Logic, American style

Why can you carry a loaded gun damn near anywhere in this country, but try to buy a box of pseudophedrine when you have a raging sinus infection, & you have to go through a whole rigmarole? Ammo boxes are out in the open, & you can stock up for armageddon, but try & buy more than 1 box of Sudafed, & you get pharmacy assistants calling the managers over. They write down my name, address, & driver license number. And then I have to sign for it - a box of cold medicine! Some database will alert authorities if I go pharmacy-hopping to stock up on an OTC medicine. All the while, the store employees look at me like I’m doing something dodgy. It’s all very suspicious. Sinus relief is taken very seriously in America.

Compare that with the availability of ammunition.

I get irritated every time I buy Sudafed because I feel like the vast majority of people have to put up with unnecessary headaches to mitigate the abuses of a minority. But I put up with it because, well, because I want my medicine. Why isn’t this the case for ammunition? Can’t we make it a little more difficult to obtain objects of destruction? Perhaps a limit on magazine capacity (such as the ban in force prior to 2004)? Or a registry of encoded bullets which law enforcement can use to investigate gun-related crimes? If bullet manufacturers are required to laser an identifying code on each bullet, you could potentially trace each misused bullet to the point of sale, & perhaps even to the person who bought it. Require identification for the purchase of weaponry, & keep a record of those purchases somewhere. Maybe even require a safety certification class for gun owners? Institute a ban on people with recent domestic abuse charges or restraining orders. Make it a little bit more difficult for people to kill. Barriers to death & violence are not out of place in a free society. They probably even increase freedom - of potential gunshot victims to not be shot.

People on the Terrorist Watch List can buy unlimited guns & ammo. I can’t buy more than 1 box of Sudafed. I have to say - I’m grotesquely impressed w/the NRA. America has basically turned all legislation even tangentially related to firearms right over to them. Praise God & pass the ammo. And more ammo. And then some more. And then loads more. But not Sudafed, for crying out loud!! Somebody might get high hurt.