Posted on 11/13/2004 2:34:57 PM PST by neverdem
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Nothing kills Democratic candidates' prospects more than guns. If it weren't for guns, President-elect Kerry might now be conferring with incoming Senate Majority Leader Daschle.
Since the Brady Bill took effect in 1994, gun-control efforts have been a catastrophe for Democrats. They have accomplished almost nothing nationally, other than giving a big boost to the Republicans. Mr. Kerry tried to get around the problem by blasting away at small animals, but nervous Red Staters still suspected Democrats of plotting to seize guns.
Moreover, it's clear that in this political climate, further efforts at gun control are a nonstarter. You can talk until you're blue in the face about the 30,000 gun deaths each year, about children who are nine times as likely to die in a gun accident in America as elsewhere in the developed world, about the $17,000 average cost (half directly borne by taxpayers) of treating each gun injury. But nationally, gun control is dead.
So it's time for a fundamentally new approach, emblematic of how Democrats must think in new ways about old issues. The new approach is to accept that handguns are part of the American landscape, but to use a public health approach to try to make them much safer.
The model is automobiles, for a high rate of traffic deaths was once thought to be inevitable. But then we figured out ways to mitigate the harm with seat belts, air bags and collapsible steering columns, and since the 1950's the death rate per mile driven has dropped 80 percent.
Similar steps are feasible in the world of guns.
"You can tell whether a camera is loaded by looking at it, and you should be able to tell whether a gun is loaded by looking at it," said David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. Professor Hemenway has written "Private Guns, Public Health," a brilliant and clear-eyed primer for the country.
We take safety steps that reduce the risks of everything from chain saws (so they don't kick back and cut off an arm) to refrigerators (so kids can't lock themselves inside). But firearms have been exempt. Companies make cellphones that survive if dropped, but some handguns can fire if they hit the ground.
Professor Hemenway notes that in the 1990's, two children a year, on average, died after locking themselves in car trunks. This was considered unacceptable, so a government agency studied the problem, and General Motors and Ford engineered safety mechanisms to prevent such deaths.
In contrast, 15 children under the age of 5 die annually in fatal gun accidents in the U.S., along with 18 children 5 to 9 years old. We routinely make aspirin bottles childproof, but not guns, even though childproof pistols were sold back in the 19th century - they wouldn't fire unless the shooter put pressure on the handle as well as the trigger.
Aside from making childproof guns, here are other steps we could take:
Require magazine safeties so a gun cannot be fired when the clip is removed (people can forget that a bullet may still be in the chamber and pull the trigger). Many guns already have magazine safeties, but not all.
Finance research to develop "smart guns," which can be fired only by authorized users. If a cellphone can be locked with a PIN, why not a gun? This innovation would protect children - and thwart criminals.
Start public safety campaigns urging families to keep guns locked up in a gun safe or with a trigger lock (now, 12 to 14 percent of gun owners with young children keep loaded and unlocked weapons in their homes).
Encourage doctors to counsel depressed patients not to keep guns, and to advise new parents on storing firearms safely.
Make gun serial numbers harder for criminals to remove.
Create a national database for gun deaths. In a traffic fatality, 120 bits of data are collected, like the positions of the passengers and the local speed limit, so we now understand what works well (air bags, no "right on red") and what doesn't (driver safety courses). Statistics on gun violence are much flimsier, so we don't know what policies would work best, and much of the data hurled by rival camps at each other is inaccurate.
Would these steps fly politically? Maybe. One poll showed that 88 percent of the public favors requiring that guns be childproof. And such measures demonstrate the kind of fresh thinking that can keep alive not only thousands of Americans, but the Democratic Party as well.
Repeal the 1968 law? Now you are talking. We need to repeal a whole bunch of clearly unconstitutional laws. The legislature got us into this mess, and we cannot count on the judges to keep their oathes. Only one thing to do. Repeal gun laws. Period.
Yes Maam. My daughter knows how to do the gun part. Of course she is only nine. Will work on the car stuff in a few years.
Thanks for the heads up ~ I saved the link!
BTW the rumors of the death of DOS are overrated - that new fangled windose will never amount to anything! ;-)
Get the FR search open and enter banglist. Lower case works for me.
roflmao
I had to jump in here again after I read this more thoroughly. NAME ONE, wise ass. I'm about as familiar with guns as anyone on this board, and I can't think of a single gun with this "feature" made in the 19th century
Perhaps he's referring to the Smith & Wesson New Departure .38 and .32 safety hammerless (also called the lemonsqueezer) which had a grip safety (neat for a revolver). Anyhoo, they were introduced in 1887/1888 and manufactured through to WWII.
Cut & paste this into a shortcut:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/involved?group=152
Or just MASH HERE
BTW the rumors of the death of DOS are overrated - that new fangled windose will never amount to anything! ;-)
Oh don't I know it. It lives in my memories and nightmares... ;)
You betcha! [.WMV file movie]
And BTW I don't mash anything I just right-click and select "Open link in new tab" - Firefox! What I like most about Firefox over Netscape is that if I click on the big x - top right - it asks me if I'm sure - NS does not. ;-)
So now, you can still use that old link I sent (sorry, lazy. still works) ;) or yours with the keyword inserted. The same search is used from the main posts page is you search by keyword.
As far as knowing, well, there was a bit of confusion at first by some, between BANG and BANGLIST. BANGLIST is what the old link goes to, but you will sometimes see BANG in there with it. Had to standardize on something and BANGLIST is it.
Confused yet? LOL
I don't know if there is a 'Master List' of keywords or where to find it. Haven't the time or inclination to follow too much, and this one subject is the one I do.
"is you search by keyword" = "if you search by keyword"
Thanks for the teaser!
Off to wack me some elk meat in Arizona this week. Gonna freeze my testicles off since the nice weather here has turned me soft.
God I so wanna BAR....
Regards,
L
You have excellent taste.
Until one comes your way, if you don't yet have a copy of Jim Ballou's outstanding book on the BAR's development, history and operation, Rock In A Hard Place - The Browning Automatic Rifle, I reccomend it VERY highly. If you'd like an autographed copy, that can probably be arranged...and I understand Jim's working on an update of the book for a second printing run.
It's neither small, nor inexpensive. Neither is a BAR.
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