perfidy

Columbus (Ohio) has finally made a stand against freedom haters, terrorists, drug thugs, indecency, communists, and people who don't celebrate diversity as enthusiastically as they ought.

Columbus has taken a stand against the scourge of our times. Columbus has finally acted. Columbus is doing something. Columbus has outlawed...[jarring chord] assault weapons!

The federal assault weapons ban (AWB) was allowed to go away last year but several states, including the cradle of liberty Massachusetts, have passed state laws that mirror the AWB's provisions, thereby ensuring continued inconvenience, price gouging, and suspicion of lawful gun owners.

Characteristic of lawmakers who concern themselves with firearms legislation, the Columbus City Council doesn't have a fucking clue, especially if this dude is their best source of information:

The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence (OCAGV) provided support for the ordinance and testified in the public hearings. Toby Hoover, Executive Director of OCAGV, congratulated the City on its progressive action to make Columbus a safer place to live and raise families.

Said Hoover, "Assault weapons are semi-automatic guns that are made to spray fire a high volume of bullets. Assault weapons are not hunting guns. They are people killers and we should never forget that we are talking about people, both victims and survivors. These guns are an assault on us all and we congratulate Columbus for regulating them."

Where to begin?

-There is no semi-automatic weapon on planet Earth that will "spray" anything. "Semi-automatic" means one pull of the trigger, one bullet goes downrange. No different in action from about a gazillion types of hunting rifles, target rifles, and yes, military issue rifles.

-What is a "high-volume of bullets"? You know, the ones being sprayed about willy-nilly? Probably more than 10 in a magazine, which is a characteristic number in these situations. In MA, for example, 11 is bad. Ten rounds in your rifle is fine, but 11 makes it the Devil's Tool. If seombody could explain that to me, I'd surely appreciate it.

-"Assault weapons are not hunting guns". Well, you'd first need to explain precisely what an assault weapon is, which you've not done satisfactorily yet. And guess what? Military rifles are oftentimes underpowered compared to hunting rifles. Read about it on your own; stats and discussion are easy to find. If beefier military rounds make you jumpy, guess what? They're all sporter rounds: all your flavors of .30 caliber (.30, .308, 30-30, 30-06) originated in military use and are still in use around the world. But if powerful weapons and powerful cartridges are the real problem, as this quote and associated line of thinking suggest, we'd be better off banning hunting rifles and sporter rounds like the 7mm Remington.

So which is it? Do we outlaw sport ammo or military ammo? 'Cause it's oftentimes the same thing.

-"They [assault weapons] are people killers". So are the hunting guns you suggest are OK to live with in society. So are the bricks on your patio. So's your car. Everything's a "people killer". Either you learn to live in our world, or you get yourself a helmet and never leave your bunker.

-"We congratulate Columbus on regulating them". Um, yeah...guns are already regulated. If you are refering to full-auto weapons, which I think you are when you talk about "spraying", they have been minutely regulated for years. You need special licensure, huge fees, probable legal hassles, and the BATF looking up your ass for the rest of your natural life, which is more regulation than any American ought to put up with.

But alas, foolishness rarely exists in a vacuum. Consider:

Sue Ann Schiff, Executive Director of Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV), agreed: "Assault weapons are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently. The Columbus ordinance is directed to military-style weapons designed for rapid spray firing, not to standard sporting firearms."

Isn't any weapon conceivably a "military-style" one? And anyway, if it's style you're about, the military ain't the place to go for it.

Ms. Schiff, assault weapons- whatever those are- are not designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently. If you're talking about military-issue weapons, they are designed to throw a regulation cartridge a regulation distance consistently, take alot of abuse, be simple to maintain and operate, and be lightweight. I don't even know what "rapid spray firing" is, but American military rifles haven't had a full-auto capacity in about 20 years. And killing quickly and efficiently comes from training- marksmanship, trigger control, breathing control, shot placement, fieldcraft; otherwise, we'd just let the weapons loose to fight for us.

And again, "standard sporting firearms" are oftentimes much more powerful in terms of range, munition, and accuracy than any military issue rifle. Those are ok though, right?

Look, I care about certain aspects of gun stuff, so I read about it, and can speak as a learned amateur on some of those topics. I recognize alot of people don't care though, and my topic and tone will sound overwrought and nitpicky. That's fine, really.

But this bit doesn't even pass the common sense test:

The Columbus ordinance bans the possession and transfer of assault weapons while continuing to allow the use of the weapons at licensed shooting ranges and in officially sanctioned competitive shooting events. Individuals who lawfully owned and possessed assault weapons before the ordinance's effective date may keep their weapons but have 90 days to register them with local authorities.

Ooookaaaayyy...

So the same people, who still own the same weapons, can continue to do the same activities with them now as before the ban, but have to tell the state government they own them.

If the weapons were already "lawfully owned and possessed", what's the real problem?