Here’s the deal: If you like drinking coffee, and some special interest group suddenly begins howling that coffee is a national health hazard, and it could save taxpayers $100 Billion per year if coffee were outlawed, you sort of have a decision to make:
“Is my passion for coffee worth fighting for? Or do I go with the flow.”
The fact of the matter is that guns are controversial… And if you’ve carried concealed for any amount of time, you already know that it really becomes a defining part of your lifestyle.
That's a nice analogy, in fact I think it accidentally touches on something I often say. Gun owners usually place themselves under the protection of the Constitution or the Bible or the inarguable rationale that they must protect their families from ever-present danger. All those things may be true in the mind of gun owners, debatable as they are, but the real reason is simply because they like guns.
I have yet to hear one pro-gun argument start and finish at the point that they just like guns, they like the lifestyle, the image, the feeling of power, the feeling of safety. Using the example above, if you like something like coffee, you naturally don't want someone telling you you can't have it. From there you might argue about Constitutional rights and other reasons why you want access to the thing desired. But you start and finish with the simple idea that you like it.
It seems to me that mention of this in the article was accidental. Surely the Ammoland people and the USCCA make all the standard arguments for gun rights.
Another interesting thing I noticed in this quote is that the gun control movement is compared to "some special interest group." To me that sounds like a bit of a spin. The gun control movement and the anti gun violence groups are a bit more than that, don't you think?
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
I like guns. Always have. Probably since I was 6 years old and fired my first gun with my father. I never carried one though until I had a family to protect. Now I carry when I travel too like today.
ReplyDeleteThe world is far more dangerous than when we were younger. Don't let the statistic lawyers on either side of the argument tell you otherwise. Crime is definitely on the rise.
Just tonight, I was thinking about how much I hate the whole "a gun is a tool" mantra. A gun is not a tool, a gun is a WEAPON.
ReplyDeleteThe sole purpose of a gun is to kill things, whether it be another human being or a clay or paper target.
Guns are not tools anymore than hand grenades, the electric chair, balistic missiles or the nuclear bomb are tools.
A gun will never help you unscrew a tight lid on a jar or put in a new toilet or trim trees.
A gun has no other use except to kill or wound things. A gun is a WEAPON, not a TOOL!!!
We need to keep repeating this.
Dear Anonymous, I promise to do my part and since it was your idea, I think you should come around regularly and support me.
ReplyDeleteA gun is not just a tool, it's a weapon.
This mantra of theirs is part of a bigger trick. It's the one in which they demean and mock the gun control folks for being silly creatures afraid of inanimate objects, people who base everything on "feelings" instead of facts.
FWM, Thanks for saying "Crime is definitely on the rise." But doesn't that contradict what a lot of the pro-gun guys say? They say guns are on the rise and crime is falling nonetheless.
ReplyDelete"The world is far more dangerous than when we were younger."
ReplyDeleteNo, the WORLD is not far more dangerous- America is. America is where the murders and shootings occur, not 'the world.'
Coincidentally, America is where gun laws are the least strict.
Any connection, Fat?
"Coincidentally, America is where gun laws are the least strict."
ReplyDeleteEver hear of Isreal or Switzerland?
"We need to keep repeating this."
ReplyDeleteSheer repetition of any meme without looking at the facts will get you nowhere.
Sure, you can convince silly creatures, but not the educated.
MikeB - Repeating the same tired lies over and over again won't make them magically come true.
ReplyDeleteMIkeB302000,
ReplyDeleteI reject your analogy.
You can't compare firearms to coffee. Firearms are like nothing else, remember? It is what you claim when WE try to make an analogy.
Once again your double standards and blatant hypocrisy are shown.
You don't accept any analogy except the ones that further your goals.
Sorry, but I have to disagree with the original quote: "And if you’ve carried concealed for any amount of time, you already know that it really becomes a defining part of your lifestyle."
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that a law abiding person who carries concealed should experience no change in their lifestyle whatsoever.
If you wouldn't stop at a lonely ATM at night before you had a gun, you still shouldn't if you do.
If you wouldn't have gone down a dark alley before, you shouldn't just because you have a GUN.
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By the way, not to be semantic about it, but by the definition of 'tool', all weapons are tools. And yes, I have seen them used in many other ways than to kill things.
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But you're falling into the elitist politician-like trap of whether you like guns for yourself or not, and projecting that onto other owners. If gun owners simply liked guns without any principles underneath, they'd take the politician approach of banning guns for the majority, while ensuring that they themselves still enjoy the protections they offer, either via personal guards, or quite often, owning them themselves. Look at how many famous anti-gun politicians happen to have concealed weapons permits of their own. Gun owners aren't fighting for their own right to keep guns, they're fighting for EVERYONE'S rights.
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Regarding crime being on the rise, the numbers don't seem to bear it out. The perception may be that this is the case, but data currently seems to say otherwise.
Anon, you can claim that all you want to but the truth is, "killing things" with guns is actually only 3 thousandths of one percent of all ammunition used each year in the United States alone. That tells me that sport shooting, competition and practice far exceeding the killing use pretty much makes guns a tool rather than a "weapon".
ReplyDeleteMuddie, glad there are no mass shootings in Europe or India where there is a gun-free utopia. Oh, wait. WRONG!
CJ said:
"Sorry, but I have to disagree with the original quote: 'And if you’ve carried concealed for any amount of time, you already know that it really becomes a defining part of your lifestyle.'"
I dunno, I carried my wallet in my right hip pocket for years. When I began carrying a firearm, I had to learn to switch my wallet to my left side. That was a pretty significant lifestyle change.
"A gun is not just a tool, it's a weapon."
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why I carry a gun for protection and not a socket wrench. I don't think anyone has ever argued that guns weren't weapons.
Also as I always point out, what's wrong with killing things?
ReplyDeleteHunting is perfectly legal, and there are justifiable homicide laws on every book of every developed country.
Just like I don't try to hammer a nail into a board with my 1911, I don't carry a framing hammer to protect my life (tho both COULD accomplish either job. One is a better tool for the job)
All those things may be true in the mind of gun owners, debatable as they are, but the real reason is simply because they like guns.
ReplyDeleteThink what you want about what "the real reason is," but this tells the real story.
I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I only love that which they defend.
J.R.R. Tolkein
Thanks, Zorro for that great Tolkein quote.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, America is where gun laws are the least strict.
ReplyDeleteYet in Britain, which has strict gun laws, armed officers are now on patrol to "tackle pockets of rising gun crime."
Why would there be gun crime if there are strict gun laws? Wouldn't the strict gun laws prevent such things?
Ace asked, "Why would there be gun crime if there are strict gun laws? Wouldn't the strict gun laws prevent such things?"
ReplyDeleteDid anyone ever say strict gun laws would eliminate ALL gun crime? No, of course not. That common suggestion is the pro-gun exaggeration of what gun control people say.
Why do you guys have to exaggerate if you have such a good argument?