The Gun Thing

President Obama unveiled his gun control proposals today and I'm cautiously pleased. It's a mixed bag- but there are some fairly sensible things being proposed that I don't hate. A little taste from Huff Post:

— A focus on universal background checks. Right now some 40 percent of gun sales take place without background checks, including by private sellers at gun shows or over the Internet, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

— A ban on assault weapons and limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds or fewer.

— A federal statute to stop "straw man" purchases of guns and crack down on trafficking rings.

— More anti-bullying efforts; more training for teachers, counselors and principals; and funding for schools for more counselors and resource officers.

Closing the gun show loophole is something I'd support. Though, it's worth noting that never having purchased a firearm, I have no idea what the current process is. Reading the Conservative interwebbles, it seems that it's kind of a pain in the ass to buy a gun already but I've never actually tested that myself/no idea how on the level these complaints are. Plus, I don't have $500-$600 in disposable income just laying around to buy a Glock. (If I ever do it might be interesting to find out just what the process is. Because I get the sensation that the media talks out of its ass pretty much most of the time when it comes to guns and gun control.)

Tightening federal trafficking laws is eminently sensible- it might even approach what could surprisingly be called, 'good public policy.'

What I'm dubious about is the assault weapons ban and the magazine limits. The last assault weapons ban was worse than useless. It's doubtful a meaningful one gets through Congress and if one does, it'll be a watered down cosmetic version of the last one. Magazine limits make no sense to me. You can kill plenty of people with ten rounds or less. And, at the end of the day, while I support sensible limits on the 2nd Amendment, flat out bans don't work because criminals don't obey laws. (If an effective ban is ever passed, I'd be interested to hear what gun control advocates say after the next tragedy.)

Anti-bullying efforts? In general, I think it's a good thing. But I'm also interested in knowing just what's changed in our culture that bullying has become as epidemic as it has... I mean, to a certain degree, I think kids can be real assholes to each other sometimes but it's also kind of the inevitable part of growing up- but it's a real problem now. How did our culture get so cheap and mean? And how has that infected kids as badly as it has? (But that's another post and probably a sociology class away, I think.)

There's real potential for sensible limits in some of these proposal and others are going to be non-starters. I expect that's why the Obama Administration cast it's net as widely as it did.