Big Money Law Firms Join Forces For Gun Control

[larryh1108]

So if I get caught speeding I become a felon & lose my 2A rights???

If you are illegally in possession of a firearm (by federal law) then yes. Very easy to understand.

Not big on state rights, I see.

I lived in IL and CT. Ever see the state laws in NY, CA, MA, NJ, IL, CT, etc? So, no, I don't believe in state rights when it comes to firearms. The states abuse them. I guess you believe in state suppression of firearms. That's ok, we can agree to disagree.

How about we treat non-violent felons for what they are - non-violent - and violent felons for what they are - violent - and craft our laws accordingly?

Agree 100%
.

How about you don't lose your 2A rights just because raising your voice during an argument with your wife happens to constitute assault in your locality?

Agree 100% as well. Are you saying you are not big on state or local rights and laws? Contradicts what you said earlier.

The truth is we have so many federal, state and local laws on firearms that it needs to be the same everywhere for gun rights and gun owners. Like it or not, that means federal jurisdiction of gun laws, not state or local. Too many cooks in the kitchen here. I'd like to be able to drive from NC to CT or IL and not have to worry about disarming when I enter these states. Some states have local laws that are even worse than the state laws. This is not right.

 

[ATLDave]

The truth is we have so many federal, state and local laws on firearms that it needs to be the same everywhere for gun rights and gun owners. Like it or not, that means federal jurisdiction of gun laws, not state or local. Too many cooks in the kitchen here. I'd like to be able to drive from NC to CT or IL and not have to worry about disarming when I enter these states. Some states have local laws that are even worse than the state laws. This is not right.

OK, but the political reality is that national laws tend to be more an average of the various positions that states might take. One would expect that perhaps some nationalization of substantially all gun regulation might liberalize things in NJ and MD, but would almost certainly make the rules more restrictive in AZ or even GA.

We live in a very diverse nation. What seems common sense to use is anathema to someone else, and vice versa. Allowing some level of state-level variation does permit some greater degree of matching laws with the people who like them. A push for national uniformity is not without risks.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Yokel, Very well stated message. Thanks for sharing your analysis.

 

[azrocks]

If you are illegally in possession of a firearm (by federal law) then yes. Very easy to understand.

Not very easy, because that's not what you said. What you said was:

"Make any law that was broken a felony if a gun was present by the offender whether used in the crime or not"

Sounds to me like what you're saying is that if I'm legally carrying a gun and I get caught speeding (or insert any other crime here), the fact I have a gun on me makes that crime a felony.

Is that what you meant? Because I think you're going to encounter just a hair of resistance to the idea of taking the right to bear arms (and vote, and....) for traffic violations.

 

[jmorris]

I think this is actually a good thing. I don't think we have had a better time in recent history for something like this.

The best time to find a weakness is when you have the best opportunity to fix them.

As long as the folks riding the wave we just put them on, do a better job at returning the favor than the last time we elected an "R" House, Senate and POTUS ("W" and friends, that just let the AWB sunset without much proactive action), we might end up better off than we started.

 

[chicharrones]

From the article - “This coalition brings together more resources, more brainpower and more lawyers dedicated to making our clients and our nation safer,” said Charlie Lifland, the O’Melveny & Myers partner leading the firm’s work with the coalition.

It sure seems like another case of those that have power intend to control those without power. "For the good of us all".

The only law firm I can afford is the NRA-ILA. Time for yet another donation.

 

[larryh1108]

If you look at your post #25 where you quoted my post, it says "carrying illegally by federal law". So, if you are illegally in possession of a firearm, by federal law, then you should be penalized. Yes. That is how the system is supposed to work. If you are prohibited, by federal law, of carrying a firearm, don't carry one.

 

[RX-79G]

If you look at your post #25 where you quoted my post, it says "carrying illegally by federal law". So, if you are illegally in possession of a firearm, by federal law, then you should be penalized. Yes. That is how the system is supposed to work. If you are prohibited, by federal law, of carrying a firearm, don't carry one.

How would that be a change from how things are done right now?

 

[larryh1108]

Enforcement across the board would be a good place to start.

 

[RX-79G]

Enforcement across the board would be a good place to start.

I honestly don't see where people and especially felons aren't getting add-on charges when guns are illegally carried during the commission of some other crime. The police generally throw the book at anyone in that circumstance. That's why several of us didn't understand your comment.

 

[larryh1108]

The police add them on and the DAs plea bargain them off. The courts are bursting at the seams so they make deals for guilty pleas of lesser charges. If you look at a rap sheet of a gang banger on the street you wonder why they aren't locked up forever yet they are on the streets doing what they do.

 

[RX-79G]

The police add them on and the DAs plea bargain them off. The courts are bursting at the seams so they make deals for guilty pleas of lesser charges. If you look at a rap sheet of a gang banger on the street you wonder why they aren't locked up forever yet they are on the streets doing what they do.

Well, that's because our justice system is broken, we have too many people below the poverty line and we keep shoving more people into overflowing prisons with no plan about what to do with them when they get out and are unemployable.

I don't think shoving more people in prison for even longer is going to address that problem, or make any felon less likely to do it again.

 

[larryh1108]

Well, that's because our justice system is broken, we have too many people below the poverty line and we keep shoving more people into overflowing prisons with no plan about what to do with them when they get out and are unemployable.

Totally agree 100%. This is a problem that needs to be addressed to make our penal system work. Start from the back end and work it to the front end. Not locking up criminals or reducing their sentence makes a mockery of the entire system. They don't fear prison, it's a rite of passage for them ( career criminals).

I don't think shoving more people in prison for even longer is going to address that problem, or make any felon less likely to do it again.

So,people who commit these crimes should get a free pass because we are out of room in prisons? Yeah, sounds like a plan. Also, they will be less likely to do it again if they are locked up in prison. and not on the streets.

 

[Speedo66]

I worked in law enforcement, for some people the only time they are not committing crimes on the street is when they're locked up. Then they commit crimes in jail. To have a regular job is to admit they've failed at their chosen profession.

Of course, their buying habits or even basic existence could never be taken care of by any normal job they could get based on their criminal history and education.

In certain third world, or even certain first world countries, they would either be locked up for life in a gulag or executed. Here, we just shuffle them through the system and put them back on the streets with no plan.

Going to jail is not a problem when all your friends are there too, there's no social stigma or fear of job loss, and no legal expense. They're fed and given warm housing, three hots and a cot. They get to play ball and watch TV. What's the risk?

 

[RX-79G]

Totally agree 100%. This is a problem that needs to be addressed to make our penal system work. Start from the back end and work it to the front end. Not locking up criminals or reducing their sentence makes a mockery of the entire system. They don't fear prison, it's a rite of passage for them ( career criminals).

So,people who commit these crimes should get a free pass because we are out of room in prisons? Yeah, sounds like a plan. Also, they will be less likely to do it again if they are locked up in prison. and not on the streets.

See, I'm not sure how anyone could think that people who don't fear prison are going to have a reduced recidivism rate by going to prison. Or that an overcrowded system that takes minor criminals and makes them more screwed up and criminally educated would work better if more people were stuffed in it.

Our system is already a mockery in the Western world - I don't think we should worry about its feelings. This kind of thing is a "cut off your nose to spite your face" kind of situation. Our desire to punish has completely overtaken our desire to have a just and safe society.