Trying to find that Right To Hunt clause
In Chicago, people are protesting gun shops. As with most Illinois media stories regarding guns, this one starts with the sad tale of a man who got shot before actually getting to the rather stupid point:
Aref and dozens of others affiliated with United Power for Action and Justice stood outside Chuck’s Gun Shop in Riverdale on Friday to announce that next year state and federal elected officials will be targeted in a concerted effort to make sure laws change so gun dealers are held accountable for weapons later involved in crimes.
United Power representatives said they have registered more than 11,000 new voters in an effort to force lawmakers to address the issue.
Chuck’s Gun Shop topped a report earlier this year by the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation, which found 2,370 guns involved in crimes from 1996 to 2000 were traced back to Chuck’s.
But as Riverdale police officers manned the street opposite the gathering, protesters made it clear Chuck’s was only one example of a larger problem. Of the top 35 dealers that supplied crime-scene guns during the same time period, 13 are located in Illinois and Indiana, according to the report. Stores in Gary, Valparaiso, Lake Station and Griffith also made the list.
Tracing a gun’s origin to a shop typically doesn’t denote a problem with the shop, particularly when that shop is located in the murder and gun crime capital of the world. In the event (as is highly likely) that these crime guns were bought through straw purchases, it’s not the shop’s fault unless they were explicitly aware that straw purchases was taking place. More:
The group’s effort was spurred, in part, by recent setbacks, including last month’s Illinois Supreme Court dismissal of two lawsuits accusing gunmakers of knowingly allowing criminals to get guns. The group also blasted federal lawmakers for allowing the ban on assault rifles to expire and charged gun regulatory agencies with failing to curb the problem.
Now, the group is attempting to influence local and federal legislators. The article ends with:
Jim Horton, of Palos Heights, said he is an avid hunter and supports the right to bear arms. But at some point, the type of weapons sold and the intent for which they were manufactured has to be scrutinized, he said.
“Who goes hunting with handguns?” Horton said. “I’ve never gone hunting with a handgun in 35 years.”
Hunting with handguns is actually quite popular but it is irrelevant with respect to the right to keep and bear arms.
December 13th, 2004 at 10:25 am
Weekly Check on the Bias
Welcome to the December 13th edition of my (nearly) weekly check on the bias in media against guns and the Second Amendment. I’d like to start off by issueing a… Press Release: From: Alphecca International To: All members of the…
December 13th, 2004 at 1:07 pm
Hey Uncle,
My friend has a dog. Last week a hunter shot the dog. My friend followed the trail of blood back to the hunter. The hunter said he didn’t do it, but then ranted about how dogs shouldn’t be in the woods scaring the deer. Of course, the hunter was trespassing on private property, but the dog was there with permission.
Every year we hear stories about hunter stupidity. This is stupidity pours over into cruelty.
The dog now has only three legs, after the owner spent $500 to save the dog’s life.
I know, I know… The large majority of hunters wouldn’t do this unless they coundn’t find or hit any deer, or they had too much beer, or they were trying to be cool, or…
Stupid f***ing hunters!!!!!!!!!!!!! They’ll be hunted in Hell.
Hunting is ONLY a sport when they shoot each other. If only they weren’t such cowards.
December 13th, 2004 at 1:12 pm
You know, I’m not a hunter but the asininity of your comments makes me want to take it up out of spite.
December 13th, 2004 at 3:49 pm
I figured you wouldn’t care about my friend’s dog.
It’s interesting, though, to see just how easy it is to hurt gun-people’s feelings. Too bad they don’t care so much about those they shoot and the survivors who loved them.
December 13th, 2004 at 3:55 pm
Actually, I was concerned for the dog. Stuff like that shouldn’t happen, particularly when the hunter was trespassing. However, the utter ridiculousness of your rant about hunters being hunted in hell overshadowed any seriousness I would have otherwise placed into anything you said.
December 13th, 2004 at 5:17 pm
Hell is punishment under justice. Do you find something wrong with that? I stay sane when cruelty seems the rule because I know that justice always comes around. In other words, because I know that God takes care of it, I don’t have to freak out over our bloodthirsty society. I guess if I were as violent as most people around here, I wouldn’t want to think about either.
December 13th, 2004 at 5:36 pm
Department of dopey statements
By way of my buddy Jeff (who also has a great post on gay marriage today), I read some very interesting commentary. No need to rehash it here, go to the Weekly Bias Check and hit all the links. The…