I kept hearing from my conservative friends that Mayor Ballard had spoken favor of a gun registration law in Indianapolis. I thought it was just an Internet rumor that had gotten out of hand. But I was wrong. On Wednesday, Channel 8 reported the exchange with the Mayor, where while talking off the cuff, he suggested that Indianapolis might consider adopting a gun registration ordinance similar to New York City.
The Republican power structure has never been particularly supportive of gun rights. I remember walking into Prosecutor's Scott Newman's office and seeing framed posters provided by anti-gun rights groups. I have also heard from conservative friends, but do not personally know, that Prosecutor Brizzi shares his predecessor's views on guns.
Mayor Ballard's proposal is supposedly an attempt to get a handle on violent crime. Those types of gun restrictions never make a dent in crime, however. People who are wanting to rob a bank are not deterred from committing that crime because having a gun is illegal. The only people who are deterred from such gun measures are those law-abiding gun owners who have done nothing wrong. Apparently after a deluge of phone calls, Mayor Ballard has backed off the suggestion and is now just advocating tougher measures to get the guns out of the hands of felons.
That's funny. My client is not a felon. The police searched his house by mistake and took his guns. Now the City of Indianapolis won't return his guns unless he agrees to fill out a form and be fingerprinted, which fingerprints then go into a national database. The man did nothing wrong, yet now the City wants to impose additional requirements on him for possessing a gun in his own house. So much for Mayor Ballard's claim he is only against felons having guns.
An addendum: I will be a panelist on the radio show "Indiana View" today at 1 p.m. talking about the Mayor's gun proposal. It is 1430 AM on the radio dial. You can also listen to it over the internet by going to http://www.wxnt.com/ and clicking the link.
3 comments:
Thanks for taking on this case. This should not just be your client's fight. This is a slap in the face to every law abiding American. This blatant disregard of the Second Amendment must not be tolerated.
Let's be honest. For about 20 years, the Republicans have been the party of authority and the architects of the coming police state.
Diana, I applaude your comment. I just want to remind anyone who reads Paul's commentary to remember that the Indiana Constitution contains none of the 'supposedly' conflicting language ascribed to the federal Constitution.
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Article 1, Section 32. "The people shall have a right to bear arms, for the defense of themselves and the State."
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