In the preceding article, we discussed different kinds of gun violence, organized by cause. Most gun violence is suicide; only a very few mass shootings ever occur in classrooms. Ideally, none would; ideally, people also wouldn’t ever want to kill themselves, guns notwithstanding.
We don’t live in an ideal world.
That’s no reason not to strive for one.
(more…)In order to do this properly, we’ll need a discourse, so that all sides can find middle ground that they can agree on. And in order to communicate, we’ll each need to use the same words to mean the same things.
For example: It might surprise some people to learn that there is actually no such thing as an “Assault Weapon”. Sure, you’ll find it in the dictionary of your choice, but the definitions are nebulous and disagree. They named the 1994 law after it, but the descriptions involved such superficial specifics as a bayonet lug or pistol grip without enough generalities to retain long-term value. The law expired in 2004; by then, the industry had long since retooled such that they could largely avoid its strictures.
(more…)Watching video of kids getting shot is traumatic. How could it not be? And who can watch that and not be furious — terrified — sickened?
So how can we possibly expect that our immediate reaction will fix a damned thing?
We don’t make good decisions when we’re upset; nobody does. Instead, we get angry; we kick and throw things; we cast blame everywhere. The universe hates us and everyone’s evil. And then, if we’re smart, we settle down and figure out what went wrong so we can stop it from happening again.
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There’s been yet another school rampage shooting, and I don’t know what to do except weep. Best I can tell, nobody else does either.
Oh, there’s a lot of noise and a ton of blame being thrown, and I’ve heard the phrase “common sense gun control” more times than I can count. It’s a meaningless string of words; if there were any effective way to stop rampage shooters with a simple, common sense approach, we’d have done it by now.
Whenever I say that, there are two responses:
– “Well, at least do something!”
and
– “Just ban guns! Ban them all!”
This is a picture of a SiG MCX.
It’s a highly efficient modular tactical infantry weapon, designed to be easily modified so as to be the proper gun for any situation. It’s lightweight, reliable, and deadly. Oh, and a homicidal maniac used one to kill fifty people in Orlando the other day.
At the moment, the nation is sick and tired of hearing about guns and shootings. We’ve had enough, and if the problem doesn’t get solved, We The People are about to fire a whole raft of Congressmen and Senators. And the lawmakers in question know this full well, so they’re making a lot of extra noise about it this time around.
In fact, so very much noise is being made that I think we’ve lost sight of what exactly it is that we’re talking about. (more…)
The current national discussion on gun control is taking place between a large number of people, many of whom have differing levels of expertise with the use or identification of weapons. Many of those desiring greater restrictions on firearms are unfamiliar with them, which is entirely reasonable; firearms aficionados and collectors would be the most likely to educate themselves on the subject, whereas those who fear or mistrust them would be likely to avoid any contact with the weapons in question.
Unfortunately for the dialogue, this lack of expertise detracts from the credibility of those wanting change. Additionally, decades of intricate and confusing gun laws have muddied up the conversational waters even more. Since profitable discussion requires mutual respect, and since the subject is simple enough to learn, read on. (more…)
It’s said even Reagan was against every Tom, Dick, and Harry owning an AK-47. And that may well be true; on the other hand, what difference does it make? We should keep this discussion to the essentials, and reduce whatever we can to its core.
There exists a philosophical difficulty with banning “assault rifles”; it can be (more…)
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