... on what constitutes a "qualified" carrier. Virginia's training standard amounts to knowing which end the bang comes out of, and don't point that end where you don't want a hole. I'm perfectly ok with that. I used my Army discharge as proof-of-training. Note that the level of firearms competency in the Army 30 years ago (just post Vietnam), was pretty abysmal. Incidentally, the only reason I need the permit, is to conceal the gun. VA has "cowboy carry", openly, without a permit.
My problem with "Licensed-and-qualified" is the same one that most liberals have with literacy tests, for voting. During the Jim Crow era, a black man went to vote. The election judge handed him a newspaper, and he read it. The election judge then handed him a philosopy text, and he read it. Finally, the election judge handed him another newspaper -- in Chinese. The black voter said, "Oh, I know what this says!"
Flabbergasted, the election judge responded, "You do?"
"Yep. It says, 'This is one n****r that ain't gonna vote.'"
New York and New Jersey, for example, deliberately make the process of acquiring a gun license so onerous, that most people don't consider it worth the effort to get a gun. If you ask one of their government people, they'll freely admit that it's deliberately designed that way.
On the sawed-off shotgun thing, you still have to aim. My bedroom gun is a twelve-gauge with an 18-1/2" (1/2" over legal minimum) barrel. Believe me -- you have to aim. Spread on it is about 3 feet at 15 yards.
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We may also differ...
Date: 2007-04-19 02:44 pm (UTC)My problem with "Licensed-and-qualified" is the same one that most liberals have with literacy tests, for voting. During the Jim Crow era, a black man went to vote. The election judge handed him a newspaper, and he read it. The election judge then handed him a philosopy text, and he read it. Finally, the election judge handed him another newspaper -- in Chinese. The black voter said,
"Oh, I know what this says!"
Flabbergasted, the election judge responded,
"You do?"
"Yep. It says, 'This is one n****r that ain't gonna vote.'"
New York and New Jersey, for example, deliberately make the process of acquiring a gun license so onerous, that most people don't consider it worth the effort to get a gun. If you ask one of their government people, they'll freely admit that it's deliberately designed that way.
On the sawed-off shotgun thing, you still have to aim. My bedroom gun is a twelve-gauge with an 18-1/2" (1/2" over legal minimum) barrel. Believe me -- you have to aim. Spread on it is about 3 feet at 15 yards.