Posted on 05/12/2023 4:20:44 PM PDT by rktman
This column will be timely whenever you read it. Some horrible mass shooting will be in the headlines; one always is. Followed inevitably by pathetic wails of pain. “Do something!”
But there is nothing we can do today to end or even reduce the carnage inflicted on America by gun violence. Neither the no-longer-shocking massacres in our schools, bars and businesses nor the torrent of 53 “regular” gun murders daily is going away any time soon.
Thoughts and prayers won’t stop it, “reasonable gun regulation” won’t, even if we could get such laws passed, which we can’t. We are trapped in a death spiral of spent ammunition and wasted lives. The problem only gets worse, year after year after decade.
But we are not helpless. There is a way forward, if we stop thinking about magic fixes and realize that tackling the problem of gun violence is not the work of today or tomorrow. It is the work of generations. It is, at minimum, a 50 year job, but that clock won’t start until we get serious.
Getting serious means repealing, or drastically amending, the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court has decided that “a well-regulated militia” includes gang bangers and wild-eyed loners with a grudge. They say the Constitution makes it impossible to pass the gun laws that an overwhelming majority of the American people want. But the Constitution is not a suicide note. The Second Amendment can be amended, even repealed.
Most Americans aren’t for repeal yet, and the gun lovers will be outraged by the mere suggestion that their gun rights aren’t sacrosanct. So be it. As I said, this is a work for generations, and big ideas always take that long to percolate from the fringes to reality.
(Excerpt) Read more at desertsun.com ...
Actually the gun range is up in the Olympic mountains in WA. We’ll come down after and head to the park.
“In the Dutch era from 1625 to 1664, the first professional police department was created in New Amsterdam. Police officers used hand rattles as they patrolled the streets to discourage crime and apprehend criminals. Under British rule from 1664 to 1783, constables were charged with keeping the peace. They focused on such offenses as excessive drinking, gambling, prostitution, and church service disturbances. During the Revolutionary War, the British appointed a military governor and employed citizen patrols to protect New York City residents. After independence, New York adopted the London police model and established a paid professional police force in 1828. The first set of printed rules and regulations was issued to the police force in 1845, and full uniforms were adopted in 1853. The Metropolitan Police District was subsequently established by the Metropolitan Police Act. During the Civil War, violent crime increased in New York City, and a police insurance fund was established in 1864 to guarantee financial security to the families of police officers killed or disabled in the line of duty.”
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/history-new-york-city-police-department
Venezuela would work well too!
They’re not going anywhere.
Quotes:
Charles Dickens wrote of Five Points, “the patched and broken windows seem to scowl dimly, like eyes that have been hurt in drunken frays.” You know a neighborhood is rough when even the windows are frightening. And the rest of Manhattan stank, to put it bluntly: a report from 1832 stated that a traveler could smell the place from six miles away.
Working as a constable was more akin to jury duty than it was to modern civil service; citizens were expected to take their turns at it, and their annual salaries were the roundest of numbers: zero. Wealthy men could hire substitutes, as they later would to escape the Civil War draft. There were two constables elected for each ward, and a high constable, appointed by the mayor, with no greater power or authority than the others. They were charged with suppressing breaches of the peace and enforcing the Sabbath laws. There were minimal fees attached to serving writs or warrants, and for transporting prisoners, but constables were expected to maintain their previous trades to support themselves through their terms. There was greater financial potential in obtaining rewards for the return of lost or stolen property—the newspapers were full of advertisements offering such rewards—but the potential for corruption was obvious.
There were far more watchmen than constables—eighteen in one ward, when Hays was its captain—and they were salaried, though the pay was meager. As Director Singleton noted, “The difference in compensation and stark difference in staffing between constables and watchmen is probably indicative of the temporal distribution of crime. City government was clearly invested in maintaining order at night.”
After two sensational murders—of Helen Jewett, in 1838, and Mary Rogers in 1842—public sentiment shifted sufficiently for the legislature to disband the Night Watch and the constabulary, replacing them with a full-time, salaried police department.
Now read about Old Hays, the last high constable:
https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/f0517/old-hays-his-descendants-legacy-the-last-high-constable-new-york-city#/0
NO f@&king WAY!
Even IF they somehow manage to get the guns from the street gangs, I still won’t consider giving them the citizens’ guns.
It’s just not negotiable.
The problem isn’t guns-—
THE PROBLEM IS MENTALLY UNSTABLE PERSONS GETTING A “PASS” from Lefty voters.
NO GUN OPERATES ON IT’S OWN.....
IT REQUIRES A HUMAN HAND—even if the body is crazy.
Go ahead and try.
The relative formulas are 2/3rds, 2/3rds and 3/4s. I will of course, fight you every single last step of the way and do everything in my power to thwart you.
Let’s see if you can convince enough Americans as to the rightness of your cause.
True that. But let’s see them try to get their guns first.
We just need to sedate those violent guns.
This.
Even if the entire U.S. Constitution is repealed there will still the unalienable rights that men are endowed by the Creator.
The Declaration of Independence is just as valid today as it was in 1776.
Of course, patriots will be up against Joe Biden's F-16s.
I assume you mean the government get the gang-bangers’ guns?
Yes ... I would like to see our law enforcement apparatus pursue, capture, try, convict, and imprison actual criminals. Persecuting citizens who defend themselves or who peacefully protest government corruption does not promote a peaceful and orderly society.
It’s almost like our would-be masters WANT chaos and violence.
How about we get serious and stop dishing out SSRIs like flu shots.
No one addresses this:
Ok, get rid of 2nd Amendment.
NOW WHAT?
NOW begins the confiscation of weapons from owners.
And immediately following that comes civil war.
And who wins? Those with the weapons & ammo.
Let’s get serious about deporting Fascists who insist on attacking inalienable rights of Americans.
Perhaps someone should let him know that simply banning guns from Democrats would solve his problem.
I think there are many more actions which would reduce violence of all kinds. The first step might be to figure out what has changed in our society since the 1960s when firearm regulations were much looser, and yet there was much less of an issue with firearms ownership.
And then take action to change the attitudes in society which lead to violence.
Great idea. Liberals and assorted leftists and Democrats can lead by example. They can give away their firearms, and only hire unarmed security. They can vote to disarm their police forces and other government employees who currently are armed.
Trump could help them. He gave them bumpstock a s and mail in ballots. And so so much power over freedom. He’s their man.
There are people on here who would surrender their last round, last weapon and call it 4d chess. He locked us down while big pharma recd billions. People died alone because n homes and hospitals without the humanity of family and funerals. They want more of that. Disgraceful to vote for someone who stood up and led us into utter suffering. We never get the freedoms trump took back
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