Interesting thought! You could be on to something.
File that one under "Unintended Consequences".
Posted on 08/27/2009 5:52:05 AM PDT by grady
"The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully-automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons – anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun – can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons." - Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center (VPC) - 1989
Twenty years ago, when Sugarman made the above quote, the universe of "black rifles" and those who possessed them was a small fraction of what it is today. Now, the AR-15 is the most popular rifle in the country and other military pattern semi-auto rifles are selling better than ever as well. Based on sales and common usage within the shooting community, it would not appear that the gun control lobby's demonization of semi-automatic rifles has worked as planned.
Moreover, I'm beginning to think that, to those who have believe the lie, the proliferation of semi-autos does in fact appear to be a proliferation of full-auto weapons - and the because sky has not fallen, they aren't terribly bothered by the idea. Now, I'm not referring here to the rabid hoplophobe, but to the non-shooter who doesn't have a particular interest or a strong opinion on the subject.
Sugarman is right - perception is the key. But has that perception helped or hurt us? When my non-gun-owing parents and siblings first saw pictures of me and my family at the range with my post-ban AR-15, they didn't find them particularly interesting and just wondered why I needed a machine gun. Despite my explanation that it wasn't a machine gun, the perception stuck. Ten years later, when my sister and her fiance visited, they wanted to do some shooting. When they were set up with the M4gery, the first thing they noticed was that it only went bang once. How disappointing. "How do you make it shoot full auto?" they asked. They expected that it was a machine gun and weren't particularly bothered at the notion that I or anybody else could own one. After all, Sugarman, Brady, Helmke, Schumer, etc., have convinced them that we all do anyway. When they found out it was only semi-auto, they were less then impressed, and far from horrified.
The incident in which a gentleman carried his AR-15 at the presidential town hall in Arizona further illustrates the point. While we argue about the media myth, pointing out that it's only a semi-auto, most of the public never hear the explanation. Therefore, as people are becoming desensitized to the presence of semi-auto rifles, theythink they're becoming desensitized to machine guns. Thanks Josh Sugarman. In response to the Arizona incident, the media continued the Sugarman lie and tried to create outrage. But when no collective outrage materialized, did the lie again help to normalize the idea of common ownership of full-autos and public acceptance thereof?
Sounds like it’s time to work this the other way. We could push for legal machine guns and use the ‘perception’ of them already being out there to our advantage.
I think you're on to something. As the sight of what are believed to be machine guns becomes more common, the less anyone will think anything of it.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
My thoughts -
the left/anti-gun crowd has INTENTIONALLY conflated
the self-loading semi-automatic rifle
with a “machine gun”.
When a lib asked me if I had an assault rifle, I asked them what they considered to be an “assault rifle”.
They pretty much gave me the definition of a machine gun.
When I explained how these semi-autos worked, they said that that’s how their granddad’s deer rifle worked.
I said, “yes, now why do you think that you were told that these rifles were machine guns?”
“dunno”
“YOU WERE INTENTIONALLY LIED TO. NOW THINK ABOUT WHY.”
Yeah, I guess the biggest point about the AR at the town hall was that the public didn’t panic, only the media.
—a good post—hope Josh Sugarmann reads it somewhere—
There are no semi-automatic assault weapons.
Assault weapons are weapons needed to attack a prepared defense. Accuracy, lightweight, and durability are not important for assault weapons, but a high rate of fire is.
When this Chris B. carried that AR to the gathering “outside” the presidential dog and pony show...I thought of only really one thing...
It got their attention...What didn’t get too much airtime was what he said...And it didn’t have anything to do with the rifle...
Good point. I hope you are correct.
The black guy (white on MSNBC) who brought the AR-15 to the town hall did America a great service, despite how the pantywaist RINOs at HotAir and LGF screamed in terror. America needs to see more guns, talk about guns, educate themselves about this fundamental right which our Founders put only after freedom of speech and religion in our Constitution.
Well, if his type thinks assult weapons are scary, then we all ought to have at least one.
Love my AR-15 & my Glock 45. (And my Browning 30-06.)
Interesting thought! You could be on to something.
File that one under "Unintended Consequences".
I believe you’re right. Think about all the thousands of news articles from the MSM in the past 20 years, filled with phrases such as, “a hail of gunfire”, “spraying bullets”, “automatic rifle”, “banana clip”, etc. Joe Public out digging in his tomato garden probably does think we all own machine guns. If he doesn’t live in Chicago or Philly, he isn’t hearing any machine gun fire, so it’s no big deal.
There are no assault weapons. There are assault RIFLES, the correct definition to include select-fire capabilities, meaning full-auto or semi-auto at the flick of a switch.
An "assault weapon" is anything that is or can be used in an assault, which pretty much includes everything, even handfuls of sand.
/soapbox
“But when no collective outrage materialized, did the lie again help to normalize the idea of common ownership of full-autos and public acceptance thereof?”
LOL, just imagine how scarce ammo would be if that ever happens.
So when is the time ripe to overturn/repeal 922(o)?
I want my M4 and Glock selector switch.
They may be desensitized and assume we own them, but they still don’t want us to have them.
Too true. I’d burn up all my ammo in one afternoon with glee if 922(o) vanished.
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