A great example of gun control success here in America.

[DanTex]

I'm talking about the laws governing ownership of fully automatic machine guns.

Machine guns are not actually banned in the US. But in order to acquire one, you have to go through an extensive application and registration process, including things like submitting fingerprints. It's been this way since 1934, when in response to machine gun violence among gangs during prohibition, the government passed the National Firearms Act.

And guess what? The National Firearms Act very clearly disproves the NRA talking point that gun laws don't affect criminals. Almost no gun crimes these days involve machine guns. No doubt that a lot of mass killers would like to get their hands on a full-auto weapon, because it would allow them to do even more damage in a short amount of time, but thanks to the tight regulations, it happens very rarely. And this is because, thanks to a comprehensive system of licensing and registration, very few machine guns slip into the wrong hands.

Yes, there are plenty of examples of effective gun policy outside the US -- in fact, every other wealth nation (Canada, UK, Australia, etc.) has tighter gun laws and far lower homicide and gun violence rates. But the NRA crowd will generally respond that the US is different and it would never work here. But it has.

[doc03]

1. That's always the gun lobby answer on any kind of gun law. "It won't work

here." So nothing can ever be done. Just for starters the law could be expand to semi-autos and high capacity magazines. I never thought I would ever here Sen. Joe Manchin come out in support of sensible gun laws. He did on Morning Joe today. I never thought he would do anything unless it was to his political advantage, he will will take a lot of heat for that in WV.

[sir pball]

2. Never thought I'd agree with much you've said..

Here ya go.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022009643

[JoePhilly]

3. I've described something similar: Graded Weapons Licenses

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2009575

[RomneyLies]

4. That's a good idea. I can drive a car or a standard pickup truck.

I cannot drive a motorcycle, a ten wheel truck, a bus, or an eighteen wheel truck because I don't have the proper license for those machines.

Excellent way to control this crap.

the biggest key to success is to insure NOBODY is grandfathered in.

[justanidea]

5. Im not a fan of the assault weapons ban.

However if assault weapons were made NFA items and in return the NFA process was modernized (e.g. a single license instead of individual paperwork of each item) I would be cool with it.