It's not the principle that is a problem, it is the implementation.myntalfloss wrote:Does anyone else think we're kind of expressing a cognitive dissonance? We have insisted for years that 'guns don't kill people, people do',(which I firmly believe) and yet when Obama, (sorry, Satan) suggests checking out the people, not the guns, we get our panties in a wad. Is there anything that we law-abiding gun owners will accept without defaulting to the ‘black helicopters’ scenario?
If we want to make sure that everyone buying a gun is legit, then make it simple, easy, and anonymous (to the government). One way would be to have the states make a notation on drivers licenses indicating if someone is NOT able to own a weapon. Then a private seller (or dealer) could simply ask to see the drivers license, and if they don't see the notation, sell the weapon. Same could be done for other forms of government issued ID if someone does not have a DL. This would accomplish the stated goal, while also ensuring that the government continues to have no record of who does and does not own a firearm.
As others have noted, a reasonable, dare I say "common sense", move in the way of compromise would be to mandate that all states respect CHL's (or equivalent) issued by other states. The liberals made a great argument for why this should happen when they wanted states like Texas to recognize gay marriages that were performed in other states, so clearly they agree that this is a good idea.
Of course, this should all get done through the legislative process, not via executive fiat. I laugh when I am helping my kids do their homework and they are taught that there are 3 branches of government with equal power. The truth is that the Executive has usurped a lot of the Legislative branches' power along with pretty much all of the Judiciaries'.