Ben Stein on guns

[Titan6]

This morning on CBS's Sunday Morning there was Nixon's old speech writer. He prefaced with a long rambling tale about a friend who had lost a friend and waded in on VT and he summed it up with:

'So long as mad men have access to guns we will have tragedy in this country. While I totally understand our love for guns maybe it is time we relooked the gun culture in this country.'

Is this new? Stein has always seemed pretty right/center to me.

 

[Ohioan]

People tend to blame the wrong thing when something like this happens...
It's easier to blame that inanimate object than the real problem. Society..

 

[wally]

Maybe its time we relooked the disarmament culture and the idea that big-brother can protect you.

--wally.

 

[shaggycat]

I read the first sentence and thought he was going to say something along the lines of "Too bad that access cannot be prevented" or the like and how gun control only takes guns from the good guys.

Too bad he didn't.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I would rephrase it. "So long as we have mad men in this country, we need to realize the need to defend ourselves until the police can get there."

Even if some draconian laws came out banning all firearms, you CANNOT get rid of all firearms. Period. End of story. People who don't respect the laws (criminals) will always find a way to buy/steal/make guns and ammo.

So what's plan B? I see two options: Make the last free country a locked-down police state and burn the constitution, or, let people take responsibility for their own safety until the police can get there and contain the situation.

Seems to me it would even make the load on police easier having several armed citizens on their side/already on scene instead of having a group of victims cowering in fear.

 

[Fburgtx]

Society is the problem. More and more people in our society refuse to truly "grow up". Their mommy and daddy take care of them until they're 18(or 25 or 26). Then they move out and expect their employer to take care of them financially (Give me health benefits! Give me retirement!! Etc!!) and the police to provide for their personal safety. Meanwhile they squander their "allowance" on "toys" like a new $30k car every 3 years. Then, they eventually retire and expect the govt to start giving them money and provide for their health care.

No one truly "grows up". They just find a new "mommy and daddy". First, it's their real ones, then the government. The same attitude that makes people show no responsibility for paying for their own retirement, healthcare, etc., is the same one that makes them blame guns for their problems, rather than themselves for not providing for their own personal safety.

 

[Glockman17366]

Ben Stein does eye wash commercials...who cares what he says?

 

[markk]

maybe it is time we relooked the gun culture

I really doubt that Ben Stein said these words.

 

[Limeyfellow]

The Nixon administration, especially the president was well known for its antigun views. I think Nixon himself said it best with "Guns are an abomination" and how we had to be "Free from the fear of gunowners". Stein simply followed the views of the government throughout his career. Of course I wouldn't say it was as bad as during the Ford and Reagon administrations but just because you are rightwing or a republican doesn't mean you are pro gun anymore than being leftwing or a Democrat means you are anti gun.

 

[beaucoup ammo]

When Elvis visited the Nixon White House in 1970, offering to help in the war on drugs and bring different factions together (hippies, black panthers, etc.). Nixon gave The King a badge. In return, Presley gave Nixon a WW II commemorative Colt .45. Wonder what Nixon did with that and also wonder how Elvis walked in packin' that beauty?! Different time for sure.

 

[TonyB]

The last thing Ben Stein said of any importance was this:
"Bueller.....Bueller.....anyone.......Bueller......" OK I'm having a high school flashback

 

[Soybomb]

Ben Stein does eye wash commercials...who cares what he says?

While I largely agree with the sentiment behind your statement you're either unaware of or ignoring his fairly accomplished life. While I don't believe any of his qualifications really are relevant to gun control, some people listen to him just as some people listen to Rosie Odonnel. While he typically has traditional right wing stances he does veer off now and then.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

Ben's biography.

http://www.benstein.com/bio.html

 

[Titan6]

MarkK- Sorry, but that is exactly what he said. I posted about two minutes after he said it this morning. He was not kidding either.

I was really surprised. Stein has always struck me as a reasoned logical kind of guy that thinks before he talks. Anyway it was on CBS Sunday Morning this morning and the concern here is that someone that is a fairly solid conservative like Stein would come out in this way shows surprising lack of understanding of civil rights. I am guessing he still weilds a fair amount of influence on the right and if he really feels this way it could be an issue.

 

[Max Beep]

I like Ben Stein. Evidently, now I disagree with him. That won't stop me from liking him.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Sorry, but that is exactly what he said.

Eh, not quite.

Video of the segment:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2715023n

(There is an ad that plays before it.)

 

[ArmsAkimber]

What a shame. Up until now, I haven't been able to take issue with anything Ben Stein has said, exclusive of this acting roles. Stein is a Jew (as am I, and the following is not based in anti-Semitism of any kind.) American Jews all too frequently cop an anti attitude, even when otherwise of a conservative bent. I can't begin to explain why. I don't understand it.

Now that Baby Eagles are now available in 45acp, I'll have to pick one up. If you've got money to burn, please consider sending some gun dollars Israel's way, and pick up an Israeli gun: Desert Eagle, Baby Eagle, Bul M5, etc... You get a well-made gun out of the deal, and help a nation worthy of the boost.

 

[Outlaws]

I think Nixon himself said it best with "Guns are an abomination" and how we had to be "Free from the fear of gunowners"

Ya, well, corrupt politicians should be scared of gun owners.

Quote:
Ben Stein does eye wash commercials...who cares what he says?

While I largely agree with the sentiment behind your statement you're either unaware of or ignoring his fairly accomplished life.

Those commercials are directed at pot heads. They didn't typecast Ben Stein because he gets the point across.

 

[Titan6]

Okay, not exact but close enough...

 

[Arcticfox]

It's easier to blame that inanimate object than the real problem. Society

So, what do we do until we get a handle on society?

Q: if all handguns were banned tomorrow, and owners turned them in to be melted down, would handguns become less accessible to crazy (or angry) people? Would we be saving even a few lives?


Q: How many shooting massacres were comitted with long guns, instead of handguns?

 

[swingset]

This, folks, is why even conservatives with a good brain shouldn't spend time in California for too long. It's like being in space with no helmet on.

 

[Autolycus]

Well that is his opinion. Nonetheless it is not good to hear one of the brighter minds in the country on the antigun side.

 

[Deanimator]

I like Ben Stein. Evidently, now I disagree with him. That won't stop me from liking him.

He used to write [quite well, actually] for The American Spectator.

If I'm not mistaken, he's a New Yorker. In New York apparently, even rightwingers have the fantasy that the police have a legal obligation to protect individuals from violence.

 

[GEM]

People make decisions based on two systems:

1. A fast reaction and emotional analysis
2. A longer term more cognitive reaction

We see both in this situation. It takes an intelligent person to start to use his or her cognitive system to override a strongly locked in emotional based system.

Look at the folks who after 9/11 were willing to throw away basic Consititutional protections to get at terrorists.

People seek a feel good situation that removes the threat. Removing guns or removing Constitutional rights quickly would relieve that sense of anger and helplessness after each incident.

 

[Zundfolge]

'So long as mad men have access to guns we will have tragedy in this country. While I totally understand our love for guns maybe it is time we relooked the gun culture in this country.'

Tamara's blog covers this stupid notion real well today.

With the one-note chorus in full song, we are again treated to the phrase "the easy availability of guns", with the subtext being that if guns were somehow less easily available, Things Like This wouldn't happen.

I've said it before and I'm going to say it again: Never in the history of our republic have guns been more difficult to purchase. Prior to 1968 they could be purchased through the mail. Between 1968 and 1993, all you needed to do was sign a form, in pink crayon if you felt like it, saying you weren't a junkie, commie spy, or crazy, and you took your gun home with no questions asked. The background check didn't appear until the passage of the Brady Law in 1993.

Name a mass shooting that occurred before 1968. How many between 1969 and 1993? How about 1994 and beyond? Folks, whatever the causative variable is here, it is not the ease of purchasing a firearm. If you want to play the statistics game, mass shootings in this country have trended upwards in lockstep with the difficulty of purchasing firearms. Am I suggesting that is the cause? No, but it makes every bit as much sense (or not) as the old "easy availability of guns" saw. Go find another bus to ride, because this one isn't going to your stop.