Faithlessness a Big Problem in Reducing Gun Crime

 

So, I went to the gun shop this morning to buy a protest gun. I told my wife over family dinner last night that I was going to the gun shop and buy the most obnoxious gun they had. (Upon returning this morning, she asked me where I went. I told her and she said, “oh wait, so you were serious?”) I did not, in fact, buy the Barrett. I ended up buying a Smith and Wesson .44 mag as my half-inch of “go [redacted] yourself.”

In any case, while talking to the older gentleman who worked the counter how his day was, he said it wasn’t great working there anymore. He gets too many visits from the ATF because of guns showing up at crime scenes. He believes that there should be a restriction on the number of guns purchased per month because not everybody is throwing these guys out of the store like he does. He is outraged that law enforcement “cannot do anything” because they aren’t “caught in the act.” His position is, if a guy is buying 14 guns in a year and all of them show up at crime scenes, this ought to be something law enforcement could do something about. He also gets that you can’t give the anti-2A people an inch. So faithless enforcement and faithless politics has made everybody unhappy and closed all doors to an agreeable compromise.

Following that up, I asked if the background check system had improved in the past few years. they that it was the best in the country. Inevitably, the guy who is so squeaky clean a command sergeant major on the warpath couldn’t find a speck on me, gets on background check hold, because obviously, the most law-abiding person possible is the guy that we aren’t sure about (but dirtbag mass shooters have no problems). Talking about the system, he said that VA Gov. Northam had reassigned most of the ladies who do the manual reviews so it could take an arbitrary amount of time. I think because it was literally the first thing and everybody else was at the capitol it didn’t take very long.

Seriously, it’s this kind of petty bullcrap that makes it really hard to take any of the protestations seriously. In principle, I agree with the background check system and concept and, in principle, I agree that it is a good thing. But if the left is just going to not staff it to inconvenience me, especially when the background check system only seems to catch the good guys, and lets the bad guys through, I am hard-pressed to support it in practice.

Faithlessness is why we can’t have nice things. If there was some basis upon which we could build trust and definitive no-go zones, the left would just back off. I am sure we could develop an acceptable framework to move forward. But since bad faith forces everything into the Supreme Court, which will only hear one dispute over wanton bad faith every decade or so, there isn’t a lot of satisfaction to be had.

Faithlessness in execution, both in the laziness of investigations for obvious lawbreaking and the infrastructure, makes it really hard to believe that new compromises will be honored in practice. Faithlessness in compromise makes it impossible to believe that as soon as a bone is thrown, there won’t be a new demand made.

So rally on, I suppose. It doesn’t do anything.

Published in Guns
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  1. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    I’d love to go out and buy a f* you gun. But the system here in California is a “f* you, buyer”, so I don’t want to turn an OK day into a bad day. Congrats to you doing the hard work.

    • #1
  2. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Guruforhire: But if the left is just going to not staff it to inconvenience me, and especially when the background check system only seems to catch the good guys, and lets the bad guys through, I am hard pressed to support it in practice.

    Yep.

    • #2
  3. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    Rodin (View Comment):

    I’d love to go out and buy a f* you gun. But the system here in California is a “f* you, buyer”, so I don’t want to turn an OK day into a bad day. Congrats to you doing the hard work.

    I am placing an order for another one tomorrow.  I am not sure if my wife was fully paying attention when I told her.

    • #3
  4. Caryn Thatcher
    Caryn
    @Caryn

    Desert Eagle by IWI.  Excellent statement.  .50 cal, if you can handle it.  It’s SO pretty!

    • #4
  5. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    Caryn (View Comment):

    Desert Eagle by IWI. Excellent statement. .50 cal, if you can handle it. It’s SO pretty!

    They didn’t have one.

    • #5
  6. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    For years people opposed to more gun laws have pointed out that many laws currently on the books are not enforced. Some prosecutors have even publicly announced policies of not enforcing certain existing gun laws. Why pass more laws that are probably also not going to be enforced until the laws already on the books are enforced more consistently.

    Requiring more background checks isn’t going to make any difference if you don’t prosecute “straw buyers.” Today straw buyers are rarely prosecuted, so many people who could not pass a background check get a gun anyway by using a straw buyer. 

    • #6
  7. MichaelKennedy Inactive
    MichaelKennedy
    @MichaelKennedy

    ” So faithless enforcement and faithless politics has made everybody unhappy and closed all doors to an agreeable compromise.”

    Yup.  We had a young guy cleaning our barbecue today.  It is a high end Weber and my wife mentioned it had cost almost as much as the AR 15 she gave me for Christmas that year.  Then he started talking about an AR 15 he built.  I told him about my son buying lowers to build AR 15s and we had a nice chat about guns.  It’s nice to be in Arizona.

    • #7
  8. OmegaPaladin Moderator
    OmegaPaladin
    @OmegaPaladin

    You are dead on here, @guruforhire

    This is also why we can’t have a any compromise on mental health.   No one trusts the other side enough not to declare political beliefs a mental disorder.  For lefties, it is more that they view people with mental issues through an intersectional lens.  There are tons of people on Tumblr with serious mental issues with large fanbases. 

    We were a high trust society, and we are moving to a low trust society.  It’s the difference between paying for electricity and everyone trying to steal it.

    • #8
  9. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    The solution to a problem is almost never more government control, and that is especially true regarding guns.  

    • #9
  10. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    When Washington State passed a law calling every semiautomatic rifle a “Semi-Automatic Assault Weapon”, including my daughter’s Mossberg Plinkster, I  went out and got all of my kids an AR.  Actually, we bought parts and assembled them.  My youngest daughter did not want an AR, and settled instead on a Ruger 10/22.  She has a fine eye for firearms, that one.  

    • #10
  11. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Guruforhire: He gets too many visits from the ATF because of guns showing up at crime scenes.

    After Fast and Furious you have to wonder if more guns showing up at crime scenes is part of the plan.

    • #11
  12. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Spin (View Comment):

    When Washington State passed a law calling every semiautomatic rifle a “Semi-Automatic Assault Weapon”, including my daughter’s Mossberg Plinkster, I went out and got all of my kids an AR. Actually, we bought parts and assembled them. My youngest daughter did not want an AR, and settled instead on a Ruger 10/22. She has a fine eye for firearms, that one.

    Wait are you serious about the labeling?  lol  

    • #12
  13. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Caryn (View Comment):

    Desert Eagle by IWI. Excellent statement. .50 cal, if you can handle it. It’s SO pretty!

    But largely useless in self-defense, except as a blunt object.  Fun as heck to shoot, though!  Too bad ammo is almost $2 a round.

    • #13
  14. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Guruforhire: Northam had reassigned most of the ladies who do the manual reviews so it could take an arbitrary amount of time.

    The SOBs in Illinois did the same thing.  In order purchase a weapon in Illinois you need a “FOI” card.  All the checking is done by the state police.  The pols only allowed them to have 1-2 officers assigned to the process so it could take many months to get the “FOI” card, despite the payment you made that supposedly funded the process.

    • #14
  15. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Guys, everyone needs to get themselves an 80% lower and make at least 1 firearm thats “invisible” to the system.

     

    It’s easy and fun to do.  

    • #15
  16. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Concretevol (View Comment):

    Spin (View Comment):

    When Washington State passed a law calling every semiautomatic rifle a “Semi-Automatic Assault Weapon”, including my daughter’s Mossberg Plinkster, I went out and got all of my kids an AR. Actually, we bought parts and assembled them. My youngest daughter did not want an AR, and settled instead on a Ruger 10/22. She has a fine eye for firearms, that one.

    Wait are you serious about the labeling? lol

    Yes.  If it is a rifle and it is semi-automatic it is now classed as an assault weapon in Washington State.  

    • #16
  17. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Guys, everyone needs to get themselves an 80% lower and make at least 1 firearm thats “invisible” to the system.

     

    It’s easy and fun to do.

    I haven’t done the 80% lower yet, but I likely will at some point.  

    • #17
  18. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    Spin (View Comment):

    Concretevol (View Comment):

    Spin (View Comment):

    When Washington State passed a law calling every semiautomatic rifle a “Semi-Automatic Assault Weapon”, including my daughter’s Mossberg Plinkster, I went out and got all of my kids an AR. Actually, we bought parts and assembled them. My youngest daughter did not want an AR, and settled instead on a Ruger 10/22. She has a fine eye for firearms, that one.

    Wait are you serious about the labeling? lol

    Yes. If it is a rifle and it is semi-automatic it is now classed as an assault weapon in Washington State.

    This legislation was authored by deer, I bet.

    • #18
  19. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    Spin (View Comment):

    Concretevol (View Comment):

    Spin (View Comment):

    When Washington State passed a law calling every semiautomatic rifle a “Semi-Automatic Assault Weapon”, including my daughter’s Mossberg Plinkster, I went out and got all of my kids an AR. Actually, we bought parts and assembled them. My youngest daughter did not want an AR, and settled instead on a Ruger 10/22. She has a fine eye for firearms, that one.

    Wait are you serious about the labeling? lol

    Yes. If it is a rifle and it is semi-automatic it is now classed as an assault weapon in Washington State.

    This legislation was authored by deer, I bet.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/new-deadlier-ar-16-introduced-which-is-an-ar-15-wearing-a-maga-hat

    • #19
  20. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Spin (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Guys, everyone needs to get themselves an 80% lower and make at least 1 firearm thats “invisible” to the system.

     

    It’s easy and fun to do.

    I haven’t done the 80% lower yet, but I likely will at some point.

    Nor I, but I do have my dad’s old .22 that doesn’t have a serial number on it.

    • #20
  21. Autistic License Coolidge
    Autistic License
    @AutisticLicense

    My stapler advances a “round” into the “chamber” every time you work the “action.”  And it’s  the same model used by the military.   And it’s  gray.   Scary, huh? 

    • #21
  22. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Autistic License (View Comment):

    My stapler advances a “round” into the “chamber” every time you work the “action.” And it’s the same model used by the military. And it’s gray. Scary, huh?

    Mine is red.

    • #22
  23. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Autistic License (View Comment):

    My stapler advances a “round” into the “chamber” every time you work the “action.” And it’s the same model used by the military. And it’s gray. Scary, huh?

    And I bet it’s got a high capacity magazine, too?

    • #23
  24. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Spin (View Comment):

    Autistic License (View Comment):

    My stapler advances a “round” into the “chamber” every time you work the “action.” And it’s the same model used by the military. And it’s gray. Scary, huh?

    And I bet it’s got a high capacity magazine, too?

    Mine is automatic, just hold down the trigger.

    • #24
  25. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Spin (View Comment):

    Autistic License (View Comment):

    My stapler advances a “round” into the “chamber” every time you work the “action.” And it’s the same model used by the military. And it’s gray. Scary, huh?

    And I bet it’s got a high capacity magazine, too?

    Mine is automatic, just hold down the trigger.

    “Git some!”

    • #25
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