More thoughts on Gun Control


Some people have said that statistics are not the answer to convincing others of the fallacy in "gun control". To a certain degree, I can see what they are saying. The problem comes when Pro 2A people try to summarize, with statistics, what they believe and then find any discussion beyond that, a waste of time. If accurate statistics were the answer, there would be no further discussion needed, even to convince liberals.

Liberals tend to be touchie feelie types that are inclined to blame others for any problems and expect others to correct the problems they PERCEIVE. A specific example of this is their propensity for demanding new laws to correct non existent problems. Another definition is when they see something nasty, they immediately want new laws to "correct" it. I find it sad they are incapable of understanding that there ARE nasty people on the Earth, and new laws will not correct that, in our free society. If you find that hard to believe, look at the U.K. and Australia, with their gun restrictions.

What everyone needs to understand is that there is NO simple solution to the issue. YES, I believe that the Second Amendment to OUR Constitution, as written, should be enough; but that's me. It seems obvious that no matter how well educated most liberals are, they seem incapable of understanding the Second Amendment and its meaning.

The underlying problem with the majority of gun deaths is a problem that most liberals, and quite a few Pro-2A people, would rather not address. YES, the Pro-2A people understand it, but they are not capable of making the changes necessary to rid us of said problems without the help of a large segment of the liberal population. OMG! Is that it?! We can only solve this problem with the vast majority of our people working toward a common goal!

Mitigate the influences of crime in our society!
Crime goes away (well . . . at least goes down), gun deaths go down. It IS past time for any of the liberal persuasion, that really want fewer gun deaths, to help with a real solution.

The liberal impression of the United States being a homogeneous mass of people, all working (we know that's not true), and "earning their keep", is a total fallacy. What we actually have is a divided society that has a large percentage of its people with a very high rate of gun ownership, yet a very LOW murder rate. This group could easily and accurately be described as First World. This is similar to democracies in the rest of of the First World countries, such as those in western & northern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, South Korea.

The "other" America has much lower rates of gun ownership but much, much higher murder rates, and manners similar to violent third world countries (do it MY way, or I'll kill you).

WHY do we have such a divided society? That is a very uncomfortable question to answer. There are many that think it is a product of those using our third world people to stay in office. They do that by creating/perpetuating "give away" programs such as welfare, ADC, food stamps, rent subsidies, etc. Even those of limited mental capacity DO understand you re-elect those that keep giving you so much.

Presuming the above to be accurate, those on the left favor simple minded restrictions that target first world America with its high gun ownership but very low murder rate. This creates angst and the urge to keep buying more guns and ammunition, "before they ban it". The left's constant gun control rhetoric is the greatest sales tactic ever devised for arms and ammunition manufacturers.

Meanwhile, over the past 40 years, while the number of guns in private hands has doubled, the murder rate has dropped by half. The left are constantly whining about "assault weapons" which are used to commit fewer murders than there are people that drown each year, yet are the easiest term to scare the uninformed with. Look at the statistics on Clinton's "Assault Weapons Ban" and you find that there was NO measurable decrease in murders (as reported by the FBI) using any "Assault Weapons", during that ten year period (GASP!).

The Left tends to stretch the truth beyond all elastic limitations and persist in favoring ridiculous measures such as bans on "high capacity magazines" (as if magazines weren't cheap and easily changed out in a very few seconds). Tell me, what defines a "high capacity" magazine? Just EXACTLY how many rounds, and why is that number better or worse than one round more, or one round less?

If you look closely (OMG! MORE FACTS!) about 80% of homicides are due to the illegal drug trade. The violence in the drug trade is the result of those involved using murder to enforce their will (do it my way or I'll kill you). If that were not enough, look at a breakdown of WHERE those gun deaths occur.
~~ 720 homicides (14.1%) were in Chicago
~~ 344 homicides (6.7%) were in Baltimore
~~ 333 homicides (6.5%) were in Detroit
~~ 119 homicides (2.3%) were in Washington DC, (a 54% increase)
~~ and don't forget St. Louis with 188, which tied 2015 total
~~ and New Orleans with 175.

Thus we see 35% of all non suicide gun deaths happen in just 6 cities!

{preach to choir} Guns DO NOT CAUSE gun violence in the US. {/preach to choir}

Childlike thinking and simple "fixes" for complex problems will not produce the desired results; but being "comfortable" (because we DID something) will likely cause it to continue.




E-mail at: w0ipl@arrl.net