Dude, those gangs in Chicago do not possess those guns legally in the first place. Government could go in right now and disarm them...if that's what government wanted to do. In fact, all these gun laws we currently have rarely get enforced against the criminal element. Biden's son was in possession while admittedly using crack...that's a Federal offense. I don't know whether to commend you for your elevated view of humanity or shake my head at your naivete. (Actually, I do.)
Government is corrupt. Maximum freedom from it and less regulation is imperfect yet optimum. Jobs have not been "moved overseas," they were roundly rejected when the Service Economy took off and people wanted "real jobs" where they wore nice clothes, sat at a desk and worked in an air-conditioned office. There are constantly about 500,000 manufacturing jobs open in this country at any given point in time (according to the National Association of Manufacturers), but government schools are graduating idiots who can neither read nor write, so they cannot pass basic entry level math & language tests to qualify for those jobs. Heck, there are stories of high schools handing out diplomas to kids who hardly every show up and never take an exam (and receive the lowest passing grade rather than a Zero.) If you brought back those jobs tomorrow, there is no one to fill them. Look around you today. How many Help Wanted signs are posted? Plus, the low cost of foreign goods has elevated the lifestyles of even the poorest. Things are working, just not the way all of us want them to. Regarding wages: you cannot universally elevate wages and concurrently elevate lifestyles...it is a Zero Sum Game. And wages are not being repressed: I started making $1.80 an hour, spent time in the library to study for a targeted employer's Entrance Exam, got the job, then went to night classes AND did other self-study specific to my profession. As things changed I learned other skills and obtained other certifications. I made well into the 6 figures by the time I retired (and had suffered layoffs and such along the way)...no one repressed my wages. I was surrounded by people who made a lot more money than I did...no one repressed their wages, either. But their skills and knowledge earned those wages...anyone can restock a store's shelves or flip burgers (I've done it.) The REAL wage repressor is govenrment, who permits hoards of skilled and unskilled workers into this nation. Politicians open that faucet real wide...and it's been opened much much wider since January. That's not corporations doing it. Ben Carson speaks of spending time in the libraries to get where he was. Those places were damned near empty because no one else was there. He sets an example for success but gets called racist names for his success (as does Justice Thomas) that I shall not repeat here, while there are statues erected for men with rap sheets a mile long and "organizers" live in gated mansions for dong nothing but furthering the misery that puts money in their pockets. There is repression, but it's 99.9999% from the apologists and those who benefit from denigrating the hard work that brings success. These are the people who think that McDonalds employees should get paid enough to raise families. The message is clear: "Don't do better. You cannot. This is as good as you can do. Don't even try." Since when has that been the path to a successful life? You can do better. You can have more. But it's never just been handed to you. It can't be. No one will buy a $25 burger so you can have the privilege of stagnating in your life. And not everyone succeeds (the definition of being a successful person is the subject of another diatribe.) That's reality. But everyone should do as good as they can. Regarding tax evasion: there is no "evasion" if taxpayers (individuals and corporations) are following the laws. Those laws are put into place by the corrupt politicians who enrich themselves while in office. There is no such thing as a "loophole", there are just laws that target the highest bidder. The less they are involved in our lives, the better off we all are. This is foundational to our freedoms. Our founders knew that power corrupts. This is why immigrants have always wanted to come here...maximum freedom from government. Regarding the second amendment: I agree that it is a political dog whistle that is used to play us...just like abortion. And who is using those issues (and useless masks) to turn us against each other??? It ain't corporations.
Today everyone is an expert. On everything. Whether we’re talking about gangs, guns, drugs, the government, how corrupt it is, or most anything else, we are all know it alls. And many of us are drug addicts. Our country supports three or four Mexican drug cartels, drugs from Peru, and countries around the world. Who uses all these drugs shipped into the country. Most of these are small business enterprises, street dealers buying a few to resell. Most I’ve seen using is lawyers at parties, accountants, business managers, artists, people who have a little money to throw around. We’re all experts and yet we can’t agree on what time it ought to be or much else. I think we have too many guns. I think we have misinterpreted the second amendment. We need hunting squids to replace private hunting, Like forest fire units that have the ability to move around, have certain areas to protect and control animal population, donate what they kill to the poor, or to institutions.. We all complain. Lets fix it and starts with guns.
More Guns = Less Crime That is an undisputable fact, not an opinion. Do your research (rate of gun ownership/FBI crime stats) and then we can talk.
That and the fact that gun ownership rose HUGE when people were worried about Obama enforcing some sort of gun control. Gun violence then went down big time. If a Conservative does not like guns, he does not have one. If a Liberal does not like guns, no one else can have one.
As I understand it, the Second Amendment was written to allow citizens to protect themselves from both criminals and the government. If you read Condoleezza Rice's testimony about the only ting during her childhood that kept the KKK away from her door was her father sitting on the porch with a loaded 12-gauge. Otherwise, according to her, they would have been harassed and perhaps lynched. With a few exceptions, there were no police in the U.S. until the late 19th century. Each citizen was expected to protect their families and property with their own weapons.
I own a weapon because bad guys have weapons. Even if every law abiding citizen in the country handed over their firearms due to some mandate, the bad guys will still have guns. Following a basic rant and vein, the criminals who openly wreck, burn, steal and kill aren’t being prosecuted but I find that an amazing amount of basically innocent people such as those who just walked into the Capital on Jan. 6th having the book thrown at them. Now, as long as the law doesn’t prosecute the bad guys to the full extent of the law then I will possess a way to protect my wife, myself and my abode. If a criminal has a stick, I have a stick. If a criminal has a knife, I have a bigger one and if a criminal has something that goes bang, I have one that goes boom. I know how to handle a stick, a knife and things that go boom and am not hesitant nor afraid to use them. Simple. If ya don’t like the fact that I’m armed, stay away from my wife, myself and my abode.
Actually, anyone who feels that way can move to places where no one is legally allowed to be armed. There are a few of them in this country. I bet real estate is cheap.
I once read an article on the number of gun law violations that have been incurred during the commission of other crimes, with none of them being prosecuted. The number is staggering. Democrats are enemies of the all that is good. They pass laws solely to crucify honest citizens they dislike who present a threat to no one ("Jim Crow" with the target du jour) while giving criminals a pass. My governor specifically said he was going to do this. And I believe that being prohibited from possessing (not owning) a gun with a felony on your record is a Federal law, not a state one. In fact, the restriction might be "have access to," which can get an innocent gun owner in trouble for having a felon in their home, whether they knew the guy was a felon or not.
"People with guns make the rules, people without guns do not. People with guns talk, people without guns shut up." Denis Leary in "The Ref." The second amendment has nothing to do with hunting, etc. It is clearly written to allow citizens to have guns to form a militia against enemies foreign and DOMESTIC. One can argue that it was written before we had a military, so now with a military, it is void but then the fact that the military is government-controlled and can become corrupt, an armed peoples militia becomes more necessary and constitutional. However, if the government wants to eliminate certain people, they have weapons available to them such as drones and could wipe them out, or just make a call to Hillary whichever is more expedient.
When the credentialed experts are liars, propagandists, and agenda-pushers, we have to become experts.
We've gone full circle. Today, the police exist to enforce laws after the fact, and are under no obligation to serve and protect.