TrollFromDownBelow wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:02 pm
I'm a very non-violent kinda guy. But I tell you this; I have budgeted, and planned for my wife and I each to get a CCW, buy said weapons, and make the effort to ensure we stay up to date, and to practice. What seemed so 1 in a million a decade ago seems like more 1 in 100 now...
FWIW, do not look forward to this...this is time out of my life I will have to train and learn...not out curiosity, or interest, but at this point, feel it is out of necessity. If I am going to carry a weapon that can take a life in a split second, then I need to be very, very confident, through practice and training that it will be second nature to me when the time presents itself. I would rather spend my time learning how to rebuild a type IV engine, or creating a hardtail chopper, or growing good tasting tomatoes. Instead, I have to revert backwards to a more basic instinct of preserving self and family.
I understand the sentiment; the desire to protect your family is as old as the human species. But despite the emotion we feel from news coverage of the violence out there, violent crime and gun deaths have been actually been declining steadily. More importantly, the statistics are very clear; the odds of a gun in the home causing death from accident, domestic crime of passion, or suicide are much greater than the odds it will ever be used for protection from an attack. Not to mention the chance it will be stolen in a burglary and used for criminal purposes. With my wife's temper, it's a no-brainer.
We had the local conservative talk radio station on the other day, and I must say I was quite annoyed by all the callers trotting out the same old clichés. "Guns don't kill people, people do--if you take away guns, you have to take away automobiles". "Guns are perfectly safe, you just have to keep them away from the wrong people". "I use my AR-15 responsibly, for target shooting and hunting coyotes. It's kept in a safe, totally isolated from the ammunition, so there is no way you can claim there is anything wrong with me having it".
It's ridiculous. Nobody needs an assault rifle. They are made for military firefights, not hunting or self-protection. You don't need a 30 round magazine to kill a deer or an intruder. If you don't get it done in the first couple of shots, you failed.
The U.S. Constitution is brilliant, one of the most important documents in history. But like the Bible and the Koran, it must be viewed in the spirit of the time in which it was written, and not be taken literally in today's context. The Founding Fathers wanted everyone to have their hunting musket, and be able to form up into a militia when needed. A key there was one man with a musket was useless unless he teamed up with his neighbors. The ability of one deranged person to kill dozens of innocent people changes things, and the Constitution was never intended to protect such a thing.
Coincidentally, I attended a Watershed Conservation conference in a rural part of the state, and the U.S. Representative for the district showed up for a little glad-handing. He really didn’t address the topic of the meeting, but kind of gave a rambling talk about several topics, including the Florida shooting and gun control. He didn’t say anything too specific, but it was clear he didn’t think things should change. I sidled up to him in the lunch line, and told him he was brave to bring up gun control. He thought he had kindred spirit, and said, “yeah, you have to, it can’t be avoided”. To which I launched into my little speech: “I’m a long-time Republican, and you should understand that a lot of us are changing our position, or forming one where we didn’t really care before. Nobody needs an AR-15...” He interrupted and said “Do you know what an AR is?” I didn’t say “Of course, you arrogant twat”, but he could tell that’s what I thought when I told him I knew very well, and having killed a deer, knew that a .30-06 was a much better hunting weapon. And if you don’t kill the deer or the intruder with the first couple of shots, you have failed, and quick-change high capacity magazines are only good for military firefights and mass murder. He actually gasped when I told him the Constitution should be interpreted in context of the time it was written, and not just read literally. “I swore an oath!” he said. When I compared it to reading the Koran literally instead of in its seventh century context, he turned away from me and found a new group to engage with.
The two parties seem to take turns being slaves to their extreme wings, and ignoring the middle. The Republicans would do well to distance themselves from the NRA.