Ah, the second amendment. The bane of progressive and safety-cautious politicos everywhere. It has for some time now become the third rail for otherwise reasonable, pro-gun control politicians who, due to very effective framing and marketing, wouldn't dare be perceived as such. Today, on my morning drive to drop my wife off at the train station, I heard some rather disturbing news coming out of the VA House of Delegates, that the Dem-controlled state senate has an opportunity to shoot down, but probably won't. More after the jump...
The following quote is from a story available at RDMag (link below). It truly is a frightening prospect, especially for us in the DC-area, where crime and gang violence is much more of a problem than anywhere else in the state. And it's a sign of what we could expect from a Congress run by this version of the Republican party (emphasis added):
Bills to loosen the state's gun laws...passed during a few frenzied hours on the General Assembly's midpoint deadline Tuesday.
The gun-friendly House of Delegates passed the broadest bundle of pro-gun legislation in years. About 20 bills passed, including measures to repeal Virginia's ban on buying more than one gun a month, allow guns to be taken into bars, emergency shelters and locked in cars, and make it easier to get a concealed handgun permit.
"This is clearly the most dangerous loosening of many, many regulations on gun possession that I can remember," said Del. James M. Scott, D-Fairfax, who has been a legislator for 18 years.
Awful. Just awful. We need to frame gun laws in terms of morals, ethics, and values. This is what happens when ultra-right wing nutjobs run a state legislature. This is what we would have to look forward to if there are significant gains by Repubs in either house of Congress. It's the reason why we have to get re-energized, and get people to understand just how disastrous it would be to have a 1994-type catastrophe happen again. It would be worse than before. Much, much worse. And the coup de grace:
Scott said he hoped many of the proposals would be killed in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats but often votes in favor of pro-gun bills. On Tuesday, senators voted 22-18 to pass the bill to allow concealed handguns in restaurants that serve alcohol as long as the gun owner doesn't drink.
Wonderful. Good luck enforcing that. I truly fear for my adopted state, I fear for this country, and as I look forward to an upcoming addition to the family, I am fearful for what the next generation will have to contend with. This is a sad development, an unpalatable degradation of our morals, and proof that we have probably forever lost the seemingly unending gun debate.