[stephen]

Devilsadvo, you seem to think that we who defend the Second Amendment are in favor of crime, when the exact opposite is true. Stop and think for a moment... we know have 40,000 state, local and federal gun laws on the books...

After the recent shooting at the Jewish Community Center of Los Angeles by Buford Furrow, the Clinton administration is again calling for gun control legislation including registration and licensing, firearms rationing, and permanent waiting periods to "curb the violence." Trouble is, gun licensing is already the law in LA. So is gun registration, firearms rationing and permanent waiting periods. But LA is where Furrow's crime took place. Oops. And LA has a violent crime rate that's 46% above the national average (FBI).

It was already illegal for Furrow to possess a firearm. You see, Furrow is a violent criminal who had been let out on parole by a lenient judicial system. Furrow should never have been anywhere near the Jewish Community Center; he should have been in a jail cell. So while the strictest gun control laws in the nation failed miserably to prevent the crime, enforcement of the law certainly would have.

Re: the shooting in Bloomington, IN, last month... BATF officials raided the apartment of the man who sold the murderer (Benjamin Smith) the handgun, confiscated his belongings and placed him under arrest. David Volk of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobbacco and Firearms (the same bunch that shot Vicky Weaver's face off, shot 14 year old Sammy Weaver in the back and burned 80 people alive in Waco, Texas) laments that they didn't make the raid sooner and prevent the tragedy. One minor problem here... Smith had attempted to purchase a handgun from a store in Peoria Heights, IL, and was turned down because of a restraining order against him. His application to purchase constituted a FELONY OFFENSE. His application was of course, turned down... where was the BATF then? Why didn't they arrest him at the moment he attempted the purchase? After all, the application gave authorites his NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER... why on earth didn't they enforce the law and arrest the scumbag? Why aren't the anti-Second Amendment people ranting and raving about this? Why their awkward silence? Why did the BATF act surprised that he was able to obtain a handgun illegally? Anyone who believes that you can't obtain a dozen guns illegally anytime you want them is an idiotic fool. The responsibility for these killings rests squarely on the shoulders of the man who committed them and the government agencies who deliberately chose not to stop him even after his intentions were obvious and a crime had been committed.

You want another gun law? Sure, pass another one. That'll make 40,001, and maybe you'll feel really good inside. But when you decide you want to STOP VIOLENT CRIMINALS, you'd better think about enforcing the ones we have. If we'd concentrated on enforcement over criminals instead of confiscation and restrictions on law abiding gun owners, Ricky Birdsong, Won Joon Yoon, and the people at the Jewish Community Center of Los Angeles would still be alive this morning.

Another major problem: The ICS (national instant check system, supported by the misrepresented NRA) does NOT currently have access to the identities of individuals who have been deemed mentally unstable in court an therefore may not legally possess a weapon. This information needs to be made accessible to the ICS immediately. Another change for which the misrepresented NRA is actively lobbying... did you hear about that on the nightly news?

It is possible to make drastic reductions in violent crime and still protect Second Amendment rights, but more anemic, feel-good laws aren't the answer.