One way to know if you're having a really bad day
Carla Axtman
You know you're having a really lousy day when you're quoted as saying, "All of a sudden the ceiling exploded".
Yowsa.
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Jul 15, '08
Talk about evidence of the need for gun control. This is example of just the sort of person we don't want armed!
10:35 a.m.
Jul 15, '08
Hey, maybe he's not so bad. What's the rest of the story?
Fairley was lodged in the Washington County jail on charges including being a felon in possession of a firearm, reckless endangering, failure to register as a sex offender, a parole violation and possession of marijuana and methamphetamine.
Uh, never mind.
11:10 a.m.
Jul 15, '08
Talk about evidence of the need for gun control. This is example of just the sort of person we don't want armed!
Every once in a while I have to admit to the grain of truth in a right-wing slogan. This is one of those times.
That story is certainly an example of the sort of person we don't want armed. I'm not sure how much use more gun control would be in accomplishing that. The guy's a felon. It's already illegal for him to have a gun. You might restrict assault rifles but you can explode a ceiling just as well with a .30-06.
Better person control seems to be in order in this case for sure.
Jul 15, '08
I would support a "progressive" tax on guns and ammunition with the proceeds being used to better educate the general population about firearm safety, to more aggressively pursue those who commit gun crimes, and to help out the victims of gun crime with their medical and property damage bills. The tax should be structured to least affect the genuine sportsmen with the steepest tax reserved for those who purchase military/paramilitary style of weaponry and ammunition...
Jul 15, '08
Maybe the question should be why was a sex offender and parole violater running free?
If he didn't have an outstanding warrant after failing to register & violating parole, maybe we should ask who screwed up?
It's illegal for a felon to have access to guns or ammunition. It's a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. How effective was that law? What new law would fix that or is there a more systemic problem with a justice system unable to track criminals?
3:10 p.m.
Jul 15, '08
Fascinating how the conversation just sort of takes off on its own....
Jul 15, '08
Fascinating how the conversation just sort of takes off on its own...
The recent SCOTUS 2nd Amendment case (like the FISA/Fourth Amendment Obama vote) lends itself to such a post. I don't suppose that more restrictive gun laws will pass constitutional muster. The current law disallowing felons the possession of firearms is in play in this case. One does have to wonder why Mr Fairley felt compelled to arm himself with an AK-47. It's not exactly the most inconspicuous choice in the world of firearms...
Jul 15, '08
Am I the only person who gets annoyed with lazy &/or incompetent reporting?
Why wasn't that guy in jail for violating parole and failure to register?
It didn't even occur to the journalists to report on fundamental facts of the story.
Pure laziness.
7:13 p.m.
Jul 15, '08
It would be interesting to follow out the roots of this case in terms of two common gun control / second amendment rights debate talking points.
On the gun rights side, as Doretta's and Lani's comments suggest (without presuming anything on their overall views), a common point is that existing gun laws need enforcement rather than more laws being needed. In this case there is a retrospective question, along the lines Lani raises, but extended to include how he came to get this gun. And there is a prospective question: will he be prosecuted vigorously over his violation of gun laws regarding a gun which he does not have a right to own in distinction from non-felons (I will come back to the specific gun).
On the gun control side, if we pursue the antecedent question, how did someone with his record come to acquire this gun, where would it lead?
Would that be some plainly illegal arms dealer who should also be prosecuted in the view of Second Amendment advocates?
Was there an identifiable failure of enforcement of extant laws that might have prevented his acquiring the gun? E.g. did this guy acquire the gun legally and register it before his conviction, and have that fact fall through the cracks?
Could it potentially be a "gun show" case, where requirements to which many Second Amendment advocates object, that sellers be required to conduct background checks, either did not exist, or were not acted upon, and if they had been, might have prevented this guy from getting the gun, an inter alia might have led to his capture on his other offenses?
This last possibility is purely hypothetical, and as my framing indicates, I am ignorant of the legal details governing "gun shows," which I also believe may vary by state, but again am not sure.
One of the complexities of the gun rights / gun control debates for me is that gun rights advocates simultaneously advocate enforcing existing laws, and also repealing some of them. Possibly they also do not all agree on which extant laws should be repealed or overturned by courts.
12:30 a.m.
Jul 16, '08
... a common point is that existing gun laws need enforcement rather than more laws being needed.
Of course, those two things are not mutually exclusive. It's possible that existing laws need enforcement and more laws are needed.
It seems self-evident that if you don't intend to enforce them, new laws will be of limited utility and people might justifiably be skeptical of intent to enforce new laws with old ones going unenforced.
You might enforce new laws more assiduously than old ones because you think they will be more effective in solving problems but it's hard to believe that kind of logic would apply to keeping guns out of the hands of felons--an approach that appears to be widely supported even by gun rights advocates.
12:42 a.m.
Jul 16, '08
Fascinating how the conversation just sort of takes off on its own....
Uh, as opposed to what?
Conversations that follow an outline?
Conversations requiring a script and a teleprompter?
Carla, do you need to back slowly away from your keyboard? :-)
7:46 a.m.
Jul 16, '08
LOL..perhaps I do, Doretta.
What I meant by that is...I didn't forsee the conversation going this route. I find it fascinating that people just pick up on whatever moves them and go...and that others willingly follow.
Just observing.....
10:11 a.m.
Jul 16, '08
One reason you see a lot of AKs and their clones like the chinese SKS, is that they're dirt cheap. They use standard 7.62 NATO ammunition, one of the most common in the world. They're extremely simple to maintain and operate and there are millions of 'em out there all over the world.
It's the Model T of guns.......Back when I was a kid, the then Model T of guns wasa bolt action WWI vintage "russian rifle" which could be purchased at the $.88 store for $8.88.
<hr/>Guess that's progress.....
Jul 16, '08
"Fairley was lodged in the Washington County jail on charges including being a felon in possession of a firearm, reckless endangering, failure to register as a sex offender, a parole violation and possession of marijuana and methamphetamine."
On a, well, perhaps distantly related note, The Oregonian on Wednesday notes that the cop who shot the (deranged?) Irish fellow in Silverton is now in custody on charges of sexual abuse of a minor. Makes me wonder about the connection between the seductive appeal of guns (all that power) and exerting sexual power over another....
10:58 a.m.
Jul 16, '08
Every once in a while I have to admit to the grain of truth in a right-wing slogan.
Do you mean this one? "Guns don't kill people; people kill people."
That one is weird to me, because people DO kill people ... with GUNS. If they had to use a knife, at least they'd have to have the courage to get close enough to put themselves at risk as well. A gun is a great tool for a coward.
I started shooting guns I was a child (farming roots ... long story). But we learned at a young age to respect a gun and use it responsibly. It's sort of like wine for the Europeans ... teach people to use it in moderation ad they won't go shooting holes in their neighbor's ceiling.
This yahoo violated the rule of "Treat every gun as if it were loaded and ready to fire." He also seems to continually violate the rule of "Don't be a #$% #$%^."
Jul 16, '08
What about the fact that Parole and Probation has seen some huge cuts in their budget over the last 10 to 15 yers than many other departments. If we had adequately staffed community supervision would it have been as easy for this guy to slip through the system?
1:18 p.m.
Jul 16, '08
The other night I was listening to the BBC on OPB, and there was a discussion going on about a recent government effort at youth interventions and knife control, in light of an apparent rash of knife violence among youth gangs.
The fact remains that the murder rate in the U.K. is phenomenally lower than in the U.S., & it's harder to kill someone with weapons that require close personal engagement and easier to fight back or escape -- which is why 2nd Amendment advocates who argue for guns as a check on overweaning power don't say it doesn't matter if "they" take away the guns, because resistance with knives would do just as well. It wouldn't.
1:20 p.m.
Jul 16, '08
Carla, what direction did you think it would go? It's not too late to suggest another.
I'm trying to think of other examples of ways to know you're having a bad day ...
1:56 p.m.
Jul 16, '08
That should be "overweaning government power."
Jul 16, '08
Gun control is one of those distract and deflect issues used so effectively by the rightwing to disengage people from Democratic candidates.
Instead of focusing on areas of agreement, almost every conversation ends up with a Pro-gun versus Anti-gun stance. There aren't any "Progunners" proposing we have the right to carry nuclear weapons and there are very few "Antigunners" who want to disarm the entire law-abiding public.
Overall crime is down in this country by a sizeable margin in the last 40 years. The recent SMALL rise in suicides and crimes since 2003 is due to the ECONOMY.
When we look at total mortality figures from the CDC we see the leading causes of death aren't homicide in any form. Instead it's heart disease (653K), cancer(560K), stroke(143K), respiratory disease 130K), accidents (117K), diabetes (75K), Alzheimer's (71K), influenza/Pneumonia (63K), kidney failure(43K), and septicemia (34K). Firearms are way down the list (11K)
EVERY DAY 7,000 homes are foreclosed.
Every month 110,000 new people enter the job market but job creation hasn't supported that growth for the past five years.
Inflation is out of control while wages are declining.
Why focus on guns? Why do you want to insult gun owners?
The gun magazines are having a field day telling their people that Obama will confiscate their weapons and McCain is their savior. Why? McCain has a worse record on gun control than Obama but McCain is willing to pander and lie louder and longer than anyone else.
When you insult or talk down to gun owners or hunters, you alienate voters you need. You're playing the Republican's game instead of focusing on the environment, the economy, and Iraq.
Jul 16, '08
I understand Carla's point about where the topic went. Outside the gun=red flag, it could have been a lighthearted listing like:
You know you're having a bad day when....
--The kids are ready to leave on time, you've loaded everyone into the car for daycare and summer school only to discover that your tire's flat.
--You step out of bed in your bare feet onto something squishy and warm left by one of your pets.
--The revenue department from a state you've never visited leaves a message asking about taxes for a job you never had.
--Your daughter calls from the police station.
--You call 9-1-1 and they put you on hold.
--It costs more to fill your car with gas than it's worth.
--You go to cash a payroll check and discover your employer's name on a list posted of companies whose checks they won't accept.
--You realize you've got two different colored socks on and an important client realized it before you did.
10:50 p.m.
Jul 16, '08
--It costs more to fill your car with gas than it's worth.
<h2>That's way too close to the truth to be funny.</h2>