Under pressure from Congress and the public, D.C. officials are moving to ease one of the least defensible of their anti-gun ordinances. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, also the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, held a hearing Monday on his proposal to decriminalize possession of a gun or ammunition for nonresidents.The two examples given are both pretty flaky.
Mr. Mendelson opened by reading my accounts of military men jailed over innocuous mistakes with the city’s gun-control laws. Army 1st Lt. Augustine Kim was arrested while legally transporting his firearms through the city because he stopped for a doctor’s visit at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for an injury he sustained in Iraq.
Another veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, former Army Spc. Adam Meckler, was arrested at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building because he had 14 long-forgotten rounds of loose ammunition in his bag.
The bill under consideration would give the D.C. attorney general discretion not to charge nonresidents like Lt. Kim and Spc. Meckler with criminal counts carrying up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Instead, possession of an unregistered firearm or ammunition could be handled with a fine and no record.
In the first one, how could the guy have been arrested if he was "legally transporting his firearms through the city?" Isn't the whole idea that it's ILLEGAL to do that? That's not an "innocuous mistake" on the part of the arresting officers.
The second case is even worse. "Long forgotten" ammunition is not acceptable, I don't care where you are. Gun owners must be held responsible for their weapons and ammo.
Of course, to make their point in this transparently biased article they chose two examples of hero war veterans. I suppose that's supposed to make the issue so much more sympathetic.
What about the crack dealer from Northern Virginia who happens to have a clean record and drives into DC to conduct his business? Should he also be met with leniency and consideration like the war heroes? What about the domestic abuser who goes to pay a visit to his estranged wife living back with her mother in DC? He deserves a break too, right?
My opinion is this. Gun owners need to be responsible, and part of that responsibility is deciding when to leave the guns at home. It's just that simple. When visiting the Nations Capital or New York City or when going to the airport, leave the guns at home.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
The fact that people are disgracing our capital city with the universal symbol of war, crime, and anarchy (that is civilian "owned" small arms). Since Virginia (and to a lesser degree Maryland) has decided to allow the common citizen, with no police powers, no duty to protect society against all threats foreign and domestic, to posses and carry deadly weapons, in public, and without fear of legal ramification. If the states contingent to D.C. did not have such ridiculous laws, then there would not be such an issue. A weapon in the hand of the citizen is deadly, no matter what side of the beltway he happens to be.
ReplyDeleteE.N., are you an American? Do you live in this country? If you do, every day here must be a painful reminder of how no one will listen to you.
DeleteYou really think I would say anything like this in public or with someone listening? I know that if I did no one would.
DeleteE.N., you've already established yourself as a fool. We're now trying to figure out whether you're the kind who walks down the street wearing a sandwich board or the kind who scribbles in tiny handwriting in hundreds of composition books in your basement.
DeleteWho is we?
DeleteWhat is flaky about D.C. is that they deem whether property (objects) is legal or illegal to possess. The specific examples in the article really highlight the absurdity. Those two people had no criminal record, they were going about their business with no intent to harm anyone, and most importantly they didn't harm anyone. Yet D.C. considers them criminals?!?!?!?
ReplyDeleteLet me put it this way.......
DeleteOrdinary Civilian + Weapon = Potential (Criminal/Death)
Firearms (as well as non-explosive weapons) in the hands of the ordinary person allow that person to kill their fellow man, to force others to comply with their demands (theft, rape) and to tear apart the fundamental fabric of society and the governments and institutions that guarantee life, liberty and property.
So what should society or government do about these:
DeleteOrdinary Citizen + gasoline = Potential Criminal/Death
Ordinary Citizen + snow plow = Potential Criminal/Death
Ordinary Citizen + matches = Potential Criminal/Death
Ordinary Citizen + club = Potential Criminal/Death
Ordinary Citizen + propane tank = Potential Criminal/Death
Ordinary Citizen + fertilizer and oil = Potential Criminal/Death
Ordinary Citizen + combinations of above = Potential Criminal/Death
Firearms in the hands of the ordinary person allow that person to resist criminals who try and force citizens to comply with their demands (theft, rape).
DeleteArmed citizens do not tear apart the fundamental fabric of society and government for the people, they preserve them! You are confusing armed citizens with criminals and tyrannical governments who tear apart the fundamental fabric of society.
As for institutions and governments guaranteeing life, liberty, and property, please explain the millions of crimes that happen in the U.S. every year. And after that, please explain how the guarantee of government protection was helpful to the 100+ million people that were murdered in Nazi Germany, Russia, and China in the last century.
You mean that D.C. may be compelled to comply with the Constitution? What a shock. But the friction of governments against liberty is strong. We'll keep shoving.
ReplyDeleteAnother violation perpetrated by the D.C. government is that residents also can't carry their firearms except in locked cases to specified destinations--legally, that is. Criminals ignore those laws.
ReplyDeletecrack dealers from virginia? are you retarded? where did you get that information from? you cant even hang out in neighborhoods you're not from...so where the hell are you getting your information?
ReplyDelete