Cheech - I think there SHOULD be voter ID. I fail to see what the issue is with showing some photo ID so that you can vote and be 'more' assured that there is no fraud in the process. Every time I hear a lot of chatter about how difficult it would be for some people, I always shake my head. You mean that in 2013 you can't actually figure out how to visit places where there are shut in's or disabled people so you can help them out? Pretty small thinking. A drivers license has photo ID. State ID is required for a lot of things - has a photo. Union cards have photo's. I'm sure that maybe all the schools and hospitals have some sort of photo ID. Rather than spend 10 billion on an election campaign - why not funnel a billion of that where it actually counts - to go to the people to ensure they have their photo ID taken so that they have it for anything that is required of them - banking, housing, mail or anything? Novel idea.
I also believe there SHOULD be universal background checks - I don't see any issue with that. I don't have all the answers about how they go about putting some of the information up there, but between that and some real legal convictions for illegal guns and activity, I think it might go a fair way to reducing the number of people buying guns - people that in some cases, shouldn't have that right because of prior convictions for violent activity.
Now - free keeps saying you need guns for some 'hostile' takeover. I'm curious as to who you think is going to attack? He seems to jump from needing a gun in case of hostile takeover to a real lack of understanding that nobody is 'taking' your gun away, nobody is taking your right to buy one away, nobody is going door to door confiscating them and in case of a real hostile takeover, you still have a lot of weapons already in the system to use. What you don't have, I 'm sure you'd get pretty fast if needed to defend your country against an enemy. All that being said - sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. The tree is all the chatter about guns and fear and need - a culture of death that permeates the citizenry in accepting that they would let a child die by gunfire rather than relinquish their hold on a weapon they need because they are afraid - of something or someone all the time. The forest is the reality - a hostile takeover doesn't mean it HAS to be from an enemy wanting your gun - why would they care? Dismantling a country from the inside out through the guise of democracy, all the while living under fascism is more damaging - the country has been decimated and continues to slide downward, because the government chooses to keep handing the banks more money so they won't fail. That means that your buying power has decreased but the banking profit increases - your money has been taken away from you and will continue to be taken, so that those at the top of the game don't suffer. Keep pointing the finger at the bottom rung as the problem, when in fact, handing over 40 billion consistently to the banks to prop up all that bad debt, is one of the major reasons for the continuation of impoverishing the country. Didn't Obama just sign a law that repealed transparency in regards to insider trading for congress? I don't think there's anyone under a million bucks sitting in those offices - and they all walk out with great pensions and healthcare paid for by you - the same people who pay to keep the banks solvent. Skipping merrily along hand in hand and it doesn't matter about party - it's all a matter of process and entitlement. In every country the very act of property taxes as a legal means to take away income from the labor of a man, is detrimental to owning property as a free person. As long as you owe taxes on property, you are but a lease holder and should you miss a payment, you may just forfeit your property. You can buy that land and pay it off in ten years but you will be forced to pay taxes for a lifetime - THAT IS a hostile takeover. sammieswife