Chuck Hammersmith – 6/27/18

This page was last updated on June 27, 2018.

Bernstine’s gun amendments offer little reassurance; Chuck Hammersmith (CH); Beaver County Times; June 27, 2018.

The only previous CH letter I reviewed was “Trump and Republicans will leave us worse off.”

Below is a detailed review of the subject letter.

“Reading the recent article concerning gun bill amendments by state Rep. Aaron Bernstine, I was reminded of the less-than-immortal words from that same gentleman in his May 2, 2018, letter to The Ellwood City Ledger: … I believe that the phrase ‘This is the way it has always been done’ is among the most dangerous in the English language.’”

[RWC] “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” - Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Please read my review of the Second Amendment. It addresses most of CH’s issues. I don’t know if CH understands the purpose of Amendment II.

“All in the eye of the NRA-beholden, I guess, and not as pithy as Ronald Reagan’s ‘Nine Most Terrifying Words,’ but equally without nuance.”

[RWC] During President Reagan’s (RR) statement before his August 12, 1986, news conference, he said, “I think you all know that I’ve always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.” RR gave an example of what he meant in the subsequent sentence: “A great many of the current problems on the farm were caused by government-imposed embargoes and inflation, not to mention government’s long history of conflicting and haphazard policies.” While RR is usually credited with coining the phrase in this 1986 statement, I remember hearing variations of “I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help” in the 1970s.

“My opinion on firearms is succinct enough: Police in daily operations and civilians do not need automatic or semiautomatic weapons. Revolvers and breach-loading weapons are sufficient for sport and defense and commonplace mayhem. If Americans were sensible enough to enact an Australian-like total ban, I would not object.”

[RWC] As I noted above, I don’t know if CH understands the purpose of Amendment II.

While there are a lot of restrictions on firearm ownership and allowable firearms, Australia doesn’t have anything like a “total ban” on civilian-owned firearms. According to Wikipedia, “Gun laws in Australia are mainly the jurisdiction of Australian states and territories, with the importation of guns regulated by the federal government.”

Continuing, “A 2017 study commissioned by Gun Control Australia claimed that Australian states had significantly weakened gun laws since the National Firearms Agreement was first introduced, with no jurisdiction fully compliant with the Agreement. … No state or territory has outlined a timeframe for achieving full compliance with the National Firearms Agreement.”

“I would like to believe that there could be a system with adequate wisdom, insight, oversight and efficiency to anticipate, identify and cope with problem individuals, but I cannot. There have already been numerous stories of such failed attempts. Compounding the issue would be its ongoing staffing and funding, an especially problematic situation for tax-cutting Republicans in particular - unless you like seeing them rob other social programs for pet initiatives.

“‘Only two’ airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center; ‘only one’ major truck bomb was exploded in Kansas City. Those means of destruction are far less easily acquired than a bump stock, so I see little lasting reassurance in Bernstine’s reminder that it’s been used in ‘just one mass shooting.’”