4 ms·

As someone on the other side of this debate, yes, it is "that hard". The US has a long history of government using "background checks" and "tests" as a form of

As someone on the other side of this debate, yes, it is "that hard". The US has a long history of government using "background checks" and "tests" as a form of discrimination, for example how poll tests were used to discriminate against African Americans in the South. As recently as June 2022, New York State was unconstitutionally denying gun permits to average citizens while simultaneously granting them to rich celebrities and politicians, hence the recent ruling by the Supreme Court in NYSRPA v. Bruen. Unfortunately, it doesn't make a lot of sense to compromise with people who continue to act in bad faith (Claim they want to improve gun safety, but really just want to ban guns).

mindslight 4y ago
Never mind that the most prominent group of gun wielders, law enforcement officers, get themselves exempted from every gun control law. If we reform the police to where the average traffic or patrol cop is reliably not armed with a gun, only then would it make sense to talk about introducing restrictions on the wider civilian population. Such reform would be a mere condition of employment, and thus not involve constitutionality issues. For what it's worth, taking a gun safety course made me realize I am not the type of person that will ever strap one to my hip to go about my daily business. And I'm an avid DIYer for basically everything, but calling the police after a break-in made me understand that clearing a building is a job I will never want to do myself. It's a nuanced issue, but I know that governments must ultimately be subservient to the people, and therefore the onus is on domestic-facing institutions to disarm before asking the people as a whole to do the same.
- no-s 4y ago
  > I am not the type of person that will ever strap one to my hip to go about my daily business. I do strap on my pistol to go about my daily business, which could mean grocery shopping, going to the bookstore, walking the dogs. I know roughly what my capabilities are and set my ROE accordingly. I did take safety courses, concealed carry course, and practice occasionally. IMHO going about armed is functionally equivalent to wearing a seatbelt. Oh, and I did have to draw my pistol just a few days ago - while walking the dogs got into a tense situation with hazardous wildlife. Fortunately backing off and shouting/barking was all we needed to do...but it doesn’t always go that way.

mindslight 4y ago

Never mind that the most prominent group of gun wielders, law enforcement officers, get themselves exempted from every gun control law. If we reform the police to where the average traffic or patrol cop is reliably not armed with a gun, only then would it make sense to talk about introducing restrictions on the wider civilian population. Such reform would be a mere condition of employment, and thus not involve constitutionality issues. For what it's worth, taking a gun safety course made me realize I am not the type of person that will ever strap one to my hip to go about my daily business. And I'm an avid DIYer for basically everything, but calling the police after a break-in made me understand that clearing a building is a job I will never want to do myself. It's a nuanced issue, but I know that governments must ultimately be subservient to the people, and therefore the onus is on domestic-facing institutions to disarm before asking the people as a whole to do the same.

no-s 4y ago
> I am not the type of person that will ever strap one to my hip to go about my daily business. I do strap on my pistol to go about my daily business, which could mean grocery shopping, going to the bookstore, walking the dogs. I know roughly what my capabilities are and set my ROE accordingly. I did take safety courses, concealed carry course, and practice occasionally. IMHO going about armed is functionally equivalent to wearing a seatbelt. Oh, and I did have to draw my pistol just a few days ago - while walking the dogs got into a tense situation with hazardous wildlife. Fortunately backing off and shouting/barking was all we needed to do...but it doesn’t always go that way.