Last night at 6:30PM I received a call from Delegate Luiz Simmons, District 17, Montgomery county for a town hall telephonic meeting. What I listened to for the next 1.5 hours was what I can only describe as uninformed ignorance and fear mongering for political gains. Delegate Simmons was spoon fed callers (he would not take my repeated attempts to converse with him) to bolster his support of the gun control bill SB281. Here are a few of the points I jotted down:
- Delegate Simmons said several times that he believed this bill did not go far enough and that all regulated firearms should be confiscated, not grandfathered in as the current bill suggests.
- Delegate Simmons mentioned that at the time they created this bill he had no idea that a .22LR cartridge could be used in a hunting rifle as well as an "assault type rifle". This is the level of ignorance on display by our legislators. He also indicated that "flash suppressors increased the lethality of the firearm."
- One caller suggested that since the 2nd amendment was written so long ago, that somehow we should all trade in our guns for muskets. I would have suggested that he read the Opinion of the Court from SCOTUS on DC V. Heller where Justice Scalia shreds this notion.
- Another participant asked that we take an "instant psychological evaluation" in the gun store at time of purchase. No shit? You want the guy behind the counter at a gun store to give a psychological evaluation?
- almost every caller mentioned that they were scared to walk the streets, or that they fear guns. Funny thing is, the US is at intentional homicide rates equivalent to those for the entire 1950's, 4.7 per 100,00.
I would like to thank Delegate Simmons for taking the time to push The Gov's agenda and for giving me back my childhood stutter.
- Delegate Simmons said several times that he believed this bill did not go far enough and that all regulated firearms should be confiscated, not grandfathered in as the current bill suggests.
- Delegate Simmons mentioned that at the time they created this bill he had no idea that a .22LR cartridge could be used in a hunting rifle as well as an "assault type rifle". This is the level of ignorance on display by our legislators. He also indicated that "flash suppressors increased the lethality of the firearm."
- One caller suggested that since the 2nd amendment was written so long ago, that somehow we should all trade in our guns for muskets. I would have suggested that he read the Opinion of the Court from SCOTUS on DC V. Heller where Justice Scalia shreds this notion.
- Another participant asked that we take an "instant psychological evaluation" in the gun store at time of purchase. No shit? You want the guy behind the counter at a gun store to give a psychological evaluation?
- almost every caller mentioned that they were scared to walk the streets, or that they fear guns. Funny thing is, the US is at intentional homicide rates equivalent to those for the entire 1950's, 4.7 per 100,00.
I would like to thank Delegate Simmons for taking the time to push The Gov's agenda and for giving me back my childhood stutter.