Van Hollen says changing gun law unnecessary after Brookfield shooting

MADISON - The Wisconsin Attorney General says there is no need to change gun laws because of the killing spree at a spa in Brookfield this past week.

Radcliffe Haughton bought his gun from a private seller.

By law, private sellers are not required to do background checks on the buyer.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says changing the law would be too hard to enforce.

"Who is to draw the line between, 'I sold you a firearm, I loaned you a firearm, I've given you a firearm, you've taken the firearm from me?' " asked Van Hollen.

"Not to mention, you could try to close every presumed loophole you can, and people who want to do these things are going to find a way to do it."

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/175767291.html

The idea of getting government permission to exercise a right is a failed paradyme

The concept that the government could or should only “allow” certain people to buy guns stands the very concept of American jurisprudence on its head. It presumes that the government knows all, controls all, and should be doing so. It is wrong and ineffective. It is the opposite of preventing criminals from possessing guns.

It is crazy to set up a huge expensive bureaucratic system, require everyone to jump though hoops and prove that they are *not* criminals in order to try, ineffectively, to prevent the few individuals who are not responsible, from having legal access to guns. This is a failed paradigm, and it should be abandoned. To accept the idea that the all gun sales should be monitored by the government, and only allowed to those it deems satisfactory is fundamentally wrong.

The entire idea of the enterprise has always been the death of a thousand cuts, where the restrictions on who can buy, and where, and how and what are continually increased until the number of gun owners is reduced to political insignificance.

I want to say J.B. Van Hollen sounds like he's on our side - but I'd bet that if he had the budget to try to enforce such an idiotic move, he would. Especially with enough political pressure.

anmut said:

I want to say J.B. Van Hollen sounds like he's on our side - but I'd bet that if he had the budget to try to enforce such an idiotic move, he would. Especially with enough political pressure.

Click to expand...

I think we should be wise enough to accept that even though others are generating and/or bowing to political pressure, J.B. Van Hollen is not.

His statement goes far beyond what most are doing: saying nothing.

We need to appreciate positive public support from those in power, and not be so pessimistic and critical.