Gun Violence – Part 1

I am a liberal and I own guns.  I have rifles, a shotgun, and pistols.  I used to hunt, hence the rifles.  I have the have a shotgun for home protection.  I have pistols primarily because I like to target shoot; I admit that I also keep them for personal protection but that is very low on the list as I rarely, if ever carry a pistol even though I have carry permits to do so pretty much everywhere.

Being a liberal who enjoys guns is not an oxymoron.  Being a conservative, or liberal, who thinks that we do not have to do something about gun availability and ownership is not an oxymoron either.  It is just plain moronic.

Do not throw the Second Amendment in my face.  The Second Amendment is about a civilian militia, which is no longer a part of American life.  Anyone who can read a whole sentence and realize the error, mistake, and downright lie one can make taking something out of context can get no better example than the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.  “,,, the right to bear arms shall not be abridged.” Is the ultimate out of context statement of all times.  This partial sentence feeds a whole industry, political movement, social movement, and massive (and powerful) organization that has quazi-governmental powers in some areas of the country,

Let us face it, not even the most ardent advocates of the second half of the Second Amendment truly believe in its phraseology in its entirety.  Put things in context.  When that Second Amendment was written, ARMS included every weapon on the face of the earth; be it pistols, muskets, rifles, cannons, mortars, bombs, or what have you.  If their interpretation of the Second Amendment were to believed, this would allow private citizens to have unbridled access to all forms of arms – up to and including nuclear weapons.  I am not exaggerating; I am just stating the facts of that part of the Second Amendment.  In case you do not understand it, abridged mean modified.  Therefore, arms is not restricted to handguns, rifles, and shotguns.  It means all forms of weapons.

That means we already abridge arms, and always have ever since the days when weapons have become so deadly.  The United States has restricted private, civilian, ownership of large weapons (bombs, cannons, rockets, you name it) and even hand-held weapons.  The restrictions on hand-held weapons were for short-barreled rifles and shotguns, fully-automatic weapons, and limiting access – via permits and background checks – to rifles, shotguns, and pistols.

What did this all have in common – besides making sense?  The NRA supported all of these restrictions.  Are you surprised?  You should not be.  Even though the NRA set up a Legislative Affairs Division to advocate for the Second Amendment, prior to the takeover in the 1970’s the NRA was an organization that was generally involved in improving hunting and promoting gun safety.

Then in the mid-1970’s the NRA got politically active.  Why, you ask?  I really do not know, but I would suggest following the money.  One example is Wayne Robert LaPierre, Jr.   Now he is only been the CEO and Executive VP of the NRA since 1991, keep in mind that he was a lobbyist for gun manufacturers prior to that.  Conflict of interest, or reward, you decide.  Certainly they have strayed from their original agenda to an agenda that supports the gun lobby and a minority of American citizens, albeit powerful given the financial support of the gun manufacturers.

Somewhat troubling is that because of the legacy of the NRA as an organization that was dedicated to promoting hunting and gun safety, most states still rely on the NRA for training and testing of private citizens for hunter safety courses and qualifications for concealed carry permits.  Having been exposed to this “training” for a concealed weapon permit I can honestly say that this is not the message that should be given to the average citizen with the current climate unless you want to foster an anti-government, anti-social environment.  Our trainer was not interested in training us on gun ownership, gun safety, or proper use of a handgun as much as he was telling us what we could or could not get away with legally – bad message.  That and pushing us through the paperwork while he was lecturing so he would not run overtime – and the hell with what we missed.

These idiots keep worrying about the government taking their guns away and as far as I can tell that just plain has not happened.  In fact the only thing that I have seen is, when the government tries to add some common sense to the gun control issue, the manufacturers artificially create shortages to raise prices and to excite their followers.  The last time they did this was to create an artificial ammunition shortage.  How do I know?  No dealership was receiving their normal quota of ammunition.  Where was it going – nowhere.  Prices raised and pro-gun lobbyist benefited.  And not one damned gun was taken by the government.  Go figure.

To some degree, that is all water under the bridge now ain’t it.

Anyone who watches TV, listens to the radio, browses the internet, or reads a damned newspaper can tell that what we are doing is just plain not working.  I cannot fathom how a person with a single working brain cell can continue to support the status quo on gun control when we see a man in Las Vegas gun down 58 people and injured more than 527 people, followed by 26 people killed and 20 wounded in a Texas church a month later.

Now if I hear you simple-minded, stupid, asinine remark “Guns don’t kill people, People kill people” I am going to throw up.  Keep in mind, unless these dudes were the greatest ninja warriors of all times, I am pretty damned sure the death toll would have been a whole lot smaller if they were using anything but guns; knives for instance.  They may have still killed a few, but the death toll would be a whole hell of lot smaller.

I cannot write this without addressing the fun gun of choice of the Rambo wannabes, the AR-15/M-15/M-4 type gun, shooting the .223/5.56 rounds.  Now I know this is a combat round.  The problems with this are multi-faceted.  First, unlike the military-grade weapons, many of the civilian guns are pieces of crap so their accuracy and efficacy are garbage.  Secondly, the round is a short-range round.  No one in his or her right mind would really think of this as a hunting round.  In fact, in many states the caliber is too small to be allowed for hunting big game.  The only reasons for owning them is either because the are fun to shoot (which I am OK with BTW) or because the owner thinks he or she is expecting Armageddon (which might actually disqualify them for gun ownership right there).

How many have to die?  Who has to die?  When are we going to grow up?  Listen, I own guns, I like guns, I do not want to restrict my use of guns.  However, I am damned sick and tired of people dying so some bushy-haired, bushy-faced camo-wearing asshole (and her husband), who seems to hate the American government and hate every law on the books except for the Second Amendment, can feel good about themselves.

I know that there is no easy answer.  Otherwise it would have been done.  I do know what we are doing is not working – at all.  I am not sure I want to give up any of my guns but I am willing to do what is reasonable and necessary to keep them out the hands of bad people and to track them down more easily.  You want them registered – no problem.  You want a ballistic sample – no problem.  You want me to replace the firing pin with one that has a micro-engraved serial number (like they do in Europe and, I believe, in California) – no problem.  Whatever it takes, I am willing to try.

Before some jackass worries about the MAN coming to take our guns, I have a question for those out there who have more than two brain cells to rub together.  Even with the Nazi in office, who in the hell is going to come take your stinking guns.  You have to get someone to do it.  The military?  Not hardly, they are gun owners themselves.  The police?  Not hardly.  New storm troopers?  Anything is possible.  After all, look who holds the presidency.  I am willing to bet that the number of guns out there pretty much limits that possibility.  I am much more concerned with the next crazy than I am about the government coming for my weapon.

Let us get together, oppose the NRA and the lobbyists, and get some decent controls in place.  We will not stop all of the gun violence but we have to start someplace.