We Don’t Need Gun Control, We Need Bullet Control

Back in 1999, Bostonist grabbed the VHS from the local video store and popped in Chris Rock’s “Bigger and Blacker.” While entertaining, there was one joke in particular that caught our attention, and it resurfaced on our DVD player years later when Michael Moore made use of it in Bowling for Columbine:

You don't need no gun control. You know what you need? We need some bullet control. Man, we need to control the bullets, that's right. I think all bullets should cost $5,000. $5,000 for a bullet. You know why? 'Cause if a bullet costs $5000 there'd be no more innocent bystanders. That'd be it. Every time someone gets shot, people will be like... 'Shit, they put $50,000 worth of bullets in his ass.' People would think before they killed somebody, if a bullet cost $5,000. ''Man, l would blow your fucking head off, if l could afford it.’ …'You better hope l can't get no bullets on layaway.''

Mayor Menino has a new plan that reminds Bostonist of the Chris Rock stance on gun control. If you boil it down, it’s really just bullet control. As wild as Chris Rock’s $5k bullet idea sounds, there is a bit of logic to it.

While Menino’s proposal to reduce crime seems to work on the assumption that ammunition is being obtained legally and used illegally. mAssbackwards, our source for bemoaning Bay State gun control, helped us understand that might not be the case. mAssbackwards provides and extended exposition on the theme an NRA spokesman expresses in the Globe article on Menino's plan. The spokesman says, “Schemes such as this do not work for a very simple reason: Criminals by definition don't follow the law. . . Therefore, the only universe of people who are affected by this are law-abiding. A criminal intent on committing a heinous crime is not going to be deterred by such laws."

If serial numbers on guns used for crimes often turn up with obliterated serial numbers, won’t that just be the case when using the bullets even if they do have microstamping? The Mayor’s proposal to tighten control on the sale of bullets and mark the casings with tiny stamps indicating the make model and serial number of the gun seems to have some holes in it (the biggest of which is known as New Hampshire). Admittedly full details on the plan are not yet available. Bostonist thinks a better idea might just be the $5,000 bullet. In any case, we're sitting down to watch Bowling for Columnbine again while we read about Dick Cheney shooting his friend in the face this weekend. Remember kids, guns are not toys.