Well said, my friend. It is hard to draw the line, and determine where it should be. I sold my guns long ago, during my divorce, after voluntarily registering my pistol (which was ex-military and never registered anywhere previously). Why did I sell them? Because at least here in MI, standard operating procedure is that whomever is filing for divorce is immediately advised by their attorney to get a restraining order against their spouse. It's supposed to make you look bad in court. :jagoff: Every judge, attorney, and law-enforcement officer knows it's complete bullshit, but if you have a PPO (personal protection order) against you, you have to turn in your guns or sell them. So, if a PPO filed by my ex-wife comes up on my record, should I be denied gun ownership? Well, I don't think so... it's not like I ever attacked her. Hell, I wouldn't even call her. But the case could be made, right? "Why did she need one?"
I sold my .45 to a guy with an FFL, and brought the paperwork to the police which is enough for them--as long as you no longer own it. To my knowledge, both of my 12-gauge shotguns remain unregistered but I haven't seen either one in 15+ years. Hell, one of them was supposedly never even made... how do you register that? I sold them to interested parties, no documentation present or at that time necessary. I have no idea what became of them, and I don't care. The only one I actually wanted to buy was the Ithaca, simply because of its rarity. The 1100 was something my Dad won at a Ducks Unlimited banquet, and the .45ACP I took in trade for a car. I'm just not a huge gun person.
As far as leadership, I think a lot of politicians go in with good intentions, but we all know what the road to Hell is paved with, don't we? I think they get sucked into the machine. Want to see people get stuff done? Look at their first terms. They seem to start to slide after that. Limit politicians to one term only, take away their huge benefits packages, and ban lobbyists and PACs. Lead them not into temptation, so to speak. Limit campaign contributions and spending like Great Britain does (max spending is about $150,000) I think you'd see the cream rise to the top, as the people truly wanting to serve and accomplish actual changes would still go after it and people that want to be career pocket-liners would fail to see the reason for even running. Of course, the problem with that whole scenario that the only people that can make that the law is the politicians currently in office; I'm doubting a multi-term legislator would vote to cut himself off at the knees. Make it a national referendum, voted on by the populus rather than the electoral college? Great idea... it still has to get past the same clowns.
I think the Mayans were right. They did not predict the end of the world, rather the end of each of their time periods signified a time of great change in the world. I fear we are near either revolution or Novus Ordo Seclorum... The New Order of the Ages, also known as the New World Order.