Important headlines for March 1st
Bottom Line: These are stories you don't want to miss and my hot takes on them...
Broward wants to see how it can regulate firearms and ammunition after Parkland shooting - Miami Herald
Excerpt: The Broward County Commission on Tuesday wants to explore whether it can regulate firearms and ammunition on the county level after a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland killed 17 people, including 14 students and three faculty members.
Broward Vice Mayor Mark Dogen sponsored the agenda item, which calls for the county attorney to “analyze the limitations on local government regulation of firearms and ammunition for areas of possible action by the Board,’’ according to the agenda of the Tuesday commission meeting.
But enacting gun laws at the local level may not be possible
Hot Take: This is trending in the direction of what Coral Gables is angling to do right now which is covered in today's Hysterical Headlines. Not only may it not be possible as the story suggests (btw, it isn't because of pesky laws and constitutions and you know the things that make this country a free Representative Republic) - it's an abhorrent idea and not necessarily for the cheap and easy emotions associated with gun control debates. The last thing that any honest, law abiding citizen should ever have to face, is retribution from an activist local government unwittingly. It's beyond any reasonable pretense of acceptability that any lawful gun owner should ever have to worry about the "laws" governing their legally owned firearm from town to town and county to county. In fact, the argument had already swung in the other direction as it pertains to legal ownership from state to state (the reciprocity bill that passed the US House last December) because it makes no sense to turn honest, law abiding, citizens into criminals because they adhered to Florida's laws but didn't understand the different ones in another state.
We are a country of laws and we have a system of government that allows for citizens to change them through representation. In this instance that would require action at the federal or state level. Spend your energy there. For those who don't like our laws and system of government - no one forces you to stay here - so you're welcome to leave.
I Bought My First Gun Because of the CNN Town Hall Robert Norman, The Federalist
Hot take: I've been saying it for about a week now. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Without a doubt the public sentiment is in favor of sticker guns. Even a slight majority of existing gun owners are in favor of stricter laws. For that matter both our President and Governor are openly pushing for gun control measures...but here's the thing. And it's a really big thing. For those who are more driven by ignorance, bias and emotion than factual information and pragmatism... You're actually pushing liberty minded individuals towards the NRA and buying the very weapons you're afraid of.
It's not hard. I've laid all of this out for two weeks. Guns aren't new. Mental health issues aren't new. The proliferation of these problems are newer. So, there's much more to the story. It's an education establishment that's been provably failing our children since 1980. It's removing morality from society starting with the schools. It's social media exacerbating emotions. It's violence in entertainment. It's the failure of the FBI to do their damn job and potentially additional failures at the local level that aren't yet clear. But keep blaming an object that does nothing without someone using it more than the person responsible... Don't address the other failures either & you'll see exactly the opposite of what you want to see with about half of the country (42% of households already owned guns).
Until tomorrow...