Should ordinary citizens be able to own RPGs, claymores, tanks, armed F-14s, etc.?

[Joe Link]

I think we should be careful about banning all felons from being able to bear arms. Remember: The government criminalizes what it wants to. It could make it a felony to run a red light. If gun rights are, in part, a check on tyrannical government, I wouldn't so casually permit that same government to define who gets to own guns.

That's an excellent point.

 

[fingolfen]

Anyone can own a tank or a fighter jet now already.

With a few permission slips thay can also own RPGs and Claymores, grenades, cannons, SAMs, etc.

Yes, they should be allowed to continue.

I think the exception is fighter jets in used only in U.S. service... which is why you won't see an F-14 in the hands of a private individual, but you do see F-4's and may see F-15's. Only way a private individual could get an F-14 at this point would be to bring it in from Iran... and there's some other issues there.

Dead on with the rest though. Destructive devices can be owned presently - paperwork can be ticky - but you can own them.

 

[fingolfen]

I think we should be careful about banning all felons from being able to bear arms. Remember: The government criminalizes what it wants to. It could make it a felony to run a red light. If gun rights are, in part, a check on tyrannical government, I wouldn't so casually permit that same government to define who gets to own guns.

I think I know where you're going with this and I think I may even agree...

Personally I don't think a wife beater, child molester, or murderer should be allowed firearms if released...

... but by the same token I don't believe individuals like that should ever be released... and there was a time where individuals like that were simply executed or never saw the light of day again...

Non-violent felonies I believe at least deserve to be considered on a case by case basis.

 

[Karma]

If you are legal to own a gun, then it shouldn't matter what the gun is. I believe that hand grenades and other similar items should be able to be had. Just because I buy a new AR-15, it doesn't mean that I am going to go try it out on a human being! Any firearm can kill a person. So can a knife. If I have murder in me, I can find a way to do it, even if they don't allow me to have a gun that looks cool.

I believe that SOME felons should lose their rights to weapons. A person who commits a premeditated murder for example, should never be out of prison to use a weapon. The reason I specified premeditated is because there are many people who have been put away on murder and manslaughter charges because they used a gun to defend their family in a way that I believe should be lawful. I think in order to take care of that situation, we need some laws made that support the victim instead of the criminal. If a person is attacked by a criminal, they should be able to defend themselves without civil and legal suits. Straight up. I guarantee the crime rate would plummet if that happened. Of course a line should be drawn as to what constitutes a crime worthy of that type of reaction. In general though, if a criminal is attacking or threatening violence against a person or their family during the commission of a crime, that would pretty much do it for me I believe.

In the old days, there were only a few crimes that made someone a felon. Now, they have been expanded to include a good few thing. I believe you can even be a felon in some parts now days for not keeping up on your child support payments! My point is that because a person embezzles money or something like that, does not mean that they are going to have violent tendencies. In a crime like that, the only thing that determines the difference between being a legal gun owner and not, is the amount taken. Besides, most of the people who get in trouble for that should be politicians anyhow!

I totally agree about having to be careful letting the government dictate who a felon is, thus who can own firearms or not. Laws could be made defining anyone as a felon. It would be a easy way to legally weed out many gun owners in the US.

 

[elsullo]

Hey, if you don't exercise a right you lose it, right? Let the Crips and the Bloods and La eMMe gangster boys have RPGs and Thompson SMGs! It will be noisy, but not in my neighborhood......................elsullo

 

[fromotoc]

As has been said before, we can own most of this stuff, but the price and taxes are so prohibitive not many of us can afford or justify affording it. I do think grenades and claymores should be un taxed and sold to individuals without DD taxes/procedure. BUT I think there should be an effective permit process (shall-issue of course), and an age limit to acquire a grenade or claymore. AND they will have to child-proof them (think aspirin container).

 

[fingolfen]

As has been said before, we can own most of this stuff, but the price and taxes are so prohibitive not many of us can afford or justify affording it. I do think grenades and claymores should be un taxed and sold to individuals without DD taxes/procedure. BUT I think there should be an effective permit process (shall-issue of course), and an age limit to acquire a grenade or claymore. AND they will have to child-proof them (think aspirin container).

Price is high, taxes are fairly low at this point, but they were originally prohibitive.

Some things are expensive - simply because they're expensive. Modern jet fighters are wonders of engineering and are expensive to own and maintain because of the exotic alloys, fuel requirements, etc.

Others are actually relatively inexpensive. A Sherman Tank cost about $50K to produce... ... ... in 1945... That's almost $600,000 in 2008 dollars, and you can get a restored Sherman for about 1/5th of that...

Others are expensive because of things like the Hughes Amendment... which I really think should be abolished. I don't mind paying a slight premium for a quality full-auto weapon. But entry level FA's start at about $3000 for a MAC...

 

[torpedoman]

the intent of the 2nd was to have the people as well armed as any army.

 

[jordanvraptor]

A few years ago there was an F-16 and a F-18 for sale on Ebay. They had been bought from the military as surplus parts but could be restored to flying condition. I've been to the Oshkosh airshow a few times and seen a lot of planes that could do a lot of damage if they were rearmed. Imagine what a cargo plane with side firing .50 cals could do. Look at what Dillon does with his helicopter, his miniguns, and his firing range... I imagine that the govt doesnt really regulate the aircraft or vehicle cause without the guns it is not much of a threat.

 

[MarkAd]

F-14's are not cheap, but the weapons and senstive eletronics are removed so I don'y really want one. On the other hand a Harrier would be great. I could in the side yard

 

[MarkAd]

opps "land in the side yard."

 

[NK777]

I have no problem with sane lawful citizens having any manor of weaponry they desire. Sane rational citizens by definition are not crooked psychotic criminals.

 

[CharlesAFerg]

I have long been a proponent of increasing weapons manufacturing here in Oregon. I would start by inviting businesses that design and build anti aircraft weapons to begin manufacturing here. For example, stingers, or other MANPADS.

 

[CEF1959]

Excellent idea. And a retail outlet open to the public would be good too. What's the rationale for the 2A not permitting us to have Stingers? Remember: When the British marched on Lexington and Concord, it was to grab a cache of weapons, including cannons, which at the time were the most powerful military weapons. Didn't we fight for the right to have such weapons? What's the justification for denying us the modern equivalents? Heck, we are now prohibited from even owning 18th century cannons without a license, yada yada, fees, yada yada, background checks, yada yada, delays, yada yada, local approval, yada yada.

 

[codeman583]

we should be allowed to own whatever we wish so long as we buy it (not steal it) and know how to use it... I am all for a competency course... however a Carry permit is dumb. I should be able to go into Olive Garden, the mall and etc. with a drop leg!

OR is on its way to being a RED STATE... one person at a time.

 

[Jamie6.5]

OR is on its way to being a RED STATE... one person at a time.

Good luck with that,... Read the indynews lately? As long as PDX, Salem and Eugene are the big population centers in the state you can forget it.

 

[coctailer]

I have long been a proponent of increasing weapons manufacturing here in Oregon. I would start by inviting businesses that design and build anti aircraft weapons to begin manufacturing here. For example, stingers, or other MANPADS.

They used to build rockets by Tongue Point near Astoria.
I wanted to work there when i was a youngster.

 

[codeman583]

Good luck with that,... Read the indynews lately? As long as PDX, Salem and Eugene are the big population centers in the state you can forget it.

yea yea yea.... ever heard of the state of Jefferson? my favorite parts of OR and CA are included...

agreed though, Salem, Eugene, and Portland metro areas are runing all the fun.

 

[Jamie6.5]

yea yea yea.... ever heard of the state of Jefferson? my favorite parts of OR and CA are included...

Yup! I lived in K-Falls through the '70s and '80s.
You could say I've heard of the "State of Jefferson," considering that I donated to the original cause."

 

[Bigfoot_Hunter]

I guess you'll need to define ordinary, as some people shouldn't even have guns.

What's the criteria going to be for who owns what?

OK, but remember; as soon as you let "someone" decide who should own what, it'll damn sure be a liberal soccer mom bubblegum who says "none of those right wing nut jobs" should be able to own guns.