three (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
threeplusfire) wrote2002-11-21 02:24 pm
threeplusfire) wrote2002-11-21 02:24 pm
in which I ramble about guns
I've been thinking about this site for a few days now. They lay out their arguements well, and I tend to agree. I'd like to say something, but I don't know what yet. The site contains a large number of by images both hilarious, chilling and thought provoking.
no subject
- Thomas Jefferson
I agree that the right to bear arms is a needed part of this nation's continued existance. That the ability to say to an opressive regime "Enough!" is needful. I do not personally own a gun, but then I am broke. I use knives and a sword. At any rate, the right to keep and bear arms is the right to protect outselves from the animals and monsters of the night. Again, this is needful. The wonderful qoutes on the lower murder rates in some European nations is not due to the difficulity in getting personal weapons. Rather, it is the sure knowledge that every house has an assault rifle in the closet. Compulsory service does that.
So, I advocate an armed populace. As they say in Texas, and armed society is a polite society. My sole objection is to military weapons. I don't give a rat's ass what a gun looks like, so long as it is safe and effictive. But there is a reason that the sale and posession of a military weapon is controled and often illegal. These are not civilian weapons. If someone wants an AR-15, hey, nifty. But why? It looks like an M-16A2. Is this more effective than a shotgun for home defense? Actually, no. A load of 00 will hit something in the fire arc, a civilian AR15 may not. And the sound of a racking shotgun is known the nation over, and in itself may deter an intruder. Having locked and loaded an M16, it is not so memorable a noise.
So, my position stripped of the rambling? Guns are good and needful to guard against tyrants and opression. Military weapons are not needed in civilian hands. Simple.
no subject
How many auto manufacturers produce high performance vehicles who can easily exceed the maximum speed limit of every state in this union? How many people are killed every year due to excessive speed and unsafe driving of high performance autos? Quite a bit more than are killed by military style firearms, I can assure you (less that one percent of all violent crimes as a matter of fact). Why dont we ban high performance automobiles? Or for that matter, why dont we ban EVERYTHING that is in any way remotely dangerous that isnt immediately practical in all situations? Wow, there goes our culture.
Of course a military style firearm is EXACTLY the most practical thing to use to defend oneself against those who would curtail your liberty through political means. If the gestapo comes to your town, they arent going to sneak into your windows or be armed with saturday night specials. For the past 50 years or so, a quality, reasonably accurate high powered autoloading rifle is exactly what has been issued to all miltary personnel in just about every country whose job it is to exert the will of the government. And the very same sort of tool is what is required to match force as much as possible in the event of an incongruent conflict like an armed civilian uprising. Theres a good reason why we as civilians arent allowed to have tactical nuclear weapons, but theres no reason at all to prevent us from having any sort of small arms technology available to the modern military (other than perhaps to drive the demand and prices up to fatten the wallets of gun manufacturers and dealers at the expense of americans who dont happen to be rich).
For those who are curious, exact numbers, facts and attributions concerning so called "assault weapons" can be found at this site: http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcassaul.html
no subject
See, the problem here is people don't know what they are doing. You don't let them own a tank or fighter, and you don't need a military weapon. Again, I don't care about style, I am talking about military hardware, your actual in-service weapons designed for miliraty use (so no Glock/Colt M1911/Baretta comments). The most effective home defense weapon for the average user is the shotgun, not the AR15.
And yes, if the gestapo was to rise from the ashes of Nazi Germany and show up, then they would be armed with military hardware. This then becomes a "watch the watchers" issue. Eventually you have to trust that someone is OK, or you get the kind of paranoia rampant in Eastern Europe in the last 50 years. When the militaty and civilian weapons were the same, then no one knew the difference. That has not been the case since 1945, however, and there is a real seperation now. Yes, to defend against the oft-used 'secret police' or gestapo something better than a .22 match pistol might be nice. But there is a line. Responsibility is not in great supply these days. And I for one loose too much in taxes already. I am not willing to endorse the expense of training people to handle full auto weapons. And the M16 is being phased out. The new military battle rifle will have a built in 20mm grenade launcher (see here (http://www.secretweapon.com/) for more. It is rather...geeky? but accurate). This is not, repeat not, something that belongs in the hands of someone who can't figure out how to vote on a simle ballot.
The main reason to keep military hardware in the military hands is that they are trained to use it, we are not. Simple and direct. Under no reason should rifles, pistols, revolvers, shotguns, etc. be banned. That is in direct opposition to the second amendment. For simple logical reasons, military hardware should be, and must continue to be.
Oh yes, please note I know the difference between "assault weapons" and military weapons. Again, I don't care if it has a clip, looks like death on a bad day, and a pistol grip. So what? Many really good shotguns have pistol grips. Anyway, the difference I am trying to make is the distinction in the second section on weapons with burst or full auto abilities. By the moronic HCI definitions, a .38 revolver is an automatic weapon.