Scott Miller

Since we discussed the prospect of a “No Fly, No Buy” limitation on gun sales last week, there have been several articles on the subject. The State of Connecticut is considering banning sales of guns to individuals on the US “no-fly” list.

There was some discussion about whether the list might be too broad to be reused for other purposes…attached is a NY Times article discussing one US citizen’s issues and a lawsuit he is pursuing.

NYT “No-fly list has left Muslim Air Force veteran detained in Turkey”

Among other things, the suit described in the article asserts that this citizen is being deprived of certain rights without the benefit of due process.

Yes, we will be meeting on Monday (Columbus Day), even though the Library is closed. Same time (10:30am), same place (the Howard Room).

There’s a lot of political rhetoric about gun control these days…from both sides…so this week we’ll try to parse through the issue in detail:

• How much of a problem is gun violence in the US?
  • Mike W. found an interesting Pew Research study about gun violence trends.
  • I’m sure someone can find a study comparing violent crime in the US to other developed countries.

• What does the Second Amendment really mean?
  • What sort of “arms” are protected? All? Only non-combat weapons? Only for state militias?
  • What has been the influence of the Supreme Court on the interpretation?

• So what can be done to reduce gun violence?
  • What exactly are President Obama’s “common sense reforms” and, if passed, would they really accomplish much?
  • Where do each the 2016 Presidential candidates stand?

• Here are the alternatives as I see them. (You’re invited to bring some more if you think I’ve missed something important.)
  • Do nothing
  • Adopt “common sense reform” (aka minor tweaks to existing law
  • Wait for Supreme Court turnover to reinterpret the Second Amendment
  • Go “whole hog” for repeal. Here’s another article (sort of) discussing How to Create a Gun-Free America in Five Easy Steps.

Lastly, here’s a Washington Post article from last week on How to Argue About Gun Control that provides some arguments, pro and con, on various subtopics related to the issue.

See you tomorrow!