I received the message quoted below today from an old friend who owns a beef cattle farm in western Kentucky. Unlike me, he is a hunter. IMO his "news" and channeled opinion from his region. He was originally from New York City.
His message is indicative of all the reasons why "city boys" like BHO and Biden are going to accomplish nothing more than to push different parts of the country farther apart than they already are.
The Washington Post today contains the following:
"... working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors, the sources
said." Washpost
-------------------------
None of these measures wuold have prevented the Newtown killings. pl
Here is my Kentucky friend's message.
"Some of the stuff in the news today. ...and
I went to one sports store (Gander Mountain) yesterday and
found it crowded with gun buyers and lookers.Ammunition was fairly scarce and
getting pricey. Remington 30.06 was about the cheapest brand (180 gr) at
about a dollar a round at this store that is usually more expensive than the
competition anyway. 5.56 or .223 bulk ammo was gone. Handgun ammo needed a lot
of restocking....Surprised at the number of women at the handgun counter and
their pointed questions of the clerks. Not a bunch of yahoos either. Used gun
racks had lots of empty spaces. Beat up SKS that I once paid $86 for was priced
at $346. Was going to stop in another gun store but its small parking lot
was too crowded, if that means anything...
There is a gun show scheduled in Cave City (Kentucky) next
weekend. There is always one guy there who tries to peddle a surplus Spanish
Army bazooka (DEWAT). Would love to have it to put in my pick up truck rear
window, but too big and too expensive.
As I say, some excerpts from todays papers:
MM
White
House weighs broad gun-control agenda in wake of Newtown shootings
By Philip
Rucker, Published: January 5
The White House is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation’s gun violence than simply
reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, according
to multiple people involved in the administration’s discussions.
A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously
considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require
universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of
weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and
stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors, the
sources said.......Washington Post
FLASHBACK: Obama: I Will NOT Take Your Guns Away:
When you all go home and you're talking to your buddies and you
say, ah 'He wants to take my gun away.' You've heard it here, I'm on television
so everybody knows it. I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in people's
lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take
your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away."
Why push for gun control has stalled:
Support for stricter gun laws hasn’t jumped as fast or as far in
recent weeks as many liberals had hoped and expected. If you’re wondering why,
maybe the reason is the shakiness of the public’s trust in government itself.
After the horrific murders three weeks ago at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, gun-control advocates confidently
predicted that a wave of revulsion would sweep the nation. We would, in the
popular argot, “hit the reset button,” beginning a fresh debate on new terms.
It hasn’t happened that way. In the USA Today-Gallup Poll taken
just a week after the shooting, when one would expect the largest emotional
effect, support for “more strict” gun control in the abstract was at 58%,
compared with 43% about a year earlier. On specifics, 51% opposed a ban on
private ownership of assault weapons. (There’s more support for posting armed
guards in schools than for limiting access to assault weapons.)
If Newtown hasn’t pushed the numbers much, why not?
One plausible explanation is a lack of trust in the people who
would be doing the regulating. The Gallup Organization has been measuring
Americans’ trust in their government since 1997. Last year, only half of
Americans said they generally trust the federal government to do the right
thing on domestic policy — a significant improvement over the 43% figure a year
earlier, but nowhere near the heights of trust one saw in President Bill
Clinton’s second term and President George W. Bush’s first.
“Trust us, we’ll protect you,” isn’t a very persuasive case to
make to the tens of millions of Americans who have guns in their homes. And
directing fury at gun owners for their lack of trust isn’t likely to increase
their faith in government.
Bloomberg View"
