New Gun Control Bill, Mental Health and Political Stupidity

Just a few notes from Down Under...

Fortunately I'm in an environment populated with complete strangers.
I'v never met any of these people before and none of them know about my position on guns and gun control.

I had at least 6 people ask my opinion of the Newtown tragedy and have I tried to be non-committal about it, preferring not to argue about guns, mental health issues or politics.

I do, however want to make a point...

Of course there will be a knee-jerk reaction to the tragedy.
(Of course, that's what we do! That's why we have the TSA... And look how that is working out.)
Feinstein will introduce her new "assault weapon" ban, which, in order to make politicians feel good about themselves, might actually pass regardless of overwhelming popular opinion.
(Remember Obamacare?)

It's the nose of the camel, yall....


First, no new machine guns... they were banned in '68.
Next new "assault weapon" transfers...
(Oh no...it's not about confiscation! You can keep your existing guns. Quote Feinstein: "It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession. Not retroactively but prospectively.")
This is complete and utter bullshit. Feinstein is not about gun control, she's about people control.

Then, when some individual with untreated/ignored mental health issues sources a pre-ban weapon and "clips" and shoots up ANOTHER gun-free zone, the hand wringing will begin again...
ZOMG! DO SOMETHING!
Ban ALL semi-automatic rifles. Actually, let's "regulate" all semiautomatic weapons into non-existence.
Next - all military designed weapons... (Remember those 5-shot bolt-action Mosins? Guess what they are?)
Now let's regulate any concealable weapon...

Mass murder by gunfire will continue... So the next hue and cry will be confiscation.
Take them all away.

And even if they actually TRY to do that (and good luck and getting that effort underway...)
Guess what...
Now you still have mentally ill individuals and criminals roaming the streets- most likely still armed, and law abiding folks will have no way to protect themselves.

McThag has some excellent points:
(Go RTWT)

So, Charles, Dianne, Mike...  Your ideas and policies murdered those children.  How do you feel about that?  Are you proud?  Will you brag about the laws in Connecticut that were identical to the '94-'04 AWB?  Will you point out, with pride, how a not-even-ephemeral line on the ground banned firearms from entering the school?

Will you mention that, "Connecticut statutes contain provision that allow law enforcement officials to pre-emptively seize a person's firearms without a warrant or court order, when they have probable cause that the person may either be mentally unstable or intends to use the weapons to commit a crime."?  Y'all are normally thrilled to violate people's 4th Amendment rights, where were you?

Making things illegal (or MORE illegal) doesn't really solve the problem...
If that was the case, then once we pass laws outlawing (some) narcotics for recreational use, we shouldn't have a drug problem. There sure as hell should be a "war on drugs" since we made them illegal and all...
We should be exceptionally safe on the highways, since DUI is illegal and excessively careless operation (speeding, aggressive driving) is against the law too.

Hell.. Why do we even have police?
Once you outlaw something- doesn't the problem go away?

SayUncle breaks it down:

A 20 year-old had a couple of handguns (illegal). And, depending on the press report, had an assault weapon (illegal), automatic rifle (illegal), or machine gun (illegal). Shot his mom in the face (illegal). Stole his mom’s vehicle (illegal). Transported the gun in the vehicle (illegal) within 1,000 feet of a school (illegal). Carried it onto school property (illegal). Broke and entered (illegal). Carried a gun in a school (illegal). Discharged a firearm (illegal). Shot at people (illegal). Killed some people (illegal). Killed himself (not sure if illegal).

Look- the problem is Progressives who have destroyed the family, education, cultural and social mores in their efforts to control the population, and to make us a compliant Socialist nation. Attacking the symptoms is easy. Attacking the root causes of these killings is very difficult. Effective solutions would require setting limits and boundaries in a child's life, supporting families, helping people become self sufficient, and a complete cessation of efforts to blame everything on inanimate objects!
What about the issue with the mentally ill?
That's something they ignore/avoid as all costs.
 From the Gateway Pundit:

Connecticut is one of only SIX states in the U.S. that doesn’t have a type of “assisted outpatient treatment” (AOT) law (sometimes referred to as “involuntary outpatient treatment”). There’s no one standard for these types of laws, but (roughly speaking) these are laws that allow for people with mental illness to be forcibly treated BEFORE they commit a serious crime. Whereas previous legal standards held that the mentally ill cannot be institutionalized or medicated until they harm someone or themselves, or until they express an immediate intent to do so, AOT laws (again, roughly speaking) allow for preventative institutionalization or forced medication (I highly recommend reading the data cited in the link I provided in this paragraph, especially regarding what is known as “first episode psychosis”).
AOT laws vary state-by-state, and often bear the name of a person murdered by an untreated mentally ill person (“Kendra’s Law” in New York, “Laura’s Law” in California, etc.).
Earlier this year, Connecticut considered passing an AOT law (and a weak one, at that), and it failed, due to protests from “civil liberties” groups.

Have you read what the perpetrator's Mom was going through with this kid?

Have you read this woman's story? Thinking the Unthinkable - A/K/A I am A__m L___a's Mother
Sure sounds like another Tuscon/Aurora/Newtown in the works...

Oh well...
Most of you won't read all the way through this, but I needed to write it anyway...
I needed to vent, and if I did it at the event site, I would probably be home by Christmas.
Hmmmm...

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE