Would you be willing to give up the 4th Amendment to stop guns?

[FrodosPet]

If the strictest gun registration or sales prohibition were passed, the reality is there are already hundreds of millions of guns in America. Realistically, the only way to get rid of the guns would be to literally sweep the country. Every closet, every attic, crawl space, shed, even hole in the ground can potentially hold a lot of guns.

In the interest of REALLY getting guns off the street, would anybody here be willing to surrender some of the protections of the 4th Amendment under the condition that the warrantless searches are ONLY for guns, and that the authorities have to ignore any drugs, papers, sex toys, stolen goods, etc that they may come across?

Me neither.

It's more important to focus on the culture and mindset of violence, and not just fixate the hardware of it.

[gcomeau]

1. Ummm, no.

You don't have to get rid of all the guns overnight. You do it over time through attrition. You dry up the supply, every time an illegal weapon is confiscated in the normal course of police work it gets destroyed and not put back in circulation, etc...

Yes, that take a long time, but it works and you don't have to have the police kicking people's doors in across the country. Don't be silly. (And it *also* changes the culture. Again slowly, over time, but that's the only effective way to do that anyway)

[sandmann]

15. The people with the most guns

are not the people who commit the most crimes.

Your attrition theory would not work.

[Robb]

2. Absurd assumption there. Why "sweep up" at all?

Why not simply wait for people to break the law, and then charge them -- like we do with nearly every other law?

[rustydog]

3. Absurd plain and simple

turn in your banned or restricted guns OR, WHEN you are caught with them or WHEN they are utilized, you will face serious punishment.
WHEN you try to buy ammo for the banned, restricted firearm, authorities will be notified and you get charged...There are several ways to go about this without the Big, evil Gubmint, Nazi takeover inferences.

[Hoyt]

4. You mean all those "law-abiding," moral gun owners would not turn them in under such legislation.

[bigwillq]

5. No (nt)

[Fumesucker]

6. Already gone

Drug war.

Erroneous drug raids are a fucking legion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwyn_Heights,_Maryland_mayor's_residence_drug_raid

The Berwyn Heights mayor's residence drug raid was a controversial action taken by the Prince George's County, Maryland, Sheriff's Office and Police Department at the home of Berwyn Heights mayor Cheye Calvo on July 29, 2008. The raid was the culmination of an investigation that began in Arizona, where a package containing 32 pounds of marijuana was intercepted in a FedEx warehouse, addressed to the mayor's residence. In spite of intercepting the package in transit, the police allowed the package to be delivered. Once the package arrived at the house, a SWAT team raided and held the mayor and his mother-in-law at gunpoint, and shot and killed his two Labrador retrievers, one while it attempted to run away.

The event gained national and international media attention. While the Calvos were cleared of wrongdoing, the police were accused by the Calvos and civil rights groups of lacking a proper search warrant, excessive force, and failure to conduct a proper background investigation of the home being raided. Despite the criticisms, no action has been taken against the officers or their respective police departments. In August 2010, Sheriff Jackson stated that "we'd do it again. Tonight."

[AnotherMcIntosh]

8. Best part: "no action has been taken against the officers or their respective police departments."

What they did was outright wrong. Yet

In August 2010, Sheriff Jackson stated that "we'd do it again. Tonight."

[FrodosPet]

12. +1

If prohibition (alcohol and drugs) has taught us anything, it is that if people WANT something, they are willing to break the law to get it. And other are willing to break the law to sell it to them.

With this in mind, I am torn between the idea that by making guns harder, indeed nearly impossible to get that there will be a net reduction in violence, and the idea that it may increase it. By creating an enlarged black market for guns, I cannot help but see how people of greedy intent will step in, completely willing to use violence to protect their revenue stream.

Sorry if I am rambling. I wish I had the answer to who should what. The recent murders of some local cab drivers and a coworker's wife have been a gut punch and punk slap reminder of the tragedy of violence.

[sarisataka]

7. I am rather fond of all my rights

and wish to keep them. Too many are already being infringed on in the name of national security.

We are repeatedly told how no one (well except for a few) want guns banned anyway. I like the 1st Amendment that gives them the right to say that, even the most extreme views. I want no change to the right of free speech.

Changing minds about the acceptability of violence may be even more difficult than regulating the hardware; yet to do nothing is not acceptable either.

[upaloopa]

9. There is no call to get rid of guns. This is not

reality.

[rdharma]

10. Bring on the 4th Amendment violating jack booted thugs! .........

I'm ready for 'em! And so is my cat!

[Warpy]

11. The Fourth has already been gutted thanks to

the stupid war on drugs plus the war against terrorism. You should have said goodbye to that one by the late 80s.

As for giving up civil liberties in order to curtail a bunch of loonies with weapons of mass murder, it's a preposterous idea.

Just make them get liability and theft insurance on those things. They'll get turned in by the truckload.

[Phillip McCleod]

13. no but i might be willing to give up the 2nd. \n

[La Lioness Priyanka]

14. did we do a sweep to remove ivory?

yet, how many homes own ivory any more?

[Avalux]

16. Good heavens. Your post is a bit extreme, isn't it?

No one is advocating for the confiscation of guns. Passing gun regulations must be done, and so must the way our culture views violence and weapons. Better yet - the way our culture values human life.

[zeeland]

17. I wouldn't negotiate my rights or be blackmailed

into forfeiting them.

[coldmountain]

18. At this point, almost anything to beat gun terror

What good's freedom if you're dead