Are you outraged? No? Stephanie Jones thinks you should be. She’s just published a piece at Salon — If ballots were bullets: If Americans cared as much about their voting rights as their gun rights, they’d be up in arms right now. Her premise: the laws some states have put in place requiring voters to show an ID before pulling the lever (or clicking the box) are part of a nefarious plot by “Republican legislators, governors and secretaries of state…to stop millions of Americans from exercising their right to vote.” Just one problem: Stephanie undermines her own point by demonstrating that she knows next to nothing about the roadblocks Americans have to negotiate to exercise their Second Amendment rights . . .
What if politicians began enacting and enforcing a spate of laws across the country that prevented millions of law-abiding citizens from buying guns in order to stop criminals from getting their hands on weapons?
Wait, hasn’t that been the ostensible reason behind almost every gun control law that’s ever been passed in these here fifty-seven states? Why yes, yes it has.
Steph seems to be under the impression that anyone can just stroll into their neighborhood merchant of death and walk out with whatever they want as easy as Neo loading up the matrix stockroom program. Whereas the requirement to exercise the franchise in some places will now, shockingly, include the onerous requirement of proving you are who you say you are.
But a woman who wants to protect herself and her kids in their crime-ridden neighborhood needs a little more than that to get herself a gat. Besides that same .gov-issued photo ID — oh no! — she’ll also have to fill out the ATF’s 4473 and pass a federal background check. And there might also be a state bureau of investigation check on top of it.
Where’s the outrage? Hold on, there’s more. In some places she’ll also need to be fingerprinted. And she may have to kiss her local sheriff’s ass ring (or contribute to his reelection fund) to get his blessing, too. Oh, and depending where she lives, she may not get her gun for a few days due to a legally required waiting period.
So are gun owners, up in arms (metaphorically speaking)? You bet they are, Stephanie. Unfortunately, we’ve been jumping through those hoops for so long now, we’ve gotten used to it. Kinda like the frog in the simmering water.
But does Ms. Jones give a rat’s ass about all that? Nope. ‘Cause no one really needs a gun, right? She has a point to make about racism and she’s not going to let a lack of knowledge (or any desire to do even a minimal amount of research) get in her way.
