MrPeter
Member
Recently I was asked an interesting short question to which I had to formulate a very long answer to. I thought I had come up with a fairly good answer and thought I would share it with you folks here on THR. Feel free to post your thoughts.
“Do you think that guns will be outlawed soon?”
I have to qualify the question in order to answer:
What are “guns”? Are guns ALL guns? Are guns only the misguidedly labeled "assault" guns, or any semi-auto guns, or all guns including hunting or 'sporting' guns?
What does “outlawed” mean? Does outlawed mean "reasonably regulated" to make it safe for the children, and so that “bad guys” can't have or make them? Or does it mean that although it is possible to get one, you would have to jump through more hoops than you do to buy a house, or does it mean outright illegal?
What does soon mean? In two weeks, in a year, in a decade?
That said, here are my answers:
Q: Do you think that all guns will be entirely illegal to own in America during your lifetime?
A: No. There will probably always be some way to own SOME TYPE of gun, although eventually it may become ridiculous to try to legally get one because of all of the obstacles and qualifications in the way of ownership, or the only guns left that are legal to own may be so antiquated or ineffective (think black powder or single-shot) that it would negate the advantage of having a firearm for personal defense to begin with. This is especially true when you consider the fact that the people you may need defend yourself against have no regard for the law (if they did then you wouldn’t need to defend yourself from them) and thus would have no problem illegally obtaining a firearm far more effective than the one you are legally allowed to possess.
Q: Do you think that most effective, modern firearms (semi-automatic firearms of modern manufacture) will be severely regulated or made entirely illegal to own under the pretense that they have no “lawful purpose” for existence and should not be owned by anyone during the Obama's time in office?
A: It is fact that this is a goal of Obama's administration. Obama has voted for banning ALL Semi-automatic firearms of any year of manufacture or type (pistol or rifle) in the past (www.ontheissues.org). Such a ban has already been written into a bill and has not progressed significantly enough to really pose a threat, but I do believe that if Obama had it in front of him, he would sign it. I do not think that there is any risk of it going that far until the end of Obama's final term in office. He knows he would lose the vote of too many people if he signed a bill like that, and he would never get a second term.
Q: Do you think that any guns (including manually operated ones, like pump-action shotguns, or bolt-action rifles) will remain as readily available as they are today to law-abiding citizens for many more years?
A: The goal of politicians is to look as pro-good and anti-bad as possible. While I don't believe they actually are out there to “GIT OUR GUNS”, or honestly fear an armed revolt from the American people (2nd Amendment did have this in mind), I do believe that they play heavily to common perceptions. Most people who don't know any more about guns than they have learned from television would agree that guns are bad because they kill people. So as a result, to make people like them most politicians have by default a mildly anti-gun stance, even though they couldn't honestly care less about the issue. This leads them to pass minor anti-gun laws and regulations that make the general public feel 'safer', even though the opposite is true.
Eventually, the end result is more and more guns become illegal or so regulated that it is realistically impossible to own them (like fully-automatic guns are today, or imported semi-automatic rifles without at least 9 US-made parts in them). They will pick a small battle that they word in a way that is impossible to argue with if you don't know what you're talking about (like Clinton's ban on "assault weapons" which is a ridiculous label, but sold to the people because no one wants weapons that are for assaulting people to be legal) and make it illegal for the "greater good".
I do think that just like Clinton took any regular semi-auto rifle with certain cosmetic features and labeled it an ASSAULT WEAPON OF DEATH and banned it, that you can take hunting rifles, which by design are much higher-powered and far more accurate (read: deadly) than an AK-47 styled rifle, and call the “SNIPER RIFLES THAT CAN KILL A MAN AT 1 MILE AWAY!” Or label a shotgun like many people have for home defense or deer hunting and call it “A STREET SWEEPER OF DEATH THAT CAN KILL 9 CHILDREN WITH ONE SHOT”, thereby justifying its “regulation”.
Just recently there was a bill called HR1022 that wanted to reinstate the Clinton ban and reinforce it with a long list of things that would be illegal, and it had substantial congressional backing in both the house and the senate. One of the things that were to be made illegal was a barrel shroud (a cover with holes in it over the barrel of a gun meant to shield your hand from the hot barrel of the gun; literally a safety feature). One of the congressional backers of the law went on a talk show and was asked "What is a “barrel shroud?" She dodged the question, and when asked again, she said "I believe it is a shoulder thing that goes 'up'." She of course was wrong, but it showed that these politicians have no idea what they're backing. They're just doing it because they think it makes them look “pro-safety”. This was a highly publicized blooper that seriously contributed to the bill being shot down. You can Google "shoulder thing goes up" and find the video of it easily.
If this goes on long enough unchecked by groups like the NRA, then yes, I do believe pretty much everything will have an excuse to become illegal because of fabricated problems that are made hot-button issues for political reasons.
The sensationalism isn’t only on the side of the left however. The right is guilty of it as well. The right-wing politicians will say things like, “Obama will take all of our guns!” This opinion, although generally wrong, is not evil or even really misguided. It is an over-simplification of the legal and political issues surrounding gun ownership in America. It's a repetition of the slogan formed from the dumbed-down explanation of what is happening. Another way to phrase it would be that it is the sale of right-wing fear to the people to gain support, just like the left-wing sells fear to the people saying that the streets will run red with blood if guns are allowed to exist. The left doesn't usually actively want to rid America of their guns (except for Hillary, but that’s another story; she’s insane), they just want to look good and play the pro-safety card. Right wingers (and libertarians btw) either see this trend, understand what it means in the long term, and exaggerate and simplify it by screaming ALL GUNS WILL BE ILLEGAL UNDER OBAMA!, or they hear what other republicans scream and just repeat it.
As you can see this is kind of a complicated issue, but once you get a little educated on how and why it works the way it does and filter out the sensationalism, why people do what they do actually kind of makes sense, even if it isn't right. So next time you see some anti-gun regulation or (safety measure), even if it seems entirely reasonable at first glance, do your research and really find out what the implications of the bill are, and think before you vote. If you don’t already, you might want to take up an arm one day for one reason or another and find yourself unable to do so, even in America.
“Do you think that guns will be outlawed soon?”
I have to qualify the question in order to answer:
What are “guns”? Are guns ALL guns? Are guns only the misguidedly labeled "assault" guns, or any semi-auto guns, or all guns including hunting or 'sporting' guns?
What does “outlawed” mean? Does outlawed mean "reasonably regulated" to make it safe for the children, and so that “bad guys” can't have or make them? Or does it mean that although it is possible to get one, you would have to jump through more hoops than you do to buy a house, or does it mean outright illegal?
What does soon mean? In two weeks, in a year, in a decade?
That said, here are my answers:
Q: Do you think that all guns will be entirely illegal to own in America during your lifetime?
A: No. There will probably always be some way to own SOME TYPE of gun, although eventually it may become ridiculous to try to legally get one because of all of the obstacles and qualifications in the way of ownership, or the only guns left that are legal to own may be so antiquated or ineffective (think black powder or single-shot) that it would negate the advantage of having a firearm for personal defense to begin with. This is especially true when you consider the fact that the people you may need defend yourself against have no regard for the law (if they did then you wouldn’t need to defend yourself from them) and thus would have no problem illegally obtaining a firearm far more effective than the one you are legally allowed to possess.
Q: Do you think that most effective, modern firearms (semi-automatic firearms of modern manufacture) will be severely regulated or made entirely illegal to own under the pretense that they have no “lawful purpose” for existence and should not be owned by anyone during the Obama's time in office?
A: It is fact that this is a goal of Obama's administration. Obama has voted for banning ALL Semi-automatic firearms of any year of manufacture or type (pistol or rifle) in the past (www.ontheissues.org). Such a ban has already been written into a bill and has not progressed significantly enough to really pose a threat, but I do believe that if Obama had it in front of him, he would sign it. I do not think that there is any risk of it going that far until the end of Obama's final term in office. He knows he would lose the vote of too many people if he signed a bill like that, and he would never get a second term.
Q: Do you think that any guns (including manually operated ones, like pump-action shotguns, or bolt-action rifles) will remain as readily available as they are today to law-abiding citizens for many more years?
A: The goal of politicians is to look as pro-good and anti-bad as possible. While I don't believe they actually are out there to “GIT OUR GUNS”, or honestly fear an armed revolt from the American people (2nd Amendment did have this in mind), I do believe that they play heavily to common perceptions. Most people who don't know any more about guns than they have learned from television would agree that guns are bad because they kill people. So as a result, to make people like them most politicians have by default a mildly anti-gun stance, even though they couldn't honestly care less about the issue. This leads them to pass minor anti-gun laws and regulations that make the general public feel 'safer', even though the opposite is true.
Eventually, the end result is more and more guns become illegal or so regulated that it is realistically impossible to own them (like fully-automatic guns are today, or imported semi-automatic rifles without at least 9 US-made parts in them). They will pick a small battle that they word in a way that is impossible to argue with if you don't know what you're talking about (like Clinton's ban on "assault weapons" which is a ridiculous label, but sold to the people because no one wants weapons that are for assaulting people to be legal) and make it illegal for the "greater good".
I do think that just like Clinton took any regular semi-auto rifle with certain cosmetic features and labeled it an ASSAULT WEAPON OF DEATH and banned it, that you can take hunting rifles, which by design are much higher-powered and far more accurate (read: deadly) than an AK-47 styled rifle, and call the “SNIPER RIFLES THAT CAN KILL A MAN AT 1 MILE AWAY!” Or label a shotgun like many people have for home defense or deer hunting and call it “A STREET SWEEPER OF DEATH THAT CAN KILL 9 CHILDREN WITH ONE SHOT”, thereby justifying its “regulation”.
Just recently there was a bill called HR1022 that wanted to reinstate the Clinton ban and reinforce it with a long list of things that would be illegal, and it had substantial congressional backing in both the house and the senate. One of the things that were to be made illegal was a barrel shroud (a cover with holes in it over the barrel of a gun meant to shield your hand from the hot barrel of the gun; literally a safety feature). One of the congressional backers of the law went on a talk show and was asked "What is a “barrel shroud?" She dodged the question, and when asked again, she said "I believe it is a shoulder thing that goes 'up'." She of course was wrong, but it showed that these politicians have no idea what they're backing. They're just doing it because they think it makes them look “pro-safety”. This was a highly publicized blooper that seriously contributed to the bill being shot down. You can Google "shoulder thing goes up" and find the video of it easily.
If this goes on long enough unchecked by groups like the NRA, then yes, I do believe pretty much everything will have an excuse to become illegal because of fabricated problems that are made hot-button issues for political reasons.
The sensationalism isn’t only on the side of the left however. The right is guilty of it as well. The right-wing politicians will say things like, “Obama will take all of our guns!” This opinion, although generally wrong, is not evil or even really misguided. It is an over-simplification of the legal and political issues surrounding gun ownership in America. It's a repetition of the slogan formed from the dumbed-down explanation of what is happening. Another way to phrase it would be that it is the sale of right-wing fear to the people to gain support, just like the left-wing sells fear to the people saying that the streets will run red with blood if guns are allowed to exist. The left doesn't usually actively want to rid America of their guns (except for Hillary, but that’s another story; she’s insane), they just want to look good and play the pro-safety card. Right wingers (and libertarians btw) either see this trend, understand what it means in the long term, and exaggerate and simplify it by screaming ALL GUNS WILL BE ILLEGAL UNDER OBAMA!, or they hear what other republicans scream and just repeat it.
As you can see this is kind of a complicated issue, but once you get a little educated on how and why it works the way it does and filter out the sensationalism, why people do what they do actually kind of makes sense, even if it isn't right. So next time you see some anti-gun regulation or (safety measure), even if it seems entirely reasonable at first glance, do your research and really find out what the implications of the bill are, and think before you vote. If you don’t already, you might want to take up an arm one day for one reason or another and find yourself unable to do so, even in America.
