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Giving Up |
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Gregory Morris, 4/1/08 9:14:40 am |
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I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I've decided to give up. Not just the blog, but the fight as well. In light of the gun violence that continues to take a toll on our country, and given that regardless of one's political leanings there can be no denying the tragedies we witness daily, I have decided to give up on the battle against gun control. In fact, after much internal struggle I've decided to switch sides as well. I know you are probably thinking that I am abandoning the principles of liberty which I have always fought so hard for, but consider that a person's right to feel safe from guns is also an important freedom. Being insensitive to the needs of our fellow Americans only makes us less human and less civilized.
Whether or not the saying "guns don't kill people, people kill people" is true, guns make it a lot easier to kill and maim. If only highly trained specialists were able to get own and use guns, and only in a tightly regulated manner, many, many tragedies would never happen. Oh, I know the claims that a gun gives you a good means of defending yourself, but what's the cost? There are hundreds of ways to defend oneself without a weapon that can also wreak so much havoc on the lives of innocent people, especially children. Even if the use of a firearm is a legitimate means of self defense, there is no reason they can’t be tightly regulated. Some guns simply have no self-defense value.
Not being one to talk the talk without walking the walk, I have taken all of my firearms and ammunition to the county Sheriff's department for disposal. In addition, I will be making a statement to everyone living in my neighborhood about my beliefs. I have permanently attached a "Gun Free Zone" to my door. I have also decided to join the AHSA, who is the only reasonable organization who supports the needs of hunters and shooters, without being in the pocket of gun manufacturers. I believe you must stand up for what you believe in, regardless of how the NRA tries to brainwash you. Since my revelation, I have also called the NRA to renounce my membership and asked to be taken off of their mailing lists. I feel just awful that I have bought into their misleading statistics, falsehoods and terror tactics for so long. The truth, I have discovered, is the NRA is nothing more than a lobby for the businesses that make guns. Their entire motive is profit and getting more guns onto the street, and the actual members are nothing more than parrots.
I understand there is a landmark case which will soon decide upon the meaning of the second amendment. Quite frankly, I can’t believe that they would be such partisan hacks as to buy into the NRA’s obvious attempt at rewriting history and ignore the first thirteen words of the amendment. Clearly the first half of the amendment MUST have SOME bearing on the second half; otherwise they would not have included it! Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules, there will almost certainly be room for more regulation. I know as well as the rest of you that just because a complete ban may be struck down, there can still be laws written to all-but-ban semi-automatics with removable magazines. I know all of the arguments about why they should not be banned, but until now I haven’t really thought about what good arguments for the other side may be. First of all, regarding high-capacity magazines, I see no point what-so-ever. If you are defending yourself, and you can’t do it reliably with a five-shot revolver, then you can’t be trusted with more rounds than that. Besides, I’ve seen how fast a revolver can be shot and reloaded, so I don’t see why anyone would have a problem using one for self defense. Second, even if guns don’t cause suicide, they certainly make it easier. If guns were taken out of the homes of teenagers, we would see less SUCCESSFUL suicide attempts, and a much lower rate of tragic school shootings. Another good regulation would be the complete elimination of “junk guns”. They are not only used more often for crime (because they are disposable) but they are also unsafe for defensive use. Would you carry a Lorcin and rely on it for your safety? No, because they aren’t well made, and are not required to stand up to any safety standards. If we require strict safety standards for firearms, as we do with cars and airplanes, then there will be fewer gun accidents. A happy side-effect will be that gangs can no longer get cheap throw-away guns for drive-bys. Yet another commonly asked for control, which most gun nuts deride as pointless, is a ban on .50 caliber rifles. I’m still not sure why anyone would need or even want one. I understand that they are rarely used in crime, but they are rarely used for anything useful either! Finally, and most importantly, the registration and serialization of all firearms AND ammunition will give law enforcement the tools they need to make sure that any crime committed with a gun can be solved. This won’t affect hunting or self defense, but it will affect criminals. Win, win!
I understand the movement to increase gun control is linked tightly to the socialist movement in this country, but I want to assure you that I still abhor socialism. I have no commitment to any socialist politician, simply because we can come to an agreement on guns. What I've come to realize is that you can have reasonable limitations on items as destructive and dangerous as guns without destroying the freedom of capitalism. In addition, I don’t think gun ownership is intrinsically linked with freedom, as the NRA would have you believe. Freedom of speech has a much greater effect on the political workings of our country than gun ownership has. I haven’t seen one bit of proof that individual ownership of high-capacity semi-automatics has guaranteed our other rights. For instance, there have been several cases which clearly limit the first amendment (the McCain-Feingold was upheld, for instance) as well as limitations on property rights, ala Kelo. If the ownership of military-style guns is so closely connected to the protection of our other freedoms, why have these blatant violations of the rights of Americans been allowed to occur? The answer is that we allow it to occur, and will continue to do so regardless of how heavily armed we are! Via the rights guaranteed by the first amendment, we should be able to battle for capitalism and freedom of the marketplace.
Now, as a part of the pro-gun internet community for over a year, I've seen how everyone gangs up on both the frightened and less educated, like a band of holier-than-thou thugs. Quite frankly, I'm sick of it. Therefore, I will be moderating comments on my blog so that I can get my message out without the threat of it being interrupted by thousands of people attacking my position. Unlike the Brady Campaign, I am not interested in having any sort of discourse with vitriolic gun owners. It serves no purpose other than to give you another outlet for your loud, obnoxious, and often vile rants. |
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