Science fiction passes for “sensible” gun control measures

It was bad enough with all this micro-stamping nonsense but now we have to enter the realm of Judge Dredd?

To refresh your memory micro-stamping was the flawed technology that was supposed to imprint a micro-print on every shell casing of every round of ammunition fired. I say flawed because legislation was passed before the technology was ever possible let alone feasible.

Think about it, all a person would have to do to get around the micro-print at the end of the firing pin is to grind it off. A process that naturally occurs after the first few dozen shots anyways. Or, even if THAT weren’t the case criminals (if they couldn’t get stolen guns) would simply start using revolvers and police their own brass.

The goal of micro-stamping legislation was not to actually use it to solve crimes but rather to bankrupt gun manufacturers by forcing them to expend copious amounts of money on technology that doesn’t work. In California where micro-stamping was enacted, gun manufacturers Smith & Wesson along with Ruger have actually given the gun controllers what they wanted by no longer selling their wares to that state. The losers? The people of California.

Now, not satisfied with the farce that is micro-stamping, US Senator from Massachusetts (surprise surprise) Ed Markey is pushing a federal mandate for technology that he probably first saw in a Judge Dredd movie.

You see, in both Judge Dredd movies if a person other than the authorized Judge tried to use the firearm the gun would explode and kill the criminal.

Now Markey isn’t calling for exploding pistols but rather have other personalized features such as finger print recognition. Markey tries to cover his blatant attempt at an overreaching gun control measure by enacting rhetoric, releasing the following statement:

“In the 21st century, we should use advances in technology to our own advantage and save lives, and the [bill] will help ensure that only authorized users can operate handguns. This is the type of gun safety legislation that everyone – regardless of political party or affiliation – should be able to support.”

First of all, back in 1989 I was promised a hover board by the makers of Back to the Future 2. Still waiting on that. And the hover board would be a MUCH better use of Congress’s effort rather than this thinly veiled attempt to once again bankrupt gun manufacturers by forcing pointless and technologically impractical additions onto their firearms.

And lets disregard my political affiliation for a moment and talk about why I DON’T support his so called “gun safety” legislation.

What does the fingerprint scanner run on? Batteries? So in the moment my life hangs in the balance I need to hope that I have enough juice left in the tank to take my shot?

What if I’ve been injured, either shot or stabbed and my fingers are covered in blood, dirt or sweat, will the fingerprint scanner be able to read my prints so that I can stop being murdered?

What if the conditions are perfect, my hands are clean and dry and the scanner just won’t work? I mean, my cell phone touch pad has gone on the fritz before.

What if someone invades a house and the gun owner is taken down but their daughter needs the gun in order to stop herself from being raped and murdered? Who exactly is this fingerprint scanner keeping safe at this point?

These are questions that Sen. Markey can’t answer because he is either too ignorant to have thought of them or too conniving and weaselly to let a little thing like innocent people dying to hold up his plan to destroy the 2nd Amendment by bankrupting gun makers with legislation that is either impracticable or downright impossible. Science fiction does not always become science fact.

Any legislation that requires technology meant to drive gun makers out of business and holds no practical safety benefit for it’s users must NOT be tolerated.

Else we will find ourselves with the only guns at our disposal the ones we read in books like Starship Troopers and Ender’s Game.

Then again, for gun controllers like Markey, that would suit them just fine. I’ve no doubt this legislation, much like the SAFE Act of New York, would EXEMPT those who keep people like Markey and politicians like him safe. How convenient.

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