Showing posts with label gun control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gun control. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Clara Jeffery is a Bitch

If you haven't read about the latest controversy swirling around gun control, it looks like Mother Jones editor Clara Jeffery has taken the death of ex-Navy Seal Chris Kyle by gun violence to take a pot shot at gun rights activists. The full story of Kyle's death can be found here.

In response, Jeffery tweeted the following:

So much for good/talented guy with a gun being able to stop mentally ill guy with a gun.
I just wanted to say that Clara, you're a bitch.

I am not sure  exactly where I stand on gun control in this country. It's a complex issue. I do that a reasonable solution to reduce gun violence would be nice. I don't find most of what is being talked about by gun control advocates to be reasonable.

However, just the idea that someone would tweet out the sentiment that Jeffery tweeted ... it tells me everything I need to know about her personality and disposition.

So, Jeffery, the next time someone dies in a horrific car accident, are you going to make some snide comment like, "I guess seat belts really don't save lives after all?"

There is a line for good taste. Jeffery crossed it. She's a bitch, and she needs to be called out.


Enhanced by Zemanta

Monday, January 14, 2013

My Take on Gun Control

The AK-47 was first adopted in 1949 by the Sov...
I just left a rather long comment on this story about gun control, so I thought I would copy and paste it to my blog. The text is below.

"What I’ve only realized lately is the extent to which the sacralization
of guns by the gun lobby has made it nearly impossible to have a sober,
data-based public conversation about gun policy—blocking even the
collection of data on gun violence, as Tom Diaz of the Violence Policy
Center explained here last month."

And I would say that the antics on the liberal side are just as detrimental to "sober, data-based conversation" as anything the conservatives can muster. Look, when you have a man like Piers Morgan on national television hollering like a snarky little chimp and shouting over his pro-gun guests, it reflects poorly on him. When you have this same type of condescension of nearly every article I've read and nearly every news report on it from the mainstream media (c.f. the Huffington Post), it reflects poorly on the movement.

I also agree that the shootings in Newtown, Aurora, etc. were tragic. I feel sincerely bad for the people who lost relatives and friends in those shootings. I hope that I never have a similar experience. At the same time, the rational creature inside of me is resistant to passing sweeping, knee-jerk legislation in response to those incidents. I want to discuss ideas that actually MEAN something, not just throw around buzz words and ideas that will have no effect on the problem.

Specifically, I would be refreshed if even one person in favor of gun control would admit to the fact that the laws being discussed in congress currently would NOT have prevented either the Aurora or Newtown shootings and are VERY UNLIKELY to decrease future gun violence. The guns for Aurora were all obtained legally by someone with no history of mental illness. The guns for Newtown were obtained through murder. In both cases, none of the gun law currently on the books or being discussed would have had any effect on the ability of the evil lunatics that perpetrated these shootings to obtain the weapons used.

In fact, it is highly unlikely that any measures short of a total confiscation and ban of firearms would have prevent such incidents from happening in the future, and even that is far from certain. For one thing, there are 300 million guns currently in this country. Considering how successful the government has been at stopping things like drugs and illegal immigrants from entering the country, my faith in their ability to track and confiscate weapons is non-existent. Secondly, this is assuming that the general public, congress, and the courts would even allow such a move. Like it or not, the second amendment is a prominent part of the constitution, and citizens overwhelmingly reject the idea of a total confiscation of guns, including hunting rifles and pistols.

Also, I would be impressed if the left would admit that a gun being a so called "assault weapon" really has no effect on its deadliness. As a point of reference, can anyone reading this article point out (without using Wikipedia) what the main differences between an M-16, AR-15, and a .223 hunting rifle are? Can you tell me the differences between an AR-15 and an AK-47? If you can't, you're not alone. I couldn't tell you all of the differences between these types of rifles off the top of my head either, and I grew up as a hunter. From what I understand from people more knowledgeable in the subject than me, the differences are almost entirely cosmetic. In other words, the only difference between an AR-15 and .223 hunting rifle is in the design of the stock and barrel -- things that make no difference in the lethality of the gun.

I think that your point about having a sober debate about the issue is well-taken. I think that's what most gun owners want as well. Most of the gun owners I've talked to about the subject are just as scared by the "looney left" as the left claims to be by gun owners. They are afraid that their rights will be chipped away at just because of the actions of a few sick individuals.
I am not sure what can be done to make the U.S. safer. I would be open to some reasonable ideas, but only if the people making the arguments can stick to facts and not keep appealing to emotions. Perhaps more extensive background checks are the answer. Perhaps better mental health interventions are the answer. Perhaps school guards are the answer. Perhaps not. Perhaps none of these things will make much of a difference in preventing the next mass shooting. In a free society, I am not sure that the government can guard against every possible bad thing that can happen to good people. However, if there was a reasonable measure that could be implemented without infringing excessively on constitutionally protected freedoms and had a good chance of curbing violent crime, I would be open to such a measure.


Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Hollywood Hypocrites: Gun Violence and Newtown PSA Mashup

I found a good video that puts Hollywood's "outrage" over gun violence and massacres like the one in Newton Connecticut into perspective. It's a mashup of different Hollywood stars calling for an end to gun violence along with scene from movies where said stars have made millions depicting gun violence.

The video could have been a bit better done, but kudos to the producer all the same.



Enhanced by Zemanta

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Breaking News: Lone Gun Walks into a Bar, Kills Fifty


Breaking News: Lone Gun Walks into a Bar, Kills Fifty

A lone gun, depressed about the prospects of new gun control, has walked into a suburban bar, killing 50 and wounding 127 more. Police have refused to release a statement, pending the notification of the families of the victims. 

“It was horrific,” recounted one woman. “One moment, the gun was just sitting there on the table. The next, it was wildly flying around in the air, shooting everyone and everything that moved. I even saw it jump up, fly around the room in a private helicopter, and shoot people from the sky. I was completely terrified. 

John Crackernuts, spokesperson for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun violence, observed, “This is yet another instance of guns acting out violently. When is America going to wake up and realize that these guns need to be controlled so that the killing will stop? After all, it is the gun’s fault in situations like this one. The gun acted on its own, as is always the case – autonomously. It just flew through the air killing people, just like what has happened in every shooting before and will happen again unless we start executing people who want to buy guns.”

The official spokesperson of the NRA, the ghost of Charlton Heston, had this to say about the shooting, “The problem is not that we need fewer guns on the street but more guns, more and more guns. We need guns in the schools, guns in the bars, guns on the sidewalks, even guns in the nursery. Hell, if I go to a school and don’t see a bazooka in the hands of every toddler, I get a little worried. What if one some rogue bazooka decides to shoot up the school? Who will protect our little ones if not other bazookas at the school? If you want to take the bazooka from my toddler, you will have to take it out of his cold dead hands! Oh … I mean mine … or something.” 

When President Obama was asked about the incident, he remarked, “Well, uh, I uh, feel that, uh, we should, uh, evaluate, uh, the options, uh, that we, uh, have available, uh, in this, uh, situation, uh, and, uh, act, uh, accordingly. I mean, uh, on the one hand, uh, there, uh, is a, uh, need to, uh, have greater, uh, gun control, uh, but, uh, at, uh, the same time, uh, we, uh, should, uh, respect, uh, the rights, uh, of citizens, uh, uh, uh, uh, …” At this point, the president seemed to have a meltdown and was sent back to the factory for further repairs. 

Unfortunately, Mitt Romney has gained the trait of “drooling moron” and thus could not be reached for comment. 

Also present in the bar was a young white male intent on doing people in the bar bodily harm. When questioned, police blamed his murderous aspirations on the media, the Batman movies, video games, his psychiatrist, Marilyn Manson, his parents, the NRA, the liberals, the conservatives, face paint, medical school, and global warming.
Enhanced by Zemanta

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails
comments powered by Disqus