So with yet another mass shooting in the U.S. I find that everywhere I look I see the worst in people coming out on the news and the interwebs. Yet, somehow, when it comes to having a face to face conversation people worry about what words represent them, but I digress.
I am just going to list out some of the most basic of argument we’ve been hearing lately when it comes to gun control, or lack there of.
- We start with my favorite argument of. “but criminals will still get their hands on guns! Why punish everybody else?!” First off, I find that the same people who make this argument are far too often also the same people who say we need to ban abortion. Going by this very same logic, they’re being hypocritical in their argument. So because people will illegally get guns to kill others we shouldn’t try but when it comes to people risking their lives to get back-door abortions it doesn’t matter? I’d rather we ban something that works to save lives (you know, actual lives… lives that live and breathe in the world) rather than ban something that will ultimately take those same living, breathing lives in the real world.
- Also, going off the banning argument not keeping things away from criminals. Now, you can currently go into a Cabela’s and purchase a number of Semi-Automatic Centerfire Rifles for under $2,000. Many people also call these assault rifles. I’m not going to split hairs on definitions, however, but these are guns where even a person with little to no training, who has a few days to become acquainted with the gun, can become extremely dangerous. Now, I know some of you might be saying in your head, “But you can kill somebody with a hunting rifle, too!” Here’s the thing though. A hunting rifle doesn’t carry as many bullets and is also slower to reload. If you’re trying to do a mass shooting (you know, the kind of shooting where there is a mass of people around to shoot) then that mass has a greater chance of being a mob that takes you out before you can do more damage. An assault rifle is designed for this kind of mob control. One person with an assault rifle can fend off an entire mob for quite some time. We’ve seen war movies where this happens, this is why we love Bruce Willis. Now if those guns were no longer able to be purchased at stores such as Cabela’s, Gander Mountain, WalMart, etc. they would in turn have to be purchased on the black market. I’m no expert on the black market, but I am pretty sure that your average college student isn’t just going to be able to walk into a dark alley and yell, “I want some guns!” and walk out happy. Also, those prices will increase exponentially on the black market. What once costs you $1,500 will now easily cost more than most vehicles we see these sort of madmen driving.
Cabela’s Assault Rifles - “The government/Obama/Muslims/Communists/Space Aliens are coming to take our guns now!” Now, being realistic, any gun control will not ban all guns from U.S. citizens. It would only ban certain types, generally the types that will make it easier for any ordinary citizen to inflict a large amount of damage in a small amount of time. This would include things such as extended clips for handguns, assault rifles, and even guns with modified stocks for maneuverability. Keep in mind that any guns you want to own for sport hunting wouldn’t be touched, period. Also, handguns generally wouldn’t be touched. I would still be owning my two guns (a rifle and a shotgun) and I would still be able to use them legally. I repeat to all sportsmen and hunters, YOU CAN STILL OWN YOUR GUNS! Here’s the thing, there are many in the GOP at the state and federal level who want to make it easier for you to buy a gun than to vote. They want to do away with the most basic of defenses, such as background checks. They also want to throw loopholes in there that make background checks essentially useless. How is this even reasonable? Do me a favor, go see how much the NRA contributes to elections each cycle. Just, please, you can easily Google that.
- “This is in our constitution! You can’t mess with the constitution!” Well for starters, those rules in the constitution, what do we call each one of them? An amendment right? Amendments have been added. Amendments have been removed. We, as a country, have added amendments as we’ve realized times have changed and we need to change with them. We need to only ask African Americans and women how well this has worked out for them. Then again, you can now go to a bar and drink, too, thanks to an amendment that abolished another amendment that abolished drinking. But tell me again how amendments are so permanent? Yes, they’re hard to change, the founding fathers set them up to be hard to change that way we had to be damn sure we wanted change. You also know what the founding fathers knew? They also knew that a gun in the hand one one man could maybe kill 5 people in ten minutes if held by the most expert of shooters. You know what that expert couldn’t do? He couldn’t kill or injure over 20 people in less than 5 minutes of shooting. He would be overrun by the angry mob that ensued and maybe kill 2 people if he was completely lucky.
By the end of the day the people who are against any form of gun control only have 2 arguments for their position. The first argument is the one they don’t realize they project on a daily basis, and that is that. “Hey! I am just too damn ignorant to think for myself and am just spewing the same vile filth I read/heard somewhere that I didn’t bother to think about myself.” or “Hey! I like guns! They’re fun to shoot!” That is it. Don’t give me the, “I’m a law abiding citizen! Why should I be punished!” Nobody is punishing you, we’re just realizing that society can only move as fast as it’s slowest member in order to keep from falling apart. Keep in mind that we were all law abiding citizens until the day we flipped.
trevorbwg 
One thought on “Resistance to Gun Control or Resistance to Reason?”