Reading this article from The Guardian I have to wonder how any of the laws being proposed - whether pro or anti - would have changed the situation. Guns did not do this - people did.
1. "One bill, HB910, passed the Texas house and was debated on Monday in a state senate committee. It would allow people to carry handguns and pistols in the open and would bar police from asking whether the person carrying the gun is licensed."
- How would this have made a difference? So, instead, they are carrying concealed and likely without any kind of permit and likely did not undergo a NICS check to purchase their weapons. These are criminals and criminal organizations - they are likely into trafficking both drugs and guns. They engage in shoot-outs. Yet you think that laws are going to affect them, that they will stop carrying and committing crime if you pass laws? They are already breaking laws with impunity. Laws only restrict the behavior of those who follow them.
2. "Waco authorities said gang members turned from firing shots at each other to shooting at police, who returned fire. Authorities recovered almost 100 weapons on the bloody floor, which was littered with shell casings."
- Yes, and it is almost certain that none of them was legally purchased. this is what people like you do not get. Just like your war on drugs has been a failure (one which you are eager to surrender on) your ability to write law that will keep guns out of the hands of criminals is non-existent. You can't keep immigrants and drugs form crossing your border, how will you interdict guns? As note above, these are gangs that are already trafficking in drugs, guns and who knows what else (probably white slavery).
3. "In Kansas, people wishing to purchase a gun from a Walmart or any other gun shop would still need a background check, but that requirement can be avoided by purchasing a firearm from a gun show, where background checks aren’t required."
- This is the same deceitful argument we always hear. I bought a rifle at a gun show 10 days ago - and I had to undergo a background check to get it. Do not confuse private transfers with a gun show purchase. Same with online purchases; I recently bought a pistol online; it will be shipped to a licensed (FFL) dealer and I will have to undergo a background check in order to receive it. Please don't talk about things you do not understand and stop spreading false generalizations (yeah, like that will happen).
4. "Julie Gavran, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Dallas and a director for the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus, said: “It’s quite clear that they have an agenda, and no matter what we say or do, they’re going to do everything possible to fulfill that agenda.”
- That's because we have this thing called a constitution, which has this thing called the Bill of Rights. What that means is that what you say or do does not trump my rights. They are going to do everything they can to ensure that the Bill of Rights assertion that the natural right will not be infringed is upheld. Seems like no matter what some people said, gay marriage is now becoming the law of the land. Why? Because our Constitution means we do not vote on rights - they are protected.
IN SUM: Bad people do bad shit, they commit crimes. It is their nature to disobey laws, to ignore them. It is not the gun they are carrying illegally that makes them do so. Guess what? Murder is already illegal, yet evil people commit it every day. Further regulating the behavior of those who follow the law will not change the behavior of those who do not.
