No clue

Politicians must hold the all records for reaching the greatest depths of stupidity while simultaneously being considered functional members of society. Representative Peter King provides the latest example:

Defying those who assert the right to bear arms at town halls, Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) Wednesday introduced strict new gun-control legislation that would bar people from taking firearms to public events attended by elected federal officials.

The bill would create a 1,000-foot gun-free zone around the event – not just around the lawmakers as King originally proposed…

Does he not realize that people routinely shoot at much smaller targets at much greater distances than 1000 feet? At Boomershoot the closest targets are over 1100 feet away and are only four inches square—much smaller than your average elected federal official. This fact alone makes the proposed law nearly pointless.

Okay, suppose there is no line of sight to the official from greater than 1000 feet. How does King think this law would be enforced? Does he think that a barrier will be erected 1000 feet and everyone would have to pass through metal detectors to get closer? If that is the case then the area would have to be evacuated and swept for firearms prior to the official visit. A 1000 foot radius is a minimum (this is assuming a single point rather than the perimeter of a building for measuring the 1000 feet) of 72 acres that has to be made gun free prior to the event. Add in the surface area of a multistory building and you quickly realize this isn’t practical even if the perimeter of the 1000 foot area could be made secure.

Hence, either enforcement at the perimeter isn’t what King had in mind or he believes that the criminal that would violate the laws and morals against murder will suddenly obey the law against a firearm within 1000 feet of the official. In either case he is totally without a clue or has some other motivation for his proposal.

I’m betting the answer is Representative King has no clue.

Share

8 thoughts on “No clue

  1. This will never pass. I think it’s a really stupid idea too and I’m just hoping this Representative isn’t from California.

    If they have to make new laws, there are a few floating around out there that actually make sense — but this one isn’t one of them.

  2. King is reacting to the Tea Party protests of the last 2 years; the shooting is just the opportunity not going to waste. He is tired of people being able to get close enough to ask him tough questions on camera. He is tired of people wanting answers when they attend Town Hall meetings. What he wants is warrentless searches, screening, and detainment of protestors. “They were handcuffed and dragged out, just until they could be searched for weapons.” The 1000 foot rule would provide a justification for only having enough room for the paid union members who rode the bus from another voting district – the police just didn’t have enough resources to adequately screen those Tea Party activists for weapons.

  3. This might not be all bad. In order to comply with this…law…you would have to know where they were. Tag them with GPS Chips? Have an app on your smart phone to warn you of their approach? All Government Officials required to post online a Dayplanner so that you would know where they are ahead of time? A “Freedom Alert” issued anytime two or more of them gathered in one place?

    This could make certain…planning…easier.

    Keith W
    If we knew what we were doing it wouldn’t be research.

  4. I thinks this serves pretty well as a test to determine whether someone is mentally fit for service. Clearly, this King fellow has lost his marbles.

    Yes, ubu, there is one gun law that makes sense. You’ll find it in the constitution, though it isn’t being enforced but on extremely rare occasions. Right there you see, we have proof that criminals and gargen variety scumbags don’t obey gun laws.

  5. I can easily see someone like Carolyn McCarthy abusing this law (that is, beyond the abuse of the law existing in the first place). Picture her driving slowly down the streets of Tucson, while policemen hand-picked by Sheriff Dupnick search all the suspicious-looking passersby (that is, those who look like his idea of a gun owner), and arrest anyone found carrying.

  6. Joe, for once you get no argument from me about the stupidity of this proposal. In fact I thought it had passed into obscurity already, at least I was hoping.

Comments are closed.