Mike Luckovich for January 07, 2016

I would point out that car ownership isn’t enshrined in the constitution, but an individual’s right to own a gun isn’t either.

I don’t remember the hullabaloo about cars first having seatbelts as much as the enormous uproar about mandatory WEARING of seat belts that continues to this day. In the mid-’70s, one of neighbors, a very nice lady, was in a low-speed head-on collision and went through the windshield of her car, slicing off her face: not wearing a seatbelt, and there was a closed casket at her wake.

These are extremely rare instances. Although these people were lucky, there is no comparison to the number of people saved by seat belts.

How about the guy in L.A. that had a goat sacrifice to protect him from harm and then a couple of days later he rolled his car on the freeway, ended up dead on one of the signs.

There will always be someone who lucks out. If you look at accident statistics seat and shoulder belts clearly have greatly reduced the death toll. Before they were installed many people would be ejected in a crash and killed. The automobile is a lot safer today than it was. Without seat belts, air bags and improved design the death toll would probably be 150000 killed instead of 30000.

Look, just because the Supreme Court says that money equates to free speech does not make it automatically “correct” or immutable. And just because one interpretation of the 2nd amendment ignores the opening clause does not automatically make this the “correct” interpretation, either.

Guns multiply personal power. Gun owners love that feeling. I get it. It’s a lot more self agrandizing to feel that power, to know you (sort of) control that power. It compensates for feelings of helplessness. It’s a very powerful feeling. For those who’ve never shot guns or hunted, they haven’t a clue about how satisfying this makes one feel.

But for all those who even occasionally lose control through anger, ideology, adrenaline, or whatever reason, you put the rest of us at risk. That’s simply a fact. So, just like elementary school children, gun owners have to understand they can’t get their way all the time and have unfettered access to their guns. The bad apples ruin it for all of you.

Back the the 2nd amendment. Let’s interpret this differently. Let’s say that owning a gun is a right only if you belong to a well regulated militia. Then pass militia laws to place these militias under the command of the National Guard or perhaps the state police. There could be specialized groups sch as “rancher militias,” “hunting militias,” “target shooting”militias and combined-purpose militias established to satisfy those who have such a pressing need to own and shoot guns.

Anyone not in a well regulated militia should be subject to confiscation of all their guns.

I remember as a kid all the ado the car industry put up about making mandatory seat belts. They did the same thing regarding airbags. They moaned, ripped their clothes and threw ashes on their heads saying that "these unnecessary government regulations were killing their business, driving their profits down. And yet a half century latter their still alive and kicking and car companies now use airbags as selling points for their cars.

Unless you have actuary-grade statistics constantly on recall, it’s hard to convince some people of anything concerning seatbelts or firearms, let alone religion/politics. Anecdotal evidence is so easy to believe it must be in basic human nature to believe it foremost. Who was it originally said, “This is still a free country, with great opportunities for self-destruction”? Maybe just as plants grow from decay, maybe freedom roots and flowers in misery. Some other family’s misery, it’s to be hoped.

first they forced the seat belts, then they forced the helmets, then the air bags. When will this madness end? When we are all safe?

I once read that John Paul Stapp, who was subject of rocket sled experiments on acceleration prior to space travel, installed parachute harnesses in his car. That was good enough for me and I put seat belts in mine before they were even factory options. When some fool decided 50+ mph was a good speed to run a red light in downtown Dallas, the first comment of EMT was, “At least you were wearing a seat belt.” I said, “How do know? I am out of the car.” “Because you were able to get out of the car.” According to witnesses, I was doing some fancy evasive action, but it only minimized the damage.

If you really want people to wear seatbelts, mandate that manufacturers run the ignition wire through a seatbelt switch & a weight sensor switch for each seat. If someone is in the seat & it isn’t buckled, the engine won’t start. It could be done so unbuckling will shut off the engine as well. It would only cost a few dollars more per car.

But, the School Bus lobby was successful in Exempting School Buses from the Seat Belt Law..Why, installing Seat Belts would have cost as much as $3. per Belt..Besides, Kids are Durable, they’ll just bounce around and get up demanding that the driver:

“Roll it over Again”. .{Snark Off}

“By the ‘70s seat belts were now mandatory equipment on all vehicles and used by many drivers, though still resisted by some even after the failed attempt to make use mandatory in the late ‘60s by wiring the belt’s buckle to an ignition disconnect system. The vehicle wouldn’t start unless the driver’s seat belt was buckled. So drivers bucked the belts and sat on them.”HotrodhotlineIn any case, they also keep you in place to control the vehicle, which you can’t from outside the car. I had also heard school buses don’t have belts because the drivers couldn’t be responsible for making sure the kids were all belted in.

As a side comment, concerning motorcycle helmet laws. The personnel at a nearby hospital emergency room call motorcycle riders that do not wear helmets “organ donors”.

charlie555 “But I understand those who want a choice.”

The choice to run out of control endangering others instead of being able to have some control after the initial impact? The honest citizen patiently waiting for the red light was hit by the speed demon after hitting me, doing substantial, but not total, damage to his. I absorbed enough of the energy, he could testify to my evasive action.

In 1959, my brother and his best friend were killed in a rollover accident (down a hill) in a VW. The car was relatively unmanaged and we drove it off, no seat belts. I put seat belts in my ‘56 Ford, and every car I’ve owned since. I also spent over 30 years racing cars, and would NEVER drive without a seat belt.

I own numerous guns, will NOT join the nuts in the NRA, and am not the least concerned about the government coming after my guns, unless the NRA continues to refuse any rational gun safety regulations, like licensing and registration like my CCP requires, that screens out crazies, criminals, and puts the onus on folks with guns NOT to do straw sales, or let known criminals and crazies have access to their guns. (And report stolen guns like the EO calls for)

Love the look on the cat’s face.