As a young teen, I owned a shotgun. I grew up in Alabama, and most of the boys in my community got guns by the time they were 13 or 14—and many were much younger than that. At the time I had never heard of “gun control” and never really thought about the issue until I was in my early 20s.
When my shotgun was eventually stolen in Birmingham when my house was burglarized back in the early to mid-1990s I never had the desire to replace the rarely used single-shot 20-gauge shotgun, figuring I had already let one gun hit the streets.
I understand the Second Amendment. I know that it was designed to protect the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, both for their own self-protection and for defense against the tyranny of an autocratic central government.
I would say, though, that in the years since our Founding Fathers came up with the Second Amendment, our guns owned as individual citizens have grown less effective against an autocratic government that controlled the military. A handgun vs. a tank is not a good match-up. And while guns are used effectively for self-defense, sometimes, they’re also used quite commonly to commit heinous crimes.
And then there’s the argument from hunters. Sometimes these folks are called “sportsmen,” but I’m not quite seeing a fair game being played when you shoot an animal with a gun. (That’s assuming the animal doesn’t also have a gun and is pointing it at you.) I guess that’s a different argument, though, and a matter of personal taste. And in the big picture, I really don’t have a problem with hunters. Where I grew up, hunters were common and proved to be good, law-abiding folks.
But hunters are among the strong supporters of the National Rifle Association, which, interestingly, loves to promote and protect all guns, not just rifles. And that’s where I draw the line with the NRA.
I don’t mind shotguns and rifles sold for hunting purposes. Sure, they can be used criminally, but they are not used in near the manner as handguns for criminal intent. So why do citizens need handguns? Well, I have to quote those good ol’ Southern icons Lynyrd Skynyrd from their song “Saturday Night Special”:
Handguns are made for killin’
Ain’t no good for nothin’ else
And if you like your whiskey
You might even shoot yourself
So why don’t we dump ’em people
To the bottom of the sea
Before some fool come around here
Wanna shoot either you or me
Perhaps you saw the editorial in The New York Times on Sunday titled “The Virginia Tech Betrayal.” The piece talks about the recent rejection of a gun control proposal that “would have reined in the unfettered sales of lethal weaponry—from backwoods to battlefield guns—at weekend ‘sportsmen’s shows.’”
The lead of that editorial reads, “Richmond lawmakers have callously rejected a gun control proposal sought as a memorial to the 32 students slain in the Virginia Tech massacre. Once more, state senators proved more beholden to the gun lobby’s propaganda and campaign money than to public safety.”
Well-played, New York Times. The editorial goes on to say, “With no background checks required on customers, the dealers present convicted felons and sociopaths an enormous loophole for mayhem. A federal study traced half of the crime guns in Washington, D.C., to Virginia. They move along the ‘Iron Pipeline’ of weaponry infecting states along Interstate 95.”
A few weeks ago David Forster wrote a compelling article about this subject for The Virginian-Pilot. Forster quoted a man named Omar Samaha about his experience buying guns at a gun show. “It’s like going to the store to buy a jug of milk or a candy bar,” Samaha told Forster. “I had 10 guns in under an hour.”
Forster said Samaha described one of his purchases as a Glock handgun more powerful than the one that Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho used to kill Samaha’s sister, Reema Samaha. Omar Samaha said he handed the weapons over to the State Police.
So hunters, go ahead and buy your weapons at authorized gun dealers and go through the proper background checks. No one is keeping you from your “right” to own a gun. But as for assault rifles and handguns, why should they be available anywhere, let alone at an unregulated gun show?
Yeah, I know the old line about if we criminalize guns then only criminals will have guns. And yes, I hear your argument that guns don’t kill, people do. And I know that the most recent Virginia Tech murder was with a knife, not a gun. Still, I’ll gladly take my chances and opt for handguns and assault rifles to be illegal in this country.
Why don’t we dump ’em people? Maybe in a manner more environmentally conscious than into the bottom of the sea. But nonetheless, I’d like to get rid of them before some fool come around here, wanna shoot you or me!
Tim W. Jackson respects the Second Amendment, but believes that “rights” come with responsibility.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Chris A // Feb 9, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Go Tim. Real sportsmen and sportswomen blew off the likes of the NRA decades ago. They joined when the organization was about hunting safety and education and bailed when the right to bear AK47s and their creepy and heinous lobbying activities took over the focus.
2 Sailorcurt // Feb 9, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Closing the nonexistent “gun show loophole” should be a priority when the only justification they could come up with was the grief and understandable anger of victims of a crime that had nothing to do with gun shows?
I don’t get it.
“NRA propaganda?” Point some out for me will ya?
Mischaractarizing an intentional and specific provision in the law designed to protect the property and privacy rights of US citizens as “a loophole” seems a lot like propaganda to me.
Using a misleading term like “assault weapons” to describe medium powered semi-automatic rifles that happen to have cosmetic features that look scary to some people seems like propaganda to me.
Mr. Samaha was not engaging in propaganda with his little publicity stunt? He is a law abiding citizen…why should he have been prevented from purchasing firearms? I have to say that his credibility is a bit suspect as well. ten guns and he just turned them over to Police? That’s a lot of money to give up just for a little publicity. He bought an assault rifle? Really? I doubt it, considering that assault rifles are fully automatic and are regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934. What was that about propaganda?
No mention of the fact that two separate Department of Justice studies determined that gun shows are an insignificant source of crime guns. That there have been state level studies conducted that have shown the same thing and I have yet to see a credible study that has found otherwise.
An “unregulated gun show”? You are aware that sales at gun shows fall under the exact same regulations as sales conducted anywhere else right?
Nope…no propaganda there.
I could go on about propaganda all day. How about a couple of other “points” you make.
We don’t have to be able to defeat the full might of the US military. All we have to do is have the capability to make it painful enough to give a wanna be tyrant pause. And why do you assume that military members would support government aggression against its people? When I enlisted I took an oath swearing to support and defend the Constitution, not the government.
The very characteristics that make handguns useful to criminals, also make them useful for self defense. Firearms are used anywhere from 180,000 to 2.5 million times per year in self defense…depending on who’s numbers you believe. Either way, taking them away from the law abiding would potentially create an additional 180,000+ victims every year.
Criminals will still commit violent crimes, they will still get guns and, even if they couldn’t, they’d just move on to the next most convenient tool.
People hunt with so-called assault weapons all the time. The 7.62×39 used in the semi-automatic rifles that look similar to AK-47’s is about the same power as the .30-30 that has been in use for over a hundred years.
The AR-15, that looks similar to the M-16 in common use by the US military, is the single most popular target rifle in the country and is commonly used in small game/varmint hunting.
Not to mention the recent supreme court ruling that held that bans of firearms “in common use” (which would most definitely include handguns and those you like to vilify by calling them “assault weapons”) are patently unconstitutional.
At any rate…my wife just got home from work so I’ve gotta go. I’d be happy to discuss this issue with you further if you’re interested in hearing a different perspective.
3 Democracy Fan // Feb 11, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Hand-gun scenario: balderhash!
Why would ANYONE want ONLY criminals to possess handguns? That’s the case. Close the gun-show ‘loops’/I agree. Otherwise, some folks, including the NY Times, need to find a better way to ’shock the fodder’..in order to overcome their news venues to survive; economics-wise.
4 Steve // Feb 26, 2009 at 12:48 am
You’re so wrong, Tim;
I live in a rural area where the police seldom patrol and if called upon take 30 minutes or more to respond (I know, I’ve called them twice). The police are not there the protect me, in fact they do not protect anyone. They only arrive after being called upon. I know, I’m a former police officer. So, I always carry a handgun and I have a permit to carry it concealed. It would be foolish to only have a rifle or shotgun in the house. I can’t run to gun safe, unlock it and load a weapon in time to save my family, if needed. And, shooting a rifle or shotgun in a closed area is STUPID because they are too powerful and will go through several walls and possibly kill someone I’m not shooting at.
I cannot actually believe that anyone thinks that making hand guns illegal will prevent criminals from having them. Get real. They don’t give a crap about the law. That’s why they are criminals. What you want is all law biding people to be victims.
FYI: There is no gun show loop hole. The law already makes selling a weapon to a felon a felony crime for both parties. And most that do sell (without an FFL), sell only to people they know (why risk going to jail) , or to people that have carry permits.
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