Ghost Gun Myths
Please share this with anyone in law enforcement you may know. They really need to hear this.
Recently Omaha passed new gun restriction measures (https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/11/09/omaha-mayor-signs-off-on-councils-gun-kit-ordinance-gun-resolutions/). I fail to understand, with the Constitutional Carry law (LB 77 https://www.3newsnow.com/news/political/permitless-concealed-carry-bill-gets-second-round-of-debate-in-nebraska-legislature) having been passed, why they did not wait for evidence of a problem to emerge. Apparently, Omaha Council member Pete Festersen, who proposed these ordinances, intends to run for Omaha Mayor and is using this as a wedge issue and is succeeding in doing so.
Here are the myths. A gun can be manufactured out of plastic which can be difficult to detect, but this is a faulty argument. These plastic guns still have some metal in them. The problem is security officials operating metal detectors change the settings on the metal detectors to prevent constant alarms from going off over steel-toe shoes, belt buckles, and other things. Also, these plastic guns are largely worthless without ammo which is made of brass and lead which is very easy to detect with a metal detector.
Well, if you are going to ban these plastic guns, where do you draw the line? Squirt guns have been used in crimes (https://www.vaildaily.com/news/boys-accused-of-squirt-gun-holdup/). Even in Omaha, a fake gun was used resulting in disaster (https://www.nbcnews.com/video/omaha-wendy-s-shooting-new-video-shows-fatal-shooting-of-cops-crew-member-1219148867866). This disaster was largely responsible for local law enforcement in seeking better training for such scenarios.
In addition, the Omaha ordinance bans any kit guns at all such as these https://www.gunbuilders.com/handgun-build-kits/ . I wanted to buy one of these, merely to see if I could put it together, but not going to do so with the new City Ordinance restricting guns. I could have ordered a kit, built the gun, fired it at a gun range, and turned around and gotten money for it at a law enforcement gun buy-back program.
What law enforcement fears is a proliferation of handguns without serial numbers, yet serial numbers can be removed from most handguns. The serial numbers are important in tracing where a gun came from and who bought it, but without a serial number, the task is a bit more difficult. However, supposed ghost guns have not proliferated to a problem of not being able to arrest criminals and putting them in jail. I suppose the argument would be, why wait for a problem to emerge? However, civilians want the freedom to protect themselves.
There are other problems with the gun restrictions passed. Preventing guns from being in government buildings where security is present is understandable. However, police cannot be everywhere including public parks where homeless people, drug addicts, and mentally ill people can pose a significant danger (https://www.wowt.com/video/2023/07/10/breaking-13-year-old-arrested-stabbing-omahas-memorial-park/). I much rather have a jogger on the trail with a gun with capacity to protect people instead of the drudges of society scaring, intimidating and hurting people. A gun seldom has to be fired to provide deterrence. Mere presence will reduce crime and unfortunate conflicts.
At times, members of law enforcement appear to be paranoid about guns. I wonder if Omaha provides any special mental health assistance to help officers with post-traumatic stress disorder in dealing with high-stress environments and traumatic events. I also can only speculate to what degree other law enforcement members are impacted. However, civilians are feeling the pain of crime. On average 300 people file for protection orders in Douglas County each month or about 10 per day according to records I obtained from Douglas County offices. Furthermore, assaults happen fairly regularly with little to no attention from the media. Such assaults encourage more gun ownership and can create a conflict between civilians and law enforcement.
Also, the City is very arrogant to think gun control will control or reduce crime. It won’t. Omaha is surrounded by neighboring communities with different laws and Omaha’s borders are confusing, which the United States Postal Office makes even more confusing as they say you are in Omaha when you are not. This means criminals will still bring gun-related problems into Omaha via locations outside Omaha.
So what should Omaha do? Law enforcement should sponsor events at local gun ranges to share their concerns but more importantly, provide training to gun owners on how to interact with police when they encounter them. Also, law enforcement should encourage people to take anger management courses to help people avoid committing assault.
Many in law enforcement will think I am being idealistic but the vast majority of criminals don’t want to die at the hands of police. Law enforcement most often does not have to worry about good (law enforcement) versus evil but more often smart people (law enforcement) versus incredibly stupid people. Information is a superpower to attain and share. Law enforcement has to practice patient teaching of the stupid people they encounter. Foul words and laws really do not have the impact so many believe.
Also, to law enforcement, I respect the difficulties of your job. I merely offer a different viewpoint.
They've gotten their eyes off their real job: genuinely protecting and serving the public, and have distracted themselves with something that isn't: regulating guns and what can and can't be a weapon. This is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Festerson - a Democrat has a slave holder mentality. Mask mandates, business shut downs, pushing jab, now this. Nothing surprises me that the cabal of slave owners getting together to take what turns out to be a privilege away for those they own.