Why Am I Only Hearing Crickets?

Would this be considered a high capacity wood block?

I have said it before and I will say it again, it is time for some sensible weapons registration. MAC over at The Bang Switch and I agree on the fact that we must put companies and manufacturers on notice that we can no longer allow for the careless production, purchase, and use of such deadly instruments in homes across the country. These steel tools are easily within reach of children and the mentally unstable each and every day in this country and it can’t simply continue happening in such an unregulated and dangerous way.

I expect to see members of Congress and the Senate line up behind the President and support all legislative actions, and even executive orders if that is what it takes, so that we can become a safer nation. This should not be an issue of partisanship, this should be an issue that unites us all because, in the end, Washington knows best. This should happen any minute now while the emotions stemming from the attempted murder at a Western Pennsylvania High School are still raw and public support can be rallied behind the regulation of sharp cutting instruments.

Furthermore, we should invest in the development of smart knives so that only the owner, who has filled out all the proper paperwork and has registered their Cutco steak knife set is able to use it. Although, come to think of it, steak knives are rather compact. Maybe we should also enforce a STK (Short Tong Knives) policy and require a $200 tax stamp, 6+ month waiting period, and extensive background checks in order to purchase any knife under a certain length. This also applies to fully automatic knives also known as assault blenders and all ‘electric machine cutting knives’. Heck with maybe, that is definitely what we should do.

Of course, let us not forget the proliferation of ghost knives that have flooded the market. You know, the home made knives flowing from garages and basements across this country that are sold without any record and that go from state to state undetected. And, of course, they come with unlimited capacity blades that can be used over and over with little more than a sharpening stone or strap o leather.

People, yes you, cannot be trusted with such dangerous items without the proper training and only after a background check has been performed. After all, owning a knife is not a right and the Founding Fathers could not have anticipated the development of folding knives, electric knives, concealed carry knives, Leatherman tools, and other such developments. Everyone knows that the object makes the person unstable, it is the cause of these heinous acts, the person holding the weapon is just another victim. Mental health has nothing to do with what continue to happen so we need to ban anything and everything that can be used as a weapon.

How does that sound to you?

Thank You Huffington Post For Bastardizing The Word ‘Safety’

I came across an article today that really got me thinking about word selection. If you think about it, even the use of a term or sometimes a word in a title can frame the entire subject matter of the story. There are also the rare occurrences when the use of punctuation can achieve the same end but in this instance it is all about the words. Thanks to Matt over at The Bang Switch for bringing the following piece of fine media bias to my attention.

Usually when my eyes scan by an article from the Huffington Post, an Eloi favorite, I just keep moving and focus my attention on actual news. However, the title of this article happened to stop my glance. When I read “Man Accidentally Kills Self With Gun During Demonstration On Gun Safety” I was honestly a bit perplexed. If he was following the Four Rules of Gun Safety as created by Colonel Jeff Cooper this would be an impossibility. So, really, how could he possibly kill himself if he was honestly trying to demonstrate gun safety? The answer, you can’t kill yourself if you are following the simple rules outlined above.

So, what the heck is this ‘reporter’ talking about? Well, here is what the article said:

The 36-year-old, whose name has not been released, was showing his girlfriend how his three handguns are safe when they aren’t loaded, according to the Detroit Free Press. He was attempting to demonstrate the safety of the handguns by holding them to his head and pulling the trigger.

The third gun fired, and the man was struck in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  

Three children ages 7, 10, and 12 were in the home but did not witness the shooting, according to reports.  The man’s girlfriend told authorities he had been drinking most of the day before the incident took place. 

This isn’t the first time a gun safety demonstration has gone wrong. In January 2013, 18-year-old Florida resident Alexander Xavier Shaw died doing a similar demonstration. Richard M. McLean, a 22-year-old from Michigan, died in a similar fashion in June 2012. Missouri resident James Looney, 40, was also teaching his girlfriend about gun safety when he shot himself in the head in September 2009.

Notice something? That’s right, this really wasn’t a demonstration on gun safety. This was an act of stupidity by someone who was not following the rules that any responsible gun owner follows. We have rules for a reason. Unfortunately, as was unnecessarily cited, similar acts have taken place in the recent past. None of them were demonstrations of ‘gun safety’ as the article would like the reader to believe. Put it this way, this incident is on par with the movie The Deer Hunter when it comes to demonstrating gun safety.

The sad part, beyond the confines of the story itself, is that this article has a purpose unrelated to the acts described. This is a piece motivated by politics and the Eloi agenda. Thankfully he wasn’t doing a demonstration on wood shop safety or we would have to consider legislation to outlaw or, at the very least, heavily regulate the sale and use of power tools. Think about how ridiculous that headline would sound, “Man Accidentally Kills Self With Power Tool During Demonstration On Shop Safety”.

You know you will never read that headline even though I am certain that it has happened before because power tools don’t look scary (unless you paint them black and put on a collapsible stock). But here we are debating a Constitutionally protected right because people are scared by the way something looks, they don’t understand how it works, and they refuse to place the blame on people for their actions. Remember, the gun didn’t load itself, it didn’t jump on the table and point at the guy, and the gun didn’t pull the trigger. This was a tragedy caused by man NOT a collection of polymer and steel.