U.S. should follow Canadian example of tougher gun registration [View All]

[jpak]

http://www.news-press.com/article/20110221/OPINION/102210323/1015/opinion/U-S-should-follow-Canadian-example-tougher-gun-registration

Taking on the gun lobby is an exercise in futility. No politician - Democrat or Republican - will risk having the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) campaign against them at election time. It would have been a losing battle especially in the face of the 2008 Supreme Court 5-4 majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller which held that the second amendment was not limited to a "well regulated Militia" but secures an individual's right to own firearms.

In Florida, as in the rest of the nation, most gun shootings and homicides take place in urban areas, in domestic disputes or where those involved in the shootings know each other. Still the fear of crime or assault is real so Florida, along with most states, enacted a CCW (carrying concealed weapon) law. While requirements vary in different jurisdictions, Lee County requires a background check, fingerprints, the registration of the weapon and a written test. Currently, about a million Floridians have CCW permits.

Now, state Senator Greg Evans, a strong NRA supporter, wants to take it a step further and has submitted a bill that would permit "open carry" of weapons. Since many other states permit "open carry", there is a strong likelihood that the legislation will be approved this spring, along with additional legislation prohibiting any of the state's 67 counties from passing their own gun regulations such as banning "open carry".

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott, sharing the opinion of the vast majority of the state's sheriffs, stated, "Allowing people to carry pistols in their holsters, like the old Wild West days, is dead wrong. It will result in more shootings and make our deputies' job more difficult and more dangerous". The sheriff, reacting to a recent school board shooting in Florida, lamented the fact that, "The time is not far away when all our public meetings will require metal detectors and armed guards to protect officials from a mentally unbalanced individual with a gun."

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