Posted by Nick at 12/01/08 08:42AM        Post ID#: #968

First, the "rest of the story" on the Marysville accident was that the father was drunk when it happened, a condition that has caused his arrest and subsequent prosecution - rightfully so. You also assume that safe gun handling is not taught to people who own guns - not so, but I wouldn't have a problem to require a basic gun course by qualified NRA, or some other instructors, with a certificate of passage prior to the issuance of a concealed carry permit. So too, has the media helped create misinformation by continuously referring to some rifles that are FULLY automatic, (illegal machine guns) as SEMI-automatic, which relates only to the self-loading, after firing, of a cartridge into the chamber making the gun ready to fire again, as differentiated by revolvers, which are also simply fired again by pulling the trigger. Most law enforcement use semi-automatic pistols for obvious reasons - they hold more rounds. Virtually ALL of the gun stores in Yakima sold out of every kind of semi-automatic rifle that even resembles a military style weapon, not because they are anything close to the same, but because their appearance is similar. The fear is that Obama will ban those as mis-categorized as "Assault Weapons". This is more disinformation passed on by the media that just because a weapon LOOKS like an "assault weapon", a term coined by the media for it's ominous sound, doesn't mean that it is anything like a real military weapon. I would like to see people who wish to do so, be encouraged by authorities to carry their weapons in the open, which is legal without any permit, by the way. At least, then, it will be more apparent to authorities as to who is armed and who is not.

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