Apparently it’s a rule that, as a lawmaker, you have to tackle societal concepts with which you are stunningly ignorant. State Senator Kevin De Leon, (Democrat from the Socialist Republic of California’s crime ridden city of Los Angeles) recently put his amazingly acute idiocy on full display while talking about guns he thinks should be heavily regulated. Not surprisingly, the Democrat from California’s gang-infested city is a staunch supporter of increased gun control.
Holding what appears to be a weaponized amalgamation of steel and kydex, the senator let slip an incoherent ramble of gun terms that were clearly stacked for theatrical effect, and not accuracy or informative purposes.
“This is a ghost gun” he began. The term should incite some level of confusion, given that it was neither transparent nor risen from the great beyond. According to a quick google search, the term “ghost gun” could mean a gun that is capable of slipping through metal detectors, or a gun that has not been registered by governing authorities. Of course, given the quantity of metallic surfaces apparent in the displayed gun, I’m going to have to assume he is referring to the “non-registered” definition of a “ghost gun.”
“This right here” he said as he clumsily tapped the area of the gun where a magazine should be inserted into the frame, “is a 30 caliber clip.” Wow… Neat. Given the fact that the firearm appears to take a magazine, my curiosity was immediately peaked by the idea of a “clip” that was 30 caliber (or 0.3 inches for those of you with a ruler) and capable of feeding the AR-15 style rifle. It also raises the question of whether the “clip” or the ammunition was 30 caliber. That question was never answered as the Senator furthered his incoherent string of fancy-sounding firearm-terms…
The topically illiterate State Senator went on to describe the capabilities of the “ghost gun” with a “30 caliber clip” to the spellbound audience by saying it was capable of firing “30 bullets within half a second.”
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Just to prove that he was irretrievably lost among concepts that baffled his comprehension, he reiterated his butchered point: “A 30 magazine clip in half a second!”
Ok… Just a quick recap:
A clip is a metallic mechanism designed to hold ammunition – the width of which are measured by their “caliber” – while leaving the bullet exposed. A magazine is an enclosed box that houses a spring, into which ammo is feed. Apparently, this “ghost gun” accepts an unholy amalgamation of clips and magazines (maybe we should call it a “Frankenstein” gun instead)… And apparently fires as quickly as some fully automatic weapons.
Of course what the ignorant California Democrat was really holding, was a semi-automatic rifle that may or may not be registered. It fires roughly 12-15 rounds per second. It has a 30 round magazine. And such rifles can be chambered for almost any rifle round… Although I know of no “30 caliber” rifle round that is common place in the semi-auto rifle industry.*
That moment of hopeless ignorance, however, is indicative of our political system. America is currently lead by statists that feel compelled to regulate and restrict aspects of American life about which they have little (or zero) understanding. People who don’t even know the difference between a magazine capacity, and a bullet’s caliber, are trying to regulate your ability to own a firearm. (Click here to hear a Democrat from the great state of New New York who confused magazines with bullets) But the picture is larger than firearms, or idiot lawmakers from the Socialist Republic of California.
Currently we have the IRS running the healthcare industry. We have sub-prime mortgage profiteers (Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and bureaucrats in DC) engineering regulations for the financial sector. Millionaires and trust fund-babies are writing small business regulations from K Street. In fact, DC is made up of elitist academics who are willing to regulate your life without having ever taken the time or energy to acquaint themselves with your concerns.
Heck… It’s almost as if these inexperienced, ill informed, and socially isolated “leaders” might be pushing regulations and legislation for personal political gain rather than societal or economic progress. When lawmakers complain about the need for higher taxes, do you think they’ve read all 74,000 pages of the US tax code? (Keep in mind, most of these lawmakers couldn’t even make it through the 2,700 pages of Obamacare.) When Barack Obama begins to pontificate about small business regulations, shouldn’t we consider his complete lack of experience in entrepreneurial ventures?
Ignorance is as dangerous a quality for a lawmaker as it is for the general public. And as De Leon illiterately (and accidently) articulated, ignorance is rampant among the nation’s champions of big-government regulation. Maybe it should be a new rule that lawmakers have to demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the items or industries they aim to restrict. Ignorance is embarrassing, disqualifying, and (unfortunately) it also appears to be a pre-requisite to holding office in much of American government.
PS: If there is such a thing as a “ghost gun” with a 30 caliber magazine clip… I think I want one. (Although, I have no idea what such a contraption would look like.)
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*Update: Alright... It must be addressed: There are 30 cal. semi autos. The most famous of which would be the 7.62x39, or the .308 (I own both)... But no knowledgeable gun guru would dare to say such a firearm is capable of a ".30 cal. magazine-clip”. In fact, they would be laughed out of the gun store...
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