Senate candidate wants to arm the homeless

[Zaune]

FOX 2 Detroit (which is a real news channel, I checked!)

(WJBK) - US Senate hopeful Brian Ellison is aiming to put shotguns in the hands of the homeless.

He plans to raise $10,000 to provide 20 homeless people with weapons as well as training. His reasoning?

"They're significantly more likely to be victims of a crime," he said. "They don't have the means to protect themselves. If you wanted to own a gun you could, I certainly do, but they don't have the means to do that so they're just easy targets."

"It's true the homeless are more likely to be victims then the population at large," said Carmi Finn. "But I think giving them shotguns is not going to help them one little bit."

Carmi Finn is with the gun control group Moms Demand Action. She says some homeless people don't have IDs so how could they get background checks? And what about those who struggle with addiction or a mental illness?

"Also the issue of safe storage," she said. "If you do not have a home, you do not have a gun safe and you don't have any place to safely store that gun to protect yourself or the people around you, or to keep it from being stolen by other criminals on the street."

FOX 2: "Many would make the argument, if you really care about the homeless you would be working really hard to get them off the street and not so much to put guns in their hands?"

"Well I think the implication is everyone wants to be off the street or everyone wants to work. Some people just want to be left alone," Ellison said.

"This has 'really bad idea' written all over it," Finn said.

Ellison's call to arms come as teens urge people to lay them down. Thousands took part in school walk-outs Wednesday, a demonstration supporting more gun control legislation.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers are working on bills. That would allow teachers to carry guns on school grounds.

Gun advocate Rick Ector from the Firearm Academy said he would only support arming the homeless if they could get also get permanent housing.

Apparently Tom Morello was unavailable for comment.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, at least he's a true believer, I guess. Because no sane plutocrat would arm hungry homeless people out of self-interest.

Though he may just be incredibly stupid.

[Enigma]

This will make dealing with panhandlers interesting.

Monumentally stupid. There will definitely be those who will sell the shotguns for drug\booze money.

[The Romulan Republic]

Or use them themselves for robbery. Or have them stolen off of them, as the article notes.

The Republican gun fetish has long passed the bounds of sanity.

[Kingmaker]

The man who saw Hobo With a Shotgun and unironically thought it was a good idea.

[Sea Skimmer]

This will make dealing with panhandlers interesting.

Monumentally stupid. There will definitely be those who will sell the shotguns for drug\booze money.

Sounds like a problem that can be solved by turning them into integral shotgun equipped homeless cyborgs.

[Simon_Jester]

I was thinking 'hobo with a shotgun' too.

But yeah, this is at least the product of someone who has the courage of their convictions, and insofar as it makes people squint at him and ask "are you real?" it will have interesting effects on how we address the issue as a whole.

[Broomstick]

This is just whack. It's also frighting to think there are people who's answer to everything seems to be "MOAR GUNZ!!!!"

[Zaune]

Well, at least he's a true believer, I guess. Because no sane plutocrat would arm hungry homeless people out of self-interest.

Though he may just be incredibly stupid.

On some level, you have to admire the man's commitment to being 100% internally consistent in his ideological convictions, however ridiculous said convictions may be.

[K. A. Pital]

The oppressed class has to have weapons, but also training and organization.

Weapons alone are never enough. Takes more than combat gear to make a man.

[Zaune]

The oppressed class has to have weapons, but also training and organization.

Weapons alone are never enough. Takes more than combat gear to make a man.

No, but it's a start.