Toledo, Ohio Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz is riding his gun control hobbyhorse. This time, he’s hoping to use the imaginary economic clout of Toledo (74th largest city in the United States) to force firearms manufacturers to…
I’m not sure what. But he’s going to ask manufacturers which want to do business from whom Toledo wants to buy stuff a few questions as a condition of doing business. Seemingly, wrong answers will result in the city turning down manufacurers begging the small city to buy stuff hysterical laughter from companies which don’t need their business.
I have a few suggested answers to Kapszukiewicz’s questions, for properly motivated manufacturers.
Do you manufacture assault weapons for civilian use?
No. Ohio has no definition of “assault weapon” to put that in context, and there is no other standardized definition. Where there is a state ban on defined assault weapons, we don’t manufacture them for civilians there, because it would be illegal.
Do you sell assault weapons for civilian use?
No. No. (Ohio has no definition of “assault weapon” to put that in context, and there is no other standardized definition. Where there is a state ban on defined assault weapons, we don’t sell them to civilians there, because it would be illegal.
Which firearms does your company agree to not sell to civilians?
Agree? Which ones are you asking us not to sell? We already don’t sell machineguns to civilians, since that’s been law for 32 years. You had something else in mind?
Do you require your dealers to conduct background checks?
No. We found that us requiring background checks is redundant, since federal law already requires dealers to conduct background checks, and has done so for decades.
Does your company have a plan in place to invest in gun- and ammunition-tracing technologies?
We have a firearm tracing system in place. It’s called serial numbers and inventory control, as required by federal law for a long time. We do not manufacture ammunition, so tracing it would be impossible for us.
Do you use, at a minimum, industry best practices for inventory control and transactions?
Yes. It is and has been required by federal law for 50 years.
Ask a stupid question, get schooled.
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And this is what happens when you ask Maxwell Q. “Max” Klinger for suggestions on how to handle this “crisis” Apparently the mayor didn’t realize Max is a seasoned prankster.
The city of Toledo would be better off just electing Max Klinger next time. It would be less embarrassing. I wonder if he still has that really pretty blue dress with the big English roses on it, that was always a pretty dress.
Dear Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz;
1. Your “economic clout” consists of 566 police officers.
2. Calculating from state figures, Toledo has about 17,000 people licensed to carry.
Firearm manufacturers can do that math.
(1) http://www.governing.com/gov-data/safety-justice/law-enforcement-police-department-employee-totals-for-cities.html
(2) https://www.toledoblade.com/business/2018/03/02/State-report-shows-more-than-77-000-new-concealed-carry-licenses-issued-last-year.html
Heh. Tweeted that to @city_of_toledo.
Cops are civilians. The gun manufacturers *should* refuse to sell to that segment of the civilian population.
I also think that the firearms manufactures should get their heads together and decide that they would no longer sell guns to ANYONE from a city or state that has outrageous laws such as gun or magazine bans. Then find out just how long before the place likes having not only citizens jumping up and down because they cannot buy a shotgun to hunt deer, and the police cannot get enough ammunition to train and carry.
The industry as a whole would only have to say that the cost of doing business and the possibility of somehow messing up and getting sued is just too great. When the laws are repealed, then the spigot opens up once more.
Maybe it is a bit unfair to lawful gun owners, but then again, isn’t what the city and states are doing unfair to gun owners?