Posted on 07/30/2005 7:27:23 AM PDT by Graybeard58
Gun-control agitators were overjoyed when the City Council in Columbus, Ohio, unanimously passed an ordinance this month banning ownership of semi-automatic firearms.
Councilmen said the ordinance will reduce gun violence, but the ban is much more likely to enable violent crime.
Semi-automatic firearms are hardly the public-safety threat they're made out to be. They are used in a tiny fraction of crimes and always by criminals who don't obey gun laws.
As always, taking weapons out of the hands of law-abiding citizens will make them more vulnerable to gun-toting criminals.
Moreover, the assault-weapons ban passed by Congress in 1994 never made America safer. Its chief achievements were to erode personal liberties and give the uninformed a false sense of security.
When the Bush administration finally allowed the ban to expire last fall, gun-controllers predicted police shootings would surge and cities would be overrun by gunslinging gang members, drug dealers and other criminals.
But the most obvious consequence of that decision was to show just how useless gun-control laws are.
Executive Director Joe Waldron of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms called the Columbus ban a victory of "symbolism (over) substance; a flimsy sham that will only victimize competitive shooters, collectors and other law-abiding firearm owners. In terms of genuine public safety, this ban is a fraud, and its supporters know it."
Undaunted, Columbus has adopted the same failed strategy, and its first victim was its economy. Two months after picking Columbus to host its 2007 annual meeting and convention, the National Rifle Association decided to move the event to a city that respects gun rights and the Constitution.
An average NRA convention attracts tens of thousands of people. The Columbus Chamber of Commerce expected the 2007 event would have poured $20 million into the local economy and garnered the city copious free publicity from national news coverage.
Instead, Columbus is stuck with a worthless gun ban and its businesses are out $20 million; yet another case of gun-controllers shooting themselves in the foot.
The Constitution means whatever five Sup Court justices say it means at any particular time. Jefferson warned against allowing the Sup Court such power, but it has come to pass, and the inferior branches are not going to do anything about it, so we might as well get used to it.
It seems that someday there must be a definitive case about the Second Amendment; i.e. does it protect an individual right, or a worthless collective one?
As the Court stands now, I would be wary of the result, as it would take getting both O'Connor and Kennedy to step back from the dark side. If Bush hasn't picked a Souter in Roberts, then it comes down to Kennedy.
But then again, I haven't heard of any such a case making its way through the lower courts, so who knows when it will happen.
It's just in Columbus, Ohio, not in all of Ohio.
Here in south Ohio we enjoy our 2nd amendment rights and have recently been enjoying concealed carry.
You've got to understand that Columbus is the capital of the state, is a major college town, and is a lib enclave in Ohio. It's sort of like Wash, D.C. There's a huge convergence of mindless socialism in places like Columbus.
LOL
I am a bit of a city guy myself, but since I moved to Springfield, I kind of like the peace and quiet too :)
I loved living in Columbus. it was by far the best area I have lived in (I lived in Pataskala, Reynoldsburg and Canal Winchester).
The problem is when I came back my job was at Wright Patterson and driving an hour and a half one way every day was killing me
I can't help the politicians that are elected here beyond my one vote and anything else I can do.
However, living here is more than just politics to me. It is also the atmosphere (generally good in Columbus and Cincy), the employment ops (I haven't had any troubles and I work in IT), the people (there are some very nice and courteous people here, but like anywhere else there are aholes too)....
in Ohio these days, it is all about where you live.
LOL
Lancaster is a nice area.
My wife's best friend went to high school down there.
I have. Like all places it has it's good points, and it's bad points.
Probably something most everyone in the city would agree with is that Michigan sucks :)
I CAN'T WAIT to be at the 'Shoe on the 10th.
Unless the ban only covered handguns, and I think if anything it only covered long arms, that would still leave bolt actions, slide (pump) actions, lever actions, and break actions. Even if it covered only handguns that would also leave break actions such as the Thompson-Contender series, which BTW, are usually chambered in *rifle* calibers. :)
They can't take away what they don't know about....building rifles, etc. is theraputic...
Actually revolvers are semi-automatics if they are double
action.....
one pull of the trigger for each round fired.
Think about it!
Think where this could lead...
hehe
I have seen that one on the back of cars and trucks but never on a website.
EXCELLENT!!
(( ping ))
Check this out.
It should be remembered that this ban was presented as being against "assault weapons." Anyone who thinks this was ever anything but a deliberate misrepresentation is impossibly naive. Antigunners are liars and cheats and absolutely shameless about it.
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