NY Times Editorial: A Parting Shot From George Allen

[billbuckhead]

Editorial
A Parting Shot From George Allen

Published: November 22, 2006

As a last little gift to America, Senator George Allen, who was narrowly defeated by James Webb this month, has introduced what may be his final piece of legislation: a bill that would allow the carrying of concealed weapons in national parks. The argument behind the bill is that national park regulations unfairly strip many Americans of a right they may enjoy outside the parks. The bill has passed to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, where we hope it will die the miserable death it deserves.

America’s confusion about the Second Amendment is now nearly total. An amendment that ensures a collective right to bear arms has been misread in one legislature after another — often in the face of strong public disapproval — as a law guaranteeing an individual’s right to carry a weapon in public. And, in a perversion of monumental proportions, the battle to extend that right has largely succeeded in co-opting the language of the Civil Rights movement, so that depriving an American of the right to carry a gun in public sounds, to some, as offensive as stripping him of the right to vote. Senator Allen’s bill is, of course, being cheered by the gun lobby, which sees it not as an assault on public safety but as a way of nationalizing the armed paranoia that the National Rifle Association and its cohorts stand for.
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<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/22/opinion/22wed4.html?ex=1321851600&en=0fe0bdcbd6ad0ed2&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss>

Another lowlife gun pimp polluting America's commons.

[tridim]

So he's admitting that gun nuts "enjoy" carrying their pieces?

I thought concealed weapons were supposed to be tools for personal protection, not something you're supposed to get off on.

[Captain Hilts]

1. What a total jerk. nt

[benEzra]

2. Senator Webb would probably support that as well, bill...

and FYI, here is the process for getting a carry license here in NC.

you must first undergo state-mandated training on NC firearms law and self-defense law. At the end of the class, you must demonstrate that you understand the law, and must also demonstrate proficiency on a shooting range. You then take your paperwork to your local law enforcement agency (county sheriff's office, for me), where you are fingerprinted by a deputy, provide proof of residency and approved ID, fill out additional forms, and pay some fairly hefty fees. The law enforcement agency sends your prints to the FBI for a fingerprint check, and also runs a state and Federal background check. They give you an additional form to take to the mental health records office, who run a mental health records check. Then you go home and wait for several weeks to a month or two. If you are approved, your license will be issued.

You are responsible to keep your current address on file with your local law enforcement agency, and your handgun carry license is indexed to your driver's license and motor vehicle registration in the state's computers. You have to inform any law enforcement officer you encounter that you are a license holder (every single one I've ever encountered has been very positive about it, presumably since holding a current CHL means I'm an FBI-certified, squeaky clean Good Guy), and you can have your license revoked at any time for even the most minor violations (e.g., carrying in a restaurant that you don't know serves alcohol, or failing to inform a police officer you encounter that you are licensed to carry and have a firearm).

IMHO, people who go through that, and pass, are NOT the type of people to do something illegal with a gun.

[billbuckhead]

3. Let's see if he does, ben

This would be a good way for Webb to distinguish himself from the evil Allen.

[w4rma]

4. Webb will never see the bill. It looks like the Repugs will kill it before Webb takes office. (nt)