Sharp as a Marble - The long road ahead

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The long road ahead

Gun Rights

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and that Santa was generous with his goodies (I got coal… again).

I was at the inlaws’ for Christmas dinner and had one of those run ins with reality that aren’t that pleasant, but… it’s reality so you have to face it. My wife’s family is very conservative. They own guns, have the shrine to Reagan in the house, support the Tea Party, etc. You would think that with those types of views, the following conversation couldn’t have happened.

Brother-In-Law: It’s a shame about that cop that got shot the other day.
Sister-In-Law: I know, it was awful. That teenager walked up behind him and shot him with a semi automatic pistol!!!
Me: Yes that’s sad.
SIL: I know. And with a semi-automatic pistol!
Me: Well, the feeding mechanism isn’t really important. He could have shot him with a bolt action and have been just as deadly.
SIL: Well, it’s a shame when kids can get semi-automatic guns.
Me: …

Even people we consider to be ‘safe’ and on our side can be misinformed. It’s important that you ensure your friends and family are well informed about firearms and their rights. Don’t get into a big argument, don’t jump up on the coffee table and scream SHALLNOTBEINFRINGEDDAMMIT!!! as loud as you can, and in general, don’t be a dick, but do get involved, even with those close around you.

posted @ 12/27/2011 8:32:51 AM

Incoming Links

Take His Guns – Not Mine | Daily Pundit on 12/27/2011 1:17:40 PM

Comments

Canthros says:

on 12/27/2011 9:41:59 AM

I've been carrying (concealed) for a couple years. I still occasionally bump into my father's opinion that carrying a loaded gun isn't safe. In fairness, I think he picked that up from hunter safety education in the days before firing pin and drop safeties.

The Packetman says:

on 12/27/2011 10:17:32 AM

Robb,

I think it's the term 'semi-automatic', which, while absolutely correct to the initiate, is just a small step below 'full-automatic' to those not as astute.

Note that for 6 rounds, a revolver is the same as a semi-auto

Pyrotek85 says:

on 12/27/2011 10:29:31 AM

I wouldn't be surprised if they thought semi-automatic was some variation of fully automatic. The media uses it as a scare word, along with other innocuous features like barrel shrouds or collapsible stocks.

George says:

on 12/27/2011 10:32:58 AM

I'm ashamed to admit that I was a shooter for a while before I could explain the difference between a semi-auto and a full auto. I'd wager that if you asked 100 people, 90 of them wouldn't know the difference.

Bubblehead Les says:

on 12/27/2011 10:40:10 AM

Actually, I would be a bit Confuzzeled. Is she decrying the fact that under-18 Goblins are carrying better guns out there than they used to? Pisses me off when I read about a WolfPack all armed with Glocks, and I can't afford one yet, myself. Does she think it would be okay if a Derringer was used instead? I'd ask her why she is worried about the fact that a semi-auto pistol was used, and her answer would help to straighten her out.

George says:

on 12/27/2011 10:43:09 AM

And as an experiment, I asked my wife, who has her CCW and shoots every so often. She couldn't tell me, either.

Robb Allen says:

on 12/27/2011 10:47:40 AM

Which is my point - We need to educate even the educated, because when people are confused about terms like 'semi-automatic', it's no wonder the gun-bigots can get the ears of politicians.

SPQR says:

on 12/27/2011 11:23:17 AM

Canthros, carrying a loaded gun isn't safe. Is gun, is not safe.

Robb Allen says:

on 12/27/2011 11:25:33 AM

Yup. Carrying a gun is not safe.

Not carrying one is even more dangerous.

j t bolt says:

on 12/27/2011 12:43:55 PM

Reagan. Conservatives have shrines to Reagan. Not Regan. Don Regan is ok and all, but he's not a GOP demigod.

Stuart the Vikin says:

on 12/27/2011 1:51:27 PM

I do agree that it is (usually) a bad thing when an urban or sub-urban kid* gets ahold of a gun. They generally aren't taught the proper handling or use of such an item (yes, I do know that there are exceptions to this, there always are exceptions to nearly everything), and a gun in irresponsable or untrained hands is a danger to everyone. This applies to everything from BB guns to machine guns.

HOWEVER.

I grew up on a small farm. Sometime around the 4th grade (around 10 years old), I "became aware" of where Dad's single shot shotgun was kept, along with where the ammo was kept. He knew that I knew, and I'm sure that if I were caught doing anything with it other than in the most extreme emergency, the beating would have been historic. However, having access to a firearm as insurance against the loss of livestock to the predations of the local feral dog population on those occasions when I was home alone was a huge plus to our family's wellbeing as we relied upon our farm to feed us when times were hard.

So you see, there is a time and a place where a "kid" with a gun is the right thing. Shooting cops just isn't it.

s

*NOTE: At no point am I implying anything racial here. If you infer what I do not imply, then it is on your own heart. Not mine.

Kresh says:

on 12/27/2011 2:08:42 PM

Yup, I was also raised with the "Here's my guns. Touch them without my permission and you'll never touch anything again."

Funny thing is, I always thought of myself as pretty educated about firearms until a buddy of mine (that I introduced to shooting) was discussing the Halo-gun-expert idiots he knows and said "I mean, these guys were calling a magazine "clips!" I mean, they're idiots."

I just nodded and made the appropriate noises of agreement on the stupidity of using video games a a source for information on anything, and only later did I scurry to the internet to find out the difference he was describing. I'm a revolver guy and was ashamed to admit that I had no idea what he was talking about. Not that I've ever said (or ever will say) "That's too much gun for someone to have," or, "you have too many bullets," but still. I sure felt D-u-m-b that day. I also learned that my supposed education was indeed lacking.

Luckily, nobody in my extended family is an anti-gun ninny, so I don't have any of those awkward conversations. Some of my friends, on the other hand, are complete ninnys... and it's not limited to firearms.

Robb Allen says:

on 12/27/2011 2:16:54 PM

By far, my relatives are NOT anti-gun. The point I was trying to make here is that it's easy for people to think they understand something but in reality, they don't.

Clearing up those misunderstandings is critical since not understanding something could lead people to support bans on something due to the confusion.

Stuart the Vikin says:

on 12/27/2011 4:56:35 PM

Yes, and your point about doing so calmly is a very good one. "SHALLNOTBEINFRINGlED!!!!!" is a tactic that is often more damaging to the pro-gun argument than helping.

And never underestimate the LONG GAME. You don't have to change someones mind in one sitting. I have friends who were terrified and "wanted all the icky guns to go away" believing that banning them would do that. Over literally YEARS of calm discussion and gentle correction of mis-held beliefs, they have come around to our way of thinking. In one case, so much so that she practically did a "SHALLNOTBEINFRINGLED!!!" herself. I was never so proud (but had to gently remind her that quiet discussion wins out over heated argument).

s

Ric Locke says:

on 12/27/2011 8:34:11 PM

A little gentle ridicule may be in order. BUUUUWAHAHAHAHAAAA! is probably not better than SHALLNOTBEINFRINGED!!! but a grin and chuckle at least invites explanation.

This is a revolver. When you fire a round, there's a ratchet that brings the cylinder around so the next one is available to fire.

Uh, unh hunh.

This is a semi-automatic. When you fire a round, there's a mechanism that brings another up so that it's available to fire.

Uh, yeah, I guess.

So what's the difference?

[...]

Regards,
Ric

Homer says:

on 12/28/2011 12:35:19 AM

This is a direct result of losing control of the language, both in general and about guns.

I think Packetman has it right - the term "automatic" has been applied to so many things so sloppily that associating it in any way with guns - even with the modifier "semi" - makes it easy to misunderstand what it actually means.

All the more reason that we should be on offense, not defense; don't let the enemy control the language and nomenclature. That's just battlespace preparation on their part, and we should be doing that, not them.

Canthros says:

on 12/28/2011 2:06:13 PM

SPQR: No, no. His opinion is not that I shouldn't carry, but if one must carry a gun, the gun should be unloaded.

SPQR says:

on 12/28/2011 4:47:20 PM

I understand. I teach hunter education and so couldn't resist the reference.

Actually, I think the unloaded chamber carry originates as a trained mode in military service.

ravenshrike says:

on 12/29/2011 6:19:10 AM

I'm still convinced the clip/magazine screw up on the current generation can be placed directly upon Doom. I know that's why I referred to mags as clips until I actually started to handle guns.

Matt says:

on 12/29/2011 11:06:11 AM

Better look out, Robb. Coal is an ingredient in steel, and steel is used for making guns, so if you keep stocking up on it, the fibbies may bust you for firearms manufacturing

Canthros says:

on 12/29/2011 11:29:01 AM

ravenshrike: I think I've read elsewhere that the magazine/clip confusion goes back to at least World War II. The M1 Garand's en bloc clips probably helped that along.

Firehand says:

on 12/29/2011 3:22:22 PM

Canthros: and stripper clips('chargers' as the Brits call them).

This feeds back into the 'gun in school' hysteria: some kid brings an unloaded gun to school, good chance it'll be national news for a day or two; some kid gets stabbed or beaten to death, local news only. Apparently only crimes committed with firearms are 'important'. Or something.

BobG says:

on 12/30/2011 7:26:21 PM

But did the {scary}semi-automatic{/scary} have a thing that goes up?

Comments have been closed on this topic.