The anti-constitutionalists are not going to ban fire arms all at once. They are doing this little by little by making it more difficult to obtain a firearm,banning additional types of firearms through a series of different laws. That means on a national level enacting registrations,permits/licenses and taxes,bans on additional types of weapons and ammo besides machine guns, longer waiting periods, DC like fire arms storage laws, perhaps even requiring classes before they can apply for a license, and then ban what ever types of fire arms are left and start rounding up fire arms. They even have the media to continue to demonize the 2nd amendment with school shootings and other crime stories. I do not see this happening all at ounce during Obama's presidency or even the next presidency. They will probably do something like a ban is the guise of protecting fire arms owners like they did with machine guns with the "Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986".
jamesrage is correct. You do not take away a right all at once. First you make it illegal to own cannons, tanks - things no one has any real business owning. Also make sure that certain people can not own firearms. Then you ban certain larger calibre weapons like .50 and "sniper" rifles as well as full auto weapons. Then you go after firearms that are used in crimes and require registration of hand guns. Then you go after guns that people see on the news, that look mean ("assault" rifles). Then you start reducing the capabilities of firearms that are left: smaller capacity magazines, limited barrel adjustments, and of course still more bans and registration. Allowing cities to determine what guns are safe for their populations to make neighborhoods safer. Any bullets that are effective against armored authorities should be banned.
Which is where we will be by the end of Obama 1 I predict.
Then you require all firearms to be federally license for safety and to enforce the laws in place. Then just keep adding to the regulation. No one needs a pistol that can only more than 10 shots, 8, 6, 4 shots. No one needs a semi-automatic rifle. Shotguns with barrels less than 30" are not as good for hunting and are not really needed. Pistols over 9mm are only for killing people.
Take your pick. Any one right is not that important. But each new regulation takes away the right a little bit and sets up the next one. Before too long it isn't too hard to ban this gun,that type of gun, register this, that, sneak in a registration tax to cover the cost and soon it is impractical to own a weapon in most places. Keep that in place for 10-20 years and it becomes easier to eventually just do away with it.
That's my fear.
The powers and limitations in the Constitution are supposed to apply above any federal, state, or local authority.
The tenth amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
That gives States the right to pass laws and orders regarding everything NOT covered or limited by the Constitution. The second amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. Therefore, States do not have the right to selectively take away that right on a State by State basis. There would have to be a new amendment to the Constitution passed repealing or modifying the second amendment in order for individual States or municipalities to constitutionally be able to take away that right from its citizens.
You need 3/4ths of all States on board to successfully amend the Constitution. As long as there are 13 States who do not wish to have the second amendment repealed or altered, this will never happen, at least in a legal and constitutional manner.
States rights, assumed to be included in the 10th amendment, was settled beginning in the war of 1860 whereas the Edict of Emancipation was not introduced until 1862 as the war faltered. Cardozo reaffirmed in 1936 that by adsorption the states rights were limited. Also the phrase "or to the people" has never been determine.
The Federal Code limits any gun that can be easily converted to a full machine gun is restricted from ownership. One gunsmith converted a lever action saddle gun into a full machine gun.
Several articles have appeared in magazines concerning the presidents comments on gun control.
Slow on my math. If you had 4,000 city employees and 2,000 lived in the suburbs, and all worked eight hour shifts, how many would be on duty in the city at any given time..
They would work their shift when they are scheduled, and the place they go home while not at work has zero effect on anything.
Quote from: nathanm on May 02, 2009, 04:01:13 PM
Which seems unfounded at the moment. Despite the right wing talk radio hosts going on about Obama stealin' ur guns, I have yet to see any action or even any serious attempt towards action on that front, much to the chagrin of many left wingers.
If there were any reasonable way to prevent trafficking in guns between states, I would be all for modifying the second amendment to allow individual states to decide how to handle guns. If they want to ban them, fine. If they want to allow their cities to make the decision themselves, fine. If they want to have an unfettered free for all, great; that's what I'd choose. I'm for more self determination in most instances.
Lets look at some of the most liberal states gun laws regarding registrations,permits and waiting periods in alphabetical order.(
Some of these states also have back ground checks, weapon limits and many other unconstitutional things besides the waiting periods,permits and registrations)
California Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=CA
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
California - State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a "handgun safety certificate" (like a license) prior to purchasing a handgun. The handgun buyer must pass a written safety test and a hands-on safety demonstration and provide fingerprints and proof of residency. The certificate is also required for anyone who wishes to be "loaned" a handgun outside of the presence of the owner.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
California - State law only requires registration of assault weapons. No state requirement that other firearms be registered.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
California - State law requires a 10-day waiting period for all gun sales. This 10-day period is used by law enforcement to run a criminal background check to make sure the gun buyer is not prohibited from acquiring firearms. The 10-days also serves as a "cooling off" period to help prevent crimes of passion
Connecticut Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=CT
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
Connecticut - State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a license prior to purchasing a handgun. The handgun buyer must pass a safety course safety test and provide fingerprints. The license is also generally required for anyone who wishes to be "loaned" a handgun outside of the presence of the owner. Also see: Safety Training.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
Connecticut - State law only requires registration of assault weapons.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Partial
Connecticut - State law requires all handgun buyers to first obtain a pistol permit or eligibility certificate, which can take up to 90 days.
There is a 14-day waiting period and background check for buyers of rifles and shotguns, but only if purchased from a licensed gun dealer, and only unless the buyer does not have a pistol permit, eligibility certificate, or hunting license.
Florida Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=FL
WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires a 3-day waiting period for all handgun sales by licensed dealers. Counties may extend the waiting period to 5-days and apply it to long guns and sales by non-licensed dealers at gun shows and flea markets.
Hawaii Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=HI
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a license prior to purchasing a handgun. The handgun buyer must pass a written safety test and a hands-on demonstration including firing the handgun and provide fingerprints. The license is also generally required for anyone who wishes to be "loaned" a handgun outside of the presence of the owner. Also see: Safety Training.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
Hawaii - State law requires gun owners to register any firearm they obtain, but this only applied to guns obtained after the law was enacted.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
Hawaii - State law requires a 14 to 20-day waiting period to obtain a license to purchase any handgun.
Illinois Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=IL
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
Illinois: State law requires gun buyers to obtain a license (FOID card) prior to purchasing a firearm. The FOID card is also required of anyone owning a firearm.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
Illinois: While there is no state requirement that gun owners register specific firearms, it is generally illegal to possess a firearm without a license
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires a 72-hour waiting period for all handgun sales and a 24-hour waiting period on all long gun sales. The waiting period is used by law enforcement to run a criminal background check to make sure the handgun buyer is not prohibited from acquiring firearms. In addition, state law requires gun buyers to obtain a Firearm Owner's Identification Card (FOID), before purchasing a firearm. Law enforcement may take up to 30 days to complete a background check on FOID Card applicants.
Iowa Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=IA
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a permit from local law enforcement prior to purchasing a handgun.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires a 3-day waiting period for all handgun sales.
Maryland Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=MD
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a permit-to-purchase from law enforcement prior to purchasing a handgun or assault weapon.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
State law only requires registration of assault weapons.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
Maryland: State law requires a 7-day waiting period for all handgun or assault weapon sales.
Massachusetts Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=MA
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
State law requires anyone buying or owning a firearm to obtain a license from law enforcement. Handgun buyers must take a safety course and provide fingerprints. The license is also required for anyone who wishes to be "loaned" a handgun outside of the presence of the owner. The permit process allows law enforcement 40 days to do a more complete background check.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
Massachusetts: While there is no state requirement that gun owners register specific firearms, it is generally illegal to possess a firearm without a license.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires handgun purchasers to first obtain a permit from law enforcement, which can take up to 40-days.
Michigan Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=MI
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a permit from local law enforcement prior to purchasing a handgun. But selling a handgun to someone without a permit is only a simple misdemeanor, which undermines the law and makes it easy to ignore. To obtain the permit, handgun buyers must correctly answer 70% of the questions on a written safety test, but the wrong answers are pointed out and they are allowed to retake the test if they fail. Fingerprints are required to obtain a permit to purchase. CCW permit holders are exempt from having to obtain a handgun purchase permit.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
Michigan: State law requires anyone owning a handgun who lives in an area with a police department to present the handgun to local police and a record is sent to state police, but failure to comply is just a $50 fine.
Minnesota Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=MN
WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
Minnesota: State law requires a 7-day waiting period for all handgun or assault weapon sales by federally licensed dealers unless the buyer has a state permit (which takes 7 days)
Nebraska Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=NE
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a handgun certificate from law enforcement prior to purchasing a handgun. The permit only involves a background check - no safety training or fingerprints are required. Law enforcement may take up to 3 days for the background check on the permit applicant. The permit is valid for three years.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires a 2-day waiting period for all handgun sales.
New Jersey Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=NJ
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a license from law enforcement prior to purchasing a handgun and long gun buyers must have a firearms identification card. The license only involves background checks and fingerprinting, no safety training is required. The license is also generally required for anyone who wishes to be "loaned" a handgun outside of the presence of the owner. The license is valid for up to 90 days, and may be renewed for an additional 90 days. The fees are $49 for fingerprinting, $2 for a handgun permit and $5 for an identification card. The permit is normally processed in less than one month, or less than six months if additional research is needed. While only handguns require a handgun permit, a firearms identification card is required to receive a long gun and that card is valid until/unless revoked.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
State law only requires registration of assault weapons.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires handgun buyers to first obtain a permit to purchase from law enforcement. Law enforcement normally processes the application in less than 30-days.
New York Gun Laws http://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=NY
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
New York: State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a license from law enforcement prior to purchasing their first handgun - this is a license to "possess" not just to purchase. Applicants must be 21. The license only involves a background check and fingerprinting, no safety training is required. The license is also generally required to be "loaned" a handgun outside of the presence of the owner. License applications may take up to six months. The license is generally good until revoked, except in New York City, Nassau/Suffolk/Westchester counties which have fixed license period. License fees vary but are at least $74, the cost of fingerprint processing.
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REGISTRATIONAre all guns registered with law enforcement? Partial
State law requires anyone owning a handgun to obtain a license listing each handgun owned.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires up to 6-months to obtain a license to purchase any handgun.
North Carolina Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=NC
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
North Carolina: State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a permit from law enforcement prior to purchasing a handgun. The permit only involves a background check - no safety training or fingerprints are required. Law enforcement may take up to 30 days for the background check on the permit applicant. The permit is valid for five years. A separate handgun permit must be acquired for each handgun purchase, CCW permit holders are exempt from this requirement.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Partial
North Carolina: State law requires handgun buyers to first obtain a handgun permit. Law enforcement may take up to 30 days to process the permit and run a background check. The permit is valid for five years, but may only be used to purchase one handgun - to buy another handgun an individual must secure another permit. There is no state waiting period on rifle or shotgun sales.
Rhode Island Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=RI
LICENSE OR PERMIT TO PURCHASEIs a license/permit required to buy handguns? Yes
State law requires handgun buyers to obtain a license from law enforcement prior to purchasing a handgun. The handgun buyer must either take a safety course or pass a written safety test. No fingerprints are required.
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WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires a 7-day waiting period for all handgun sales.
South Dakota Gun Lawshttp://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=SD
WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires a 48-hour waiting period for all handgun sales by federally licensed dealers.
Washington Gun Laws http://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=WA
WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Partial
Washington: State law requires a 5-day waiting period for all handgun sales by federally licensed dealers unless local law enforcement completes a background check and approves a sale in less time. The 5-day period is used by law enforcement to run a criminal background check to make sure the handgun buyer is not prohibited from acquiring firearms. The 5-day period can be extended up to 60 days for new state residents.
Wisconsin Gun Laws http://www.stategunlaws.org/viewstate.php?st=WI
WAITING PERIODIs there a waiting period on gun sales? Yes
State law requires a 48-hour waiting period for all handgun sales by federally licensed dealers.
Excellent research, James.
I don't share the paranoia of those who think they're tryin' to git 'er guns. Restrictions on guaranteed rights have been with us from the start. Licensing, registration, taxes are all limitations on rights that, as Nathan correctly points out, have been self determined. Not all states embraced them but all states have the right to define those guaranteed rights within their borders.
Automobiles were not specifically noted in the constitution, so I guess all you strict constructionists are willing to admit they are all illegal. Or, they are legal but not subject to any limitation of rights like tags, drivers licensing, speed limits etc. After all these were all knowing, prescient saints who wrote the constitution. Men who could foresee such things as the internet, the highway systems and copyrights etc. I doubt that.
There was a time when you could be arrested for serving liquour by the drink in jets that flew over the state of Oklahoma. Not sure if it ever happened but it was threatened. Just how far will we go with this state's rights philosophy?
Millions of pages of briefs have been filed before the courts on what the constitution was intended to mean. The encyclopedia suggest we have one half the world attorneys deciphering it. It has become the most complex and confusing of any document ever written. Franklin refused to take part in it when he discovered it was to be written behind closed doors, so he said "I smell a rat" and went home.
The well documented states gun control posted is an illustration of the "Bill of Rights" that was written some two years after the constitution to appease the states.
We have made a mad rush to get the taxes paid by 4/15. If instructed will you make such a rush to throw your guns into the container?
I am affronted that Oklahoma requires us to get driver's licenses before operating a motor vehicle. It's all part of the vast, vegetarian, feminazi conspiracy to take away our god-given, constitutional right to own cars (enshrined in the 10 Commandments)! If this keeps up, there won't be a car left on the road by the end of Obama's term! Watch out for crazy liberals on bikes.... next thing you know it will be illegal to attend Christian church or eat apple pie!