Excellent Pro-Gun Talking Points From Left-Winger - Pass It On

[30 cal slut]

Way to much to cut and paste here.

This is a great article that touches on all the key points.

You may not agree on every thing the author says, but overall an excellent read and good ammunition coming from the political left.

Why Not Renew The Assault Weapons Ban? I'll Tell You.

http://kontradictions.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/why-not-renew-the-assault-weapons-ban-well-ill-tell-you/

ETA, please indulge me - please also check out this youtube vid from MrColionNoir

Why does anyone NEED an assault weapon?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0R3uLTnzs60

[Spurholder]

Well done.

Thanks for posting. I'm sending the link to all my wife's liberal relatives. :D

[montanadave]

Way to much to cut and paste here.

This is a great article that touches on all the key points.

You may not agree on every thing the author says, but overall an excellent read and good ammunition coming from the political left.

Why Not Renew The Assault Weapons Ban? I'll Tell You.

http://kontradictions.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/why-not-renew-the-assault-weapons-ban-well-ill-tell-you/

That is the best rebuttal of the AWB argument I have read to date.

Thank you for this post. That link is going to see some use.

[newyork]

Wow. Great article!

[Vash1023]

good read, ill pass it on

[LHS]

I've been spreading this one around for a few days, now. It's the best, most well-reasoned argument against the AWB I've yet seen, and the fact that it comes from a self-described liberal/leftist makes it all the more likely that other liberals will give it a fair shake instead of simply ignoring it as they would a conservative or libertarian source.

[duece71]

Finally someone gets it. And a self proclaimed Liberal no less. I'll pass it around as well.

[Belmont31R]

Shared...thanks..:D

[kry226]

I always thought Wheel of Fortune went down hill when Pat took over. Now I know why. I am posting this because there are many striking similarities to the aforementioned article. That, and it's funny as heck. :D

Chuck on Assault Rifles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evEg1VNfX3o&NR=1&feature=endscreen

[feedramp]

Passing it on. Great article. Thanks.

[Alaskapopo]

Way to much to cut and paste here.

This is a great article that touches on all the key points.

You may not agree on every thing the author says, but overall an excellent read and good ammunition coming from the political left.

Why Not Renew The Assault Weapons Ban? I'll Tell You.

http://kontradictions.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/why-not-renew-the-assault-weapons-ban-well-ill-tell-you/

ETA, please indulge me - please also check out this youtube vid from MrColionNoir

Why does anyone NEED an assault weapon?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0R3uLTnzs60

From the article QUOTE

It’s not easy being a leftist who loves guns. It’s like being a Republican who listens to NPR or supports single payer health care.

Damn that is actually me. I like single payer health care and listen to NPR but love guns.
Pat

[SeriousStudent]

30 cal slut - Thanks so much for finding this and passing it on. It's well-reasoned, and a very good thing to have tucked in your back pocket.

[zacbol]

I saw this yesterday. I plagiarized one or two of his points for the letter I am drafting to my representatives. Just a first draft, may be heavily revised...


"The recent, horrific events in Newtown, Connecticut will be forever seared into the collective American consciousness. It is a natural human instinct when confronted with tragedy to look for something or someone to blame. It is unsurprising then that many in positions of authority are directing attention to "assault weapons".

The fact is and remains, however, that evil and deranged people will do evil and deranged things, irrespective of the barriers placed in their path. The greatest school massacre in US history was, in fact, not committed with guns but occurred in 1927 in Bath, Michigan. The perpetrator used dynamite to blow up several schools. More recently, Timothy McVeigh used fertilizer and jet fuel to destroy the Alfred R. Murrah building.

FBI statistics for 2011 include a total of 323 homicides committed using rifles, which includes both "assault weapons" as well as sporting and bolt weapons. This is around 2.5% of total homicides. In contrast, 728 people were killed with personal weapons (hands, fist, feet, etc) in 2011. If you looks solely at the fatalities attributable to mass shootings, it would take almost 300 years to reach the number of deaths that occur in the US every year simply from drownings. One might reasonably ask why drowning is not a more pressing public health issue than mass shootings. It is because of the logical fallacy of misleading vividness in which an exceptional and rare occurrance because of its emotional impact is given more weight that is truly deserves.

In fact, as is well established, "assault weapons" (an arbitrary term coined more to describe cosmetic features than actual function) were outlawed from 1994 until 2004. The National Institute of Justice in reviewing the efficacy of the ban in 2004 concluded:
“We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence”

Similarly, in 2003, the CDC conducted a thorough review of gun control legislation and outcomes and found:
"In summary, the Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence"

Further, despite what some would have you believe, the 2nd Amendment was intended as a bulwark against tyranny. One need simply read the contemporary writings of our founding fathers and look at the historical context within which it was written to know this. I do not believe we are at any immediate risk of tyranny, but the Constitution was not intended to preserve the republic for a year, or 50 years, or a hundred years, but to ensure it's survival indefinitely. The types of weapons that many now wish to ban, in fact, best satisfy the intention of the founding fathers, ensuring the citizens of this nation should never fear their government.

We as a country must do something to ensure the safety of our citizens and children. I do not presume to know the answer. I do however now that infringing upon the rights of honest Americans based on no quantitative data and with little evidence of efficacy is not the solution. Such an action would be merely satisfying the mob, baying for blood. This is not how democracy should function. In fact in doing so, and treating the problem as 'solved' the real root causes will never be adequately discussed, and the chance for measurable impact overlooked. This is the real tragedy.

[platoonDaddy]

Great read, but I wonder if Charlton Heston wrote the article. ;)

Did I miss the date the article was written and who is the author?