While the North Carolina House of Representatives has finally killed the bill to allow the state to establish a state religion, a new study found that 34 percent of adults would favor establishing Christianity as the official state religion. While 47 percent opposed the establishment of state religion, it was less than a majority.
Another 11 percent thought that the Constitution allowed for the establishment of an official religion. Thus, they are entirely unaware of the workings of the first amendment or the prior rulings of the Supreme Court.
Republicans were the most likely to favor the establishment of a state religion with 55 percent favoring it in their own state and 46 percent favoring a national constitutional amendment.
While the poll reportedly included 1000 people (a sizable group), I still want to believe that it is skewed and that most people recognize the danger of religious-based government in a world torn apart of sectarian violence. Even if these people lack knowledge of the Constitution, they are given a daily lesson on the dangers of state-sponsored religion in their newspapers and news broadcasts. For those advocating such a change, they leave us with the chilling view that, for some, the problem with abusive theocratic regimes like Iran is simply the disagreement with the choice of the religion.
Source: HuffPost
Blouise, Thank you for answering OS much, much better then I could have.
As for Schwartz it is important in the sense of gender but I am not as happy a camper with her as I once was. (Of course anything not tea party, right wing would be better then Corbett)
oops! shot by toddlers
Otteray,
I had looked at the group’s website. I just wondered whether the group leaned a certain way politically like some think tanks. I always like to check out the messenger after I hear the message. Was it an online survey? Did PoliceOne survey only its own members?
Elaine,
I took a break to take a nap. I have been going since four o’clock this morning. I won’t let my youngest leave for work without talking with her and giving her a hug, so getting up early is a routine.
Police One is part of the Praetorian Group Inc. The Praetorian Group is an online media company catering to first responders, correctional personnel and the military.
Police One is a combination blog, newspaper, training academy and supply store for law enforcement officers. Here is the Police One web page. P-1 also has a Facebook Page and Twitter account.
http://www.policeone.com/
The link below has clickable links to each of the Praetorian Group dedicated web sites.
http://www.praetoriangroup.com/network/
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/10/1844121/4-accidental-toddler-shootings/ At least 4 people were accidentally shot be toddlers since this weekend.
Blouise: Your question was, Why would any law abiding person with a gun not want to register it? [emphasis mine]
You then went on to say it was the “responsible” thing to do. In my mind, when I was a division manager, department manager, or had other positions of responsibility, and as a business person responsible for liability issues with customers, I regard “responsibility” as a cost; being the person responsible for product safety means I am to blame if a product harms a customer; being responsible for meeting a deadline means I am to blame if we do not meet it, being responsible for scheduling the tech support team means I am to blame if our biggest customer has a problem at 3 AM and we failed to answer his calls or meet our contractual obligation to support him.
I learned early in my career (by being burned) that “responsibility” better come with more than just a title, it better come with some income AND with some control over whatever I am managing.
There are benefits to avoiding responsibility; primarily, not getting blamed for things that were outside your control. Being responsible means risking something. In the workplace, your job or your reputation if you fail in your objectives.
In this case, the benefit of being irresponsible is not getting blamed, not having to answer questions about your gun, not having to produce your gun on demand, and not having to report if your gun was lost, stolen, or taken by your kid and never returned, or whatever.
You ask why a law-abiding citizen would not want to register, those are the reasons. They can be law-abiding and lazy, law-abiding and fearful, law-abiding and paranoid about an over-reaching authoritarian government that they know is recording their phone calls, emails, and Internet access. They can be law-abiding but ignorant of what gun laws entail and afraid of the unknown (to them) responsibilities they might incur by registering their gun.
I think if registration was the law, then by definition they are law-abiding and would do it, but they also might not buy the gun out of these fears. I do not think they would want to register.
Blouise, It is a start. The Sandy Hook families have started a movement. I don’t think it will stop with this piece of legislation. Much needed gun restrictions have been on the back burner for too long.
“Family transfers and some private sales (friends, neighbors, other individuals) are exempt from background checks” – like the mother and her crazy son at Sandy Hook?
But, there is a very big penalty to pay if:
“The bill explicitly bans the federal government from creating a national firearms registry, and imposes serious criminal penalties (a felony with up to 15 years in prison) on any person who misuses or illegally retains firearms records.” Three cheers for the corporatist Gun manufacturers!
Oh well, it’s a start and all things considered, better than nothing.
Otteray,
Do you know anything about PoliceOne–the group that conducted the survey–and how the survey was conducted?
OS,
Thanks…. Guess a veteran can sue to opt out of the check…. But they are already there by former association….. No federal firearm registry….. Oh yeah…. Guess SSN/FEIN being attached to your drivers license will be worth its weight in Gold to the LEO….. we know how much private information they can already ascertain……. Just another brick in the wall….
We are having some rather violent thunderstorms here and my DSL keeps going out. If I don’t respond immediately, I will later.
Tony C.,
“My perceived negatives are about persecution by authorities for owning a gun.”
Sounds a tad paranoid but I suppose worrying about persecution by authorities and worrying about protection against possible crimes go hand in hand. Both stem from a concentration on negatives?
“If you believe registering is the responsible thing to do, then wanting to avoid responsibility is obviously the benefit of not wanting to register, if that is a choice.”
Could you reword that? I’m having difficulty grasping your thought.
OS,
For crying out loud, OS, I’m 68 years old, spare me the patronizingly obvious.
BTW … you can do the same with your registered gun can’t you? Rhetorical again.
This just in. Executive summary of the agreement reached today:
http://www.toomey.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=965
Blouise: your perceived negatives lie within the ownership, not the registration.
No, the benefit of owning the gun is protection against crime. My perceived negatives are about persecution by authorities for owning a gun. If you believe registering is the responsible thing to do, then wanting to avoid responsibility is obviously the benefit of not wanting to register, if that is a choice.
Responsibility is a burden with potentially negative consequences, it should not be accepted unless it comes with offsetting potentially positive consequences (and in the workplace, with reasonable authority to control the outcomes for that which you will be held responsible), otherwise you are just getting set up to be the fall guy.
Blouise,
Any responsible owner will keep a record of serial numbers. If anything of mine is stolen, I will be down at the sheriff’s department as soon as I discover it, with a list of what was taken and all relevant serial numbers, whether it was registered or not. Anytime anything is stolen or lost, it is a good idea to have that information on file so it can be entered into a law enforcement database. I will also need it to file an insurance claim.
If your car is stolen, you give them the tag number, make and model. They won’t know unless you tell them.
OS,
Crooks? That’s your thing, not mine.
Let me try to put it another way:
I own a car. I bought that car for transportation. My car has airbags wherever airbags will fit. My car has a backup camera. My car has seat belts. My car has this very irritating alarm that warns me when I am exceeding a set speed limit, getting too close to the car in front of me, crossing a median line. I follow all traffic laws because I am law abiding.
Should someone steal my car (one of your crooks) and use it as a killing machine, I’m investigated. If I have left it unlocked, the investigation deepens. If I’ve loaned it to the known drunk down the street, the investigation turns really ugly for me. The registration of that vehicle has made all that accountability possible because the registration assigned responsibility of ownership to me.
For these reasons I secure the car, report it as missing if I can’t find it, and never loan it to the drunk down the street. That’s responsible behavior from which society as a whole benefits. Could my car, despite all my precautions be stolen and used as a killing machine by one of your crooks? Sure, and the investigation will start with me, as it should.
Blouise,
When one owns a firearm, or any other weapon, they are responsible. Yesterday a guy was arrested for slicing another man open with a katana (Samurai sword). One of our local TV personalities was shot in the chest with a crossbow bolt, and it was not an accident. No matter what it is, we are responsible for it. Registering one’s firearms does not make one more, or less, responsible.
My question is, what is the purpose of registration, anyway? It is a “feel good” gesture that has no effect in the real world, is impossible to implement, and will add another layer of bureaucracy.
Blouise,
Not evading at all. Since law-abiding citizens usually obey the law, my question is how do we get the crooks to obey it? Short answer is, they don’t. It is the one with the criminal mind we have to worry about.
Have you seen this from Colorado? It has been in the works several days, but this article is from one of the Denver, CO TV stations.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/colorado-sheriffs-consider-lawsuit-over-new-gun-control-laws
Colorado officers are not the only ones.
Source (PDF of survey results are at an embedded link in the story:
http://marketdailynews.com/2013/04/10/85-of-cops-say-gun-control-is-useless-detrimental/
Registration simply means taking full responsibility for the ownership and use of a gun. Society as a whole benefits when those who choose to own guns take full responsibility and accept full accountability for that ownership.