Flada Blog

Following is an article from the Durham, North Carolina newspaper, The News and Observer. The article is about proposed legislation that would require a permit to purchase ammunition. I’ve taken the liberty of interjecting my own statements into the article which will show up in blue Comic Sans MS (because that’s my favorite font).

I like to remain positive and forward-looking in this blog. Sometimes that’s difficult.

Ammo permit measure weighed
The News & Observer ^
| Feb 27, 2007 | Matt Dees

Matt Dees, Staff Writer
DURHAM - Gun owners looking to reload would have to show a permit every time they buy ammunition, if a bill backed by Durham officials gains state approval.

The proposal championed by the Rev. Melvin Whitley, a local community activist, will face opposition from gun-rights groups.

(And any other liberty-conscious person.)

Whitley told state lawmakers and Durham City Council members Monday that anyone over 18 can buy ammunition without being subject to any background check. That means felons, who aren’t allowed to own guns or ammo, can buy bullets unfettered.

(No problem, right, since there’s already a law that ensures the felons don’t have firearms. What, you say that law doesn’t work and that felons do have firearms? Then what the hell is the point of another law that will do nothing but add another hoop for law-abiding gun owners to jump through?)

Requiring a permit to buy bullets, just as the state does for firearms, is a “no-brainer,” he said.

(As evidenced by the fact that you didn’t bother to use yours!)

“It’s a wonder we have not identified this loophole in the past,” Whitley told council members.

(Yes, we should not rest until every loophole that allows personal freedom and the right to defend oneself is found and destroyed.)

But Paul Valone, president of Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun-rights lobbying group, called the idea “ludicrous.”

Felons with the means and determination to obtain a gun illegally wouldn’t have any trouble finding a way around the bullet-permit law, Valone said.

(True since they clearly find a way around the gun ban for felons.)

“The only people this would restrict is law-abiding gun owners,” Valone said.

“We will be happy to defeat this bill and any legislator who supports it.”

(I would have used the adjective “kill” in regards to the bill, in a land and time of more freedom, I may have even used it in reference to the legislators.)

Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat, expects such stiff opposition. The bill hasn’t been introduced, but Michaux said it would be soon in one or both chambers of the General Assembly.

Michaux supports the idea.

(A Democrat supporting legislation that destroys personal freedom and the right to self-defense–say it ain’t so.)

But he said the bill has “about the same chance as getting a ban on handguns in this state. We’ve been outnumbered over the years by the strong arm of the [National Rifle Association].”

(Thank God (if you believe in such things) someone is defending freedom.)

Illinois has a similar law, enacted in 1968. It requires people to apply for a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card that must be displayed when buying a firearm or ammunition.

(And witness the crimeless utopia that has been forged in Chicago, Rockford, Peoria, Springfield.)

It costs $5 and is valid for five years.

(Yep, I used to live there and paid this gun tax myself.)

There are about 1.2 million card holders in the state, according to the Illinois State Police Web site.

(An additional $6 million in revenue–I think I’m starting to see the real purpose of such legislation.)

Even supporters have questions about logistics.

Ron Hodge, deputy chief of the Durham Police Department, said it wouldn’t be hard to issue a bullet card with a handgun permit. The trouble would come with people who already have obtained their handgun permit having to go through another permitting process, Hodge said.

(True, Ron, but what’s one more “inconvenience?” It’s inconvenient for taxpayers to hand over 35-40% of their pay but that’s the price we pay for cradle-to-grave nanny government.)

That would be cumbersome for the agency distributing the permits — likely county sheriffs — and for legal gun owners, he said.

Whitley said any inconveniences are trumped by the need to add another hurdle in the path of violent criminals.

(Seems there is an endless list of things that trump freedom. Well, not for some of us, Reverend.)

“It’s the bullets that are hurting us,” he said.

(Damned bullets! I have a closet full of them. I hear them in there at night, rattling around, plotting against me.)

Staff writer Matt Dees can be reached at 956-2433 or matt.dees@newsobserver.com.