NRA-ILA: Sen. Kerry supports a new semi-auto ban

[nyfirearms]

Sen. Kerry supports a new semi-auto ban

Sending National Guard to the U.S. border of Mexico is "premature and possibly counterproductive," but reviving the assault weapons ban would help end the drug-related violence in Mexico, Sen. John Kerry said Monday.

http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/InTheNews.aspx?ID=12305

[Jeff]

but reviving the assault weapons ban would help end the drug-related violence in Mexico, Sen. John Kerry said Monday.

I thought people couldn't get any stupider. Guess I was wrong.

[Tim1]

The only way you'll ever end "drug related violence" is to remove the economic incentive for people to engage in it. The only way to do that is to dry up the market for illegal drugs. From where I sit that means we can legalize them and deal with whatever fallout occurs or convince people not to buy them. The former never seems to garner serious discussion and the latter seems to be a decades long exercise in futility.

Regardless, I find it really distressing that this is being used as a talking point by the gun control crowd. How does taking away my ability to purchase a rifle stop drug smugglers from obtaining 40mm grenades and machine guns?

[fatmax2]

Yet he doesn't support troops on the boarder!

[RalphXL]

The only way you'll ever end "drug related violence" is to remove the economic incentive for people to engage in it. The only way to do that is to dry up the market for illegal drugs. From where I sit that means we can legalize them and deal with whatever fallout occurs or convince people not to buy them. The former never seems to garner serious discussion and the latter seems to be a decades long exercise in futility.

Legalize drugs so we can have heroin addicts laying in the streets like in Amsterdam?

RalphXL

[DONT_TREAD_ON_Z]

Legalize drugs so we can have heroin addicts laying in the streets like in Amsterdam?

RalphXL

This is assuming that people dont do heroin just because its against the law. I know thats not my reason for not doing it. If you walk through New York City or LA you will see plenty of heroin addicts laying in the streets and its plenty illegal there. The only difference is they end up in jail on your dime... then back out to do it all again OR back in jail for a mandatory minimum of 5 years... on your dime.

[DONT_TREAD_ON_Z]

This is assuming that people dont do heroin just because its against the law. I know thats not my reason for not doing it. If you walk through New York City or LA you will see plenty of heroin addicts laying in the streets and its plenty illegal there. The only difference is they end up in jail on your dime... then back out to do it all again OR back in jail for a mandatory minimum of 5 years... on your dime.

sorry off topic. Back to Kerry. whom does he think he was elected to represent and assist? Mexicans?

[Jeff]

sorry off topic. Back to Kerry. whom does he think he was elected to represent and assist? Mexicans?

Why not. A lot of them live here and he wants to give them all a free pass and get drivers licenses and welfare.

[Tim1]

Legalize drugs so we can have heroin addicts laying in the streets like in Amsterdam?

Umm, as far as I know, heroin isn't legal in Amsterdam either. Regardless, I would tend to agree with 'don't tread' that sane people aren't staying away from heroin because it's illegal, they are staying away from it because they know how dangerous it is. The people who aren't sane seem to be able to get their hands on it anyway, regardless of how illegal it is or how harsh the punishments are. I could tell you two different bars right here in Broome County where you could go if you wanted to score some heroin. Does that mean we should we legalize it? I honestly don't know. I do know that I won't be going near it with a 50 foot pole, regardless of the legality or lack thereof.

I do think it's time that we have a serious discussion as a nation as to the wisdom of continued marijuana prohibition. It's my understanding that the majority of the profits made by the Mexican cartels are related to marijuana. Nearly half of all arrests in this country are related to marijuana. Billions of dollars are spent on marijuana prohibition. Can you honestly say that the cost to society of legalized pot would be worse than the cost of our failed prohibition policy? We can handle the societal cost of legalized alcohol and tobacco but not the cost of pot? Really?

Anyway, this is all really far off-topic and I don't want to anger the forum administrators. Kerry's suggestion that more gun control is going to stem the violence is foolish to say the least. The fact is that a lot of the weaponry the cartels are getting isn't available (legally) in the United States. The fact is that straw purchases are already illegal and nobody is bothering to enforce those laws. The fact is that the border isn't secured at all and until that happens drugs, weapons and people will continue to cross it in defiance of the law. How come nobody ever mentions any of these nuggets when talking about this issue?