Gun control in America
I’m sure you could take a guess and figure out that I am an atheist, a libertarian, and generally considered a nut job by my peers. I find it interesting how seemingly separate areas of ideology (religion and politics) so often intersect when you become a free thinker. Almost every libertarian I know is an atheist, and almost every atheist I know has at least a slight libertarian bent. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I just finished the “John Galt Speaks” chapter, which is essentially a 58 page monologue describing Ayn Rand’s theory of Objectivism. It amazed me that this book, and this philosophy which was written over 50 years ago, describes exactly what I believe today. It amazed me that Ayn Rand was essentially an atheist libertarian, before it was socially accepted to be so (Not that it really is today either I guess). That isn’t the point of this post though.
One of the core tenants in Ayn Rand’s objectivism philosophy is in relation to use of force. The use of force should be reserved only for occasions where force has been used upon you. If your life is threatened by a gun, you should use a gun to defend you life. The problem is that, our society has taken it upon itself to limit the ability to defend ourselves when we are threatened by force.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, everyone seems to be shouting about new gun control. The re-introduction of the federal assault weapons ban has new momentum thanks to Carolyn McCarthy touring the talk shows and news programs speaking as if she was an authority on gun control, even though that bill would have had no impact on the shootings that took place. A new law has been introduced to close certain “loopholes” in the NCIC system for background checks. The new law would force doctors and other mental health professionals to hand over confidential mental health information to the government, in violation of our privacy. All of this is a vain attempt to tackle the problem by punishing the victims, and enabling the perpetrator.
Of course it is already illegal, even for concealed carry permit holders, to take a gun onto a college campus, but that didn’t stop Cho from doing it. The harder you make it to legally obtain a gun and to carry that gun in self-defense, the harder you are making it for victims to protect themselves. If just one of the staff members or students at Virginia Tech had been legally carrying a firearm, how many victims would there have been? I’m quite certain that it would have been less than the 32 that were killed, and 15 that were injured. It’s interesting to note that of the 14,000 concealed carry licenses issued in Oregon, only 4 individuals (0.03%) were convicted of criminal (though not necessarily violent) use or possession of a firearm. That rate is lower than the crime rate among police officers! The point is to say that carrying a gun does not make you a criminal, and the vast majority of those who do carry a gun do so in a safe and responsible manner.
As a society we need to wake up and realize that more laws, more protections, more limitations of our freedoms are never the answer. Our laws might not have caused Virginia Tech, but they enabled the perpetrator to take advantage of those of us who abide by the laws. Cho was able to kill far more individuals than he would have had these controls not existed. You can’t assume that someone who is capable of breaking the law and committing a crime like murder is going to be deterred by a lesser law like gun control or the inability to carry a weapon on campus.
This week, in response to the shootings, and out of fear of what kinds of laws might be passed in their wake, I’ve taken several steps to protect myself and my family. I’ve filed the required paper to obtain my concealed weapons (CCW) permit. I’ve purchased an additional sub-compact Glock 26 that will be my primary weapon for concealment, and I’ve purchased a AR-15 rifle in fear that it will soon become illegal to obtain. None of these are things that I would have considered doing a few weeks ago. Now, I feel compelled to do it in order to protect and exercise my 2nd amendment right.
As a close friend and peer, yes I see you as a nut job, though it’s in *spite* of your Libertarian views rather than because of them.
You might find it easier to prepare yourself to use your CCW (once needed) if you try to straughten your right hand and bent your torso slighty forward rather than backward when practicing at the range.
Thanks for the feedback!
That is an pretty old picture. I’m much better now, but I don’t have any recent photos. I’m going to the range this weekend, maybe I’ll take some new one.
From an european point of view (but please don’t take it personal):
in the United States, approximately 5,000 children under 15 years of age are killed every year due to guns (not to mention the many more children who are permanently disabled).
These figures are mad – do you really think the “libertarian” answer is to bring more and more guns in the scenario ?
Your 2nd amendment says : “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
A well regulated militia ???
In europe we don’t have any 2nd amendment (and, fortunally, any “well regulated militia” *:> ) and don’t have so many
gun-related deaths per year. You can’t buy guns and ammos at the supermarket, and we’re quite happy with that.
Please don’t misunderstand me – besides Bush and this gun fixation, the US are an amazing country.
Hey Matteo,
I can already tell that you, like most Europeans, are socialist. However, strict gun control is a horrible thing.
You do realize that both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin banned guns when they were “elected” into office, right? This prevented any opposing citizens from initiating a coup de’tat, which would have eliminated the extreme communist paranoia they bought to the table. Oh, yeah. And the holocaust too.
If more people had guns, crimes would go DOWN. Criminals would be on their toes when robbing a liquor store, as they might get shot to death. This goes for just about any crime.
More guns would prevent any tyrannical government movements as well. If everyone had guns, any future Hitlers wouldn’t have a chance. If gun control were in effect during the revolutionary war, I guarantee the United States would be known as “New Britain”.
With a gun, you don’t need to wait for a police officer, because it’s a not a police officers job to defend you. They enforce laws, and that’s it. They’re not going tobe there when you get robbed at knifepoint. Your gun however, will be.
Basically, guns are great. Instead of getting rid of them, people should be required to own one. This is not coming from some southern-born, hunting fanatic, but a concerned citizen whom works in a cubicle on a day to day basis. Perosnally, I despise Europe for their socialistic views, and if you live in the UK, I’m sorry you’re being watched by cameras when you cross the street.
People missusing guns is a Problem.
So the solution would be more Guns?
@DonLatt WTF with Hitler and Staline forbidding guns? there is nothing related with the US situation
Like stated in “Bowling for colombine” by Michael Moore the problems are not the guns by themselves : Look how many Guns per citizen exist in Canada… (aprox same rate as in US)
USA had a big History of violence ? Neither => Germany, France, Spain, England, Ireland etc.
You can twist as long you want, USA is sick and if weapons themselves aren’t THE problem they are a BIG part of the problem
Look the madness in It brightness : Virgina Tech “Murder Party” => people jump to buy more guns knowing well that they won’t be able anyway to carry guns inside of similar place (campus, Stadium, etc.)
Letting your fear drive your way to live give anyone the power to push you where they want you to go :
Native American Indian
“Segregation” KKK
Irak
Charlton Eston Thanks you very much
Welcome to the modern Far (?) West
Basic Psychology : To control people you must scare them not directly but make them scared of something they thought to be safe :
the normal guy next door..
But if you want to drive them more precisely, play with their natural fear of unknown or of their own percieved way to judge other people :
Color skin, accent, nationality, religion, culture, wearing style, distingctive marks (big nose, flying ears, red hair, left handed), sexual orientation, politics (Witch hunting , ah good old day , thanks to Mc Carty)…
Look yourself in the mirror and try to see what other can look at… OMG not like themselves, we all are different, but driven by the same fears
You can be the next Mad Killer, because You DO or CAN have easely a gun in your pocket/at home/in your car etc…
Guns are like a drug in US, there is always need for MORE to get you fix on FEAR
Thanks god alle american citizen are not like you, but like windows , anyone want a gun because the guy/girls next door have one
Madness Says: “Guns are like a drug in US,…”
Yes, they are. Logical conclusion? Gun control here would be as effective as drug control is here. What is so hard to grasp about this? These claims that gun control would reduce gun deaths are predicated on the assumption that gun control laws effectively keep all individuals from having guns. How realistic is that assumption? Look at prohibition and the ‘war on drugs’ for the answer. And, if the fundament assumption gun control arguments are based on is false,.. well, this isn’t rocket science.
Matteo,
Despite your convoluted views on the subject, not all Europeans are ardent gun control activists.
Neither do we as Americans sell guns in the supermarket.
They are sold in hardware stores and specialty gun shops.
Although perhaps you are referring to Kmart or Walmart.
PMZ
Matteo, more children die in bathtub drownings every year than they do for gunshot wounds. Do you propose the U.S. enacts a ban on bath tubs?
about the shootings:
american’s children and adults are on more physcotropic drugs than ever before. SRIs: ritalin, zoloft, prozac, paxil, anafranil. all of these drugs have been pushed on the american people. every single youth involved in school shootings or crazed murders of their families in the last several years were on some type of SRI drug. you search it out! the VT shooting? oh yeah. Columbine? yep. the mall and the church shootings last year? yes, the boys were on SRIs.
SRIs have actually been shown to increase suicidal thoughts and depression in people taking them. The FDA actually requires the SRI drugs to have a warning label about the increased suicidality.
Now with that in mind, tell me how the problem with those troubled kids was the guns?
crime is a social problem not a gun problem. it always has been and always will. if these people would not have had guns they would’ve just found another way to harm. we need to deal with the REAL problems causing crime. Many more Americans had guns one hundred years ago and crime was much lower. now depression and abuse is much higher. the food in the grocery store is full of toxic chemicals like MSG and refined sugars which mimic a drug in the body. toxic flouride is in our water and mercury in our vaccines. the medical companies push drugs that cost a fortune and never truly heal but instead commit you to be their life long customer. the median household debt has skyrocketed in the last few decades (from basically nothing to $55,300 in 2004).
children are ignored. they are put in big schools all day and when they come home they are placed in front of the tv or pc. these “schools” care not if the students actually learn. all that matters are the test scores the kids can produce so the school can get more funding and “look good”. america has some of the poorest preforming students and education systems out of all the industrialized nations.
cancer, diabetes, heart disease are all on the rise. And of course, the medical industry STILL has not found any answers as to why or how to prevent the illnesses.
the media has to tell us every night how many rapes, homicides and car crashes there were that day as if there just isn’t any else to report about.
families are breaking up right and left and people over all just get don’t get along with each other as well anymore. then bills are passed like “the patriot act” which strip our civil liberties away and our presidents lie through their teeth as they send us into wars to satisfy their personal agendas. meanwhile, these greed driven wars through our nation trillions of dollars more into national debt.
police corruption is an accepted fact in most cities and few courts of law offer the common man any justice. our nation has become the land where he who has the biggest pocket book is the winner.
But most of all: now, NOW in 2008 we have the honor of welcoming in a recession and quite possibly a major economic depression. As inflation increases rapidly, all our dear government can think to do is cut interest rates. I guess they expect us to plunge ourselves into more debt.
America’s suffering has become so great, how is it suprising to have crazy people running around shooting each other? I do not think this gives crime the excuse to run our nation but believe that some of the REAL issues at hand are the ones listed above. When a wound is ignored the pain will increase until you have dealt with it. The body will not heal a wound it does not feel. Thus is the bane of leprosy, the inability to feel or recognize a wound. do we suffer as a people from social and political leprosy? i wonder. to see the americans around me going about their life, accepting fate to persecuted by our government through inflation (a problem caused by government deficit spending), accepting a life of physical pain and illness caused by malnutrition and toxins in food, and just accepting the life planned for them by the mass media, corporations and government, the prospect of all of this stirs a great sadness within me. well i am not going to accept it all! I plan to stand up for myself and put an end to all this madness!!! i want a free and prosperous America!! not a depressed, depraved and oppressed America. let’s put the blame for our great pain where it lies and take responsibility for our actions and lifestyles! AMEN!!
Benjamin Franklin said: “he who gives up liberty for security deserves neither”. I really believe that. we need to keep our arms so we can keep the government in check. Also, it has been proven now that gun control does NOT reduce crime. do some research for yourself. even just some common sense can reveal the lie that more guns makes more crime. Crime is a social problem, not a gun problem. think about it. criminals are not going to obey the law so what makes you think they will not find ways to own even if it is illegal. Marajuanna is illegal but everyone knows how easy it is to get. Crack, heorine, meth all are illegal but still there is plenty of money in the drug bussiness circulating. Drugs were actually used much LESS before they were made illegal.
oops! i actually did not mean to include that last paragraph. oh well…. it has something good to say too.
Iam against gun control because if u tighten the laws around posesion of a wepon u have an increase on illegal weapons on the black market and this is not goin to stop anyone shooting any body. The only way u can decrease gun related deaths is by havin stricter laws but if these laws work it will only slightly decrease gun related deaths. ITS MY RIGHT TO HAVE MY OWN OPINION.
I think the guns should be left alone! espicially shotguns take all the handguns you want.