In article , tonycooper214
@gmail.com says...

On Wed, 18 Sep 2013 19:28:19 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

In article , tonycooper214
says...

On Wed, 18 Sep 2013 17:04:59 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

In article , tonycooper214
says...

On Wed, 18 Sep 2013 08:26:11 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

It is only one, very limited, form of reality. A state law could
require Grandma to sell the gun on consignment through a licensed
retail gun seller. There certainly is no shortage of them in this
state.

Fine, you pass that law. Since Grandma has no interest in guns and gun
laws and wasn't paying attention the day you passed it, she has no idea
that there is such a law and goes ahead and lists the guns on Craigslist
anyway. Now what?

Grandma is probably quite unaware of many extant laws. If Grampa's
estate include meth lab equipment, a stash of marijuana, a computer
loaded with image files of naked children, or anything obtained
illegally, she might innocently offer them for sale. We don't pass or
not pass laws based on people's knowledge of what is, or is not,
legal.

Meaningless noise. Grandma has disobeyed your law. Now what do you do?

Prevent it. Require the refusal of any advertisement for a gun in any
medium unless the advertiser is an authorized seller of guns. We
already have restrictions in place on advertisers that the medium must
observe. We require certain contractors to have a license number to
advertise. We require sellers of automobiles who are dealers to
reveal that they are dealers. There are many other restrictions in
place.

Have you been successful in enforcing those rules on Craiglist?

What rules? No rules exist today. There should be rules, but no
rules will ever be put into effect in Florida. The NRA owns the
Florida legislature. This is the state that tried to pass a law that
a pediatrician should be fined $1 million - that's no typo - for
initiating any discussion with a patient or patient's family about gun
safety practices in the home...the "Docs and Glocks" law that was
struck down by the courts.

This is also the state that passed legislation that forbade cities
from passing any local ordinances regarding gun control. No city in
Florida can pass a local ordinance banning the carrying - open or
concealed - a weapon in a children's park or school. Any gun law must
be a state law.

How
about community bulletin boards? There are many commonplace venues for
advertising that are not subject to editorial control.

All I'm advocating is that *some* reasonable restrictions on the sale
of guns should be imposed. There is no anticipation that all avenues
can - or should be - closed. I think it's reasonable to ban gun sales
at flea markets where anyone can walk up and purchase any weapon of
any kind. I don't think it's reasonable to attempt to ban, by law,
that "Grandma" can't sell her deceased husband's handgun to a friend
or relative.

And, by the way, I would exempt collector items like this one:
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...6-21-07-XL.jpg
I inherited it from my father, but have since given it to my daughter.

That would probably be safer for Grandma. For Grandma to offer the
gun on Craigslist and meet with a total stranger is putting Grandma in
danger. Worse, if Grandma is so naive to allow the stranger to come
to her home. Nor do we want Grandma toting the gun to a flea market
to sell it.

rolling eyes

Do you hear yourself? Yeah, gotta protect grandma from all those mean
ugly looking mother-stabbing father raping strangers if she wants to
dispose of grandpa's guns. Why don't you pass a law that says that she
has to take his cameras or golf clubs or fishing tackle to a gunshop and
get a background check run on the buyer as well? Wouldn't that be safer
for her as well?

If you want to make a case for something, do it with some connection
to a logical reason for your position. There is no logical connection
for a background check on the sale of fishing equipment.

Your argument is that Grandma selling something on Craigslist is
dangerous for Grandma. Now it is up to you to explain why selling a
firearm on Craigslist is more dangerous to Grandma than selling a camera
or a bicycle or a fishing rod.

Up to me? All it takes is a modicum of common sense to understand why
advertising the fact that you have a gun for sale can attract people
who would not respond to an ad for a camera or a fishing rod.
Craigslist has a search option, and the bad guys aren't searching for
"Nikon" or "Daiwa".

I see. So the only people who might want to buy a gun are criminals.
Gotcha.

Nothing about the suggestion prohibits anyone from selling or buying a
gun. All it does is impose a restriction on where the gun is bought
or sold. Guns could still be sold through or to, and bought from,
authorized sellers that follow the laws.

Tony, put some more tinfoil in your hat and wipe the foam off your
mouth.