By Jon Dinan
January 8 — The recent Sandy Hook tragedy rocked the nation to its core and left hordes of citizens in a state of disbelief and bewilderment. One question on the minds of many is: What will follow from the tragedy in the way of gun legislation? Two local gun shop owners feel that new laws won’t have the intended impact of curtailing gun violence.
“Firearm legislature is already very restrictive,” said Charles Greenhouse, own-er of Greenhouse Charles Gun Shop in White Lake. “There are more than enough laws in place. It’s really more a matter of enforcement.”
In addition to background checks given to individuals looking to buy a lethal weapon, federally licensed firearm dealers must also submit to extensive character examinations.
“People always quote the stats about gun deaths, but there are many more deaths per year caused by auto accidents, and nobody is pushing for laws to restrict them,” said Greenhouse. “Guns are also not the only problem, just look at all the violence in movies and television these days. Like a car, a gun is an inanimate object that can be dangerous if used improperly.
“That gun [used at Sandy Hook] should’ve never been in that house unsecured, around an unstable teenager.”
Said John Jones, owner of Triple Action Sports Gunsmith in Wurtsboro: “The governor is talking about pushing more stringent gun control and safety laws and nobody knows if that will happen or not. It wouldn’t bother me if they took away the larger magazines, but either way my business won’t be greatly affected because my focus here is mainly on repairs.”
Neither arms dealer has seen any noticeable change in business, though Greenhouse notes the upsurge nationally is due to “everybody wanting to buy rifles before they supposedly ban them.”
Both Greenhouse and Jones agree that gun violence is likely to continue whether restrictions are put in place or not.
“There are too many [assault rifles] out there already,” said Greenhouse. “Confiscating them all would be imposssible. There might be a ban of some kind, I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Criminals will always find a way to break the law no matter how difficult it becomes.
“The world is not perfect, it’s not a utopia. Some people want it to be, but it just isn’t.”