Posted on 03/21/2007 11:30:09 AM PDT by fishhound
MacArthur Williams was shot in Roxbury as he changed a tire on his Hyundai so he could go to work the next day. The man who shot him on that September night in 1989 was looking for revenge in a gang dispute, Williams said.
The gunshot paralyzed Williams, now a father of four living in Dorchester. Yesterday, he was among advocates and paralysis patients who urged state legislators to impose a $25 surcharge on all handgun purchases in Massachusetts to fund spinal cord injury research, so that one day he might walk again.
"It's a privilege to own a gun," Williams said in an interview yesterday. "The surcharge, if you know it's going toward research for a problem caused by gun violence, most people wouldn't have a problem."
A man paralyzed in a motorcycle accident while serving as a Boston police cadet in 1995 and other advocates also appeared in their wheelchairs before the Legislature's Joint Committee on Health Care Financing to emphasize how critical it is to raise more money for spinal cord research.
Dr. Eric Ruby, a Taunton pediatrician who is leading the effort, said that despite world-class medical talent, Massachusetts lags far behind some other states in funding for such research.
A committee member asked Williams whether legal gun owners, who would pay the fee, are the same people who are shooting others on Boston streets.
(Excerpt) Read more at goal.org ...
It really creates second class citizens with a complicated system of classifications. These are hard for the licensed to understand.
Now the legislature wants to come out and cut a hole through the glass to fish for some money.
Here, in this story, there is an instance, terrible though it is, that has nothing to do with guns...but a car accident. I feel for the man(prayers said) but I don't see the connection.
Maybe you guys from Texas will come and liberate us someday...LOL
I think he means it's a privilege to be shot by a gun. Funny how he had a spare tire for emergency situations, but not a firearm.
RKBA
Nope.
Not a single, solitary one of those rights are granted by the Bill of Rights.
Those rights are granted by God.
They are protected by the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment, for example, does not start off "The People shall have the right to worship as they see fit...", it starts off "Congress shall make no law..."
These poor people are so desperate they are grabbing at straws for spinal research. 25% of the injurys are from guns (10%) or construction accidents (15%). The rest are from cars or other type falls. I guess with his logic the other 75% don't count.
Screw this guy.
I'm not spending another $25 on my next handgun.
I'll send him some playing cards for his spokes.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
One leased high-end audio gear to bars and collected during business hours (at night), mostly in wads of cash. He never had any problems.
The other guy was a freelance photographer who was all around Boston at all hours of day and night with thousands $$$$ in gear. He had to "display" twice, and one other time missed the armed robbery of his FIL's Boston restaurant by about 15 minutes.
I had an encounter less than 5 minutes walk from Harvard Square that left me wanting for a carry permit, fortunately nothing serious happened.
I know this sounds unbelievable, but it's true: a PhD/professor friend who was also a licensed hypnotherapist actually hypnotized an armed street mugger. The perp walked off shaking his head, as if he'd been whacked with a 2x4.
Maybe Boston should teach it's citizens hypnosis? Mike Dukakis would approve.
Wrong. It's a constitutional right, dufus.
Fine. On a per-paralysis basis, I propose a $5,000,000 surcharge on all cars sold in Massachusetts.
And a surtax on cars too. Got to keep all the creeps happy. Serialy we need provide for a sunset or expiration for all these
nutjob laws. They might not get anywhere 2nd time around.
Thanks!
I have heard that, in Boston, every application for a carry permit is denied and that they are only given on the appeal.
I can't prove it but I would believe it.
It's NOT a TAX, it is just a surcharge. < / s>
Maybe Boston should teach it's citizens hypnosis? Mike Dukakis would approve.
Pissah,...just what we need ...lots more illegitimate kids.
1. The surcharge, in some form, will be enacted.
2. MA Law enforcement agencies will be exempted from paying it.
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