Posted on 01/18/2011 1:47:43 PM PST by neverdem
Chuck Schumer proposes that when prospective military recruits admit drug use in interviews — as Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner did — they should be reported to the FBI and entered into the database of people who are forbidden to buy guns.
As Schumer points out, it is already illegal to sell a gun to a drug user or addict; this policy, therefore, would make existing law more effective. However, there are several reasons to be concerned.
The first is that Americans have a Second Amendment right to own handguns, and this right cannot be denied without due process. Schumer’s policy, as outlined in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, contains little in the way of process: The military would report to the FBI, and the individual’s gun rights would be gone.
The second is that Schumer has offered no guidelines as to how long these individuals would stay in the database. Federal law doesn’t forbid selling guns to former drug users or addicts (so long as they are non-felons), or even to those convicted of misdemeanor drug offenses, and there’s no reason to deny rights to people for life on the grounds of their smoking pot at 17. There should be a way for these individuals to get their Second Amendment rights back — for example, by passing drug tests.
Third, there is no reason to believe that this would prevent violence. Loughner went on his rampage because he was mentally ill, not because he was a drug user; many drugs, pot in particular, do not cause violent behavior in themselves; and the most worrisome participants in the drug trade — dealers, addicts of hard drugs — often have convictions that make them ineligible to own guns anyway. What’s more, this new policy would apply only to drug users who admitted their illegal behavior to government officials, a phenomenon that seems to be rare. One Army official called Loughner’s admission “bizarre,” adding, “I certainly wouldn’t go through the whole process only to say, ‘Hey, I’ve been smoking marijuana for the past couple of years.’”
Fourth, removing the privacy protections from the military’s recruiting interviews will give candidates a reason to be less frank, denying the armed services crucial information.
Drugs are illegal, for good or (mostly) ill, and therefore drug users are by definition criminals. This makes them legitimate targets for gun control. But let’s not be under any illusion that policies such as Schumer’s will accomplish anything more than satisfying the urge to Do Something.
I propose we ban Chuck Schumer. He should be illegal and locked up.
We have a President of the United States that admits to using drugs.
Would Chuck the Schmuck deny the President the right toown a handgun? Would he deny Patrick Kennedy the right to own a handgun?
Chuck the Schmuck is so full of crap it should be running out of his ears.
Gee Schmuck: How would you find out the names of people who used drugs and did not go to a military recruiter.
He must have picked this booger out of his nose.
Chucky — how about requiring college applicants to answer the question on their applications and then repeat it on annual statements as a requirement for receiving any financial aid?
I see the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is beyond chuckies grasp.
Why isn't our side calling for a new to outlaw all Schizophrenia!
Make it a 1st degree felony with mandatory 5 year mental health incarceration.
Show them Democrats that Republicans can propose "good" laws too!
The democrats would lose half their base.
As the pen is mightier than the sword, how about we make it illegal for current and former drug users to hold elected office. (Yes, coke is and was illegal)
Random drug testing for anyone holding any elected office, just to keep folks honest.
Schumer is nothing but a self gratuitous a$$hole who should be banned from everything.
That's why he's diverting our attention to bullets and stuff.
Once a putzhead, always a putzhead.
I think Chuck Schummer is on drugs.
... and therefore drug users are by definition criminals.
Wrong again. Drug users are, by definition, statutory violators. A person speeding down a road is also a statutory violator, but they can hardly be called a criminal in the manner you're implying.
When they admit drug use does that include the drug alcohol?
I’m going to start an “Oh, come now!” award. Oh, come now, Sen. Schumer.
Where’s Chuckie’s eye protection?
I highly recommend “Waco; Rules of Engagement” to anyone who wants to see Chuckie and the rest of Washington's vermin in action.
Eye protection is only for the peasants.
How this turd keeps getting elected is beyond me.
I don;t know of anyone who votes for him, yet he crushes all opposition in the polls.
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