Imagine that you're a law abiding, sensible, responsible citizen (as I'm sure you are anyway). You own a nice car that you take care of, and have a significant amount of money invested in. You use your vehicle every day for lawful purposes, and you could not imagine life without it. You try to never break traffic laws, and you never drive while intoxicated. In fact, you've gone out of your way to ensure that if you're going to be at a party or a bar where you may be drinking, you get a ride, carpool, or even take a cab ( at additional expense to yourself) to comply with the law. In every way you are a model citizen, and you have never made the mistake of drinking and getting behind the wheel.
One day, a man who is having marriage problems goes to a bar, drinks too much, and tries to drive himself home. On the way, he runs a red light and hits a minivan with a young family of five inside, on the way to their vacation home not too far away. No one survives the accident, including the drunk driver. The accident is highly publicized, with political leaders and the media calling for stricter laws to prevent this sort of thing in the future. The debate rages on for weeks, with each side becoming more and more vocal.
A few weeks later after you drive home from work, you turn on the news. The headline of the day is that the state legislature has passed a comprehensive new ban on drunk driving, even though it has already been banned for twenty years. The new law is much more restrictive, and according to the media, will save lives at only the cost of a few inconveniences.
The new law requires all cars manufactured to come with a built in blood alcohol content interlock, to ensure that the operator is sober before starting the car. In addition, all newly manufactured vehicles may not have fuel tanks over five gallons in size, and may not be capable of exceeding 55 miles per hour. This of course is to both reduce the severity of potential future incidents, and to reduce the ability of intoxicated drivers to flee from the police. The police and government of course do not have to abide by these arbitrary limits, and the politicians who passed this ban have specially licensed chauffeurs allowed to own performance vehicles with high capacity fuel tanks. The last portion of the ban on vehicles specifies a list of features that a vehicle may not have. These include traction control, spoilers, air scoops, dual exhausts, and eight cylinder engines.
"Well" you think, "This won't affect me. I already own my vehicle, and I'm not planning on buying one for at least a couple of years." You're wrong. The lawmakers have thought of that too. All cars built before the law was enacted are required to have an interlock installed, at owner expense. The interlock must be inspected and registered with the state, and recertified every five years, with a fee each time. This applies to all vehicles, regardless of the owner's driving history, and the fact that you've gone out of your way and spent extra money in the past to comply with the existing laws. Vehicles currently owned are also not allowed to be sold within the state. When you decide to dispose of your current vehicle, you must sell to an out of state buyer, or surrender it to state police to be destroyed, without compensation. You also may not give it to your child for their first vehicle. Your high capacity fuel tank is now banned. Even though the tank was the standard capacity when the vehicle was manufactured, if it now holds more than five gallons you must register it with the state. High capacity fuel tanks may no longer be filled with more than five gallons. If you are caught with more than five gallons of fuel in your tank, you face a misdemeanor charge. Fuel is also highly controlled under the new law. You no longer may go down to your local station and fill up anonymously. You now have to go to a government controlled fuel station, submit to a blood alcohol content test, and pay a fee every time you fuel your vehicle. In addition, every fuel sale is reported to the government. Any fuel purchases over five gallons are considered unusual, and may be investigated by the state government. Also, because this law went into effect today while you were at work, you were unknowingly in violation, because you had a full tank at the beginning of the day.
After you hear all this on the news, you think that they must have made a mistake. You, a responsible, taxpaying, law abiding driver, are being treated like a common criminal. You've gone out of your way to comply with the former DWI laws, but now they're treating you as a scapegoat.
Welcome to the world of being a gun owner.
One day, a man who is having marriage problems goes to a bar, drinks too much, and tries to drive himself home. On the way, he runs a red light and hits a minivan with a young family of five inside, on the way to their vacation home not too far away. No one survives the accident, including the drunk driver. The accident is highly publicized, with political leaders and the media calling for stricter laws to prevent this sort of thing in the future. The debate rages on for weeks, with each side becoming more and more vocal.
A few weeks later after you drive home from work, you turn on the news. The headline of the day is that the state legislature has passed a comprehensive new ban on drunk driving, even though it has already been banned for twenty years. The new law is much more restrictive, and according to the media, will save lives at only the cost of a few inconveniences.
The new law requires all cars manufactured to come with a built in blood alcohol content interlock, to ensure that the operator is sober before starting the car. In addition, all newly manufactured vehicles may not have fuel tanks over five gallons in size, and may not be capable of exceeding 55 miles per hour. This of course is to both reduce the severity of potential future incidents, and to reduce the ability of intoxicated drivers to flee from the police. The police and government of course do not have to abide by these arbitrary limits, and the politicians who passed this ban have specially licensed chauffeurs allowed to own performance vehicles with high capacity fuel tanks. The last portion of the ban on vehicles specifies a list of features that a vehicle may not have. These include traction control, spoilers, air scoops, dual exhausts, and eight cylinder engines.
"Well" you think, "This won't affect me. I already own my vehicle, and I'm not planning on buying one for at least a couple of years." You're wrong. The lawmakers have thought of that too. All cars built before the law was enacted are required to have an interlock installed, at owner expense. The interlock must be inspected and registered with the state, and recertified every five years, with a fee each time. This applies to all vehicles, regardless of the owner's driving history, and the fact that you've gone out of your way and spent extra money in the past to comply with the existing laws. Vehicles currently owned are also not allowed to be sold within the state. When you decide to dispose of your current vehicle, you must sell to an out of state buyer, or surrender it to state police to be destroyed, without compensation. You also may not give it to your child for their first vehicle. Your high capacity fuel tank is now banned. Even though the tank was the standard capacity when the vehicle was manufactured, if it now holds more than five gallons you must register it with the state. High capacity fuel tanks may no longer be filled with more than five gallons. If you are caught with more than five gallons of fuel in your tank, you face a misdemeanor charge. Fuel is also highly controlled under the new law. You no longer may go down to your local station and fill up anonymously. You now have to go to a government controlled fuel station, submit to a blood alcohol content test, and pay a fee every time you fuel your vehicle. In addition, every fuel sale is reported to the government. Any fuel purchases over five gallons are considered unusual, and may be investigated by the state government. Also, because this law went into effect today while you were at work, you were unknowingly in violation, because you had a full tank at the beginning of the day.
After you hear all this on the news, you think that they must have made a mistake. You, a responsible, taxpaying, law abiding driver, are being treated like a common criminal. You've gone out of your way to comply with the former DWI laws, but now they're treating you as a scapegoat.
Welcome to the world of being a gun owner.
