Friday, February 25, 2011

The Arizona State Gun

The Phoenix Net Times reports.


Like many actions taken by the Legislators this legislative session, the move seems to defy all logic.

In case you forgot, there was a (ahem) little shooting incident that happened in Tucson last month that left six people dead and several others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wounded. The incident sparked cries from the sane that perhaps Arizona's gun laws are a bit too lax, and the state's gun culture should be abandoned.

We poked around a bit, and learned that no other state in the country has an official state gun. In fact, Utah is the only other state to consider such a useless piece of legislation, and recently proposed a similar bill that is currently working its way through its Legislature.

So, with no other state in the country having an official state gun, and Arizona recently suffering through one of the most tragic mass shootings in American history, perhaps -- for image sake -- the gun nuts in the Arizona state Legislature could have held off on proposing such a thoughtless piece of legislation that serves literally no purpose.
What's your opinion? Are they some wacky gun nuts down there, or what?

Please leave a comment.

7 comments:

  1. So what's the problem? Is it your position that the Colt Single Action Army is not the gun that bests represents Arizona?

    Hell--it's a better choice than Glock, don't you think?

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  2. This is only a problem if you're biased against firearms.

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  3. "...Arizona recently suffering through one of the most tragic mass shootings in American history, perhaps -- for image sake -- the gun control nuts from New York could have held off on proposing such thoughtless pieces of legislation that serves literally no purpose."

    There, now it makes sense.

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  4. It's a pitiful bill. Making a state gun only glorifies our culture of gun violence and has very little to do with the conquering of Arizona or settling it. Most of that Wild West stuff is a myth. And even the sliver of justification used recently by Utah about honoring a "native son" doesn't even apply here.

    It's not a bias against guns in general to admit that a gun of any sort is not a symbol for the people of any state. Yes, that gun, and guns in general, have been a necessary component in wartime, including back during the founding of Arizona, but they are a tool for bloodshed in the modern era which cannot be glorified in this way.

    My blog post on this topic:
    http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2011/02/now-arizona-wants-state-gun.html

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  5. It will come as no surprise that I agree with Baldr.

    You guys who think guns are cool and gun culture is a positive thing, may have a different view of this. That's fair enough.

    But, Orygunner, you've made it too simple. I'm not biased against firearms. Don't you realize they're inanimate objects?

    What' I'm against is glorifying a culture that is inseperable from the worst face of gun violence. The part of gun violence that you guys keep trying to differentiate yourselves from is part of the whole. The common denominator among hunters, gun-rights folks and gun-toting criminals is the gun.

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  6. @Mikeb, OK, so you're not against the gun itself, but the gun CULTURE itself?

    If you want to see what the "proper" gun culture looks like, have you read "Unintended Consequences" yet?

    I agree with one of your statements, that the gun culture is inseparable from "gun violence."

    Part of this is because the tool used by both the "gun culture" and the "thug culture" is guns.

    Another part of the blame I lay on you and other gun control advocates who continually try and claim that us in the gun culture are responsible for the guns used in violent crime. When in fact the great disconnect between the two in the majority of the time is the point where the gun moves from the law-abiding citizen's hand into the hands of someone that decides to use it for violent crime.

    Which would logically back the idea for stuff like mandatory background checks for all private purchases, registration, and other forms of gun control, except for one major flaw: It's NEVER worked to keep violent criminals from getting guns, because they will ALWAYS circumvent whatever blocks you put in place.

    ...Orygunner...

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  7. Orygunner, You had me going there for a while. You're the only one who admits as much as you do. I respect you for that. About it never having worked, I think that's because it's never beed done, or never been done right.

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