Maryland: Gov. wants law to prohibit gun ownership if under restraining order

[irishmp]

In the US over 400,000 people are injured with approx 60,000 killed due to alcohol involved driving accidents. Most offenders do lose their license but none have to surrender their cars. Many go on to be repeat DUI offenders. Why is this not addressed by the politicians (REP or DEM). If it is about saving lives becasue of demonstrated violence, the use of a 3,000+ lb weapon is a very good example.

[tombogan03884]

In the US over 400,000 people are injured with approx 60,000 killed due to alcohol involved driving accidents. Most offenders do lose their license but none have to surrender their cars. Many go on to be repeat DUI offenders. Why is this not addressed by the politicians (REP or DEM). If it is about saving lives becasue of demonstrated violence, the use of a 3,000+ lb weapon is a very good example.

Here in NH, (I don't know about other states) you can not get plates for your car if you do not have a drivers license.
While it is not the same as having the Cops come and confiscate the vehicle it is a step in that direction.

[tt11758]

In the US over 400,000 people are injured with approx 60,000 killed due to alcohol involved driving accidents. Most offenders do lose their license but none have to surrender their cars. Many go on to be repeat DUI offenders. Why is this not addressed by the politicians (REP or DEM). If it is about saving lives becasue of demonstrated violence, the use of a 3,000+ lb weapon is a very good example.

The short answer is that politicans are, by and large, drinking people, and think that "there but for the grace of God go I." 

Speaking as someone who has lost a sister and brother-in-law to a drunk driver I firmly believe that a law-abiding citizen in possession of a .45 with a full magazine is FAR less dangerous than a drunk in possession of a set of car keys.  NO family should have to go through what my family has experienced the past 2 years. 

Drink until you can't stand up, I don't give a shit.......none of my business, actually........just don't drive!!!


I'll climb down off my soapbox now.

[GlockMeister]

Sadly, I'm pretty sure in Illinois, this is already the case. If you are accused of domestic abuse and or even have a restraining order put on you, they revoke and or ask you for your FOID card.

Now I know, there are some domestic abuse cases where one deserves to lose his FOID, but if your GF or wife just wants to make life rough, and hit you where it hurts, all she has to do is call the cops on you and say you pushed her. Now since June of 2008, Illinois has also taken another back door approach, IMHO that is. But if you go see a mental health counselor, let's say you go just simply because you've been stressed at work lately, whatever, you're just simply going because you feel the need to and it's suppose to be the right thing to do?

Well, if whom you are seeing "FEELS" you are a threat to yourself or someone else, they now, by law, must report your name to the Illinois State Police, FOID card division, and you can have you FOID card revoked. In my eyes, all this will do is prevent someone from getting the help they might need.

Then what's to say, you just don't get a mental health counselor that's anti-gun, and they now see an opportunity? An opportunity to do what they can to get guns out the hands of someone.

If you have a teenage son or daughter, and you take them in for counseling, same thing. YOU CAN LOSE YOUR FOID CARD AND GUNS IF THE COUNSELOR FEELS THEY ARE A THREAT TO THEMSELVES OR TO OTHERS.

I then say, to be fair, if the FOID card is to be revoked, then they better remove all knives, butter knives, forks, bats and even take your vehicles away from you as all those can also kill, if that's what the person wants to do. They better get all medicines and poisons out of the house as well. 

From what I understand, it doesn't even matter if you have a safe. If there are guns in the house, and someone else feels whomever is getting the help, and doing the right thing, doing what they should be doing, is a threat to themselves or others, this or that person is going to have their FOID card revoked and even possibly their gun taken from them. And we all know, once that happens, they'll never get them back, if they do, they'll be all beat up and scratched up. But the odds are, they'll NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN! ALL because they did the right thing for themselves or son or daughter.

A person seeking help or a parent seeking help for their child shouldn't have it used against them. Yes, there are some cases where it will help or maybe even prevent something. But I fear it will fall under the lines of, act first, take their FOID and their gun or guns and worry about if it was right to do that after the fact, rather then, okay, we got this notice from a mental health counselor about so an so. Let's make sure. But, I feel they'll react first and not care if it was over-reacting. That it won't matter if the parents of a teenage child is taking their troubled child in for mental health counseling and the counselor thinks they might be a threat to themselves or others, and you own a gun or guns and they're kept LOCKED AND SECURED IN A SAFE AND THE TEENAGER/CHILD DOES NOT EVEN HAVE ACCESS TO IT/THEM.

This is all due to the Virgina Tech and Northern Illinois shootings. And I'm sure other incidents were factored in to this as well. And I understand and I also don't want someone with a mental issue to have a gun or access to a gun. But my fear with this is they won't factor in everything. They won't factor in you have a safe for the guns and maybe even a safe for the ammo. They won't factor anything in. My fear is that they'll just see this as an excuse and a reason to revoke someones gun card and take their guns and or prevent them from getting them back or prevent someone from even ever owning to begin with.

How many people went to jail over something minor. Say unpaid parking tickets. And have lost their rights. What the heck does unpaid parking tickets have to do with owning a gun? I for a fact know someone that was denied a FOID card because they had an unpaid or unpaid parking tickets. What does that have to do with the other? There are a few other if not many offenses a person can be jailed for that have nothing to do with guns, and even though they've say server their time, paid their fines, done everything they were suppose to and then some even, they're still denied the right to own a gun. Now I don't say any of this to create an argument. I just think there are too many back doors available to taking and or preventing someone from getting or owning a gun. And they;re coming up with more every day it seems.

After this tragic Santa massacre in Covina, California, you can now be sure that some politician somewhere is writing up some new bill that would find a way to take guns from anyone getting or going through a divorce? God forbid. But the truth of the matter is, those in power think they know what is best for us more so them we do for ourselves and are looking for any and every reason they can to take away our guns and or prevent us from having, getting or even owning them in the first place. And the sad truth of the matter is, they're slowly gaining ground and slowly winning the battle, because they're getting away with it. Because they seem to think they know what is better for us then we do.

It's all about preventing things that haven't happened yet or preventing things from happening again. Some of it I can and do understand. But I feel sometimes it's more about finding ways to take law abiding citizens guns away from them and or prevent law abiding citizens from having, getting and owning guns. If we let them, they'll eventually find enough reasons to prevent anyone from owning or getting guns and they'll also find enough reasons to eventually take everyone's guns away from them.