Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke tackles the touchy subject of gun control.
As a responsible gun owner, I am a
staunch supporter of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. If an
intruder comes into my home, you better believe I will defend my wife
and son by any means necessary, including using Florida's "stand
your ground" law. But we can't let the Republican Party and the
NRA keep winning gun control battles in the wake of tragedies like
the Aurora killings and Sikh temple massacre.
Bill Clinton did the right thing when he banned assault rifles during his Presidency. But then George W Bush caved in to his party and got rid of the ban when he became commander in chief.
I really don't understand people who oppose stricter requirements for obtaining a firearm. These are the same folks who believe in communist ideals such as gay-marriage bans and denying a woman's right to have an abortion. They care more about their ideology than the good of the republic.
Current gun laws certainly aren't stopping ruthless convicts from murdering innocents in inner-city communities such as Liberty City, Opa-locka, and Miami Gardens. Getting guns is nothing like you'd think from shows such as Sons of Anarchy, where arms-dealing motorcycle gangs and Mexican cartels sell weapons to African-American bangers. It's a lot less complicated.
Instead, straw buyers with no felony convictions purchase the guns that end up in the hands of criminals terrorizing Miami-Dade public housing projects such as Pork 'n' Beans in Liberty City. It could be the criminal's baby mama. It could be a drug dealer's cousin who moved out of the hood. Or it could be a crackhead junkie who has yet to be tagged with a coke conviction.
The straw buyer hands the weapon to the felon and later reports it stolen. Law enforcement agencies need to focus resources on investigating people who make these false reports. If a guy has reported 12 stolen guns, you should know something is wrong.
We should treat anybody who wants to buy a gun the same way Gov. Rick Scott treats welfare recipients. Potential gun owners should be required to pee in a cup to find out what kind of illegal and legal substances they are on. Someone who is popping antidepressants or snorting cocaine cannot be trusted with a gun. Once they've passed their drug test, they should have to submit themselves for a mental analysis.
These measures will go a long way to preventing more crazy gunmen from murdering students on college campuses, assassinating innocent people sitting inside a movie theater, targeting Democratic congresspeople like Arizona's Gabrielle Gifford, and killing Sikhs worshiping in a temple.
Follow Luke on Twitter @unclelukereal1.
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