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Proposed gun curbs have some up in arms
By Jon Moffett
The bill in the U.S. House would require a license for all handguns and certification for all owners.
YOUNGSTOWN — Kenny Graft doesn’t fear guns. He respects them.
The 54-year-old New Middletown man grew up with firearms and owned his first at age 11. His business, Shooting Star Firearms in New Middletown, sells to hunters and sport shooters, Graft said.
But he believes a bill in Congress would limit his ability to sell firearms to his clientele.
The proposed Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 would require a license to own a handgun or semi-automatic firearm. Currently no license is required to own a handgun in Ohio. The bill would also require current handgun owners to become certified or risk losing their property.
The bill was submitted by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., in January. The bill has no co-sponsors and was referred to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
The bill came about in response to the fatal shooting of Blair Holt, a 16-year-old student in Chicago. He was killed by gunfire in a gang-related attack on May 10, 2007. Holt moved to shield another student while riding a school bus and was fatally shot.
The bill has become a fixture in e-mails forwarded throughout the Internet. Web sites such as Snopes.com have fact-checked the e-mails and the bill and said some seemingly onerous aspects – such as a fear the bill would force gun owners to submit to a physical and mental evaluation at any time – are unfounded.
Though the bill is not expected to get out of committee, it still leaves Graft up in arms. He believes guns are being unfairly targeted.
“You’ve got to wonder if it’s not the government’s personal agenda for guns and crime,” he said. “A lot of [the bill] has nothing to do with crime. Unfortunately, I think it’s a path our government is taking”
He added that the government should focus less on making new laws and more on enforcement.
“My take on law is we have enough laws; we don’t need to add more restrictions to honest people,” Graft said. “We have more laws on the books than we’ll ever need right now.”
One law in particular is being targeted by Citizens for Safety, a group whose goal is to get guns out of the wrong hands while still upholding the Second Amendment.
“When you look at the total number of gun crimes in our country, about 50 percent of the perpetrators are criminals and juveniles,” said Lori O’Neill, executive director of the group.
The group petitions local, state and federal governments to repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which prohibits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from releasing information on firearms in its trace database to anyone other than the agency directly involved in an investigation.
Though the amendment started with good intentions, it has been counterproductive, O’Neill said.
“It essentially restricts the information the ATF can share with local police when they are trying to solve or prevent gun crimes,” she said. “It seems counter intuitive that Congress would tie the hands of law enforcement, but that’s exactly what it does.”
Gerry Nunziato, a retired ATF agent, said the Tiahrt Amendment significantly reduces law enforcement’s ability to do its job.
“I think the simplest way to explain it is if you have a crime scene in Youngstown and you find a fingerprint, the Tiahrt Amendment would only allow you to look at fingerprints on file at the Youngstown Police Department,” Nunziato said. “So it has a major impact on law enforcement ... It’s very restrictive.”
The law doesn’t directly affect many people, she said. But it could if ever they or someone they know is involved in a gun crime. The group urges citizens to voice their concerns to their representatives.
Graft said the law was just another example of government trying to unarm good citizens.
“There is no reason for all the negative attention on guns; our country was formed on firearms,” he said. “The problem is people have created the mindset about them.”
He added that violence will occur no matter how tightly guns are regulated.
“There are people who are willing to do harm with others with a firearm or a baseball bat ... It’s a problem with society, not with firearms,” he said.
“If somebody went and started running over everybody with their car, people would start to say that cars are bad.”
jmoffett@vindy.com
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Comments
another dumb a** politician
I would hope that our elected officials realize, that whether we are Republicans or Democrats we understand our rights and freedoms (especially today) and that many died to make sure that we keep them.
I think that there are people in this country that just might decide to take a stand if the liberals in Washington decide to do anything stupid. They need to remember that the front page headline does not need to involve them personally.
Do you want just the police and the criminals to have weapons? Oh, someone must of forgotten to mention that the criminals may decide not to register their weapons.
The anti gun types need to look at the statistics to see what percentage of people that commit crimes are licensed hunters, licensed to carry a concealed weapon etc. and just basic law abiding citizens. They feel they have a right to protect themselves and what they have worked for all their lives. I understand that there are a few exceptions.
Enough said
The liberals feel that you have no inherant right to self protection. The rights of the criminal are constantly expanded while those who are hard working and law abididing are constantly stripped of theirs.
Like they said it was a gang shooting! Gangs will have guns even if they stop gun ownership altogether! I say leave our gun rights alone if more of us carry legally all criminals wii have to wonder if they will get shot. Maybe than crime will slow down.
You voted and now you think they are going to change thier liberal ideals. Watch with this supreme court appointee, and this is only the first, how things will change.
The Tiahrt amendment really ties the hands of law enforcement. They need to be able to utilize trace data to see where criminals are getting guns. Using that data they can identify firearms dealers who are selling guns that find their way into the hands of criminals, if dealers are knowingly selling to strawman purchasers and learn which states are exporting weapons to other states.
The 2nd amendment allows us to own guns. There is no amendment that allows firearms dealers to profit from selling guns to criminals.
Mike, the Tiahrt amendment does not do any such thing. Trace data does not solve crimes. It only leads back (assuming no modifications to serial number) to the last "legal" owner of that firearm. Criminals don't use guns that list them as the owner for crying out loud.
All guns start as legal firearms. They are sold to retailers who sell them to private owners. Trace data allows law enforcement to trace who the last legal owner was and then trace it to the criminal by following the path of ownership. It also allows them to see, statistically, which dealers sell guns that end up being used in crimes. It also allows them to see if dealers are selling high volumes of guns to the same people (strawmen) over and over and to see if those particular weapons are used in crimes.
No one really expects criminals to register their guns. Eliminating Tiahrt gives investigators one more tool to use. Trace data certainly does help solve crimes, especially if that crime is selling firearms to ineligible buyers.
MikePrelee: Thanks for your great remarks. What all gun owners should understand is that we can make it harder for criminals and teenagers to get guns without infringing on the rights of law-abiding Americans to own them. The Tiahrt Amendment has no effect on legal gun owners, it only shields the few gun dealers who funnel guns to traffickers and the traffickers themselves.
To support our efforts to get rid of the Tiahrt Amendment and give our police everything they need to solve gun crimes, visit our web site and sign the online postcard. www.cfspostcard.com.
so you can go to the last registered owner and then . . . If it was stolen that is no help--right? How many crimes are REALLY solved by this? How often do the police knock on the door of the last registered owner and end up with an arrest? Very rarely or we would be hearing about the great arrest record of this data.
you gun toters are always using the scare tactics of old.the criminal will have them,my rights are violated,etc etc etc.nobody is going to take your gun. so stop crying and start taking responsibility (gun shop) for selling guns to any and everybody.you all need to just calm down,jeezz!!!
we have enough problems already with government spending money it doesn't have on programs that don't produce results. The Tiahrt amendment would be another such program. If they could prove that it would really solve crimes, I'm sure it would pass without a problem. Fact is, it won't.
Dreamers.....all dreamers. These guys have no concept of reality.....I know....let's pass another law making it illegal to....wait a minute.....how many laws have these felons already broken? And they are still out on the streets causing trouble? So, you really think another law is going to stop them???
Lori O'Neill says 50 percent of the perpetrators are criminals or juveniles.
Criminals are felons. Felons cannot possess a gun.
Juveniles are under 18. Juveniles cannot possess a handgun.
These law breaking thugs are getting their weapons thru an illegal system that has no regard for any laws. Passing more laws is not going to stop them. It only causes more hardship on taxpayers, police departments and citizens trying to defend themselves and their families.
Which would you rather have...a law that requires the police to try and trace a gun that killed your family member....or a law that allows you to defend yourself and family from the thug.
We need to enforce the laws that are on the books, not make new ones. Maximize the penalties for illegal possession or illegal sale of guns. I have had my background check in the process of getting my concealed weapons permit.
Ever notice though, the answer is always to make a new law instead of enforcing the existing ones.
We are great at creating laws then ignoring them. After all, look at what happened to the secured bondholders of Chrysler.
I always think it is silly that they often impose stiffer penalties for committing a crime with a gun as opposed to another weapon. I suppose getting pummeled to death with a hammer is so much better than being shot.
Leave my guns alone.
The Tiahrt amendment prevents law enforcement agencies from using trace data to determine which dealers are crooked, which purchasers are strawman buyers and which states are importing guns to states where crimes are committed. This law needs to be repealed so law enforcement can properly do its job.
To the poster who wondered about stolen guns, yes, trace data would make it easier to find out who was the original purchaser of a weapon. Investigators could then follow the line of ownership until the they discover where the gun was stolen from and then charge the person who used the gun in a crime with that theft. They can either be prosecuted for receiving stolen property or reveal who sold them the weapon.
If law enforcement agencies could utilize trace data properly, we would hear about more arrests for gun trafficking.
Anyone interested in how trace data can be used effectively to determine where guns used in crimes originate can do so on the Mayors Against Illegal Guns website, www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org
Please note the name of the group includes the word "illegal", not "all". It's easy to believe in the 2nd amendment and common sense gun laws.
So we need to pass more worthless legislation because it is politically incorrect to enforce what we already have?
PROBATION AND EARLY PAROLE IS NOT THE NOT THE ANSWER FOR MURDERERS, ROBBERS AND RAPISTS !
YOUNGSTOWN SHOULD CONSIDER . . ..
Car confiscation/eviction for illegal gun crimes:
The Los Angeles City Council has approved a proposal to give landlords the ability to evict tenants who are convicted of illegal gun use or possession. Also, the city would have the power to confiscate cars used in crimes involving guns.
Read the Los Angeles Times coverage
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition...
DNA evidence collection from crime guns:
Indianapolis has trained 200 police officers to use new kits that make it possible to collect DNA evidence from the surface of a gun found at a crime scene.
Read the Indianapolis Star story
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...
Passing more laws and hoping criminals heed these new laws is like buying a lottery ticket and hoping you'll win $200 million......Ain't Gonna Happen and that is what we have right now....a series of laws that we are not able to enforce.... or judges let the perpetrator off with a light sentence time and time again.
We need to stop dreaming that we can re-hab these "poor souls" and start dealing with them for what they really are.....cancers on society who are contributing to rising crime all across America.
Prisons are not "Correctional".....they only build the criminal's assortment of ways to rape and plunder society further. All prison's names should be changed to "Crime Academy" or "Criminal College", for that is what they truely are, a place for the felons to further their education in how to commit more crimes once they are released.
Maybe we should put these felons to sleep or in a coma for 5 or 10 or 20 years. Can you imagine the fear factor of that? That'll fix 'em.
I don't think anyone should be allowed to protect themselves, family, or property. If a criminal comes to a person and says that is mine I want it, they should be allowed to freely take it.
I mean, we need to redistribute the wealth. Why should it be a crime for someone who doesn't have a 53" color, LCD TV not be allowed to just take it from someone like, say, a doctor who lives in a huge house, drives a Sades, and has plenty of money?
The idea of property ownership or of one person having more than another just because they worked harder for it is just rediculous!
I really had ya'll going. :) didn't I? I say stop persecuting the law abiding citezens and start prosecuting criminals.
Well strojjj, you forgot to say that there should be no arrest for rape just because a fine looking or otherwise woman was forced to share her booty. I would have closed with the saying,"IT'S ALL GOOD".
WHAT IS ONE MAN'S CRIME IS ANOTHER MANS OPPORTUNITY.
Without law enforcement the criminals would be at the mercy of swift justice at the end of a rope or otherwise. Today we are civilized and allow them to live at our expense sheltered from any backlash from the public. Many get released and try to use the knowledge gained during their stay to try it all again.
"The bill would also require current handgun owners to become certified or risk losing their property"
...Cue the angry villagers with pitchforks and torches!
The day is fast approaching when the liberals will see criminal activity as an accepted vocation. Are we there yet ?
ON THE JOB !
http://www.ps3vault.com/wp-content/uploa...
Stan,
Nice picture! Is that the mayor and his finance director?
Naw, Jay likes wearing suits. If I was rude I would call them the campaign finace committee.