This comment is by Steve Rugel on the post George Zimmerman: The Tragic Limitations of Situational Awareness.
“Honestly, who are these paranoid freaks who can’t leave their homes without strapping on a gun?
And how can a man with this mentality consider himself manly, courageous, adult even?
Seems terribly cowardly and insecure to me to have to lock and load just to leave for work in the morning. If that’s your mindset, move to Wyoming or someplace where there are few people, take a few deep breaths when you get there, and relax. You need the rest. Society is clearly too taxing for your intense manly courage to handle on a daily basis.”
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photo: paljoakim / flickr
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I never carried a gun, but there was a time in my life when I carried a knife, a big double edged dagger, everywhere. Needless to say, I was afraid of everyone and everything. What broke me of it was martial arts training. Not that I became that much of a bad ass, I’m not. what happened was I became aware of my ability to endure an attack if it came. After sparring in class, and taking literally hundreds of hits, it just didn’t hold the terror for me anymore.
Look, this kind of fear isn’t difficult to understand. It is, in fact, the same exact irrational fear that makes liberals want to ban guns altogether. They are both, at their heart, terrified that these things even exist in the first place. The only difference is that one kind of lunatic (the Gun Nut) understands that the genie is out of the bottle while the other (the Pacifist Liberal) keeps trying to squeeze all of that toothpaste back into the tube.
Okay, that’s just ridiculous. Liberals want to ban guns altogether. Really? Can you prove that? How about we make statements that aren’t just broad generalizations? So, here let me correct you. Liberals want to ban fully automatic assault rifles. Or liberals want to ban Saturday night specials. I’m a “liberal” (whatever that means) but I do not support banning shotguns or even high quality pistols. Why? Because I own them.
So, please. A little intellectual honesty, here.
Not to be petulant, but fully automatic weapons have been illegal since the 1930s. Technically, they are legal to own if you pass a background check and pay for a tax/transfer stamp. They just almost never issue such stamps. Owning one without a stamp is major jail time. What are often called “assault rifles” are in reality assault styled rifles. It is all to look cool. On the inside, their capabilities are no different than what was on sale a hundred years ago. However, some like the Bushmaster or Rock River arsenal AR types are supremely accurate.
The concept of a Saturday Night Special has lost almost all meaning these days because even high quality pistols have become so cheap relative to everything else. They are cheaper than cell phones if you count the monthly costs. and who does not have a cell phone?. Also, if you look at the nearly unlimited useful life of a quality gun, owning one over time costs almost nothing.
This is a large part of why gun bans do not seem to work at all nowadays.
I think it is so relevant to look what has happened in the UK in this regard. About 15 years ago there was a bad school-kid massacre carried out by a licensed pistol owner. In response, the officials in London implemented a complete ban on the private ownership of any working handgun, asserting that this penultimate form of handgun control would make everyone safer. Keep in mind that the UK is an island.
Violent crimes of all types but especially crimes with handguns have steadily increased ever since. The Australians went thru the same experiment and have gotten the same results.
I am not smart enough to sort out cause and effect. But I think it is useful to point out that handguns are inherently much cheaper than any illegal drug and much easier to hide and transport.
Over the same period about 40 American States have passed concealed carry laws and none of them saw an increase in violence. NYC retained its strict laws and also saw a big drop in crime.
At the end of the day, it seems that gun laws are so utterly un-enforce-able that there presence or absence effects nothing.
People who live in high crime areas have a rational fear for their lives and safety. I should know. I live in one.
Insofar as it goes, George Zimmerman didn’t get his concealed carry permit until 3 or so years ago and it was in response to a problem with some pitbulls if I recall correctly.
He’s had that permit for multiple years now and had no issues with it, and if indeed, for whatever reason Mr. Martin was trying to pound his head into concrete than I’d say I’m damn glad he had it.