Gun Control Isn’t Dead. It’s Just Really Stupid. And Dangerous.

Yesterday, I tried to calm the fevered minds of gun rights groups who heard—second hand—that president Obama was going to launch federal gun control “under the radar” (i.e. by executive fiat). Although the ATF’s proposed, profoundly illegal long gun registry seems to give credence to these fears, President Obama is no gun grabber. At least not yet. As I said, the real action is on the state and local level, where sanctimonious pandering pols in blue state enclaves continue to “shore-up” their bone-headed gun control laws with . . . more bone-headed gun control laws. To wit: the latest inanity from New York and Connecticut, starting at blogs.courant.com . . .

If you can’t carry a gun, you can’t possess ammunition.

That’s the gist of a bill approved by the [Connecticut] Senate Thursday after almost an hour of vigorous debate.

Supporters, most of them Democrats, said the bill closes a loophole in the state’s gun laws. “If you are prohibited from owning a firearm, you should not have ammunition,” said Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield. Among those prohibited from owning a gun are convicted felons, those who are the subject of a restraining order and people with certain mental disabilities.

But critics, mainly Republicans, said its an unnecessary proposal that goes against the deeply held American legal tradition of innocent until proven guilty.

“Ammunition is worthless unless its used in a firearm,” Sen. Rob Kane, R-Watertown, said. “I think we can all agree on that. I…don’t see the harm in possessing the ammunition.”

Added Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, “at the end of the day, we just have enough of these laws on the books.”

Well exactly. There are a growing number of Americans who want a smaller government. More laws, more government. Less laws, less government. But more than that, who thought this anti-ammo bill was necessary?

Are the police figuring they can get search warrants for ammo? Are they looking to double-up on felony charges? Are they thinking, well, we couldn’t find a gun but we can find ammo so we can get the perp on that?

In case you hadn’t thought of it already (unlike the bill’s sponsors), this law would make it difficult and dangerous (legally) for a convicted criminal, mental patient or person under a restraining order to associate with a lawful gun owner. If there’s ammo nearby, they could get arrested for it.

So, if the prohibited person’s family and/or associates wanted to keep the ex-con or mental patient out of jail or an institution, they’d have to either lock up or lose their ammo. In effect, they would be denied their right to keep and bear arms.

Under this law, prohibited people would be allowed to be around knives but not inert firearms cartridges. Go figure. And while you’re at it, how about this nonsense, reported by the NRA . . .

On Tuesday, May 24, Assembly Bill 1157 passed in the New York Assembly by a 84 to 55 vote.  The bill has been delivered to the state Senate and will be considered in the Senate Codes Committee.

Introduced by state Assemblyman Michelle Schimel (D-16), A1157 would require all current semi-automatic pistols in production and all newly designed semi-automatic pistols delivered to any licensed firearms dealer in New York to mechanically stamp an alpha-numeric or geometric code that would imprint the make, model and serial number onto the cartridge case when the gun is discharged.  This bill would vastly increase the cost of these firearms and will likely result in firearms manufacturers not selling new handguns in New York. Of course, that is the ultimate goal of this legislation.

Is it? I’m not so sure. Never underestimate the central role of stupidity in the political process.

Gun control advocates are not all cunning, cynical, manipulating, conniving, deceptive gun grabbers. Only the successful ones. Their supporters are willfully ignorant true believers. They honestly think that society in general and gun crime in particular can be fixed. With enough gun control laws, gun crime can be reduced to negligible levels. Just like Sweden! And then, eliminated!

Hard-core gun control advocates’ equally brain-dead faith in a technological solution to gun crime—to the point where they’re willing to mandate a dubious technology that doesn’t even exist—reflects these fanatics’ naiveté. The fact that New York hasn’t had ONE success with its multi-million dollar ballistic fingerprint system is neither here nor there. That was then, this is now.

It’s these fact-blind proponents of gun control who must be fought every step of the way.

Unlike politicians who are ready, willing and able to change their stripes for their career survival, gun control’s True Believers will stop at nothing to deny Americans their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Until the TBs are separated from the Democratic Party in democratic states, marginalized to the point of irrelevance, gun owners must remain eternally vigilant. And probably even then.