Dumb Gun Arguments We Need to Get Past

Once again, I'm not against ownership, I'm for safety.  No one gets into a tizzy about improving food safety, I don't know why everyone has to throw a fit about discussing gun safety.

On the last blog I pointed out the correlation between ease of gun availability and mass shootings. Of course, the first thing you get back from critics are the same old tired slogans and arguments.  So with that in mind, let's look at the top three things shallow thinkers will post to derail a conversation about gun safety.

The first is "guns don't kill people".  Awesome. This is a great turn of a phrase and pinpoints a technicality so well you'd think a lawyer wrote it.  So, let's modify that phrase and bring it into reality-"guns make it amazingly efficient to kill people".  That is the undeniable truth. You can kill dozens in a few minutes and you just can't do that with a knife.  Let's look at more of these homilies for simpletons even further- "If guns kill people then spoons make you fat". You know what, if a spoon was capable of shoving food into your mouth a hundred times a minute, it would indeed make you fat. I've even heard a simpleton red dirt country artist say "and pencils don't write country songs". Well, since there are just three chords, I'm willing to bet that it's almost possible.  So, we've established that guns are a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands.

Next up, "we need guns to protect us from governmental tyranny". Oh shut up. You are not a freedom fighter. You and your neckbeard neighbors would have no chance against a highly trained unit of the U.S. military if they decided to take your guns.  You'd still be getting your Walmart assault rifle out of the bag when the drone blew up your house.  Get real. Now we've established that you versus the government would stand as much chance as an ant under a herd of elephants.

And how about "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun".   So do you think that "good guy" is going to be you? Chances are that you will be the first one shot, or as in a recent case, choose not to draw down in fear that the cops think you're another one of the bad guys.  Now we've established that you will probably never get a chance to be a hero.

So the above may seem "anti-gun" but it's not. I think gun owners need to quit repeating these mindless quotes and state the obvious "I have a right to own a gun and use it responsibly". There's just no reason to muddy the waters with nonsensical slogans and limited examples.  You have a right to own firearms. That's not in dispute. Now let's figure out what it's going to take to make sure they are not misused.

In my final blog on this topic, I'll explain why I think time and education are the only answers to gun violence.