray, risk assessment manager for the Sioux Falls School District, said the building’s layout and scheduling make it hard to keep voters and students separate.

First off Mr. Bray, kids can be shot anywhere, parks, churches, walking down the street, and an election being held in your school is NOT going to increase that risk, and I almost question if you are using school shootings as an excuse.

Secondly, schools are publicly funded, and I almost question the legality of the districts denying access for an election, and would challenge Auditor Litz to dig up the laws on it.

Thirdly, the irony of all this couldn’t be more hypocritical. In a state where we scream and hollar about gun rights and being able to carry guns anywhere, we turn our backs on the very people who carry these guns and say, “Not in our facilities.” Well we can’t have it both ways. Until we change our culture about guns in South Dakota, there will still be shootings, whether they are accidental, intentional, or in a church or school setting, elections have little to do with when they occur.

Let’s end the paranoia, and stop the musical precincts;

Minnehaha County Commissioner Dick Kelly said he’s concerned the move will contribute to voter confusion during an important election.

“I think it is unfortunate you have to vote here one day, vote here another then vote here the next,” Kelly said

Litz agreed the search for polling places is a joint effort, requiring cooperation between the district and the county.

Never thought Bob and Dick would be the words of wisdom on this one, but they are right. Consistency helps with voter turnout.

While I agree with Allender on the ban of certain kinds of ammo and firearms, he seems to be struggling a little with the US Constitution (From his FB page);

Good thing Sam cleared it up for him;

The chief and I are in serious disagreement here. Defending the Constitution is everyone’s job, especially elected public officials. It may interest the chief to know that the first line of the Oath of Office for the mayor of Rapid City reads as follows:

“I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States…”

Hey! Sam, you might want to pass that little tidbit of civic advice onto our police department, city attorney’s office, mayor’s office and the city council, some of them don’t seem to get that whole ‘oath’ thingy.

I care about children, but only the unborn with genetic disorders that are either a male or female and come from the hand of God, not a monkey. After they are born, they are on their own.

Every year, Pierre changes it’s name to ‘Guns & Abortion, SD’ for about 40 days, and our legislature wastes time on guns and abortion legislation. Their reasons? They care about children. Really?

Well this year, as in the past, they had a chance to tell us just how much they do care about kids, you know, the ones that are born and living already. Some of them failed.

You would think after watching this year after year a group that large couldn’t be that ignorant. I must clarify, some Republicans get it, I am talking about the extreme right that think the earth is 6,000 years old and evolution isn’t based on science.

So let’s look at their failures;

• Supporting anti-science, secular education while censoring evolution science. The right wingers think they are doing the children of the state a favor by teaching them anti-science supported creationism, while instilling theological ideas into the public schools ignoring separation of church and state. This is a civics and science lesson gone awry. It goes against everything the 1^st Amendment is about, and is more harmful to children then helpful.

• Legislating and teaching Hate. This one speaks for itself, making it legal to discriminate against a person based on their sexual orientation. This one thankfully failed, but that it even came up as legislation is pretty scary.

• Full Medicare expansion. This isn’t rocket science. Not only would it help a lot of children and keeping their working parents healthy it would put $200 million into the state economy. Of course some of legislators, like Isaac Latterell believe that the Federal Government is broke and a day of reckoning is coming where we won’t be getting money from the Feds anymore. Yup, Isaac, Ronald Reagan was using that talking point before you were born. As one of the legislators said in the last coffee, “If you have concerns as a constituent of how the Federal government is spending Federal funds, you need to bring it up with your Washington delegation, not state representatives.”

• Removing the sales tax on food. Democratic representative Marc Feinstein has been trying to remove the tax for years, unsuccessfully. For obvious reasons, removing this tax would help children. I have suggested instead of raising the taxes on other things – three adjustments could be made. 1) Remove the tax from raw, preparable and fresh foods only 2) Tax all products at the same rate-4% 3) Tax advertising.

• Denying counties a share of state sales tax revenue while voting against more lenient enforcement of non-violent offenders, like marijuana users. Why is the county getting further and further behind? Crime and the clogged court system. This also has to do with the safety of our children. When we simply just fine non-violent offenders instead of incarcerating them, we free up law enforcement and the courts to handle the more violent and serious crimes. This makes our community safer, and ultimately children safer.

So while the Right Wingers are busy talking about abortion and guns to keep our children safe and healthy, the work that actually that should be done is going straight over their heads . . . as usual. Some things never change in Guns & Abortion, SD.

When I first heard about this gun rally coming this Saturday, I said to myself, “Here we go again.”

I guess I am wondering what they are trying to accomplish? If it is already LEGAL to open carry guns in South Dakota, what is the purpose of this demonstration? To show off?

I support 2nd Amendment rights, but I also support being logical, reasonable and diplomatic. Just because you CAN carry a weapon in public, does that mean you have to? Seriously?

Gun rights advocates planning a walk this weekend in Sioux Falls might have some unarmed company.
Sioux Falls resident and Mitchell pastor Kristi McLaughlin says she’s organizing an alternative demonstration.
Members of the South Dakota Open Carry Sioux Falls Chapter plan a Saturday evening walk in which participants will have guns holstered on hips or slung over shoulders. Organizers say the goal is to raise awareness of gun rights laws and help residents feel at ease when they see someone carrying a gun. It’s legal in most places in South Dakota as long as the gun isn’t concealed.
McLaughlin says she doesn’t want to attack the constitutional right to bear arms, but she questions whether society should be comfortable with people carrying guns in the streets.

Why not teach the public about how not to be paranoid that everyone is out to kill, maim or steal from you. If these demonstrators are so fearful of their fellow American citizens that they have to carry guns everywhere they go, may I suggest they just stay home, it would be much safer then standing on a busy street.

I usually don’t comment about this stuff, because the best solutions to our problems are obvious.

Cartoonist Ombre, Hector Curriel says it best;