Firearms Friday: Time To Ban Trucks!

During what should have been a joyous Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, the horrors of terrorism were front and center as 84 people were killed and dozens injuries when a truck plowed through the crowd of revelers. Now the second deadliest act of terrorism in the country’s history, this puts, front and center, the real issue that we have in the world and it has nothing to do with firearms. In fact, it was the police on hand that ended the rampage when the 31 year old Tunisian immigrant was shot and killed before he could continue blazing his deadly trail. Of course, that won’t stop some from making that nonexistent connection.

This is a tragedy and we should all mourn the loss of innocent lives but many should also consider this a wake up call as to the real dangers that lurk in this world. Terrorism as well as radicalized and mentally unstable individuals are the cause of these killings. They have nothing to do with the law abiding people in these countries. In saying this I refer to those of the Muslim faith who denounce these acts of rage as well as those law abiding gun owners whose stomachs turn when they hear of such killings. Two very different groups that seem to be shouldered with the blame of these mass murders.

Mental health is lacking in this country in particular and around the world in general. Additionally, politically correct security measures are putting us all in harm’s way. Finally, in the United States, the pervasiveness of a false sense of security (i.e. gun free zones) is doing nothing but leaving people ill equipped to protect themselves and, in fact, is offering those with evil intentions the opportunity to fulfill their twisted objectives. We need to empower people to speak up and stand up for themselves without the false accusations of racism or fanaticism.

The United States needs to wake up and the world needs to face reality. Guns are not the problem. Islam is not the problem. People are the problem. People on both sides of this equation… those who commit these acts and those who refuse to address the real cause of their actions. We cannot strip people of their rights, we cannot ban firearms, we cannot ban knives, we cannot ban trucks, and we cannot put a halt to immigration. Unless we change the distorted perspectives that have infected millions of people, these horrific events will continue to plague us. We must empower the law abiding people of this country and this world and learn to fear knee jerk political and social castration as much as we do the actions of deranged individuals.  

Firearms Friday: Another Mass Murder!

Once again, the headline told of another mass shooting this time in Oklahoma. Based on the initial reports there were four dead and thirty wounded. However, the president as well as the usual roster of politicians and activists remained silent. And the reason for this was quite simple… it wasn’t a shooting. Ah, media bias at its finest. What actually happened was reported by CNN:

A woman suspected of drunken driving crashed a car into a crowd of spectators at Oklahoma State University's homecoming parade, killing four people -- including a 2-year-old -- authorities in Stillwater said Saturday.

Three adults were pronounced dead at the scene, while the fourth victim, the young boy, died from his injuries at OU Medical Center Children's Hospital, according to a Stillwater police statement. 

Spokesman Capt. Kyle Gibbs said Saturday night that 44 people had been injured, an uptick from previous reports.

Still no words have been spoken about the dangers of cars, the inanimate object this woman used to carry out the mass slaughter of innocent people. That’s right, liberals drive cars. They don’t fear these potential weapons so there is no uproar to be found despite the loss of innocent lives. What happened to the “if we can just save on life” line of thinking?

If the woman had used a firearm the reaction would have been much different although the headline would have been the same. If the vehicle in question was a police cruiser the story would have been different. Those details would have provided a means for the left to vilify something and someone else beside the criminal whether it be firearms, gun owners, or law enforcement. But it was a drunk woman driving Hyundai and no one is calling for prohibition or the banning of cars.

And here lies the crux of our problem and why the ills of society are getting worse and not better. The individual is the one at fault… evil lies in black hearts not in inanimate objects and groups of people cannot be blamed for the evil actions carried out by that individual. When we finally come to accept this, to make people responsible for their own actions, then we will make progress and see fewer reports of such heinous acts.

Personal responsibility is too often associated with dirt words. We have to be self-sufficient and be held accountable, as individuals, for what we do in life. We can’t rely on the support of others, especially the federal government, and we can’t keep feeding the viral sense of entitlement to our children. We need to return to a mentality of self-reliance, self-support, and self-defense. This is the kind of “me” generation that I can stand behind!

Firearms Friday: Green Is The New Black

When it comes to firearms the federal government is very concerned with color. It seems as though they are obsessed with how something looks rather than taking a closer look at what it actually is. The most prevalent obsession is about black rifles in which they clump together all kinds of firearms, attribute fantastical powers to them, and don’t bother looking at the actual functionality of the various semi-automatic platforms. This is an ongoing problem that continues to bother many of us as the claims made are false and the solution that these “lawmakers” have is to strip away the rights from everyone.

Now many politicians are focusing on a different color… green. And I am not referring to environmental issues. They are determined to prohibit the sale of green tip ammunition which, not so coincidentally, is used primarily in the AR15 (“black rifle”) platform. The increased popularity of the AR pistol platform seems to have provided the impetus for the ATF’s proposed ban just as it did for the recent opinion released by the ATF that the Sig Brace can no longer be shouldered. In reality, anyone who thinks that an AR pistol can be concealed as a handgun has never bothered to consider the facts in that scenario. However, there is huge hole in the ‘logic’ behind this proposal as was outlined by Robert Farago on TheTruthAboutGuns.org:

“Mark Glaze [Executive Director of Every Town For Gun Safety] wants American gun owners to use ammunition that doesn’t pierce the “bulletproof” vests of police officers, but the fact of the matter is that any commercially available 5.56 ammunition will do that same job. The vests worn by cops simply aren’t designed to stop rifle rounds… Nor is there any ammunition in the intermediate or large rifle caliber range that will fail to penetrate a Level IIA vest. .308 Winchester? .30-06 Springfield? 7.62×39? All of these calibers will pass straight through a “bulletproof” vest, no matter what kind of projectile is used — “armor piercing” or not.”

Yes, this is the same Mark Glaze that made the following confession last year to The Wall Street Journal shortly after resigning as the executive director of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns: “Mr. Glaze said the movement hasn’t solved one of its signature problems: Many mass shootings wouldn’t have been stopped by tighter regulations proposed by gun-control advocates, even if they might have prevented other gun crimes.”

The ATF’s proposal really isn’t about the banning of a popular surplus ammunition, this is the back end work that continues to happen in order to limit the availability of ammunition for this platform. While it may be seen as a leap in logic for some to see this as an affront to our rights, when looking at the larger picture the common motivation is quite clear... they are trying out flank the banning of the AR platform since their direct assault failed. And, as Glaze has previously admitted, any legislation that does pass will not satiate the emotional fervor that they, and other similar groups, have instilled in many people. These types of policies just don’t work!

Say Goodbye To Baseball Bats

I know the title has some of you thinking about the meaning behind the statement but it really is very simple. I have decided to take the advice of the President and will start doing anything I can to save lives. After all, “if it saves one life, it’s worth it.” And so begins the campaign to ban baseball bats or, at the very least, require a background check in order to purchase one. It only makes sense to start looking at sources of unregulated weapons (especially if they’re black and scary looking) to ban or control first before going after other items (themselves innocuous) used in crimes.

Essentially, a criminal can walk into any sporting goods store, Wal-Mart, or thrift shop and buy a weapon without showing any form of idea, without filling out any forms, and without a background check having been completed. Even children can buy bats at numerous retailers, even the tactical black models. How long are we going to sit on the sidelines quietly and wait for these kids to recreate the meeting scene from “The Untouchables”. This unregulated market needs to stopped and only professional athletes paid to play this sport and certified trainers should have access to these items with such deadly potential.

Of course, this is only the first of many initiatives. Knives are also an unregulated weapon which children and the mentally unstable have easy access to and the same can be said for household cleaners, fast food, and power tools. All of these things have been the cause of death on countless occasions. Also, while tobacco, alcohol, cars, and prescriptions are regulated to a certain degree, they are still prevalent aspects of daily life which also cause a substantial amount of deaths every year. Ban them all and save thousands of lives. Maybe tens or hundreds of thousands of lives.

I know what you’re asking, but why would I chose to go after baseball bats and not guns? Well, they simply aren’t as big of a concern. Contrary to the rhetoric being bandied about recently, those statistics are trending in the right direction and, therefore, should not be our first priority. After all, at least you have to pass a background check to legally buy a firearm. But why take my word for it…

As was reported by the U.S. Department of Justice and Pew Research Center, gun crime statistics continue to steadily decline while gun ownership, especially in recent years, has experienced a sharp rise. According to DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. gun-related homicides dropped 39 percent over the course of 18 years, from 18,253 during 1993, to 11,101 in 2011. During the same period, non-fatal firearm crimes decreased even more, a whopping 69 percent. The majority of those declines in both categories occurred during the first 10 years of that time frame. Firearm homicides declined from 1993 to 1999, rose through 2006, and then declined again through 2011. Non-fatal firearm violence declined from 1993 through 2004, then fluctuated in the mid-to-late 2000s.

Additionally, Pew researchers observed that the huge amount of attention devoted to gun violence incidents in the media has caused most Americans to be unaware that gun crime is “strikingly down” from 20 years ago. In fact, gun-related homicides in the late 2000s were “equal to those not seen since the early 1960s.” Yet their survey found that 56 percent believed gun-related crime is higher, 26 percent believed it stayed about the same, and 6 percent didn’t know. Only 12 percent of those polled thought it was lower.

In the end, if you really want to save a life, turn in your baseball bat and buy a gun.