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Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
Gun Control Act of 1968 - Prohibited Persons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Basically, the government restricts the ownership of firearms based on certain criteria. I'm not sure the framers would have wanted that, which is why I asked. "Shall not be infringed," and all that. I ask because if we can agree that it's appropriate to bar certain categories of people from owning firearms (not sure you agree with this), then why not restrict the interstate sale of arms privately as well if we can see the benefit?
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To see the logical progression of why the government implemented 'restrictions', one needs to look at prohibition. Moon shiners and runners found it easy to acquire automatic weapons, so the government tried to find a way to limit that. The 2nd Amendment prohibited them from banning guns, but a new interpretation of the commerce clause could let them tax certain guns. Ostensibly, it was thought that if certain guns became cost prohibitive, Less of them would be bought and sold. Prohibiting classes of people, like felons, from owning firearms hasn't really achieved the desired result. It's part of the reason why I feel that if you can't be trusted with a gun, then you shouldn't be out of prison. If you're out, you should have all of your rights restored to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
The act was implemented to regulate the interstate commerce of firearms. Would it not be relatively powerless if you had an interstate "loophole" regarding private sales?
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The framers wrote the commerce clause to prevent the states engaging in economic wars against each other. It was never intended to regulate private individuals in their personal affairs.
---------- Post added at 02:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 PM ----------
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Originally Posted by Willravel
I don't think you'll get any arguments against the failure of the drug war, samcol.
What do you think about ways to prevent guns from getting into the hands of criminals? What do you think can be done to deal with straw purchases and corrupt at-home dealers without violating the Second Amendment?
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keep criminals in prison if they can't be trusted to operate within society on a lawful basis.