Things We Wish Our Anti-Gun Friends Knew - 03/17/18
This is a revised version... maybe of some interest and use. I think I'm done "tuning" it for now.
Things We Wish our Anti-Gun Friends Knew
1. The Founders knew very well the advantages and disadvantages of having an armed populace. They chose to give us an armed society. You may argue that it was a bad choice, but nevertheless it was the choice memorialized in the Constitution. If you want to change that, the Constitution provides an orderly way to do it. On balance, an armed society seems to be at least as safe as an unarmed society. Many of us think the Founders chose wisely.
2. The Armalite Rifle 15 is not a peculiarly dangerous firearm. Neither is a Glock or an AK47. They are functionally indistinguishable from a large number of other firearms that don’t get so much attention.
3. The AR15 is not a weapon of war, nor can it be easily or legally converted to its military cousin. If it were a weapon of war, nations would arm their soldiers with it. They don’t. The AR15 looks like some weapons of war, but its function is far different. The AK47s possessed in the US are not weapons of war, either. They are functionally far different from the ones used in battle. For the most part, a US citizen cannot possess the standard rifles issued to our military.
4. Mauser rifles are real weapons of war, used through WWI and WWII by Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Spain and many others. Mosin Nagant rifles were issued to Russian and Finnish troops. The US used the 1903 Springfield. A huge number of all these are still functional and in use. People opposed to firearms don’t seem to object as much to these real weapons of war as they do to imaginary weapons of war like the AR15. The AR15 and AK47 are far weaker than any of them.
5. Part of the Heller Supreme Court ruling is that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental, individual, protected civil right, no less vital than freedom of speech or protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Also, the firearms covered by the Second Amendment are those firearms commonly held for legal purposes, which are not excessively dangerous (machine guns, artillery, anti-tank weapons). This protection applies to a wide variety of firearms. The decision also requires that laws affecting gun rights must be narrowly tailored and be based on real evidence of an overriding interest. Proposing tighter gun laws? You have the burden of producing that evidence. Angst is not enough.
6. There is no credible evidence that stricter gun laws will reduce homicide or suicide rates. The record shows no advantage in homicide rates in states with strict gun laws. If more strict laws worked, we could make firearms crimes double illegal, and quadruple illegal if committed against children, or octuple illegal if they were hate crimes committed on Sunday. If you think that octuple illegal won’t help, your gun owning friends probably agree with you. If you’re the target of a crime, a “no guns allowed” sign will not protect you. A firearm is a more effective alternative, and is used between 600,000 and 2,000,000 times per year to prevent a crime in the US.
7. The United States is not a particularly dangerous country, despite what you hear in the press. If you look at the actual numbers, we’re very much in the middle. There are countries with 5-10X better homicide rates, and countries with 5-10X worse homicide rates. We can and should do better, but right now we’re close to the median among countries that track and report homicide rates.
8. If you are at the bank and see an armed, off duty police officer waiting in line, how do you react? A lot of us feel more secure. And a lot of us feel the same way about a civilian that we know has a concealed firearm. The best evidence we have says that people with concealed carry permits are more reliably law abiding than police officers, and at least equal in firearms skill.
9. The National Rifle Association is the country’s greatest advocate of firearm safety. They provide firearm safety training and the School Shield program. Propose a solution that offers greater safety and that does not interfere with the civil rights of law abiding people, and you’ll probably find the NRA on your side. The main reason the NRA is powerful is that it represents the views of several million law abiding gun owners.
10. What you see on television and in motion pictures is not reality. If you learned what you know about firearms by watching television and motion pictures, you’re probably missing essential facts and perspective. Find a friend that will teach you basic safety, and how to shoot. Learn how enjoyable, safe, and normal the shooting hobby is. You really do meet the nicest people at the shooting range.
Things We Wish our Anti-Gun Friends Knew
1. The Founders knew very well the advantages and disadvantages of having an armed populace. They chose to give us an armed society. You may argue that it was a bad choice, but nevertheless it was the choice memorialized in the Constitution. If you want to change that, the Constitution provides an orderly way to do it. On balance, an armed society seems to be at least as safe as an unarmed society. Many of us think the Founders chose wisely.
2. The Armalite Rifle 15 is not a peculiarly dangerous firearm. Neither is a Glock or an AK47. They are functionally indistinguishable from a large number of other firearms that don’t get so much attention.
3. The AR15 is not a weapon of war, nor can it be easily or legally converted to its military cousin. If it were a weapon of war, nations would arm their soldiers with it. They don’t. The AR15 looks like some weapons of war, but its function is far different. The AK47s possessed in the US are not weapons of war, either. They are functionally far different from the ones used in battle. For the most part, a US citizen cannot possess the standard rifles issued to our military.
4. Mauser rifles are real weapons of war, used through WWI and WWII by Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Spain and many others. Mosin Nagant rifles were issued to Russian and Finnish troops. The US used the 1903 Springfield. A huge number of all these are still functional and in use. People opposed to firearms don’t seem to object as much to these real weapons of war as they do to imaginary weapons of war like the AR15. The AR15 and AK47 are far weaker than any of them.
5. Part of the Heller Supreme Court ruling is that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental, individual, protected civil right, no less vital than freedom of speech or protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Also, the firearms covered by the Second Amendment are those firearms commonly held for legal purposes, which are not excessively dangerous (machine guns, artillery, anti-tank weapons). This protection applies to a wide variety of firearms. The decision also requires that laws affecting gun rights must be narrowly tailored and be based on real evidence of an overriding interest. Proposing tighter gun laws? You have the burden of producing that evidence. Angst is not enough.
6. There is no credible evidence that stricter gun laws will reduce homicide or suicide rates. The record shows no advantage in homicide rates in states with strict gun laws. If more strict laws worked, we could make firearms crimes double illegal, and quadruple illegal if committed against children, or octuple illegal if they were hate crimes committed on Sunday. If you think that octuple illegal won’t help, your gun owning friends probably agree with you. If you’re the target of a crime, a “no guns allowed” sign will not protect you. A firearm is a more effective alternative, and is used between 600,000 and 2,000,000 times per year to prevent a crime in the US.
7. The United States is not a particularly dangerous country, despite what you hear in the press. If you look at the actual numbers, we’re very much in the middle. There are countries with 5-10X better homicide rates, and countries with 5-10X worse homicide rates. We can and should do better, but right now we’re close to the median among countries that track and report homicide rates.
8. If you are at the bank and see an armed, off duty police officer waiting in line, how do you react? A lot of us feel more secure. And a lot of us feel the same way about a civilian that we know has a concealed firearm. The best evidence we have says that people with concealed carry permits are more reliably law abiding than police officers, and at least equal in firearms skill.
9. The National Rifle Association is the country’s greatest advocate of firearm safety. They provide firearm safety training and the School Shield program. Propose a solution that offers greater safety and that does not interfere with the civil rights of law abiding people, and you’ll probably find the NRA on your side. The main reason the NRA is powerful is that it represents the views of several million law abiding gun owners.
10. What you see on television and in motion pictures is not reality. If you learned what you know about firearms by watching television and motion pictures, you’re probably missing essential facts and perspective. Find a friend that will teach you basic safety, and how to shoot. Learn how enjoyable, safe, and normal the shooting hobby is. You really do meet the nicest people at the shooting range.