[fabsroman]

I'll reply to both you and Skeet in this one reply. Simply put, things aren't quite as simple as they were 100 years ago and they definitely aren't as simple as they were 233 years ago when this country was founded. There needs to be regulation and there needs to be more of it compared to what was in place in 1776. Back then, there weren't e-mail scams from Nigeria trying to scam Americans out of their life savings. Back then, there wasn't something called the atomic bomb. Back then, people didn't fly airplanes into skyscrapers and kill 4,000+ people. Back then, there weren't interestates. Simply, put, the government is controlling our lives every single day. The speed limit that is enforced against us when we drive is control, and so is that red light that you stop at. Laws against murder, rape, and other crimes are controlling us from our own free will. However, what we need is sensible legislation and not trash. What we are getting is trash. Sensible legislation would have prevented this huge economic downturn. Sensible legislation would possibly fix the health care issues we have right now. I just went through the birth of a child and what I think is Lyme disease, and between what we paid in health insurance premiums for my wife's employee share of her coverage and what we paid in co-pays and our deductible, we have spent $8,000 on health care. That hurts, but we make a good amount of money so it doesn't hurt as bad compared to a family of 4 with household income of $50,000, or even $80,000. Plain and simple, something needs to be done about health insurance. I met with a client on Tuesday that needs to become a partner of his wife's business because not a single insurance company will insure him if he starts his own business because of a pre-existing condition that he was born with. He is 45 years old and cannot get health insurance on his own. He has to be in a group plan where there are at least 2 or more people in the plan and then the insurer will not look at pre-existing conditions. Now, how stupid is that?

Onto guns. Yes, I do think we need to fight for ALMOST every little thing, but there definitely is some BS out there. Why is it that when people buy guns brand new from a dealer they have to go through a NICS check, but when it is an independent sale from person to person a NICS check is not required. How in the world is an independent person going to know if he/she is selling a gun to a felon. Are we as gun owners saying "Hey, felons cannot own new guns, but we don't really care if they buy them used". Is that our stance? Maryland at least requires sales of assault weapons and handguns between private individuals to be done through an FFL. Personally, I see no reason why ALL gun sales should not go through an FFL and ALL potential gun owners should go through a NICS check. Yeah, you guys are going to complain about the additional cost, which I think was $20 when I did it in April, but as far as I am concerned, the additional cost is worth the benefit to society. Kind of like the additional cost of having seat belts and airbags in vehicles. Do you guys have any idea how much that adds to the cost of those cars? Air bags can be quite expensive.

How far will I go? I'll go to the land of reason. The entire reason this country is in the crapper is because we have both political sides being hard heads about everything. Republicans want to deport every illegal alien, Democrats want to give every illegal alien the whole country. Me, I want to allow the good ones to stay and I want to deport the illegals. Maybe if we let the good ones stay, have them pay something in back taxes, and get them working on the books, then we might just make some additional tax revenue to help with this insane deficit that I, my kids, and my grandkids will be facing.

Me, I'm going to the party of common sense. I will not scream about "death panels" when a bill has end of life planning in it that is supposed to advise people about wills, advanced health care directives, and powers of attorney. I read that portion of the bill that Republicans were up in arms about saying that it was the equivalent of death panels, and that was complete BS. I'm completely in favor of end of life planning because way too many people do not do it and leave a mess behind in their passing or their incompetence (i.e., no longer able to make financial and health care decisions for themselves).

So, regarding this entire issue with the ammo in California, I will not be up in arms about it. Hopefully, they will figure out it is a waste of time and they will do away with it. I also will not oppose common sense legislation regarding guns.

Now Skeet, here is the law on the sale of explosives in Maryland:

Maryland Code Public Safety Section 11-112:

(a)(1) Each manufacturer and each dealer shall keep, for all explosives shipped, purchased, or sold, a record that includes:

(i) the name and address of each consignee, buyer, or seller of the explosives;

(ii) the date of each shipment, purchase, or sale; and

(iii) the amount and description of the explosives.

(2) Each record kept under this subsection shall at all times be open for inspection by agents of the licensing authority and by federal, State, and local law enforcement officers.

(3)(i) Subject to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, each manufacturer and each dealer shall provide a copy of each record kept under this subsection to the State Fire Marshal in the form that the State Fire Marshal requires.

(ii) A record kept under this subsection shall be provided on request, but need not be filed more than once in each calendar month.

So, if you have not been giving your ID to the people you buy powder from in Maryland, whoever is selling it to you must not meet the definition of a dealer or the person selling it to you is violating the law. Every time I have bought powder from PG Trap & Skeet, they take my driver's license and write down stuff in a book that they keep.

Did you also know that it is illegal in Maryland to have more than 5 pounds of powder in your possession without applying for a license from the State Fire Marshall. As part of that application, you have to include a set of fingerprints. Kind of makes it hard to reload unless you have that license or use up all the powder as soon as you get it.

By the way, I think that 5 pound limit is retarded. Sad thing is that I have read a case that involved it.

Did you also know that it is illegal to possess any powder in a multifamily dwelling like a townhouse or a condo. No reloading allowed in those dwellings. I can kind of understand that law since you never know if the idiot next to you is going to set the place on fire.