okay Michelle well since i started off i uh since i called in i guess i'll state my opinion first
 	
 	
 		
 
 		okay
 	
 	
 		and uh i i guess i'd fall in the same category that i don't think there should be any restrictions i think that if unless a weapon is self-propelled or has to be towed Americans should be able to own it
 		
 
 	
 	
 		okay
 		um i really don't know exactly where i stand just to be honest i have mixed feelings about it and i've thought about both positions i would like to have the freedom
 		to own a firearm um i am currently married and that makes me feel more secure but if i were single i would definitely want to have a firearm
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		uh of course i think it should be locked up you know so that children can not
 	
 	
 		absolutely
 	
 	
 		get
 		their hands on it
 	
 	
 		i agree i think parents should be held responsible if their child gets a hold of one or either injures injures another person or or themselves
 	
 	
 		um-hum definitely definitely
 	
 	
 		i also am in favor of a check i i think the criminal record system in the country should be brought up to snuff so that they can run a computer check as easy as they do when you run a credit card through so they can see if a person insane or is a felon
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		right now i've heard a lot of people say that that wouldn't do any good but i really think that it makes a lot of sense
 	
 	
 		i don't
 		it wouldn't do any good right now because the criminal record systems are a mess you know i mean there really isn't any any system as such but if there were and if the government were to invest in that then there wouldn't be any problem they'd
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		they'd be able to identify those that shouldn't have
 	
 	
 		what do you mean the criminal records are a mess
 	
 	
 		well there isn't any computerized system that can tell you you know
 	
 	
 		by the push of a button
 	
 	
 		yeah i mean in Virginia has done it by the way reason i i'm a life member of the Gun Owners and i am sure no longer member of the NRA so i i'm kind of into this but Virginia Virginia does have an instance check uh system
 	
 	
 		uh-huh uh-huh
 	
 	
 		they do have their records within a state computerized and it seems to be working well
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		and if it could be done on a federal basis
 	
 	
 		hm
 		are they the only state
 	
 	
 		the only state that i'm aware of
 	
 	
 		gosh
 	
 	
 		that's done that
 	
 	
 		so what has to take place them to to make this happen to other states
 	
 	
 		well uh
 	
 	
 		that makes a lot of sense
 	
 	
 		yeah it really you know it's it should be done on a national basis because on the statewide basis you just get those that have violated state laws but
 	
 	
 		you're right right
 	
 	
 		yeah and some there are federal you know violators too
 	
 	
 		uh-huh uh-huh
 	
 	
 		so it would require an investment on the part of the government to to bring their records up to shape but i think it's uh probably a good investment anyway uh
 	
 	
 		um-hum so you're from New Hampshire
 	
 	
 		yes um-hum
 	
 	
 		i'm not even i hate to admit uh that familiar with what the laws are here in Texas regarding purchasing a firearm um
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		i guess you heard about the
 		the massacre in  that's only about an hour in fact that's where all my cousins live i used to go down there every summer
 	
 	
 		oh yes
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		so that was a real shocker
 	
 	
 		you know uh in that case uh in particular that fellow that did that had owned those guns a long time
 	
 	
 		yeah that's true
 	
 	
 		so i mean it's not like he went in and picked them up and uh then went off on a shooting spree
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 		um-hum um-hum yeah so it um it couldn't have been avoided by you know any type of law being
 	
 	
 		and
 	
 	
 		uh set
 	
 	
 		that's right
 	
 	
 		but
 	
 	
 		unfortunately whenever something like happens that happens uh people tend to blame the gun and not the person it is it's it is the person
 	
 	
 		yeah this is true
 		
 
 		yeah oh i tend to agree with you in in that i believe that
 		that that
 		like you're saying the majority i believe would be responsible with with the weapon and Lord knows with the crime rate the way it is
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		we need to have something to protect ourselves
 	
 	
 		yeah i feel that you should be you know you uh if you were single should be allowed to have a weapon to  yourself
 	
 	
 		
 
 		uh-huh uh-huh
 	
 	
 		but if it
 	
 	
 		yeah i know how to use it
 	
 	
 		um-hum but if there were a total ban you know who'd have the guns
 	
 	
 		oh yeah oh sure
 	
 	
 		it wouldn't be it wouldn't be the people who'd go to buy them honestly
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		yeah it would be the people that you know could
 		get in touch with the underground or something and i mean they have ways
 	
 	
 		right
 		that's right and gun control laws don't stem them because uh they don't they don't most of the criminals don't go buy their guns uh from a gun store anyway
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		they get them through the through the black market
 	
 	
 		yeah yeah you're right that's what i was thinking
 		well
 	
 	
 		well it's uh it's certainly a a lengthy subject and there's a lot of
 	
 	
 		it is it's very complex
 	
 	
 		there's a lot of uh discussion about it and what and now and then it becomes a heated argument in both sides but
 	
 	
 		um-hum um-hum um-hum
 	
 	
 		but i i've i just feel that the founders of our country the constitution people that wrote the constitution didn't intend for us to not have a means to protect ourselves either either from without the country or from within the country
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		yeah do you do a lot of hunting
 	
 	
 		no i don't i used to i i used to now i'm just a target shooter yeah i used to go uh
 	
 	
 		with your guns
 		are you
 		so do you