# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1381
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27602 "2016-02-24T19:58:16Z")
Both sides are kinda being stupid on that kids with guns bill. It specifies parental supervision. Do most states restrict gun use by age? I always kinda thought it was up to parental guidance anyway. Truthfully, I’m more concerned about the 14-year olds allowed to use handguns **without** supervision than I am about younger kids using guns with supervision. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27603 "2016-02-24T20:04:50Z")
Ben Carson’s entire campaign has been little more than a con game designed to enrich the bank accounts of his fundraisers. [Source: Ben Carson.](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/ben-carson-thinks-maybe-his-campaign-was-a-scam/470715/) > [@](#): > > “We had people who didn’t really seem to understand finances," a laughing Carson told CNN’s Poppy Harlow on “CNN Newsroom,” adding, “or maybe they did—maybe they were doing it on purpose.” ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27604 "2016-02-24T20:06:17Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Ben Carson’s entire campaign has been little more than a con game designed to enrich the bank accounts of his fundraisers. > > [Source: Ben Carson.](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/ben-carson-thinks-maybe-his-campaign-was-a-scam/470715/) He said without admitting his own full culpability in the matter… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27605 "2016-02-24T20:10:42Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > Both sides are kinda being stupid on that kids with guns bill. It specifies parental supervision. Do most states restrict gun use by age? I always kinda thought it was up to parental guidance anyway. > > Truthfully, I’m more concerned about the 14-year olds allowed to use handguns **without** supervision than I am about younger kids using guns with supervision. Maybe we should lower the voting age along with the gun-owning age? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27606 "2016-02-24T21:49:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > “I’m Professor Harold Hill, please observe me if you will, and I’m here to organize the River City Boys’ Gun Club!” _Seventy six long guns led the big parade With a hundred and ten muskets close at hand. They were followed by rows and rows of the finest semi-autos, the cream of ev’ry famous band._ ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27607 "2016-02-25T00:41:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Maybe we should lower the voting age along with the gun-owning age? Ya gotta mix in the drinking age, too, to get the full effect. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27608 "2016-02-25T00:59:51Z")
Perhaps we can add owning/carrying a gun as a form of voter ID along with, you know, complexion. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27609 "2016-02-25T02:21:20Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Ya gotta mix in the drinking age, too, to get the full effect. But not the porn buying age, that shit’s way too dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27610 "2016-02-25T04:33:14Z")
How about also making it so you can vote as many times as the number of guns you can carry into the polling place. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27611 "2016-02-25T04:43:53Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > How about also making it so you can vote as many times as the number of guns you can carry into the polling place. Not guns, bullets. Every politician will vote to allow hi-cap magazines. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27612 "2016-02-25T05:01:17Z")
Democracy of the highest caliber. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27613 "2016-02-25T15:12:05Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Iowa Republicans have introduced a bill in the state legislature to allow children under the age of 14 to carry guns. With no lower age limit.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/02/24/insane-iowa-republicans-literally-want-to-let-toddlers-carry-guns/) To be honest, I don’t think it’s _that_ stupid. It’s not as though the kids are allowed to carry guns around on their own. My boarding school - in England! - had a rifle range that we were allowed to use (very closely supervised). I didn’t have a problem handling a small caliber bolt action rifle at that age. And the bill makes the supervising parent [strictly liable](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=86&ba=HF2281) for damages caused by the child. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27614 "2016-02-25T15:18:15Z")
Right. Because kids never get into trouble when their parents are “supervising” them. Any person who would give a 3 year old access in any way to a firearm isn’t smart enough to be a responsible parent. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27615 "2016-02-25T15:20:44Z")
In Utah, Republican legislators have introduced legislation to repeal the 17th amendment > **[Utah Senate votes to repeal 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (with video)](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3576711&itype=CMSID)** > > The Utah Senate on Wednesday called on Congress to repeal the 17th Amendment so that sta That’s the one that lets people directly elect Senators, rather than having them picked by the state senate. THe proposers claim that this will free the US Senatorial elections from the bonds of Big Donors, although I don’t see how that would work. It seems to me that it makes the US Senators dependent upon the local state Big Donors. One Democratic State Senator says the current system is less vulnerable to gerrymandering: > [@](#): > > Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, disputed the plan’s logic. U.S. senators are now the only lawmakers elected by all voters in the state, she said, and therefore are not affected by redistricting that she says may have favored Republicans in Utah. She said repealing the amendment would also take away power from voters. …but Utah is so incredibly Republican that I can’t see it making much of a difference on that front. It may have that effect elsewhere, though. In any event, I think separating the voters from direct election of Senators by another level of government is a Bad Idea. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27616 "2016-02-25T15:55:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > To be honest, I don’t think it’s _that_ stupid. It’s not as though the kids are allowed to carry guns around on their own. My boarding school - in England! - had a rifle range that we were allowed to use (very closely supervised). I didn’t have a problem handling a small caliber bolt action rifle at that age. And the bill makes the supervising parent [strictly liable](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=86&ba=HF2281) for damages caused by the child. When I was a child I shot my grandfather in the knee with a BB gun by accident. (Yes, my butt still hurts over that one, deservedly so.) Lucky thing I wasn’t allowed to have a .22 calibre. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27617 "2016-02-25T15:58:34Z")
Eh, he probably deserved it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27618 "2016-02-25T15:59:05Z")
[Kansas SoS Kris Kobach: The League of Women Voters is “communist.”](http://www.kansas.com/opinion/editorials/article62290402.html) > [@](#): > > But Kobach doesn’t like that the league filed a lawsuit arguing that Brian Newby, executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, illegally granted Kansas, Georgia and Alabama permission to change federal voter-registration forms to require proof of citizenship. > > Speaking at last weekend’s GOP state convention, Kobach complained: “The ACLU and their fellow communist friends, the League of Women Voters – you can quote me on that, the communist League of Women Voters – the ACLU and the communist League of Women Voters sued.” ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27619 "2016-02-25T16:24:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > To be honest, I don’t think it’s _that_ stupid. It’s not as though the kids are allowed to carry guns around on their own. My boarding school - in England! - had a rifle range that we were allowed to use (very closely supervised). I didn’t have a problem handling a small caliber bolt action rifle at that age. And the bill makes the supervising parent [strictly liable](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=86&ba=HF2281) for damages caused by the child. I believe Iowa law already allows supervised children to carry rifles and long guns. This law expands it to handguns. Remember, Iowa also passed a law a couple of years ago granting gun licenses to blind people, so … yay, Second Amendment? ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27620 "2016-02-25T16:29:22Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Perhaps we can add owning/carrying a gun as a form of voter ID along with, you know, complexion. My Google-fu is weak, but isn’t there a state that lets you use your gun license as voter ID? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/27621 "2016-02-25T16:30:49Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > I believe Iowa law already allows supervised children to carry rifles and long guns. This law expands it to handguns. > > Remember, Iowa also passed a law a couple of years ago granting gun licenses to blind people, so … yay, Second Amendment? Well, nevermind then. It’s stupid after all. … the blind? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1380) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1382)