guns, guns GUNS!!!!!

[odun]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/...uns/index.html

democrats control the senate by 20 votes. so much for being 'gun-grabbers'

[UltraShy]

Amtrak would lose its federal subsidies if it doesn't put a system in place by early next year to check and track firearms so that passengers can legally put the weapons in their checked baggage, the Senate voted Wednesday.

Great, I'm thrilled to hear that. I was aware this issue was coming up for a vote today, having been notified by GOA (Gun Owners of America).

To conserve on writing here's just a cut & past from an e-mail I got yesterday from GOA:

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Earlier today, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) offered an amendment to the 2010 Transportation-Housing & Urban Development Appropriations bill.

Sen. Wicker's amendment will allow law-abiding gun owners to safely and legally transport firearms when they travel on Amtrak. A nearly identical amendment, also offered by Sen. Wicker, passed the Senate in April by a vote of 63-35.

Current Amtrak regulations prohibit firearms in both checked and carry-on baggage. Sportsmen who wish to use an Amtrak train for a hunting trip, therefore, cannot include a shotgun even in their checked luggage.

Likewise, travelers who have a permit to carry a concealed firearm cannot include a self-defense firearm in their checked luggage, even if they are allowed to carry in both the states of origin and destination.

But if such travelers were to take the trip by air, they could check a gun onto the aircraft by simply declaring the firearm and transporting it in a prescribed manner.

Of course, very few people use Amtrak -- and many question why that entity receives any tax payer money.

Regardless, a transportation entity that receives billions of federal taxpayer dollars should not be allowed to prevent law-abiding citizens from hunting or defending themselves when they travel on vacation or personal business.

Sen. Wicker's amendment prohibits any federal taxpayer funding of Amtrak if it does not allow gun owners to transport firearms on trains in a manner similar to that of airlines.

Under this amendment, travelers would be able to transport a firearm from Amtrak stations that accept checked baggage as long as the firearm is declared and carried in a hard-sided, locked container.

Americans should not be denied their Second Amendment rights when they travel by Amtrak.

It's bad enough that law-abiding citizens are disarmed onboard a train, where there is usually no law enforcement present and where they may be subject to criminal attack. But it is just plain absurd not to let American citizens simply transport a firearm in checked baggage.

What is a hunter who happens to enjoy train travel (that they subsidize with billions of tax dollars) supposed to do if they can't put their hunting gun in their checked luggage like they could if they took a plane instead? Are they supposed to Fed Ex their hunting gear to their destination? Perhaps Odun would like to explain how a locked firearm in checked baggage presents some danger on a train when it's deemed perfectly safe & legal on a plane. I'd sure like to know the difference.

[IDK]

Originally Posted by UltraShy

What is a hunter who happens to enjoy train travel (that they subsidize with billions of tax dollars) supposed to do if they can't put their hunting gun in their checked luggage like they could if they took a plane instead?

take a plane? take his car? hunt closer to home? be hardcore and hunt with his barehands?

[UltraShy]

This shouldn't even be an issue because Amtrak should not be getting any government money period. If they were a private entity that wasn't subsidized by my tax dollars I'd accept their right to make any goofy rules they wanted regarding firearms.

They were supposed to become self-sufficient (like the US Post Office is) and not require endless handouts every year. Despite that dream, Amtrak has never become self-sufficient, remaining a welfare queen on rails for decades.

I will admit that this issue of firearm rights on Amtrak is largely symbolic and a matter of principle since hardly anybody travels by train.

[Jnmcda0]

Originally Posted by UltraShy

They were supposed to become self-sufficient (like the US Post Office is) and not require endless handouts every year.

The Post Office self-sufficient? lol They're projected to lose $7 billion this year!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...n5216012.shtml

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by Jnmcda0

The Post Office self-sufficient? lol They're projected to lose $7 billion this year!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...n5216012.shtml

OK, John Stossel will agree with you that the USPS is subsidized:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/johnstossel...ubsidized.html

[millenniumman75]

Originally Posted by odun

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/...uns/index.html

democrats control the senate by 20 votes. so much for being 'gun-grabbers'

....only until the 2010 election.

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by millenniumman75

....only until the 2010 election.

Mid-term elections are what is keeping most gun-grabbers in congress at bay. They know that they will have to answer to the public that includes 80 million gun owners, a number that's growing with every passing day as we continue to see unprecedented levels of gun sales, particularly handguns.

Ammunition as well is selling at unprecedented levels, with fear of Obama creating what is effectively the Ammo Makers Full Employment Act. Today while at Walmart I checked if they hand any ammo for my guns. Not surprisingly, like everyone else, they were totally out of handgun ammo (other than 2 boxes of .44 Mag, though I'm sure Dirty Harry will snap them up within a matter of hours).

[UltraShy]

This could always help Amtrak, the means of travel that nobody takes, find a passenger or two:

"Sportsmen who would like to use an Amtrak train for hunting trips cannot do so because they are not allowed to bring a firearm in checked luggage, something that is done every day at airports across our country," Wicker said during floor debate.

[WinterDave]

So you can bring guns (stored) and alcohol aboard Amtrak trains, but not light up a cigarette in your private cabin or anywhere else on the train....

[Happ2beme]

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by WinterDave

So you can bring guns (stored) and alcohol aboard Amtrak trains, but not light up a cigarette in your private cabin or anywhere else on the train....

The guns would have to be in a locked hard-sided case in checked baggage, meaning that you would have no access to them while the train is moving.

Or maybe someone will break into wherever they carry checked baggage on a train, get their gun and hijack Amtrak, though given that it runs on rails you're rather limited in where you could demand they take you.

As for the smoking thing, you're free to contact your Senators & US Rep to complain about how you want the freedom to smoke as you ride this welfare queen on rails.