Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Gun-Due Burden

You were probably expecting to see a cartoon about the marriage equality cases before the Supreme Court today, but after seeing some local newsmakers echoing the NRA party line that requiring instant background checks for gun sales imposes an "undue burden on the little guy," I was compelled to draw this cartoon this week:

I find that a hard argument to swallow, considering the undue burdens Republican state legislators across the country are imposing upon the little guy who tries to exercise his or her constitutional right to vote, and the undue burdens they are imposing upon the little women who seek reproductive health services.

As an editorial in the Tucson Sun Sentinel put it:
"The NRA argues that requiring licensed gun dealers to maintain an inventory would be unduly burdensome on law-abiding dealers. But maintaining accurate inventory records is a routine business practice in nearly every other retail industry and any burden on lawful dealers—who are likely already keeping these records as part of a good business practice—is outweighed by the benefit to public safety of quickly identifying missing guns and reporting them to law enforcement. An inventory requirement would also serve as a deterrent to gun dealers tempted to break the law by selling guns to criminals, as well as an incentive to law-abiding firearms dealers to ensure that they are in full control of their dangerous inventory."
A statement from Mayors Against Illegal Guns co-chair, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino added:
"The NRA’s argument that background checks are ‘inconvenient’ for gun sellers and buyers is ridiculous, especially since almost every American lives within ten miles of a licensed gun dealer."
And speaking of undue burdens: this is the time of year to point out that in those states where gay and lesbian couples can legally marry, DOMA requires any couple who wants to take advantage of the right to jointly file their taxes to calculate their taxes once as joint filers for their state return, then recalculate their entire tax forms a second time as complete strangers for their federal return.

No comments:

Post a Comment