After 5+ years of working with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the sign above horrified me. I saw it while I was recently in Pittsburgh.It's an ad for a gun show and the tag line at the bottom says "Get Your Guns While You Still Can."
This annoys me for several reasons.
- Who is trying to take their guns away? Not the Brady Campaign. They just want you to buy them legally and pass a background check. And - we can barely get that law enforced. So current and future NRA members of America have no fear that one day guns will be outlawed.
- What makes these people think that there is an imminent threat to take away guns? The gun control lobby has been trying to close the gun show loophole for years and nothing has happened. Plus, even if the loophole is closed that does not mean you cannot buy a gun - it would just mean that you have to actually pass a background check to buy it. I'm sure this sounds like a terrible law - we would not want to be able to actually block criminals or terrorists from buying guns. That would be a tragedy.
- Does this country really need a "run" on guns because people want to stockpile them in case they are not available in the future? That would make me feel safe. A bunch of people with their own arsenals.
That's one of the very many things things that the very conservative feel will happen now that Obama (or a Democrat) is president.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, most terrorists or criminals have their own resources for guns. That said, if someone needs a gun right away, I worry. What has someone needing a gun so much that they can't wait.
As for stockpiling, how many guns do you need? They're not like shoes.