Do you know why we don't have "gun control" in this country? I'll give you a hint, it is not all the money and influence of the NRA, it's not the endless tautological drivel of millions of gun-suckling man-children eternally whining about their rights, it is not even the bumper sticker no facts wishful thinking of their talking points. It is simply this, gun violence is confined to marginal elements of society. The average of 10,000 gun homicides every year in America does not touch the elite but mainly culls the superfluous population. Do you want to know when we will have "gun control" i.e. soldiers and police kicking down doors to confiscate weapons? The moment a wall street executive is gunned down. Not a moment before.
I'll say one thing, if you gun maniacs shoot half as badly as many of you drive the only place I want you to put your gun is up your ass. Here's my beef, I was a tanker so unless you were in the artillery I have fired bigger and badder weapons than you have. I don't own any weapons, do you know why? Because I am not constantly living in fear of needing one and self-pitying enough to buy the paranoia and demagoguery constantly shouted about "the only constitutional right that matters." And having sent 120mm rounds down range, there is nothing on the civilian market that could impress me. I have also seen what these weapons can do.
It is the attitude that makes the prospect of drinking my own urine preferable to discussing the proper role of firearm ownership in the United States with one of these lunatics. I'd love to provide the dozens of examples of the whining, entitled, superficial nonsense that washes to the surface like scum on Lake Michigan every time some damaged individual uses a legally bought assault rifle or semi-automatic pistol to blow away a bunch of people minding their own business, but chances are if you're reading this you've probably seen them. Besides I'm in a ranting mood and I don't want to stop and "document my sources" as though the grade-school yammering about "guns not killing people, people killing people" deserves that title. I have honestly never seen grown men degenerate into pre-school tantrum-throwing self-pity machines faster than these guys do every time a completely preventable tragedy sacrifices the lives of innocents, as though it has anything to do with them or their precious toys.
Isn't this the same crowd that says government can't do anything right? Yet you cower in fear of the great and powerful Obama? It is an exercise in projection unlike anything seen in this country since Lincoln was accused of wanting to force white girls to marry the slaves you just knew, just knew he was going to free. I see President Obama as more James Buchanan than Lincoln, but it does not change the fact that it took the largest, most vile act of treason by pampered white planters to stir the great emancipator into the most melancholy crusade for human rights. President Obama had the opportunity to be the anti-bush you gun sucklers imagined him to be, wrenching back the country from the free-market, neo-imperialist suicide course it was on when he took office but he could barely muster the will say "please health insurance companies, don't let so many people suffer and die," hoisting millions of new customers their way in the process. Not lifting a finger to prosecute the war crimes of bushco, he continues most of shrub's autocratic policies. This is the guy who keeps you awake at night for fear of "taking your guns?" Give me a break.
At most, at most what will happen is another Brady bill in all of it's watered down, technocratic glory. "Yes, you can have the 3 inch barrel but not the 4 inch barrel, yes you can have a 10 round magazine but not the 15." And of course everybody's bad ass phallic symbols will be grandfathered in. So yes, "buy 'em and bury 'em." Funny how in a depressed economy that lacks demand from tapped out, indebted consumers somehow firearm sales keep soaring. So yes, please, go into hock to buy that sweet bushmaster or desert eagle, I'm sure it will do you so much good when the drones blow up your house in the great UN takeover that is "just over the horizon."
"I don't own any weapons, do you know why? Because I am not constantly living in fear of needing one and self-pitying enough to buy the paranoia and demagoguery constantly shouted about 'the only constitutional right that matters.'"
ReplyDelete*sighs quietly* Not all of us who own weapons are like that. Some of us own them for personal defense, some for hunting, some as collectors of antiques, some of us carry them because they are our comfort after having brought the war home with us in ways we ourselves can't even fathom.
While I support second amendment rights, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about defending the right to own firearms. Championing the opinions of the crazysauce whackjob who rants about the UN takeovers or conspiracy nut holed up in your bunker with ten years worth of MRE's praying for the great reset isn't the way to do it. Being a rational and sane voice *is*.
However, as with every position in life, there are outliers on both sides of the fence such as the evangelicals and the atheists. For every gun nut who would suck the sack of Charleton Heston while rubbing one out on an AK, there is a firearm phobic freak who wants us all to go back to melee weapons.
Both can make arguments - and often do - that their position is superior, both sides can and do make salient points, and both sides agree that "the other guys" are what's wrong with the situation at hand.
Somewhere in the middle, however, are a good number of firearms owners who want others to use firearms responsibly, and who believe that there is a larger root cause to gun violence that can't be remedied simply by clamping down on access to weapons.
As humans, we are persistent and our ingenuity at acquiring that which we are not allowed to have is nothing short of remarkable. We banned alcohol during prohibition, it still was available. We ban drugs of all manner, yet we still have potheads, speed freaks and people strung out on meth. We ban steroids in sports, yet we had Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong.
At most, an outright ban or severe restriction on firearms will do nothing more than severely piss off the populace and create a flourishing black market for such weapons where wealth and corruption are concentrated and go hand in hand.
I realize this your piece was probably just a rant, but as one reasonable person to another, I urge more thoughtful discussion on firearm ownership. :)