I don’t really want to talk about this, but it appears I’m going to have to or I’m just going to bust.
It is shockingly easy to buy a gun in Georgia. You have to go through the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System), which takes about ten minutes. And then you have your shiny new gun. There’s not a cooling-off period or a quiz to see if you’ve got good sense. Nobody asks, “What are you going to do with this gun?” or “Why do you need all these bullets?” or “Weren’t you just in here last week?”
I have questions.
Why does a civilian need an assault rifle? Or a high capacity clip?
Is it for protection? If so, protection from what? An intruder?
I just went and measured the distance from the driver’s side of my bed to the bedroom door and it’s 10 feet. The distance from the bedroom door to the front door is 18 feet, which is the longest uninterrupted line in the house. I happen to know I can drop the target, consistently, with two shots at 25 feet.
Is it for protection from the government?
If it’s for protection from the government, I will direct your attention to the incidents at Ruby Ridge and Waco, which impressed upon me that while you might could accumulate a stash of assault rifles, the government has a bigger one. And they have tanks and missiles and warheads.
Is it for hunting? What animal do you need to hunt with an assault weapon?What would you do with an animal you had blown to tiny bits with one? If you need a machine gun, are you really such a great sportsman?
I stand firmly on the side of regulating sales of assault weapons and high-capacity clips.
What is so objectionable about the pending legislation?
The government is not going to come knocking and take up your guns if you register them.
A deeper background check is not going to kill you. It’s already law that convicted felons cannot have guns – ten days or two weeks to make sure you’re not one before you get a gun is not a bad thing.
Making sure you know how to use the gun you just purchased is a fantastic idea.
And really, what does Joe Citizen need an assault rifle for?
Just like a Slattery 
Apparently they are not concerned with what they need, but what they want. If someone thinks they should be allowed to have what they want no mAtter what it is, and that the constitution defends and upholds that, then I don’t know what. I actually could sit here and take that argument apart, as could you, but perhaps we can just think quietly about it together until the needs arises for us to express it cogently in this space.
Joe said something funny yesterday. I’ll have to find it for you.
Meanwhile, I’m wearing my diamond shoes around.