Let the flame wars begin continue!
Okay, so the legislative items the NBC article highlights:
1. Requiring criminal background checks on all gun sales, including private sales: It seems to me this makes sense. It also means, if implemented fully, that a new group of "gun sale brokers" will spring up who can do the background checks for anyone (who's not already a licensed seller) looking to sell their gun.
2. Banning "military-style" assault weapons: It's unclear in the story what the definition will actually mean — in some ways, this is more a feel-good proposal for gun control advocates to scream for and gun control opponents to scream against.
3. Limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds: It seems a good idea. Some say that a trained person can reload a magazine very quickly, but I refuse to believe, esp. under pressure, that a person with three 10-round magazines is as deadly as a person with a single 30-round magazine when it comes to shooting as many people as quickly as they can.
4. Strengthening penalties for gun trafficking: Seems like a no-brainer to me.
It seems to me that more universal gun registration (rather than gun shooter licensing) would make #1 and #4 lot easier.
'The president also laid out a series of 23 executive actions – free from a Congressional blockade — intended to strengthen existing laws, augment mental health measures and promote federal research on gun crime through the Centers for Disease Control.'
Reasonable. The hobbling done on the CDC and others regarding gun crime research has been disgusting.
'The executive actions announced included stricter prosecution of would-be gun buyers who fail background checks as well as new requirements for federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.'
Let's hope there are some bits in there to make those traces easier.
Overall, hardly anything comprehensive or mind-blowingly new. It will be interesting (and probably depressing) to see how the debate goes from here.
Embedded Link
Obama unveils sweeping new gun control proposals
Updated 12:20 p.m. — President Barack Obama unveiled sweeping new policies Wednesday aimed at limiting gun violence, teeing up a political showdown that will pit the broad public popularity for many…
Google+: View post on Google+