The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Conference Center > Law and Civil Rights

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old February 16, 2019, 09:34 AM   #1
kmw1954
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 11, 2016
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 1,524
Laser Sights

In light of the dreadful shooting in Aurora Illinois yesterday I have already been seeing comments and news articles being made about the use of a green laser sight during this event.

Also there was to be a news briefing yesterday afternoon that was delayed for almost an hour because they had to wait for the new Governor to show up so once again this horrific act had to be made into a political statement.

My question now relates to how long is it going to take now before we hear the message that we now need to ban laser sights because they are too dangerous, too deadly? Given the location and the current political climate I suspect soon or am I being paranoid?

BTW My thoughts and worries go to all those effected by this horrible act. But once again we have another Felon with a gun so the system failed once again.
kmw1954 is offline  
Old February 16, 2019, 01:07 PM   #2
44 AMP
Staff
 
Join Date: March 11, 2006
Location: Upper US
Posts: 28,675
They will flog this for all they can get out of it. I'm confident someone is already working on a bill to outlaw lasers because they make guns more "deadly". The press is already starting the ball rolling.

Contrast this with how quickly NYC PD officers shooting 42 rnds in 11 seconds, hitting 2 fellow officers and KILLING one, faded from the news. (and the bad guy didn't even have a real gun!)

BE prepared for background checks, permits, fees, safe storage laws being required before you can buy a laser pointer....or at least some people demanding such.

After all, you can "shoot down" an airplane with a laser pointer, so...
__________________
All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.
44 AMP is offline  
Old February 16, 2019, 01:50 PM   #3
sigarms228
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 29, 2011
Posts: 1,765
I don't live very far from Aurora and yes with the democrats controlling everything with super majorities I am sure we will see a new bill/bills introduced probably next week to ban "high capacity" magazines and laser devices. I would not be surprised to see them add red dot type sights either. I recently got an email from the Illinois State Rifle Association saying the a mind boggling number of new gun control bills are in the works for Illinois.
__________________
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.”
― Benjamin Franklin
sigarms228 is offline  
Old February 16, 2019, 03:27 PM   #4
kmw1954
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 11, 2016
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 1,524
sigarms I was in Crystal Lake visiting my brother when this happened. Been about 3 years since I've been to Aurora.

44AMP, see I never heard a thing about the NYCPD incident. Not a word. So they either hid it well or I wasn't paying attention.

At the last news conference last night the Aurora Police Chief ID'ed the gun as a S&W but didn't mention the model or caliber.

This is getting disheartening for me as the indoor range the wife and I use is a smaller shop located in McHenry Illinois. The next closest range is an hour away.
kmw1954 is offline  
Old February 16, 2019, 05:13 PM   #5
Bartholomew Roberts
member
 
Join Date: June 12, 2000
Location: Texas and Oklahoma area
Posts: 8,462
Well, considering the shooter was a convicted felon with multiple arrests who was mistakenly issued an Illinois FOID (which he used to purchase the murder weapon) AND the state of Illinois knew about it prior to the shooting and did nothing about it, I’m guessing they’ll wait for a better horse to ride to come along.

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/20...foid-card-gun/
Bartholomew Roberts is offline  
Old February 16, 2019, 07:36 PM   #6
sigarms228
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 29, 2011
Posts: 1,765
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartholomew Roberts View Post
Well, considering the shooter was a convicted felon with multiple arrests who was mistakenly issued an Illinois FOID (which he used to purchase the murder weapon) AND the state of Illinois knew about it prior to the shooting and did nothing about it, I’m guessing they’ll wait for a better horse to ride to come along.

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/20...foid-card-gun/
Sadly that won't make any difference to Illinois politicians as they are looking for any excuse to enact more gun control.
__________________
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.”
― Benjamin Franklin
sigarms228 is offline  
Old February 16, 2019, 07:38 PM   #7
sigarms228
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 29, 2011
Posts: 1,765
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmw1954 View Post
sigarms I was in Crystal Lake visiting my brother when this happened. Been about 3 years since I've been to Aurora.

44AMP, see I never heard a thing about the NYCPD incident. Not a word. So they either hid it well or I wasn't paying attention.

At the last news conference last night the Aurora Police Chief ID'ed the gun as a S&W but didn't mention the model or caliber.

This is getting disheartening for me as the indoor range the wife and I use is a smaller shop located in McHenry Illinois. The next closest range is an hour away.
I hope the range you are using in McHenry stays open as a lot of smaller gun shops have already announced they are closing down with the new gun licensing bill Illinois just made into law that greatly increases expenses to keep a gun store open.

I use GAT Guns in Dundee which is one of the largest gun store and indoor ranges in the Midwest. Hopefully they will be staying open for a long time yet. There are not that many gun ranges in the whole suburban Chicago area.
__________________
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.”
― Benjamin Franklin
sigarms228 is offline  
Old February 17, 2019, 02:22 AM   #8
kmw1954
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 11, 2016
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 1,524
That is my concern also. The guy that owns the store/range now has only been there a couple years now as the old owner was set to just close up.
I haven't been to GAT' s though my brother visits often. There is a new shop/range on the west side of Elgin that just recently opened up.
I grew up in McHenry and left Illinois around 1982 and moved to Wisconsin after getting tired of dealing with all the Chicago politics that were migrating to the northern counties. So yes I once had an Illinois FOID card.

I will now watch intensely to see the outcome of this and how they react to the use of a laser sight. I know my brother has a 380 Ruger with a green laser sight on it.
kmw1954 is offline  
Old February 17, 2019, 07:43 PM   #9
Onward Allusion
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 17, 2009
Location: Back in a Non-Free State
Posts: 3,133
I think this particular story will disappear with the next news cycle. Call me jaded, but a felon with a legally purchased gun who kills 5 & injures 5 cops doesn't fit the anti-NRA narrative. The Illinois State Police screwed the pooch on this one. Goes to show that background checks don't work. The system failed.
__________________
Simple as ABC . . . Always Be Carrying
Onward Allusion is offline  
Old February 17, 2019, 10:18 PM   #10
44 AMP
Staff
 
Join Date: March 11, 2006
Location: Upper US
Posts: 28,675
Quote:
The Illinois State Police screwed the pooch on this one. Goes to show that background checks don't work. The system failed.
This is a "yes and no" kind of thing. There's an AP story on the web today about how the shooter's permit was revoked, but he kept the gun.

It points out how, the initial check passed him, and let him get his FOID, but a check later turned up his felony conviction, and his "permit" was revoked in 2014.

They sent him a LETTER informing him his permit was revoked and to turn in his gun.

Apparently, they never did anything else.

And, the article didn't find the IL police at fault, it found the law at fault, because the law doesn't require the police to go check on people who have their permits revoked, or insure they don't have any guns.

Not sure how long they will run with this before letting it drop, they (for once) can't seem to find any way to blame the NRA, and are trying real hard not to blame the Illinois government or police, who apparently actually ARE at fault for this guy still having a gun in 2019 when they revoked his FOID in 2014...


no further mention of "evil" laser sight, today...that I saw...
__________________
All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.
44 AMP is offline  
Old February 18, 2019, 03:55 PM   #11
riffraff
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 21, 2016
Posts: 629
Yes it will fade away but then will continued to be referenced as a mass shooting statistic or incident whenever assault weapons bans, or magazine limits/bans come up - or to justify any gun control legislation .. even though a legally bought pistol was used that probably held < 12 rounds.
riffraff is offline  
Old February 18, 2019, 04:48 PM   #12
cjwils
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 28, 2010
Location: Washington state
Posts: 401
As a convicted felon, he was a prohibited person. Therefore, I would not say the gun was legally bought. He passed a background check through some mistake, but that is not the same as legally bought.
cjwils is offline  
Old February 18, 2019, 09:27 PM   #13
riffraff
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 21, 2016
Posts: 629
Quote:
Originally Posted by cjwils View Post
As a convicted felon, he was a prohibited person. Therefore, I would not say the gun was legally bought. He passed a background check through some mistake, but that is not the same as legally bought.
Ahh yes that is correct.

I'm in IL quite a bit, and was nearby for this too (actually waiting to board my flight back to nh now)... funny one thing a non gun owner asked me is why he wasn't fingerprinted buying the gun initially (as if we all are all the time) ..

One odd thing though is why a fingerprint was needed to uncover the previous conviction - did he use a fake name in the other state or did they assume he was a different person with the same age and name etc.. etc.. seems like occasionally good people get denied due to similar names and ages of a criminal but this guy passed somehow. I wonder if he used a fake identity when he was convicted.
riffraff is offline  
Old February 19, 2019, 12:17 AM   #14
44 AMP
Staff
 
Join Date: March 11, 2006
Location: Upper US
Posts: 28,675
Quote:
As a convicted felon, he was a prohibited person. Therefore, I would not say the gun was legally bought. He passed a background check through some mistake, but that is not the same as legally bought.
You're probably correct, but at the time, the seller and the government didn't recognize he was a prohibited person and therefore believed the sale to be legal. I suspect the felon knew he was, but there's no way to ask him, now.
__________________
All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.
44 AMP is offline  
Old February 19, 2019, 12:21 AM   #15
Cirdan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 2, 2013
Location: Tahoe
Posts: 360
I didn't quite understand the logic, but when I worked for a PMC a few years ago green lasers were restricted items requiring an export license.

Not red lasers.
Cirdan is offline  
Old February 19, 2019, 11:16 AM   #16
USNRet93
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 23, 2018
Location: Republic of Boulder, USA
Posts: 1,475
Quote:
Originally Posted by riffraff View Post
Yes it will fade away but then will continued to be referenced as a mass shooting statistic or incident whenever assault weapons bans, or magazine limits/bans come up - or to justify any gun control legislation .. even though a legally bought pistol was used that probably held < 12 rounds.
Wasn't 'legally bought'..the guy was a prohibited person. The second big failure was that there wasn't any requirement to go search his place. Strike one and two. Will this give those who wish to enact gun restrictions more 'ammo'(sorry)..you bet..research 'message' and how the PR debate is being lost.
__________________
PhormerPhantomPhlyer

"Tools not Trophies”
USNRet93 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:23 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.09895 seconds with 10 queries