Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Suffering and Death

Laci posted an extremely funny Onion piece entitled "8-Year-Old Accidentally Exercises Second Amendment Rights."

Gun owners nationwide are applauding the patriotic, though accidental, exercise of Second Amendment rights by 8-year-old Timothy Cummings Tuesday.

"Timothy is a symbol of American heroism," said NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre from Cummings' bedside at Norfolk General Hospital, where the boy is in serious but stable condition from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. "While praying for his recovery, we should all thank God that his inalienable right to keep and bear arms has not been infringed."

It goes on like that, but the point is clear. How much more is it going to take for the pro-gun crowd to back up a step or two? I hate to say it, but I think a lot more.

The stubborn position of not wanting to be inconvenienced is causing suffering and death.

The nonsensical insistence that owning guns is necessary for self defense and is therefore bestowed by god is causing suffering and death.

The paranoid delusion that gun control activists really want to ban and confiscate all guns is causing suffering and death.

When will it end? What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

19 comments:

  1. A difference here is that most gunowners know that it's satire, whereas I suspect that gunowner opponents think that those really are NRA positions and that "handguns which are impervious to metal detectors" really exist (they don't).

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  2. Mikeb: "The paranoid delusion that gun control activists really want to ban and confiscate all guns is causing suffering and death."

    "When will it end?"

    I don't think that Mikeb meant to juxtapose those two sentences in the way I took it, but it nonetheless ra1ses an important question.

    Mikeb, if it is a "paranoid delusion that gun control activists really want to ban and confiscate all guns" just how far WILL they go? They want many laws INCLUDING bans of many types of guns. "When will it end?"

    I might willing to to accept the "inconvenience" of additional gun regulation if it appeared likely to help. But you need to give a credible answer to my question (which you worded so well) about restrictive gun laws and gun bans:

    "When will it end?"

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  3. "The paranoid delusion that gun control activists really want to ban and confiscate all guns is causing suffering and death."

    I don't think you can label this one a "paranoid delusion" when gun control groups have called time and again for bans.

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  4. "It goes on like that, but the point is clear. How much more is it going to take for the pro-gun crowd to back up a step or two? I hate to say it, but I think a lot more."

    How much more than what? The Onion story lampoons the idea that the right to keep and bear arms includes the kid shooting himself, and that by doing so, he exercised his right, but in an unfortunate way.

    But no one on the pro-gun side would argue that, and in fact the Onion recognizes that, and that is why it is meant to be funny. It is precisely because no one would say it, that it is meant to be humorous.

    So, how much more of what will it take before the pro-gun side takes a step back? How much more lampooning? How much more fake stories about kids shooting themselves? Please explain.

    "The paranoid delusion that gun control activists really want to ban and confiscate all guns is causing suffering and death."

    It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you...(that's humor, BTW)

    Are you saying that the Brady Bunch really doesn't want to ban all guns? Really?? And are you really standing by the position that anti-gunners wouldn't confiscate guns today, if they thought they could do it (and live)? Are you familiar with one Diane Feinstein and a rather infamous quote of hers?

    The only thing causing suffering and death is folks who like to cause suffering and death (also known as criminals) and those who are irresponsible (and do things like leave guns lying around where kids can get them).

    You do realize that the kid in the story was fictional, right? You're getting your knickers in a bunch over a kid that exists only in the fevered mind of a paid employee of an online funny-paper. The kid is a packet of photons coming from your computer screen. He's not real, Mikeb.

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  5. When will it end? Probably never. There will always be emotionally damaged and insecure people who need firearms to convince themselves they're normal. As long as there are racists, there'll be gunloons.

    Case in point--SayUncle. He and his commenters were busy defending Walt Baker of Nashville who was booted out of his job for comparing Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee. Not only did they defend Baker but several claimed Obama was the racist one.

    --JadeGold

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  6. I'm not the least bit surprised you and Laci would find somethng like that "funny."

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  7. Suffering and death have existed since the beginning of time and will exist until the end of time.

    Not a compelling argument.

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  8. How do you know someone *cough Jadgold* has no intellectual argument?

    When he has to resort to accusations of racism.

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  9. You know the gun prohibitionists are running out of ideas when they're reduced to recycling a 10-year-old satirical piece to try to make their "point."

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  10. JadeGold:

    How dare you, SayUncle is a spokesperson for the oppressed gunners of TN. He is particularly eloquent when he speaks on racial matters.

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  11. MikeB: “The paranoid delusion that gun control activists really want to ban and confiscate all guns is causing suffering and death.”

    Classic gun control slogan by using the word “all”. “Oh, we don’t want to ban ALL guns…” And they’re probably even being honest because they’re OK with rimfire bolt action rifles, but that is way beyond acceptable. We want no new gun bans, yet gun control groups always have some type of ban or backdoor ban on their agenda. Helmke keeps saying “we’re not a gun ban organization” (but only because the word “ban” is so unfavorable now). Yet they support Chicago, DC, and a new assault weapons ban, etc…

    -TS

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  12. TS, I believe it's the pro-gun folks who use the word "all." Naturally gun control people want to ban certain weapons, but that's not the same as the paranoid delusion that those bans will inevitably lead to total bans and confiscations.

    Shrimp, Actually I did realize the article was a spoof and whether it was based on a real kid or not was besides the point.

    Zorro, I've been meaning to ask about your new icon. Is that Che with a bullet in his forehead lying in a pool of blood? By the way I did a quick check on "lying" to make sure it was right. You've motivated me to new heights of perfection.

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  13. Zorro-"You know the gun prohibitionists are running out of ideas when they're reduced to recycling a 10-year-old satirical piece to try to make their 'point.'"

    They already ran out of dick jokes.

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  14. Mikeb says:

    Zorro, I've been meaning to ask about your new icon. Is that Che with a bullet in his forehead lying in a pool of blood?

    You got it--I think he looks good that way, don't you (that's not my artwork, by the way)? I don't like to let my avatars stick around long enough to go stale.

    By the way I did a quick check on "lying" to make sure it was right. You've motivated me to new heights of perfection.

    I think I've about run out of ways to tell you that my use of "[sic]" wasn't intended as some petty attack on your spelling, but I get the impression you're not convinced. Ah, well--I tried.

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  15. Case in point--SayUncle. He and his commenters were busy defending Walt Baker of Nashville who was booted out of his job for comparing Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee.

    JadeGold misrepresents the facts again. JadeGold, why isn't that you didn't provide a link to this, so that we could all determine for ourselves? SayUncle was not defending the action or even saying that it wasn't racist. What he did do was point out the hypocrisy of the left getting all offended by it, when just a few short years ago they were the ones pushing the Bush-Chimpanzee comparisons.

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  16. What he did do was point out the hypocrisy of the left getting all offended by it, when just a few short years ago they were the ones pushing the Bush-Chimpanzee comparisons.

    Yeah, but it's OK for the left. They only apply standards of decency to others, never themselves.

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  17. Mikeb: "Naturally gun control people want to ban certain weapons, but that's not the same as the paranoid delusion that those bans will inevitably lead to total bans and confiscations."

    I agree that it is a mistake for gunowner advocates to claim that there will be total bans and confiscations.

    Yet there is ample evidence that gun control advocates seek a gun banning version of Zeno's Paradox: a neverending series of partial gun bans and confiscations that never reaches a total gun ban.

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  18. MikeB,

    If you really like Zorro's avatar, that image is available on a T-Shirt. I'm thinking of ordering one myself.

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  19. MikeB: “I believe it's the pro-gun folks who use the word "all." Naturally gun control people want to ban certain weapons, but that's not the same as the paranoid delusion that those bans will inevitably lead to total bans and confiscations.”

    There is a simple way to get the NRA and other gun rights activists to stop this behavior; stop trying to ban any guns.

    -TS

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