Walker, responding to the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that left 19 children dead, noted that “Cain killed Abel” and followed with a head-scratching suggestion.
“What about getting a department that can look at young men that’s looking at women that looking at social media,” he said.
Republicans are putting forward several potential solutions to school shootings: man traps, bullet proof blankets, eliminating all entrances except the front door and now this from Herschel Walker.
I trust precisely one person in my life to have a gun in public.
Marine of about a decade, has killed a number of people, trains several times a week at his private, extensive shooting range, and exclusively concealed-carries to not worry other people.
If shit went down I’d trust him over almost any cop and any regular civilian. Nobody else.
Plus police have no specific duty to protect anyone from harm, more or less.
Sure the SWAT team took him out eventually.
After the SRO engaged him outside the school and failed keep him out.
After police spent 40 minutes not taking him out while getting their own kids out of other class rooms.
The point is we keep being told that we need more good guys with guns by Republicans and in several of these mass murders the good guys with guns failed to stop the carnage. I’m pretty sure I remember a similar narrative playing out in the parkland shooting.
And 100% opposition from Republicans in Congress, especially the ones in the Senate who’d just filibuster it to death.
100% this, underscored by reports the police got their own kids out and left everyone else to be target practice.
At some point a tax becomes no longer a tax and would certainly interfere with 2A.
Small tax is fine (currently sales tax on gun sales seems to have held).
But if there was a $1m per gun tax…well that certainly wouldn’t hold up in court.
It occurs to me that I might have read more into the excise tax idea than was intended.
When I’ve heard the excise tax idea previously, it’s usually been framed as someone saying “we can’t ban guns, so let’s tax them into oblivion”. This SCOTUS, and probably even SCOTUS before Ginsburg’s passing, would deem that an unconstitutional end-run around the Second Amendment.
If Congress were to impose a modest tax specifically for funding anti-gun-violence efforts, that probably would pass muster (although with the current SCOTUS composition…).
I’m not certain where the line is between “a modest tax” and “tax into oblivion”. Considering current political realities, that’s probably a moot concern.
(Edit: Ninja’d by ldancer!)
The estimated cost of gun violence in America is $280 Billion per year.
I think any tax that raise less than $280 Billion per year would easily be constitutionally valid.
Though I suppose you could argue with the $214B they allocate to Quality of Life loss and come up with a smaller figure.
In Connecticut a few years ago, there was a proposal to increase the costs to obtain or renew a firearm permit by several hundred dollars, and (IIRC) impose a 100% tax on ammunition.
Folks whose legal opinions I trust were pretty sure that proposal, had it passed, would have been ruled unconstitutional, both on Second Amendment grounds, as well as lacking sufficient justification to offset the disparate impact the costs would have on certain groups.
Although, considering how the GOP has devolved, perhaps highlighting the disparate impact aspect might get a few congressmen and senators to support such a measure.
Sadder still is that Walker will probably be elected because football hero trumps intelligence in his state.
I am a bit confused what the school security guard was doing considering the guy crashed his car, shot at people across the street and then shot at the school all before entering…
Here’s the recently amended law from Ohio Senate Bill 215 | The Ohio Legislature.
Long Title To amend sections 1547.69, 2923.12, 2923.121, 2923.122, 2923.123, 2923.126, 2923.128, 2923.16, and 2953.37 and to enact section 2923.111 of the Revised Code regarding a concealed handgun licensee’s duty to carry the license and notify a law enforcement officer if the licensee is carrying a concealed handgun, and a right of a qualifying adult to carry a concealed handgun in the same manner as if the person was a licensee.
I read through it and it seems to me the conceal carry change only has to do with handguns. In Ohio if a person has a handgun under their hoodie It’s legal but if they have a long bladed knife like a dagger it is still illegal. How the hell is that a proper interpretation of the 2nd amendment?
Yep laws are crazy sometime.
Under Penal Code 22010 PC, it is illegal in California to make, import, sell, give away or even to possess nunchakus . Nunchakus are commonly referred to as “nunchuks” or “karate sticks.”
Guns? No Problemo.
I wonder if someones head would explode if someone ever produced a set of Nunchuks that could also be used as a gun.
It’s almost like the laws are being written by and for the people that manufacture, import, and sell guns.
Just to put some numbers on this … We already have the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax.
It is either 10% or 11%.
In 2017, it raised $760 million.
These revenues are allocated to the Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Fund, also known as the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund, and used for wildlife restoration and for hunter safety and education purposes.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/uvalde-residents-voice-frustration-over-shooting-response-11653588161
Sounds like they could safely get rid of a bunch of police officers in Uvalde and get the same level of protection. Can definitely dump the entire SWAT team in Uvalde without fear it will miss out on a chance to stop someone from threatening lots of other people.
There are videos where you can literally hear the semi-automatic rifle inside while the parents are arguing with the cops to go inside…
I knew that, and that was bad enough - but then finding out he was outside for 12 minutes and no one stopped him, on top of standing outside while he rampaged inside, …
Columbine, the first police officer showed up 5 minutes after the first shots were fired, and within a couple minutes after that there were a few more officers. Their first job was trying to get the wounded out while taking fire. They didn’t go into the school untl over 90 minutes after the first shots, and 45 minutes after Klebold and Harris were dead. That was a situation, no one had expected, there was no guideline to follow, no clue how many people were shooting, and even if police had stormed the school they probably weren’t saving anyone there. [The last killing was 16 minutes after the first shots were fired.]
Sandy Hook? The first police arrived 4 minutes after the shooting started, the last shots were 60 or so seconds later, police went in 5 minutes after that. Even if they race in upon arriving, they’re probably not saving anyone. [Should it have taken 6 minutes for someone to finally go in? Probably not - but again, immaterial to the end result.]
This? They’ve purportedly trained for this, done all kinds of drills,… and then nothing. Nothing for 12 minutes. Nothing for the next however many minutes after. Willfully standing around as shooting is going on in the school, willfully stopping anyone else from going in to try and do anything to stop it.
so the “cops are heroes” persona in TV and movies is just a load of BS
