03-22-2009, 04:42 PM
Mac-A-Matic wrote:
[quote=Doc]
BTW: http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/ar...mbers.html
Despite the urgent tone of this widely forwarded message, which we have been asked about dozens of times, the "Ammunition Accountability Act" so far has shown few signs of life. The National Research Council last year, in a report requested by the Department of Justice, called the technology "promising" but stopped short of recommending any requirement, and instead called for more research and competition.
The idea is being pushed mainly by a single company that holds a patent on bullet-coding technology, so far without much success. Last year lawmakers in 18 states proposed legislation that would require handgun ammunition to be coded, but not one of those bills came to a vote or even made it out of committee. In 2005 the California state Senate approved a so-called "Ammunition Accountability" measure by a vote of 21 to 18, but the proposal then died in the Assembly without coming to a vote there.
While that may be the current status of the bill, let us not forget that anti-smoking bans were once fighting a losing battle only now to have eclipsed our right to choose on how to live.
All drug laws do this. And yes, cigarettes are a drug as much as alcohol or marijuana. Not saying it's right, but considering he precedents, it shouldn't be surprising that smoking is treated this way.
I'm not a smoker, but I hope that smoking is eventually outlawed. Not because I think it should be. Not because I want to treat smokers as social pariahs, but because I think the backlash against such a legal action would be so great that it would cause us all to re-examine the prohibition of other drugs.
I think the pendulum needs to swing to one extreme before it can come back the other way. Then maybe we could end this War on Drugs and put cartels out of business.
Sorry for the threadjacking. Back to the regularly scheduled political hysteria...