State's Rights

The Virginia Tech Betrayal

No doubt about it. These leftists will not rest until they have control over every little bit of your life.

The measure, sought by Gov. Tim Kaine after the 2007 campus spree, would have reined in the unfettered sales of lethal weaponry — from backwoods to battlefield guns — at weekend “sportsmen’s shows.”

With no background checks required on customers, the dealers present convicted felons and sociopaths an enormous loophole for mayhem. A federal study traced half of the crime guns in Washington, D.C., to Virginia. They move along the “Iron Pipeline” of weaponry infecting states along Interstate 95.

Ahh, the good old "Iron Pipeline". You're right, if we could just stop those 2% of crime guns that come from gun shows, everything would be better.

From the CATO Institute:

If you walk along the aisles at any gun show, you will find that the overwhelming majority of guns offered for sale are from federally licensed dealers. Guns sold by private individuals (such as gun collectors getting rid of a gun or two over the the weekend) are the distinct minority.

Yet HCI claims that "25-50 percent of the vendors at most gun shows are unlicensed dealers." That statistic is true only if one counts vendors who aren't selling guns (e.g., vendors who are selling books, clothing or accessories) as "unlicensed dealers."

Denver congresswoman Diana DeGette says that 70 percent of guns used in crimes come from gun shows. The true figure is rather different, according to the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. According to an NIJ study released in December 1997 ("Homicide in Eight U.S. Cities," a report that covers much more than homicide), only 2 percent of criminal guns come from gun shows.

That finding is consistent with a mid-1980s study for the NIJ, which investigated the gun purchase and use habits of convicted felons in 12 state prisons. The study (later published as the book Armed and Considered Dangerous) found that gun shows were such a minor source of criminal gun acquisition that they were not even worth reporting as a separate figure.

All those guns are not causing problems in the states they originate in. They only seem to be causing problems in places with high ratings from the Brady Bunch, like Chicago and Washington D.C. Do you think for a moment that a criminal who is hell bent on using a firearm in a crime gets it legally? That they'd go down to the local gun show and get it? No. They'd much rather ask a buddy on a street corner and buy one illegally to avoid potential oversight.

What this demand from a panty wetting liberal really means is that he wants to be able to control what you do with your own property, in your own home, amongst your own friends and family.

There is no inter-state commerce involved in an in-state transfer between two private citizens. There is no Federal Jurisdiction to do this. Yet, in the name of the "children", we should enact draconian restrictions on private property rights.

Perhaps next we can regulate buckets, which kill far more children each year than guns. A bucket licensing and registration scheme, along with safety lock requirements would surely make more sense.