The psychosis of the gun nut…
In Europe, we often refer to the US as a big, violent retarded kid. Well-meaning at times, perhaps, but ultimately dangerous to himself and others. Picture Lennie from Of Mice and Men.
The rather simple-minded logic of the gun nuts and NRA feeds into the hysteria they like to cause after each atrocity. They are going to take all our guns! Without guns we are doomed! Ignoring the fact that places like Australia still have guns, even after they confiscated semi-automatic weapons in 1996, and they haven’t had a mass shooting since. (In the 18 years prior, 1979-1996, there were 13 fatal mass shootings.) So it wasn’t social change, broken families, or mental health reform that fixed the problem. It was removing the instrument that makes mass killing easy.
Probably the same reason we can’t go out and buy flamethrowers, hand grenades, etc?
The other argument is that an armed populace will somehow prevent or stop mass shootings. This ignores facts like the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, where 13 people were killed (and over 30 wounded) on a military base. Surely some people who were proficient in firearms were there? Yet it happens anyway.
If you want to wrap yourself in the 2nd Amendment, accept that it was written in the age of muzzle-loading muskets. A rate of fire of 2-3 rounds a minute makes mass shootings difficult. Compare that with the 45 rounds per minute of the AK-15. The authors of the US Constitution never had to experience a lone gunman who could massacre a crowd in a few minutes. If they had, would the Constitution read differently?
Elon Musk brags, “20,000 Flamethrowers Sold” by the simple expedient of labeling them “Not a Flamethrower”.
https://www.boringcompany.com/not-a-flamethrower/
(FIre extinguisher sold separately.)
@sleepygene That’s more of a creme brûlée torch than a flamethrower! A real flamethrower has a range of about 25 ft. And in one of those legal logic twists, some states allow you to own them, but using them is illegal.
Warning Comment
How do people totally refuse to accept ALL of this?!? It is insanity. I was just arguing on FB about how Australia and the UK are NOT DIFFERENT than the US. What worked there would also work here. Except we’re all owned and operated by the NRA. And now teachers will be expected to add “gunfighting” to all the other endless duties they are gravely underpaid to do.
@ednamillion my husband says that FL is owned by the NRA. i hope he is wrong, though the New Yorker published an article about Marion Hammer who is a long-time NRA lobbyist who essentially is telling everyone what to do in Florida. i hope her influence will decline. don’t get me started: arming teachers is the wrong direction.
@snowpeanut It would seem to me that arming teachers would just make them the primary target of anyone looking to massacre a school. You might as well paint targets on them.
Warning Comment
❤️
Warning Comment
I told a friend from Wisconsin about the handgun problem in my neighborhood. He got scared for me and responded that everyone in NYC should have a gun to protect themselves.
Can you imagine what a subway ride would be like?
YOU STEPPED ON MY FOOT! BANG!
STOP LOOKING AT ME! BANG!
THE TINFOIL CRESCENT’S SKY EYE IS BEAMING CATS INTO MY BRAIN THOUGHTS! BANG!
@shambala Considering the population density of NYC and the number of guns, it’s really quite a peaceful place. New York doesn’t even make the Top 20 of states where you have the highest risk of Death by Gun! (https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/death-by-gun-top-20-states-with-highest-rates/16/) Yet, Americans represent less than 5% of the world population but possess nearly 50% of the world’s civilian-owned guns.
Warning Comment
Excellent post.
Warning Comment
not all, not even the majority, of Americans love their guns. Most of us want to see the AR-15 banned. It’s going to happen. Not soon enough, but it will happen. good post.
Warning Comment
I am no fan of the NRA, and there are many people who go WAY overboard on the whole 2nd Amendment. But I am much more afraid of the stupidity and corruption in our government than I am of the “gun nuts.” I do believe the 2nd amendment does allow for Congress to make reasonable laws restricting certain types of weapons, ammunition, and things like “bump stocks” whatever the hell they are. Go for it. Just don’t make the constitution a tool of the left who want to destroy free speech, do away with the 4th and 5th amendments that help keep our system in check.
Warning Comment
I do not feel the need to personally own a gun. I don’t have a problem if you want to own a simple rifle or a hand gun, if you have taken personal responsibility to use it correctly and safely. I, however, do not now and will never understand the need for private citizens to own weapons of war. A semi-automatic rifle has no place but in a war zone. And America should be terrified that we are a war zone, fully armed, to the teeth, with loud people who insist upon themselves that they are the only ones who matter.
Warning Comment