14 Dec 02

>From a friend in South Africa on their new gun laws, going into effect sometime after the first of the year:

"This legislation was promulgated in order to vastly reduce the number of privately owned firearms. All civilian firearm owners will be restricted to owning only two guns. Even then, licenses will only be issued on presentation of 'adequate justification,' so government bureaucrats can still arbitrarily veto anyone they don't like, such as their political opponents or anyone who dares to speak out against them. Anyone with 'extra' firearms must turn them over to authorities for destruction or 'other uses,' without compensation. If a gun breaks, there is no provision for a person to borrow one while his is being fixed.

A 'reason' or 'purpose' will attach to each licensed gun. If a person owns a rifle for 'hunting,' but is forced by circumstance to use it to defend his home or himself, he will be liable to prosecution, because the gun was not used for its stated 'purpose.'

In addition, severe limitations will be placed on how much ammunition a person may possess, two hundred rounds per licensed firearm.

Firearms licensed for 'defensive purposed,' may still be carried con cealed, however vast areas of the country are now being declared 'Gun Free Zones' (read that: 'Criminal Empowerment Zones'). Virtually every building will be a 'Gun Free Zone,' making the routine carrying of a defensive firear m virtually impossible.

Everything is directed towards legal gun owners, who aren't the problem and never were. As you can see, most provisions are unenforceable. Criminals aren't even mentioned.

We all know, and the government has admitted, that none of the forgoing will reduce crime, just as it has failed to reduce crime in Australia or the UK. What they care about, and the only thing they care about, is control, and, if innocent citizens are murdered wholesale as a result, our politicians (much like yours), couldn't possibly care less."

Lesson: We must consistently distrust promulgators of such innocent-sounding schemes as "Gun Free Zones" and "reasonable" limitations placed on guns and ammunition. You can see where it is all leading.

We must all recognize that politicians positively love high crime rates. After all, the more crime you have, the more "government" you need! When crime is rampant, people are scared. Scared people vote for Democrats (and Marxists).

/John