ACORN on Gun Control-Emphasis on Control

And so it begins. Now that the Supreme Court has held that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms, the gun grabbers are going after ammunition. In this article, the Rev. Whitley, a "community organizer" for NC ACORN, is proposing a law, similar to the Jim Crow era law requiring a person to obtain a permit before purchasing a hand gun, to also obtain a permit before purchasing "bullets."



Go read the article, and especially the comments.

Now, where to start....

How about with the notion that although it is already illegal for criminals to posess guns, and it is already illegal for criminals to posess bullets, ( and surely it hasn't been missed that it is already illegal to shoot people) somehow THIS law will finally be the one that keeps criminals from shooting innocent people, and forces them instead to use baseball bats, knives, and other means of intimidation. Criminals, by definition, do not obey laws, therefore they will just obtain their ammunition from black market sources. The only people who will be detered are the law abiding, who are no threat to anyone else. They will pay the increase in price, and put up with the added headache of getting that little piece of paper every time they want to purchase ammunition.

Then there is the notion, anathema to most people who think about it, of getting permission for exercising a right. I shouldn't need permission to buy a gun, much less to buy ammunition.

Then there's the idea that a persons rights ought not be restricted because some might abuse them, or that the rights of the law abiding should be cirumscribed by what the lawless will allow. Often cited is the "shouting fire in a crowded theater" quote from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, making the point that there are limits to the right to free speech. However, there is no prior restraint on free speech. They don't tape everyone's mouth shut because they might yell "fire" in a crowded theater. Also, if there really was a fire in that theater, yelling "fire" would be considered the height of civic duty. It is the same for the 2nd Amendment. There should be no prior restraint on the exercise of the right. As the consequences of abusing the right are greater, so should the punishment be. But 20,000 laws in the country already severly abridge the right to keep and bear arms, with no noticable effect on crime.

Call it gun control, call it "bullet" control, call it whatever you want, but the issue is control. What these people want is to make the right to keep and bear arms so difficult and expensive, that only a few rich people will even try. Add NC ACORN to the list of people and organizations with blood on their hands

Hat tip to Sebastian and Robb

Update:

Newbie Shooter has a little more here.