From: rmk@rmkhome.UUCP (Rick Kelly)
Organization: The Man With Ten Cats
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 18:27:35 GMT
Reply-To: rmkhome!rmk@merk.com (Rick Kelly)

In article <1hvjpgINN1o3@transfer.stratus.com> cdt@sw.stratus.com (C. D. Tavares) writes:
>In article <9212311212.23@rmkhome.UUCP>, rmk@rmkhome.UUCP (Rick Kelly) writes:
>> To have a handgun in your home, you can
>> also apply for a Sporting license.  This allows the right to buy 
>> handguns and ammunition, keep them in your home, and carry them to
>> "sporting events" unloaded in the trunk of your car.  They probably
>> only turn people down for this license if they have a felony arrest
>> record.
>
>Or can't pass a written test, or a shooting test, or can't get letters 
>of recommendation from three other citizens, or doesn't belong to a
>bona-fide sporting club ($100-$200/year).

These requirements have changed over the last decade.

>My wife is stalled on her permit because all of the people she's known
>for any length of time in the area are anti-gun.

That's life.

>> The police would like to know who has guns.
>
>Probably so; but since having a gun isn't a crime, it's frankly none
>of their damn business.

This is assuming that anyone who steps up to the counter to buy a
gun has innocent intentions.

>> In Arizona, I believe, there is now a move to restrict the current laws
>> that allow children to carry concealed weapons, as many parents are
>> concerned that it has become fashionable for junior high students to
>> carry concealed weapons.
>
>Really.  I was under the impression that in Arizona it's not legal to
>carry a weapon concealed at all.  Check your facts.

Yes, you're right.  They can carry - not concealed.  I personally don't
feel that 12-14 year old kids have the maturity to be packing guns
wherever they go.

>> >BTW - MA's permit system and "mandatory jail time for unlicensed
>> >carry" is one of the great gun control failures.  It doesn't restrict
>> >anyone worth restricting and merely provides an excuse for a lot of
>> >illegal searches.
>> 
>> It is a failure, but I don't know that there is a high rate of illegal
>> searches.
>
>Well, let's see.  Two months ago, a state police officer stopped a man
>for speeding.  The man's target permit became visible as he offered his
>license, and an illegal search of the car followed.  The police found an
>expensive pistol belonging to the man's mother.  They determined that he
>was not on his way to a sporting event, so they confiscated the pistol
>and charged the man under Bartley-Fox.  Bartley-Fox says specifically
>that you cannot be charged under it if you have ANY license to carry
>(although the police can then revoke your license).  Despite this, the
>judge ignored the law and convicted the man.  Also, they did not return
>the pistol to the mother, another objective violation of the law.
>
>That's just the most recent one I know of.

Why wasn't this in the newspapers?

>> How does a person who would endure hardship by being robbed of $10
>> acquire a gun.  I own several guns, and they all cost $200+.
>
>Well then, better make sure no Massachusetts judge gets her hands on them.

I don't carry them around with me every time I go out.

-- 

Rick Kelly    rmkhome!rmk@merk.com    merk!rmkhome!rmk    rmk@frog.UUCP