No, not that kind. Although it is Albert Einstein's Birthday as well as "Pi Day", but if I was talking about those I'd have set the post to post at 9:26:53 TODAY, 3/14/15...
No, I've been thinking about the "relative" gun laws across the nation.
For example, Washington State has been "Shall Issue" for over 50 years; you go to the local Police Station or County Sheriff's office, get fingerprinted, pay your fees, and after a Federal background check, you get your permit. Sometimes you need to meet a particular schedule, as the fingerprinting is often done by volunteers. There have been some slight tweaks in the system over the years, but they have pretty much been to ensure consistency across the state, and to make the process easier.
People who live in a so-called "Constitutional Carry State", where all one needs to carry a gun is to be a law-abiding citizen who is legally allowed to have a gun, think this is an outrageous infringement on our rights.
OTOH, people who live in states with a "proof of training" requirement envy us.
And those who live in states with a specific training requirement envy them.
They, in turn, are envied by those who live in states that not only have a specific training requirement, but add an actual "qualify with your carry pistol, which is all you're allowed to carry" requirement.
And that seems downright generous when you loom at "may issue" states, where your ability to exercise your Right To Keep And Bear Arms is dependent on some bureaucrat deigning to allow you to do so. (In some cases, "May Issue" is de facto "Shall Issue", but in others it may be "Shall Issue With A $1000 Donation To My Re-Election Campaign", while in others it's "I Don't Care Who You Are, No Way!")
At the time of this writing, every state is either "Shall Issue" or "May Issue"... officially. The State of Hawaii has issued all of one concealed carry license, and has said "never more."
Then we have the entire issue (pun not intended) of reciprocity.Do other states recognize the permit you issue, and what, if any, state' permits does your state recognize? (Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps - USA Carry Not guaranteed to be up-to-date.) I'm going to ignore the entire question of whether the Federal Government mandating reciprocity supports the Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms, or violates States' Rights for now...
But...
What about other items? For years it was legal to own a suppressor ("silencer") in Washington State, but illegal to use one. Absurd. Made the entire process of filing for the $200 tax stamp to be allowed to ask my local Chief Law Enforcement Officer (Sheriff, Chief of Police) for permission to buy one pointless.
Now I can not only shoot gun with a suppressor on it, but I can also attach it to a rifle with a barrel less than 16" long, sixteen inches being the magic number that the BATFEIEIO pulled out of it's fourth point of contact Lo! these many decades ago.
Except that, now that Short Barreled Rifles are legal to own in WA, I still have to pay Uncle Sam $200 for a tax stamp to be allowed to ask my CLEO for permission to buy...
And forget a Short Barreled Shotgun1. Those are still evil and banned here.
(Yes, as an alternative to asking permission from The Man to be able to buy a health and safety device for my guns, or a rifle that is short enough to be more practical for home defense, I can establish a trust, and have the trust own them. The trust doesn't need to ask permission, it "merely" informs the CLEO that it has added to it's inventory. Except that there are indications that the bureaucrats are going after the "Trust Loophole".)2
Full-auto firearms are also Right Out here in the Evergreen State. Which may just as well, because when the Hughes Amendment got snuck into law3, and Uncle Sam banned new-manufacture of full-auto firearms from civilian ownership, the prices of the grandfathered firearms with a "happy switch" sky rocketed.
Anyway, I do envy those who live in areas where the purchase of a suppressor or SBR or SBS or FA is a matter of the CLEO rubber-stamping the paperwork.
Admittedly, I also envy them the budget for purchasing these things. Sure would like a Kriss Vector SBR with a can...
(This was going to be longer, but I decided I didn't want to Go There today...)
2. The definition of "loophole" being "Something that is legal but we don't like it."
3. And into the NRA Conspiracy Theory Hall Of Fame.
No, I've been thinking about the "relative" gun laws across the nation.
For example, Washington State has been "Shall Issue" for over 50 years; you go to the local Police Station or County Sheriff's office, get fingerprinted, pay your fees, and after a Federal background check, you get your permit. Sometimes you need to meet a particular schedule, as the fingerprinting is often done by volunteers. There have been some slight tweaks in the system over the years, but they have pretty much been to ensure consistency across the state, and to make the process easier.
People who live in a so-called "Constitutional Carry State", where all one needs to carry a gun is to be a law-abiding citizen who is legally allowed to have a gun, think this is an outrageous infringement on our rights.
OTOH, people who live in states with a "proof of training" requirement envy us.
And those who live in states with a specific training requirement envy them.
They, in turn, are envied by those who live in states that not only have a specific training requirement, but add an actual "qualify with your carry pistol, which is all you're allowed to carry" requirement.
And that seems downright generous when you loom at "may issue" states, where your ability to exercise your Right To Keep And Bear Arms is dependent on some bureaucrat deigning to allow you to do so. (In some cases, "May Issue" is de facto "Shall Issue", but in others it may be "Shall Issue With A $1000 Donation To My Re-Election Campaign", while in others it's "I Don't Care Who You Are, No Way!")
At the time of this writing, every state is either "Shall Issue" or "May Issue"... officially. The State of Hawaii has issued all of one concealed carry license, and has said "never more."
Then we have the entire issue (pun not intended) of reciprocity.Do other states recognize the permit you issue, and what, if any, state' permits does your state recognize? (Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps - USA Carry Not guaranteed to be up-to-date.) I'm going to ignore the entire question of whether the Federal Government mandating reciprocity supports the Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms, or violates States' Rights for now...
But...
What about other items? For years it was legal to own a suppressor ("silencer") in Washington State, but illegal to use one. Absurd. Made the entire process of filing for the $200 tax stamp to be allowed to ask my local Chief Law Enforcement Officer (Sheriff, Chief of Police) for permission to buy one pointless.
Now I can not only shoot gun with a suppressor on it, but I can also attach it to a rifle with a barrel less than 16" long, sixteen inches being the magic number that the BATFEIEIO pulled out of it's fourth point of contact Lo! these many decades ago.
Except that, now that Short Barreled Rifles are legal to own in WA, I still have to pay Uncle Sam $200 for a tax stamp to be allowed to ask my CLEO for permission to buy...
And forget a Short Barreled Shotgun1. Those are still evil and banned here.
(Yes, as an alternative to asking permission from The Man to be able to buy a health and safety device for my guns, or a rifle that is short enough to be more practical for home defense, I can establish a trust, and have the trust own them. The trust doesn't need to ask permission, it "merely" informs the CLEO that it has added to it's inventory. Except that there are indications that the bureaucrats are going after the "Trust Loophole".)2
Full-auto firearms are also Right Out here in the Evergreen State. Which may just as well, because when the Hughes Amendment got snuck into law3, and Uncle Sam banned new-manufacture of full-auto firearms from civilian ownership, the prices of the grandfathered firearms with a "happy switch" sky rocketed.
Anyway, I do envy those who live in areas where the purchase of a suppressor or SBR or SBS or FA is a matter of the CLEO rubber-stamping the paperwork.
Admittedly, I also envy them the budget for purchasing these things. Sure would like a Kriss Vector SBR with a can...
(This was going to be longer, but I decided I didn't want to Go There today...)
***
1. For some reason, the magic length for a shotgun barrel is 18 inches. I have never really heard any explanation for why rifles can be 16, but shotguns have to be 18. Or why there should be a limit on how short a "long gun" barrel can be at all.2. The definition of "loophole" being "Something that is legal but we don't like it."
3. And into the NRA Conspiracy Theory Hall Of Fame.
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