Yes, people complain. But it’s a good thing we have websites that host classified ads for random people buying and selling guns. These online bazaars meet the needs of a badly under-served population. Where else is a guy with two felony burglary convictions and a misdemeanor for domestic violence supposed to turn when he needs a gun? Or the guy with two outstanding felony warrants who’s on the run from the Rhode Island police. Where else is he gonna find that AK47?
These guys are just two customers featured in a recent New York Times expose about websites where anonymous, unlicensed people buy and sell weapons. But before you jump to conclusions, be aware that these sites aren’t some unregulated, Wild West type of free-for-all. Not in the slightest. When you show up in a McDonald’s parking lot with $500 in cash, the guy selling you his gun will probably ask if you have any restrictions on your ability to buy a gun. And when you say “No”, he’ll reply, “Okay, sounds good to me.”
This is self-regulation in action. And it totally works, just like it does on Wall Street.
I’m no whiny-ass Liberal and I know what I’m talking about here — I’ve bought weapons from strangers with no questions asked. When I was ten, my buddy Drew and I ordered blowguns from The International House of Weapons. The safety checks the company had established were quite stringent – on the order form we mailed in we had to check a little box saying that we were over the age of 18.
When our package arrived in the mail, we hustled down to the basement, giddy with excitement. We ripped open the box, dragged out the five-foot long metal tubes, and attached the rubber mouthpieces. Then we snipped the metal wires into short pieces, heated up their ends, and sunk them into the plastic balls, thereby creating our darts.
I loaded a dart into my blowgun. I sucked in a huge gulp of air, pressed my lips against the mouthpiece, and aimed the blowgun at the dart board we’d placed on the wall. Then I blew with all my might. And sent the dart directly into Drew’s forearm.
Weapons rock, especially if there’s kids in the house. But I don’t recommend buying from the International House Of Weapons. Their products are totally defective.
The International House of Weapons sounds like it may be a subsidy of Acme, Inc.
How’s a “bad guy” without a gun expected to defend himself against a “bad guy” with a gun?
I think the answer to that is “badly”!
With a blowgun, obviously.
And yet this small group of imbecilic legislators think the International House of Weapons are worthwhile entrepreneurs to keep in business.
If, by mistake, you inhaled through your mouth before shooting the dart, you would suck the dart into your mouth. I did it a few times. Point being, I imagine enough kids choked to end TIHOW’s business.
Might have been even easier if people just loaded them into pop machines so students could have easy access to them. I don’t know WHAT happened today in Congress. When 90% of citizens ask for responsible background checks and representatives who are supposed to “represent” the citizens vote overwhelmingly (90%) to ignore the majority of the population, some of us are left spinning in confusion. And I’m getting very dizzy trying to understand nonsense.
It is sickening Theresa. Just sickening.
Donna, I completely agree. I’m stunned by what happened today.