A part of my personality that has served me well personally, but sometimes caused me absolute havoc professionally is my compulsion to ensure that "solutions" have some actual pre-existing problems to solve before they are implemented. I also believe that "less is more" insofar as rules, regulations, and laws go. This proposed law (HB600 in case anyone wants to look it up), flies in the face of that.
Just what problem, pray tell, is supposed to be solved by this proposed legislation? Wait, let's read http://www.legislature.state.al.us/SearchableInstruments/2007RS/Bills/HB600.htm...
Section 2. (a)(1) Any person who possesses an automatic or semi-automatic weapon shall register the weapon with the Department of Public Safety pursuant to the procedures established by the department. The registration shall contain a description of the weapon that identifies it uniquely, including all identification marks, the full name, address, date of birth, and thumbprint of the owner, and any other information that the department may deem appropriate. The department may charge a fee for registration of up to fifty dollars ($50)
Okay, so now law abiding citizens who want to own, or want to continue to own such firearms would be required to register them with the Dept. of Public Safety in order to still be law-abiding citizens. Criminals, of course, can just keep on being criminals. Naturally there is a fee involved. Excuse me, but I know a lot of people for whom a $50 fee is just not manageable. These are the very same people, by and large, who have the greatest need for instant, effective self-defense. I've been gun-shopping with people for whom $50 or less made the difference between buying a gun or not. So now they'll either settle for an even cheaper, less reliable, less powerful piece, or continue to do without. Is that, perhaps, one of the intentions of this legislation? Let the aristocracy be armed, by damn, but not the peasants. Didn't we, y'know, fight some bloody war some 231 years or so ago to escape that kind of mentality?
Let's look at that bill a bit more closely, shall we? First off, what are they considering a "semi-automatic or automatic" firearm?
Section 3. For purposes of this act the term "automatic or semi-automatic weapon" shall mean a weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, a succession of bullets so long as the trigger is depressed or until the ammunition supply is exhausted or a weapon that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, without the need to manually operate a bolt, lever, or other firing or loading mechanism. The term does not include any firearm modified to render the weapon permanently inoperable.
Well reach into your box of politically correct Crayolas, grab the one labeled "Right Winger" and color me with it. I think ol' Mr. Todd (one of the drafters of this bill) needs to take a look at the laws on the books. First off, automatic firearms are registered and tightly regulated, thank you very much. The process for getting one is rather, shall we say, involved. Fingerprinting, submission (I so hate that word) of said fingerprints and paperwork to the BATF&E for approval, pay a $20 0 non-refundable tax, submit (there's that word again, my fellow subjects) paperwork to the head of law enforcement for your area (and he/she can say "no" just because he/she feels like it), wait 6 weeks or so and then, if all goes well, you have your automatic weapon. Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention the weapon its self will cost you THOUSANDS of dollars, and unless you are a dealer or a government entity, it must be made prior to 1986? Yep, no one can just go buy a new automatic weapon. They are all old and getting older and more worn out all the time. A quick search showed me that "cheap" in the legal full-auto world is about three grand or more with much more being common. Yeah. Gee. I'd hate for someone to go through weeks of background checks, spend thousands of dollars, get local approval, pay a tax stamp and think it was okay to shoot up a school 'cause he didn't have to register the already registered gun with the Dept. of Pubic Safety. Sheesh.
The definition of semi-automatic in this bill could be construed to include revolvers. I suppose one might argue that turning the cylinder constitutes operating a "loading mechanism." But it is done by the pulling of the trigger which is why in the early days of double-action revolvers (when all you have to do is pull the trigger and not cock the hammer first), double-action revolvers were sometimes called "automatic revolvers." This is, of course, not to be confused with the couple of old attempts nor the one newer one to make a revolver that was literally a semi-automatic. I'm speaking of the designs like the Webley-Fosbery among others, but again I digress. In any case this section of the law tells me the Honorable Mr. Todd et al. did not do their homework. I think it should be a crime, punishable by forced deportation and eternal banishment for a politician to draft or support a bill when he obviously is wholly ignorant of the subject he wishes to legislate. Guns laws should not be written by people who do not understand guns, use-of-force, real self-defense, true-crime, and some history. I mean, I don't want people who specialize in gun laws making agricultural statutes, or for the Dept. of Agriculture to start telling the State Hwy Dept. how to pave a road. Sheesh. But now it appears our state is following the example of our national legislature and some folks with ZERO understanding are trying to pass feel-good laws. I shudder to think.
Okay, before I get off on yet another tangential rant, let's look at this bill again and see what teeth might have come in it:
(2) The department shall maintain the information received from each registrant in an automatic or semi-automatic weapon registry and information contained in the registry shall be released only to law enforcement officers.
(b)(1) Failure to register an automatic or semi-automatic weapon is a Class A misdemeanor.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1), failure to register an automatic or semi-automatic weapon is a Class C felony if the weapon has been used by the person in the commission of a crime.
Ah. Gee. Now I feel better. NOT! So, those of us who choose to exercise our rights to self defense (and the privilege of hunting, etc.) and thus own such weapons as fall under this broad statute would then have to register our guns or become instant criminals ourselves. Now why would any gov't entity want to know where the cool guns are? Tell me that? Why would they want to know who has them if not for the express purpose of being able to come get them? I'm sure it'll start innocently enough. Maybe they'll FINALLY get around to cross-indexing mental health histories (though boy will that ever be a can o'worms!). Then it'll be the state boys showing up in your doorstep:
"Excuse me, Mr/Mrs. Gunowner. Our records show that you have a .22 caliber rifle, and a .22 caliber rifle registered in your personal arsenal. We checked your insurance records and found you went to a psychiatric counselor last month for "stress counselling." We have deemed you a danger to the public. We are now entering your house to seize the guns listed as well as all others we find in the exhaustive search we will be able to perform."
Hmm ... silly me, I thought this was The South! Ah, well, I'm thinking maybe this bill will die the death it so richly deserves. Two other bills are pending as well. One will make it a bit easier for us to buy firearms across state lines (in states surrounding our own) and likewise, allow those who live in those states to do so hear. In this day and age of interstate travel, those "no across state lines purchases" laws are antiquated. Let's make it work and generate some tax revenue. There's some good lads. Another bill being submitted (there's that bloody word again)for vote is one that would make specifically illegal acts by state and local governments gun-grabs during emergencies like what we saw in New Orleans post Katrina. For the three people on Earth who don't know about this, once the New Orleans area was hit by the storm, the authorities in N.O. set about seizing all firearms from residents. Mind you, the same authorities were having to import police and military from around the country including the private contractor agency, Blackwater just to begin to get some order restored. I shudder to think how many violent acts were perpetrated upon the citizens of that city who were reduced to unarmed sheep by their alleged protectors.
Anyway, if the legislation passes, such totalitarian acts will be specifically forbidden under the Alabama law. Cool, huh? This would also, I would think, bring some serious questions about that first bill ... if we're not going to confiscate, then why register? For that matter, since people bent on murder usually aren't concerned about lesser crimes, why bother with this whole registration business anyway?
For those who live in this great state (and it is, in fact, a great state), call and/or write your state congressmen. Tell them only two kinds of people seek anti-gun/gun-registration laws (Utopian-minded, tree-hugging morons and Totalitarian Imperialists), and we True Patriots tolerate neither. If I have, by my above comment offended anyone in those two categories, then go hug a tree or club someone into submission. That ought to make you feel better while the rest of us seek to foil your plans.
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