Warning: This post contains rational, realistic thoughts. I know a lot of people frown upon such things, so if you are offended later, don't say I didn't warn you.
First off, yes I own a few guns, and have a concealed carry license. No I am not a member of the NRA, I don't personally own an AR-15, or any other guns that the media calls an "Assault Weapon" nor am I some crazy right wing "gun nut." I do believe 100% in the 2nd Amendment, as well as the rest of the Constitution, and the Bill Of Rights. The first thing a lot of people don't seem to understand about the 2nd Amendment is that it has little or nothing to do with hunting, and everything to do with giving citizens the right to defend themselves. One of the things that our founding fathers wanted us to be able to protect ourselves from was a tyrannical government. After everything they had been through with Great Britton, they didn't trust future generations of politicians to not become power hungry, and trample over the rights of ordinary citizens. Based on just the last 20 years or so in American politics, I would say that their fears were pretty well founded. For those who would say that the 2nd Amendment was written in the time of single shot muzzle loaders, and they had no idea what kind of guns would be available in 200+ years.....Well, the 1st Amendment was written in the time quail pens, and they had no idea radio, TV, or the internet would exists, but they are still covered by it. The guys who wrote the Constitution were pretty smart, and I'm sure they realized that technology would advance over time, even if they couldn't foresee what those advancements would look like. So the answer to the question "Why would anybody need a gun like that?" is because the government has them, and that's the way the guys who founded the nation wanted it.
Now that I have gotten my brief history lesson out of the way, lets look at some of the realities of what any new gun laws would look like. I don't really think it matters what laws anybody wants to pass because the truth of the matter is that laws only apply to the law abiding, but just for arguments sake, lets say they ban the AR-15 nationwide. Any attempt to round up every AR-15 would cost MILLIONS OF DOLLARS that could be put to much better use to help fix any number of other issues facing the country right now. In addition to the huge amount of man hours it would require, the government would also have to fairly compensate everyone who agreed to turn theirs over. There are an estimated 5 million AR-15's in the country, at and average price of $1000 each, so the US would have to pay out $5,000,000,000 in tax payers money to get them out of circulation. That is assuming that they could find them all, because I guarantee a lot of them would still end up in the hands of criminals instead of with the Feds. Not to mention the number of people who up to this point had owned them legally, who would resist giving them up, who are now suddenly criminals in the governments eyes. Banning them doesn't sound very realistic does it? Also, if laws actually stopped people from doing things, no body would do drugs, or drive over the speed limit, or commit murder, or do anything else that is currently against the law. Face it, criminals don't care about laws, that's why they are called criminals! People seem to want to pick on the AR-15 for a number of reasons. These people need to understand a few things, 1st the A in AR stands for Armalite, the company that first designed it. 2nd, yes it looks like a military weapon, but it is functionally no different than any other rifle. Other rifles can take a 30 round magazine, and they all shoot bullets. Yes it is designed to look like a fully automatic M-16 that the Military would use. They designed it that way for the same reason that Ford put 4 cylinder engines in some Mustangs. It made a car with a small motor look cooler than it really was. So far I've only talked about banning one kind of gun. Fact is that if you take away one, anybody who wants to commit a gun related crime will just use a different kind of gun. Basically all guns are the same, some have bigger magazine capacity, some fire bigger bullets, but at the end of the day they all fire bullets, and those bullets all have the ability to kill somebody if the person using the gun wants to shoot somebody. As for any other expanded regulations people want to enact, I just don't see how much good it will really do. All I really see happening is that they make people think they did something, and give them a false sense of security until the next time tragedy strikes.
Another thing that drives me fucking nuts is when people who have no clue what they are talking about say things like we need to ban fully automatic weapons, and/or we need to band all semi automatic weapons. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, and I don't know everything, but before I start debating a topic I usually try to understand what the fuck I'm talking about and not look like a moron. Fully automatic weapons are those that you can hold the trigger down and spray ammo continuously with out pulling the trigger again, they have been banned for civilian ownership for years! The definition of semi automatic is that you have to pull the trigger for each separate bullet to fire. The gun will reload a bullet in the chamber after each round is fired. The majority of firearms in civilian ownership are semi automatic, if you say ban semi automatic weapons, you are talking about almost every gun anybody owns. Yes there are ways to modify some semi automatic weapons to mimic automatic weapons, some of the mods are legal, some are not, but no law abiding American citizen can buy a fully automatic firearm in any gun store in the country.
I also think people need to be extremely careful when advocating the removal of somebody else's freedom of choice. The next freedom of choice that gets removed could easily be yours.
Another thing that drives me fucking nuts is when people who have no clue what they are talking about say things like we need to ban fully automatic weapons, and/or we need to band all semi automatic weapons. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, and I don't know everything, but before I start debating a topic I usually try to understand what the fuck I'm talking about and not look like a moron. Fully automatic weapons are those that you can hold the trigger down and spray ammo continuously with out pulling the trigger again, they have been banned for civilian ownership for years! The definition of semi automatic is that you have to pull the trigger for each separate bullet to fire. The gun will reload a bullet in the chamber after each round is fired. The majority of firearms in civilian ownership are semi automatic, if you say ban semi automatic weapons, you are talking about almost every gun anybody owns. Yes there are ways to modify some semi automatic weapons to mimic automatic weapons, some of the mods are legal, some are not, but no law abiding American citizen can buy a fully automatic firearm in any gun store in the country.
I also think people need to be extremely careful when advocating the removal of somebody else's freedom of choice. The next freedom of choice that gets removed could easily be yours.
For those people who want to act like mass shootings are some new phenomenon, NEWS FLASH: The world has been a sick twisted fucked up place since time began, And for fucks sake stop blaming music, video games, the internet, or whatever other scapegoats people want to find! In 1949 Howard Unruh killed 13 people while walking around his neighborhood in Camden NJ. In 1966 14 people were killed and another 31 were injured in the University of Texas Tower shooting. Both happened long before video games! Obviously it is a tragedy every time something like this happens, but it didn't start at Columbine.
Before I get into potential solutions I have a few other things I need to get off my chest. I think Donald Trump is a blowhard jackass who was always more interested in the attention he would receive than in actually being the President, and now that he has the job, he is in over his head and has no clue what the fuck he is doing. That being said, he has only been in office for a year, and you cant blame him for everything. There have been school shootings during every presidency in my lifetime, this isn't his fault. And while your at it, quit blaming the NRA too! It's not like NRA members out shooting up schools and churches and shit. The NRA is just one of the many lobbyist groups that have the ear of the ass clowns in DC, and whether you or I agree with what they stand for, they are one of the few that are actually lobbying at least in part for the rights of American citizens. Most of them are just lobbying for their own big business self interest. I have also seen various people on both the right and left end of the spectrum attempt to compare gun control to abortion. Please just fucking stop! No matter which side you are on, you are just showing the world you are a giant hypocrite, as both are simply matters of choice. If you are pro gun, but believe that abortion is a sin, that's fine, its your right to feel that way. However, while I am no expert on the Bible, I do remember something in there about Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged. Basically this means God will judge people who have abortions when it is there time, it's not your fucking job! As for those who are pro choice on abortion, but anti choice on guns, nobody is forcing you to own, fire, hold, or even look at a fucking gun. Don't equate taking away somebody else's rights with the preservation of yours.
This next part might get me in trouble considering I am friends with one of the girls interviewed by the local news, and her entire family, but I have some problems with kids walking out of class to protest school shootings. While there is a part of me that is proud of them for using their 1st Amendment rights to stand up for what they believe in, I think they way they did it was both misguided and dangerous. Misguided because I can't remember any school shooting that was perpetrated by a teacher, so you are protesting against the wrong people. Dangerous because almost all school shooters have been disgruntled students. By walking out of class and going outside you are making an easy target of yourselves if any of your classmates were so inclined. It seems like the irony of shooting up a protest against school shootings would be hard to pass up if you had a student who was already thinking about it. Also, the politicians who decide our laws have proven time and again that they don't give a shit about those of us who are old enough to vote, so I'm sure they don't give a flying fuck what you think. I hate to be the one to shit all over your protest, but this is pretty much how I see it. (Side note, you are all lucky you didn't go to school with me, you probably would have all been expelled considering I once had a principal tell me that constitutional rights don't apply in school.)
This next part might get me in trouble considering I am friends with one of the girls interviewed by the local news, and her entire family, but I have some problems with kids walking out of class to protest school shootings. While there is a part of me that is proud of them for using their 1st Amendment rights to stand up for what they believe in, I think they way they did it was both misguided and dangerous. Misguided because I can't remember any school shooting that was perpetrated by a teacher, so you are protesting against the wrong people. Dangerous because almost all school shooters have been disgruntled students. By walking out of class and going outside you are making an easy target of yourselves if any of your classmates were so inclined. It seems like the irony of shooting up a protest against school shootings would be hard to pass up if you had a student who was already thinking about it. Also, the politicians who decide our laws have proven time and again that they don't give a shit about those of us who are old enough to vote, so I'm sure they don't give a flying fuck what you think. I hate to be the one to shit all over your protest, but this is pretty much how I see it. (Side note, you are all lucky you didn't go to school with me, you probably would have all been expelled considering I once had a principal tell me that constitutional rights don't apply in school.)
Ok, finally here is an idea on how to combat gun violence. I know some people will call me crazy, but I really think the best way to stop gun violence is with more guns! If you don't believe me, look up the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction. M.A.D. has kept the world out of a nuclear war for decades. The most basic part of the theory is that nobody will use nukes, because if they do they will get nuked in return. Now apply that to people with guns. If a bad guy is going to commit a crime, he will likely think twice if there is a good chance somebody will shoot back. Do away with Gun Free Zones. Signs that read "Gun Free Zone" might as well say "Please come here and commit a crime with your gun!" Let legally licensed concealed carry holders carry where ever we go. Don't make us leave our gun in the car when we drop our kids off at school, or go to the bank, or the DMV, or a movie theatre, or church, or wherever else they want to post a gun free sign. If teachers in a school, or pastors in a church, or tellers at a bank, or the guy taking tickets at a movie, or any other employee at any other business wants to get licensed and carry let them! If patrons of your business, or parishioners in your church, or visitors to your school wants to get licensed and carry let them! Legally licensed gun owners are not the people you need to worry about, but we could help save you from the ones you do need to worry about. I'm not saying everybody should have a gun. I get that not everybody is comfortable with a gun, having the power to take a life at your finger tips is a huge responsibility but let those of us who are comfortable provide the chance to shoot back. I would like to believe that in one of those situations everybody with a carry license will be able to use a gun to defend themselves and those around them. I will admit that I don't know for sure until it happens, I could freeze up and piss my pants, I don't think that would be the case, and I hope I never have to find out, but god damn at least give us all a fucking chance wherever the fuck we are without restriction! If you also want to employ armed guards, and add metal detectors in hot spots like schools, that's fine, but be careful to not make it too much like a prison. A lot of kids don't like school as it is, no need to make them feel worse about being there.
Just in case I haven't made myself clear, please read this next sentence very carefully. I am not saying we need to specifically arm teachers or anybody else, I am saying we need to stop disarming people who choose to legally carry a firearm.
Just in case I haven't made myself clear, please read this next sentence very carefully. I am not saying we need to specifically arm teachers or anybody else, I am saying we need to stop disarming people who choose to legally carry a firearm.
I know its been a long time since I wrote anything in this blog, and I always say I will do it more of it, but I really do think I will start posting again more often. It feels good to get all this shit out of my brain at once rather than in small doses via Facebook statuses.
Till Next Time.....
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