Wednesday, December 19, 2012

ADOPTING GUN REGULATIONS MAY NOT BE AS EASY AS THOUGHT


Ezra Klein has written an excellent piece for the Washington Post on the stumbling blocks which will be encountered when the Obama administration and Congress gets around to trying to fix the serious problem of gun control facing America in the wake of the horrific massacre last week at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

The fact that there are almost as many guns, close to 300 million, in the hands of Americans, as there are citizens of the United States only exacerbates the problem.

Closing loopholes, background checks and limiting the sale of clips which hold 30 rounds of ammunition are just a few of the suggestions which have been offered.

Screening of people who have been diagnosed with a mental illness is another idea which is under discussion, but privacy rules come into play when any government body begins digging into the privacy records of any citizen of the United States. 

Violent video games, movies and television shows are also going to be looked at, but First Amendment rights could prove to be another problem for people calling for tougher gun laws. 

You can read the Ezra Klein Washington Post story here:  http://tiny.cc/0r2jpw

4 comments:

Ringo said...

Another difficulty in adopting gun regulations that actually works for ordinary folks is the very fact that almost all of the teachers in America have their pension funds invested in gun manufacturing companies like Smith & Wesson. Crude Oil companies are even laughing all the way to the bank when American teachers speak on crude oil companies exacerbating global warming when American teachers have also all of their pension funds invested in crude oil companies.

Bill Corcoran said...

Thanks Ringo. I didn't know that. Bill

Ringo said...

And to add the difficulty of adopting a "meaningful" progress on handgun regulations in America is the very fact that U.S. handgun / small-arms manufacturers are the main underwriters of the Wounded Warrior Project. The gun lobby is now more powerful than the tobacco lobby and I'm even scared to assume that tobacco companies' funding probably made possible the completion of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. President Obama might become one of the most heroic presidents if he can manage to achieve a significant progress in preexisting gun ownership laws.

Bill Corcoran said...

Ringo....Already I'm seeing signs in the media that gun regulation is not going anywhere. Example: Obama holds a press conference on appointing Biden head of the gun task force and all the press wanted to ask him about was the "fiscal cliff."