Well, who knew I would get so many responses to my rant? I am pleasantly surprised, particularly by the response from “fairlane,” who I don’t know. I can understand why a Howard Stern or a Don Imus makes their living the way they do. Say something outrageous and you will get a response. I also truly enjoy a good debate, and in the spirit of that debate, I feel you deserve a response to your responses. So here goes.
By missharleyquinn:I’m with Chris Rock, forget gun control, I want bullet control. As he says, “If a bullet cost $1500.00 there would be no innocent bystanders.”
Interesting concept. Might actually be more effective than gun control itself. Either that or we’d all just be pistol-whipping each other through the streets. Which would make life like one big episode of the Sopranos, which I would approve. But seriously, this thought has merit and should be examined in more depth.
By Fairlane:
If 19 students in one room all had guns and started firing simultaneously they’d kill each other. A room full of students with guns is a disaster waiting to happen. 99% of people panic and freeze up in extremely stressful situations. Even if they don’t freeze, shooting at a person who is shooting back is not like target practice. Most people will forget about aiming and fire blindly.
Which goes back to education, which I will get to in response to a later comment. But tell me this, would you march into a room to try and slaughter a room full of gun-toting people?
Fairlane:
It’s just as my Marine friend said, “Most people who talk crap about using guns have never had to use one.”
And people who don’t have uterus’s shouldn’t discuss abortion. People who don’t vote shouldn’t complain about the government. People who never played in the NBA shouldn’t talk about the pick-and-roll. We’re throwing out intellectual debate, because now you’re not allowed to have your opinion unless you’ve “been there.” It’s going to be a quiet, quiet world.
By Jen:
So my question to you is then, in the age-old spirit of “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” how do you think that education should be enforced, and to what degree?
Excellent question! I think you should have to first and foremost have a high school diploma. Secondly I think you should have to take and pass a class on gun care, use and safety. Make it prohibitively expensive, like the $1500 bullets. From what I see, it’s poor, uneducated people committing most of the gun-related violence. Let’s take the guns out of their hands and put it into mine. Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a doctor or psychologists report saying that you are healthy and well-balanced enough to be trusted with said weapon.
One additional point to make to Fairlane: All 19 people would have their guns pointed at about the same spot. How in the hell does that translate into them shooting one another? I’m thinking that even if half of them miss, it’s still a good 9-10 hits and a couple of holes in a wall- not other people.
Love the uterus comment. The kids got up to ask why I was laughing so loud. Wish I could’ve told ‘em.
Here’s the clip of Chris Rock’s ’stand’ on gun control…oh, my bad, it’s $5,000.00 a bullet.
Hey Steve,
I just decided to check out your blog and I’m loving it! I’m also catching up – thus the temporary excuse on why I am posting a comment on an ye ole entry.
My husband and I both enjoy guns. Sounds odd and extremely perverted, but it isn’t. We both own guns, have taken the necessary training courses and enjoy the time together at the range seeing “who’s the best”. That is why I wanted to comment here; it is a subject near and dear so to speak. Based on what I have learned, a majority of the guns used in crime, which is the “bad” gun use, is committed using illegally owned and operated weapons. Which begs the question, how does regulating LEGAL owners and operators lessen gun-crime that is perpetrated by ILLEGAL owners and operators?
I wanted to make two comments to your rant, but I seem to be unable to at this time. (At the very least, I didn’t see any links that would allow me to make a comment.) So I will do so here:
First, I will *consider* giving up my guns when government does. I only consider it, because I am a weak person, and I need all the advantages I can get when it comes to protecting myself and my family, and resisting tyranny.
I demand that the government give up their guns because government officials *have* misused them, and they *will* again, in the future. Officials are people too, and no amount of training will change that.
The only difference between a government official and other citizens is that an official can deliberately murder someone, or even a group of people, and get away with it, with little or no repercussion. This happened at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, when an unarmed woman, holding her baby, was shot in the head; it happened at Waco, Texas, when dozens of children were killed in a botched media performance that was designed to justify funding; and it happens on a regular basis, when SWAT teams are sent to deal with minor drug possession crimes. (Whether or not people die in these, people are nonetheless terrorized, and guns are the main tool of terror.)
I would go a step further, and point out that the militia clause in the Second Amendment particularly implies that any arm that a government official can own, ought to be available to the average citizen.
Second, Senator Orrin Hatch, in a study on gun control for the Senate, discovered an interesting fact: that there is *less* crime when anyone, regardless even of their mental state or criminal background, is allowed to carry a firearm; and that, all the regulations in place have done nothing to prevent gun crimes or gun deaths.
Thus, if you desire to have less gun crime, I would encourage you to take your Second Amendment duty seriously: train in the use of the AR-15 rifle, and the M1911 or the M9 Barretta handguns, which are the standard-issue weapons of our military, and always carry a handgun with you, to be prepared for the possibility that you might need it to defend yourself and others.
And be prepared to fight tyranny at home, if necessary, or to repel an invasion from enemy forces, or to fight enemies abroad (such as those in Germany). Boot camp will not give you enough time to use your weapons! assuming that you have time to be sent to Boot Camp. *Now* is the time to learn to use your weapons.
After all, if you are a male of the age of 18 to 45, you are a member of the United States militia, and even if you aren’t, you can freely volunteer militia service anyway.