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The FBI reports violent crime in the United States is at a 30-year low. Statistics from state governments show citizens who hold concealed weapons permits are among the most law-abiding in our society. States that issue permits exhibit a larger drop in crime than those that don't.
Looking outside the United States, strict new gun confiscation laws in Britain and Australia have had no significant impact on crime and a national gun registration scheme in Canada is being criticized as an expensive failure.
If not for a few high-profile shooting incidents covered excessively by the media and exploited by politicians and gun control organizations, the gun control debate would be fading away.
Media participation in the campaign against guns cannot be blamed entirely on a liberal bias. The ratings-driven media must follow the dictum, "If it bleeds, it leads," so producers and reporters routinely emphasize gun crime coverage, using frightening terms like "assault weapon," "powerful," "deadly" and "automatic," which increase the public fear of guns. Armed criminals of any sort are called "gunmen," regardless of the nature of their crime.
Some politicians feel they must exploit whatever emotional issues are available to increase their public exposure. They use dramatic but factually unsound phrases like "guns flooding the streets" and "cop-killer bullets." New laws of dubious value are constantly proposed. Some even threaten robbery victims with prison if their stolen guns are later used by a criminal.
Anti-gun organizations and celebrities portray gun owners as ignorant, irresponsible or worse. Celebrities have been known to state such extreme views as announcing that those who own guns, regardless of their legal right to do so, should go to prison.
Somewhere between 60 million and 80 million Americans own guns. The unreasoning fear and suspicion of gun owners resulting from this campaign are obvious in the following examples:
Traumatic school "lockdowns" after harmless gun sightings have become common. In Springfield, Ore., students were terrified when a man with a gun was reported near the school. It turned out that the disassembled and unloaded gun was being taken to a nearby pawn shop. In Banks, Ore., students were kept in lockdown for more than three hours while state police were called in to hunt down a man with a gun seen in a nearby field. No such man was ever found and police speculated that perhaps some poor fellow was simply walking to a nearby skeet shooting range.
In San Clemente, Calif., a school groundskeeper who had won a large sexual harassment settlement from the local school district was the target of a dramatic SWAT team raid on his residence. He was held on $1 million bail for the heinous crime of possessing allegedly stolen rakes and buckets.
Someone, perhaps seeking revenge, had tipped off the police that the man had a large gun collection. News reports contained no mention of the man making threats or plotting violence; he simply owned guns. A school district administrator was quoted as saying: "I'm personally horrified that someone who has daily contact in the vicinity of children and teachers owned the arsenal he apparently had."
Other officials crowed that they had prevented another Columbine. It is unlikely that the man will receive justice in a culture that vilifies gun owning citizens in this manner.
At a large university in Seattle, a white collar employee with an excellent work record was involved this fall in a minor dispute over computer access. When he was called into the administrator's office to discuss it, two campus police officers were present. "We know you have a concealed weapons permit. Are you armed?" He was not, but the damage to his reputation had already been done.
Apparently, a co-worker who was competing with the man for a position had tipped off the administration that he was a gun owner. The original dispute was all but forgotten and the employee was placed on indefinite leave to await the slow results of university justice while word spread across the campus that a "gun nut" had been exposed.
If any group can claim constitutional protection, it should be gun owners who have their own specialized amendment in the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, the long campaign against them is now producing a predictable result. In many parts of our society, anyone who owns a gun is automatically considered dangerous, violent or just plain different.
Fortunately, the American system is famously self-correcting. Behind the rhetorical fog, legal scholars have been researching the meaning of the Second Amendment. Agreement is growing that it really does apply to individuals, not just the military. And sometime in the next presidential term, a majority of justices of the Supreme Court may well direct a return to the original intent of the Constitution.
Eventually, the political pendulum will swing back to center or perhaps beyond. But one question will remain: If this minority, with such powerful constitutional protection, can be demonized in this manner, who can say which group will be next?
Dr. Michael S. Brown is an optometrist who moderates an e-mail list for discussion of concealed weapons issues in Washington state.
It matters not a whit what the New Butt Order (NBO) politicians, the liberal talking-heads, or the justices of the Supreme Court think the 2nd Amendment means. What does matter is what Gun Owners think it means.
bump
Good post, sad but true...
I like his point about the rhetoric, particularly the "flooding the streets" business. The only guns I have ever seen on the streets in this country belonged to the police.
There are essentially no guns on the streets, they're in people's homes. That doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?
"Looking outside the United States, strict new gun confiscation laws in Britain and Australia have had no significant impact on crime"
Actually, I think the author is wrong on this point. The stats I've seen show crime going UP fairly dramatically in these countries.
I think it is a bit overstated that the public is over-reactionary about violence. Americans thrive on violence in the media, for just about everything from entertainment to mental masturbation.
The driving force behind so called public opinion polls reflecting (or creating) the illusion that "gun control as a good idea" is permeated within our fascist dominated government. Genuinely by the inter-nationalists that control large businesses (or related activities) in America. Face it, these power thirsty elitists do not care about public safety, they care about their business concerns and their own lives.
They know that the only way to maintain and continue their power base is to eliminate personal freedoms and liberties. The fascists want your guns.
bttt
"I think it is a bit overstated that the public is over-reactionary about violence. "
I'm not so sure about that anymore. Lately it seems that the mere mention of the word "gun" sends the soccer moms into a blind stampede toward repealing the second amendment. It worries me, because it does appear that the steady media disinformation campaign is beginning to take hold.
Lately it seems that the mere mention of the word "gun" sends the soccer moms into a blind stampede toward repealing the second amendment.
This is because the soccer moms have neutered their husbands and now they [husbands] are afraid to stand up to them. This is why I always openly state at the beginning of a relationship that I shoot and hunt and I ain't gonna change. This way it never pops up later and they say it's either me or the guns. See ya! And God help you if you decide to buy a gun after you get into a relationship. That blew my last one right out of the water since I was stubborn and unyielding on the issue. Unfortunately there are too many men out there without a pair.
"This is why I always openly state at the beginning of a relationship that I shoot and hunt and I ain't gonna change. This way it never pops up later and they say it's either me or the guns."
A very smart move. I do the same thing. I am very fortunate in that my current belle actually enjoys shooting at the range with me (she really likes my 1911 .45!) -- and although she personally wouldn't use a gun in self defence, we both recognize it as a very personal decision and don't give each other any grief about it (other than the occasional philosophical discussion).
" ... "gun" sends the soccer moms into a blind stampede toward repealing the second amendment." -- RogueIsland
I read and hear about these ideas. But no one can tell me how. Maybe you can.
My kids actually like the idea of dad having a .45 with him when they go out. Leaving it at home doesn't cut it.
FYI
Actually, HC, I was the one who told my husband to go out and buy a weapon. He came back with a nice shotgun and we now enjoy skeet shooting together.
I guess that's the difference between Conservative gals and "soccer moms." We understand the true nature of and the dire need to defend the 2nd Amendment....and they don't.
Amen, Writer! Amen.
That is the difference and I am proud to have you on my side.
Do you have any sisters?
I've had the pleasure to meet the very attractive "TheWriter" in person and if she does have a sister you'll be real lucky.
What does matter is what Gun Owners think it means.
You're right, until we get Gun Owners to march and have sit-down strikes,(wow 60's flashback) nobody will take notice or care. The time for talking is over! We need people in the street peacefully demonstrating. If the Revrunnnd Jackson get people to march for those damn hoodlums in Decatur, we should be able to muster a march.
Thanks, Freedom. I feel the same about you folks, too!
Yes, HC, but she's spoken for. Nevertheless, I'm sure there is a fine FReeper gal out there for you!
What a generous description, Hang'emAll! Thank you! And with me fat and pregnant to boot!
You just made my day! Thanks again!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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