On Gun Control and Rocket Launchers

Blubs of Verbs Comments Off on On Gun Control and Rocket Launchers

The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. -Abraham Lincoln

The USA today had an interesting front page article on guns and gun control today. Basically the supreme court had decided to review DC’s very, ultra strict gun laws. Until now, the Supreme court had declined the vast majority of cases where lower courts had basically stated, it was really a militia who had the right to own a gun, not per say the individual.

 

Back to the Article: It stated 73% of all americans however favored the “right of the individual” to own guns, not the right of the militia, 91% of gun owners and 63% non gun owners, favored the same rights. That is clearly a majority on all counts.

 

I was taken aback. Really? I thought, and then delved further into the article and my own feelings on the subject.

 

I remember watching the West Wing TV show one day, and there was a gun debate by the republican character Ansley Hayes (probably spelled wrong) in which she said a very telling quote. She said “It’s not that you don’t like guns, you just don’t like the people who own guns.”

 

This quote forced me to sit back and reexamine my views on gun control long time ago. Truly at that moment I didn’t like gun owners, even thou, every single gun owner I knew was a responsible adult and firmly advocated gun safety. My reaction really was from the few people who would stick the guns in the air and claim it had to be taken from their cold dead hands (see Charleston Heston) or who insisted that that they really had a right to a fully automatic assault rifle.., for deer hunting.

 

Seriously? Were the deer trained in a Al-queda camp?

 

I do however understand the slippery slope argument. Block assault rifles and knives, then what is “The right to bear arms?” Ok, i’ll concede that point. But I can’t concede this point: Why can’t you wait a week for a gun however? I mean, if you need a gun: right now. Today. Here. I’m generally scared of you.

 

It’s rather hard to have a mass killing with a knife. Weapons of war: Assault rifles, rocket launchers, etc, really are arms, yes, but really do you think people should have them in their basements? In a modern civilized society?

 

Arguments against the links between mass killings and guns are usually the fact that such killings were caused when the subject used someone else’s gun, or, the subject had over time collected several dozen of weapons legally which would have gotten them past the time wait law anyway. That is a circular argument, that’s like arguing that it’s useless to put people who kill or steal in jail because killing and robbing won’t stop.

 

What I’m looking for from a gun owner is reasonableness. A simple dialogue on acceptable limits. I can admit that a weapon, is a beautiful thing. I think that’s cause I’m male really. I like it away from me even better. In a movie or a picture is so cool. I still very much want to shoot one, in a controlled environment, and I still very much rather not have one around me in the end.

 

But can we not be reasonable? Can’t you just own one or two?… without the rocket launcher attachment?

OceansOfThought @ February 27, 2008