OR: A Simple Attempt To Get You to Read About Why Gun Control Is BAD for the US, BAD for Democrats, and BAD for YOU.
Please read it anyway, it'll be worth your time. And please reccomend if you agree it was worth it. In return, if I do win the lottery, you will be rewarded with $10 each, in exchange for considering opening your mind to a subject you most likely find distasteful.
In honor of the impending 4th o' July, I have decided to shed a bit of light on a topic that many here find loathesome: Fire arms and our right of the people to bear them as promised in the US constitution. The Dems love to regulate guns, and it has been used against them especially effectively in the last 2 "elections" and will continue to be a wedge of exceptional power unless we as Americans, and Democrats (and the people who will vote Democrat b/c of no other real choice, like myself.)
More under there---> Simply Flip it.
People love their guns, and they see extensive regulation and criminalizing the choice of gun ownership as a vicious assault against their freedom. I love my guns, and know that regulation IS an assault on my freedom, by a government that is 100% untrustworthy.
Gun Control Myth 1: Limiting access guns will result in decreased gun related crimes
This is inherently
false, as there are 22,000 gun control laws on the books today, and not 1 of them have helped to deter any of the recent mass murders in our country's history. Columbine High mass murderers went about obtaining their guns by having qualified buyers make purchases for them as well as theft. Columbine was a legislated "Gun Free Zone," so was the US Post Office in my mom's town of
Ridgewood NJ. That didn't deter a postal worker from going on a rampage killing there. Basically, if someone is insane and wants to mow some people down, regulations won't prevent it from happening. If you break a person down and cause them to go off, gun regulations won't prevent them from freaking out when they go over the edge, if you create an environment where this is happening on a regular basis (read: the entire US), the band aid laws, regulations, and prohibitions will not prevent inevitable result. Of course Americans love meaningless rhetoric. If you call something a "War on
___," They'll believe something is being done to stop ____. As such, we have a zillion band aid laws and quick fixes ment as little more that appeasement to a restless public. Which is how we got gun control in the first place.
Criminals and crazies don't CARE about gun control laws. They don't usually buy their firearms legally. These laws don't effect them. They effect those, like me, like others reading this right now, who embrace the rights gaurenteed to us by the US Constitution, and they effect us negatively.
Long Answer: We live in a country that is rabidly pursuing economic instability, has an ever growing poverty level population, and and a basically stagnant uber wealthy population. We have fewer and fewer manufacturing jobs and export less and less, while constantly outsourcing jobs. We have a federal government running rampant with efforts to
destroy public schools, while denying every child, regardless of race and class, the opportunity to achieve educational equality and equalized opportunity, more money funding prisions on state and federal levels, more money funding the building of new prisions, and more incareated people in the US prison system that
any other first world nation.
When the majority of people are living under unstable circumstances such as these, the statistical outcome is that of increased crime. People commit crimes for all sorts of reasons, but when you are stealing b/c you need to eat, are trying to improve your financial security, or b/c you are functionally illiterate as over 39 million American adults are (with our country ranked 59th in literacy in first world nations)or b/c your job was lost to outsourcing and your about to loose your house, or b/c SCOTUS has chosen to give your home away to the highest bidder, you are going to commit the crime, and it doesn't matter what gun control laws have to do with it.
Gun Control Myth 2:Restricting Access to Fire Arms Will Prevent Accidental Deaths, Especially Among Children.
Yes, it's true. Children have died from accidental shootings. So have adults.
Here are the stats from 2000:
1,331 Accidential deaths of people between 0-60+ years of age over 1 year span
(Source: National Safety Council's 1998 Accident Facts)
Here are the stats of other accidental deaths, also from 2000
Pedestrian Accident:2,727
Car Occupant:16,337
Accidental drowning:3,447
Accidential exposure to noxious substances:17,550
I think you get my point. There is a lot more killing people than accidental firearm discharges.
And for those 1,331 accidental discharge deaths, I am pretty certain that 90% were avoidable. We live in a country where people are notoriously incapable of applying the concepts of accountability and responsibility to themselvs. We like to stick our kids in front of the telly and have them babysit themselves. We like to have our government legislate issues that are not of government concern, b/c we are incapable of being accountable to ourselves or responsible to our loved ones, so we want to make the larger social framework bear the burdens of our incapablities regarding the adept handling of our personal business. We are a nation of people who choose to sue over spilling hot coffee on themselves rather than use a fucking cup holder.
While it is certainly sad and tragic when people die in avoidable accidents, I find it MORE tragic that we have such a large amount of people (like the parents of the 190 kids who killed themselves using a parent's firearm in '02.) who choose to be irresponsible with their childrens' safety.
All the legislation in the world will not turn the irresponsible responsible, even if you chose to put a responsibility law on the books.
Gun Control Myth #3: People Packing Concealed Weapons will Lead to Mayhem in the Streets
Since the Bush Admin took charge, national crime stats keep on escalating. See #1 as to why. If we want to see lowered crime stats we need to improve our economy, start taxing realistically and remove the tax burden from the middle and working class, offer adequate healthcare to all, equal schooling to all, scale back FTA's, and start enforcing protections to consumers and the public instead of big business. Until that happens, expect loads of crime like we see today. Restricting gun ownership and access will not make a god damned dent in the situation.
In states with "Conceal and Carry" or "Right to Carry" laws, the national trend is bucked and we see lower violent crime rates, on average: 24% lower total violent crime, 22% lower murder, 37% lower robbery, and 20% lower aggravated assault. The five states with the lowest violent crime rates are RTC states. (Data: FBI)
So there goes that mayhem theory out the window.
When our founding fathers created the constitution, they were coming off of the tail end of over 2 years of constant war, against the army of King George. When the Second Ammendment in the lovely Bill of Rights promised us: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." It was talking about the need for our own militia, as well as the right of the people to keep and bear arms, especially if they needed it against the same state militia. Please recall, that they had seen what happens when the state becomes a totalitarian force. One of the first actions taken against American Revolution fighters by King George was disarmament of the conolialists. To imagine that these same US founders would then have wanted to put all power, and all fire power, into the hands of the newly formed US militias when they had struggled so hard against the tyranny of the British millitias is ridiculous. Additionally, advanced gun control laws were the prelude to totalitarian governments in the former USSR, Nazi Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and China. As the US steps deeper into fascism, and we are rapidly giving up more and more of our rights, allowing ourselves and our constitution (Patriot Act/Terri's Law(gag)/FCC Indecency Act/etc etc. Extensive BS Gun Control Laws) to be pillaged in the name of Big Business and Christofascism. We are being slowly set up for a very big fall, thanks to our GOP friends.
Gun Control Myth 4: Civilians Don't Need Guns, We Have the Police to Protect Us.
And who will protect us from the police? In a time when rapture rightists dictate policy, and dissent is quashed with increasingly violent fervor, whom should we expect will be laying down the law of the Bush Crime Family and the Dobson Gang in '08, when they decide NOT to vacate the throne? I mean White House. And Senate. and House. And when the people rise up against another stolen election, who will be the enforcers? The Second Ammendment is a warning to us, and was a precaution taken by the founders of our country, to
protect them in the event that their grand plan for a republic separate from the Monarchy failed. Their experiement lasted a good long time. Over 200 years later, it fell to shit. We may just end up
needing to excercise our 2nd ammendment rights in the near future. I for one, will be glad to be on a slightly more level playing field.
Democrats Have Embraced a Wedge that Will Not Yield
The only topic of merit that the DLC has addressed in recent years has been regarding the Democratic
stance on gun control and the fact that that continues to put Dems on the shit end of the past 2 elections. Rural and midwestern voters embrace their right to bear arms, and view Dems as the party who wants to relieve them of that right. Unfortunately, they are not wrong on that. Until Dems layoff the gun contol as a platform issue, they can expect to be unable to counter redstate voters beliefs that "Dems don't think like us" or "Don't understand us". Additionally, while Rove is the filthiest, snakiest, scum sucking piece of human excrement to ever slither through the WH Rose Garden, when he spews his "Democrats are soft on national security." party line red staters are willing to believe it b/c they feel that Dems are not supportive of, and are trying to revoke the Second Ammendment. As one of the "Gays" that was used and exploited by Rove in the last 2 elections, and as a gun owner, I believe that voters, who at one point really did not care about us queers, will be willing to give us up as an issue if they are continued the right to own firearms unmolested by the government's interference. As a gay from the aforementioned wedge issue, I would appreciate that enormously; and as gun owner, I would also appreciate it. I can say with confidence I speak for millions of gays and millions of gun owners when I say that.
The Second Ammendment exsists so that we can protect all of the other rights we are promised by our constitution. Our rights are erroding b/c we have allowed it. If we continue to support the ruination of our rights as citizens to bear arms then we are giving up the rest of our constitutional rights as well.
To back it up, we have the quotes of founding fathers:
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Proposed Virginia Constitution, June, 1776
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms. . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." -- Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book, 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764
"To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense, or by partial orders of towns, countries or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man; it is a dissolution of the government. The fundamental law of the militia is, that it be created, directed and commanded by the laws, and ever for the support of the laws." --John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of the United States 475 (1787-1788)
"The said Constitution [shall] be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." --Samuel Adams, Massachusetts' U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788
"[A] string of amendments were presented to the lower House; these altogether respected personal liberty." --William Grayson, Letter to Patrick Henry, June 12, 1789, referring to the introduction of what became the Bill of Rights
"A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves . . . and include all men capable of bearing arms. . . To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms... The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle." --Richard Henry Lee, Additional Letters From The Federal Farmer, 1788
"The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, will render many troops quite unnecessary. They will form a powerful check upon the regular troops, and will generally be sufficient to over-awe them." --Tench Coxe, Delegate to Continental Congress, Oct. 21, 1787
"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American . . . . The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." --Tench Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788
"As the military forces which must occasionally be raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article (of amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms." --Tench Coxe, Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789
"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power." --Noah Webster, An Examination of The Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787
"[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens." --Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, No. 29
"[A]rms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. . . Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them." --Thomas Paine, Thoughts On Defensive War, 1775
"The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people." --Fisher Ames, Letter to F.R. Minoe, June 12, 1789
"What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise a standing army upon its ruins." --Elbridge Gerry, Debate, U.S. House of Representatives, August 17, 1789 +
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel." --Patrick Henry, Virginia's U.S. Constitution ratification convention"
Merry 4th o' July Everybody!
Confidential to RabidNation: I got
it!