We as a people need to grasp a reality that has been hanging over our
for quite some time. We can not keep tucking away the thought of gun control in the back of our minds, pretending that it is not there. It is. The right to carry guns is a big privilege that is constantly abused in the United States. Every day, someone dies from a gun shot wound.
It is no longer necessary to go to a sporting goods shop to buy a gun. Every minute of every day someone buys a gun right off the street. On the street, a gun is cheap, easy to use, and there is no wait to get it. With a bargain like that, what criminal is going to apply for a permit? How can law enforcement officials possibly control the use of handguns when they have no idea of who has one?
The August 24, 1997 edition of the LA Times published an article that included a conversation between a gun salesmen and an undercover reporter who was working on an expose of the handgun situation. The conversation took place at a Nevada Gun show. During the conversation, the dealer tries to sell a Poly Tech AK 47 to a potential buyer from California. Keep in mind that this particular gun is highly illegal and that the potential buyer is actually the reporter.
"You could fit this under a coat," the dealer suggests. "You can sling it over your shoulder and walk out of here and no one will notice."
"This is a private party transaction, there is no wait."
"I could walk out of here with this today?''
"What do you do with a gun like this, shoot deer?"
"The only kind of hunting this is good for is the two legged kind."
This is an ideal example of how easy it could be to beat the system. It didn't matter to the gun dealer that it was illegal to sell that gun or even that it was illegal just to have that gun in his possession. Nor did it matter to him that his potential buyer could not
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