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Drugs and Guns (Chuck Schumer's latest scheme)
NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE - The Corner ^ | January 18, 2011 | Robert VerBruggen

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.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: ban; banglist; chuckiecarriesgun; schmuckie; schumer; schumerhashandgun; scummer; shroomer
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To: Munz

Let’s see, admit using pot, loose you gun rights forever, then be issued a weapon to protect this worthless POS. I’ve seen it all.


21 posted on 01/18/2011 5:14:03 PM PST by gunner03
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To: neverdem
the boy in the WhiteHouse snorted coke... should he be allowed to have access to nuclear weapons???
22 posted on 01/18/2011 5:25:27 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Joe Brower

Typical limp-wristed liberal weenie. No idea how to hold the thing, and on top of that he isn't even wearing eye protection.

23 posted on 01/18/2011 7:21:35 PM PST by Thane_Banquo (Mitt Romney: He's from Harvard, and he's here to help.)
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To: cripplecreek
Mmm as a retried militray man (25 years) dose this mean I can have a CCW now that I proved to my country that I can be trusted to handle a weapon Mmm I just wounder? I carried one for all those years.... RS US Army RET, and a GOLD Star father...
24 posted on 01/18/2011 7:21:57 PM PST by Raynigelsr
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To: wardaddy; Joe Brower; Cannoneer No. 4; Criminal Number 18F; Dan from Michigan; Eaker; Jeff Head; ...
Ed Koch: Palin Holds High Ground Over Harsh and Unfair Critics

Death by Liberalism

Obamacare Under Attack - Is it time to eliminate government health insurance?

Tick, tick, tick: The cost of Obamacare is a time bomb

Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.

25 posted on 01/18/2011 8:26:34 PM PST by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: neverdem

Thanks for the ping!


26 posted on 01/18/2011 8:33:59 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: Thane_Banquo

Go ahead Chuckie... pull and hold the trigger.

Maybe it will knock some sense into that damn fool head of yours. Friggin moron.


27 posted on 01/18/2011 9:52:28 PM PST by LastDayz (ObamaNation - An Outrage a Week)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; bigheadfred; ColdOne; ...
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...
Thanks neverdem.


28 posted on 01/19/2011 3:41:32 AM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: neverdem; Joe Brower; hiredhand; NFHale; ExSoldier

Just a thought but why didn’t these idiots try or do this when they had the votes to ram it through without a chance of being defeated...... Sumthin jes aint right.

I’d like to say I smell a rat but suspect I’m knee deep in rino crap.....hard to tell the difference anymore.

Just a thought.....


29 posted on 01/19/2011 4:05:05 AM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: neverdem

That whole “due process” thing keeps getting in the way of folks like Chuck and his ilk...

Of course making a list doesn’t stop the illicite trade of guns to those who are hell bent on getting one and using it to commit crimes with them...

But the father of the 9 year-old girl murdered was very eloquent, far more credible and founded (than all the elected officials in this country combined) when he said that this is the country we are free to live in, and these are the risks we face in living in a free society...

I say, “for now”...


30 posted on 01/19/2011 6:13:14 AM PST by stevie_d_64 (I'm jus' sayin')
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To: Squantos

“...Sumthin jes aint right...”

Sometimes, ya just got to go with your instincts, brother...

Then again, they didn’t have their “bloody shirt” to wave at that point, either...


31 posted on 01/19/2011 8:31:14 AM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: gunner03

He is just a lunatic that looks good to the idiots that see him once in a while doing what they think is going to help them. If they looked at his track record they woudl realize he has been nothing but a POS that has destroyed us day by day, year by year.

Short memories are not good in voting booths.


32 posted on 01/19/2011 11:26:27 AM PST by Munz (All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.)
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To: NFHale

......that’s my point.......they didn’t a bloody shirt then.

hmmmmm


33 posted on 01/19/2011 1:07:56 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: Squantos

need.


34 posted on 01/19/2011 1:08:25 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: Squantos

F’em.

They still gotta come and get them...won’t be pretty nor easy.


35 posted on 01/19/2011 8:02:28 PM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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