Pro-Gun editorial against Washington's proposed A.W.B.

[melensdad]

This is a nice cap off to the year. Washington State is looking at banning those evil black rifles (again) with a new "assault" weapons ban. But a refreshing little editorial appears to inject some common sense in the debate. Nice to see there are still people on the Left Coast who have some common sense when it comes to crime, criminals and weapons

Published: Monday, December 28, 2009
Enforce gun laws on books already before passing more

By Larry Simoneaux
HeraldNet: Enforce gun laws on books already before passing more

I didn't really want to end the year with a column like this.

That's because it has to do with a topic that puts many of us on opposite sides of a fence with our teeth clenched and ready for a row.

However, since several of our state legislators are now proposing a ban on “assault rifles,” I'm going to try to offer a viewpoint without raising the hackles that can get raised whenever guns are the subject.

Before we get too far along here, I'd like to mention that I think that I'm pretty much like you.

I've been married to the same woman for 38 years. I vote, pay taxes, have coached Little League and regard most politicians with a well-developed suspicion and ever growing annoyance. I've never been arrested and my last run-in with the law was a speeding ticket in1974. I like baseball, songs with printable lyrics, and movies where the bad guys always lose.

To some, however, by the end of this piece, I'll just be another “gun nut.” Still, here are some thoughts regarding “assault rifles.”

To be sure, there are such things as “assault rifles.” Mostly, these are gas operated, individually carried, magazine fed, shoulder fired, military weapons capable of (and this is important) fully automatic fire.

Short version: Hold the trigger back and they'll empty their magazines (not clips) faster than you can read this sentence.

The idea behind “assault rifles” is to get so many bullets whizzing past the bad guys' heads that they'll want to hide behind something and stay there while you assault them. This generally works until they begin firing their “assault rifles” too. Then, who's assaulting whom becomes less clear. Fog of war and whatnot.

Being a hunter, I know of a sporting rifle that vaguely resembles an “assault rifle” designed by John Browning in the early 1900s. This rifle, however, is simply a semi-automatic that fires each time you pull the trigger. Many hunters own such rifles and use them safely and legally. I know this because I've hunted with such individuals.

There are also rifles on the market that closely resemble their military counterparts. They are also semi-automatic rifles and the vast majority of Americans who own them use them in a safe, legal and responsible manner. Their resemblance to their military counterparts does not make them “assault rifles.”

The problem that gun owners have with the continued use of the term “assault rifle” is that they know there are many who'd like nothing better than to ban all firearms. Gun owners have also found that, when laws are proposed that ban “assault rifles,” such laws can often be interpreted as encompassing the semi-automatic rifles and shotguns used for target shooting and hunting. As you might expect, we regard this as a bad thing.

As for the effectiveness of such bans in reducing violence, an independent study of the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004, performed by the National Institute of Justice, noted that: “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.”

I think that's because the problem is now, always has been, and always will be the human being attached to any type of weapon.

For whatever reason, there are murderous thugs amongst us who will willfully harm others and it's been shown repeatedly throughout history that they'll do this using whatever tool is at hand — including, in one case, the jawbone of an ***.

It's nothing more than a dream, but I think that it'd be much more useful if those legislators now wishing to ban “assault rifles” would, instead, spend the same time and energy pushing for the strict enforcement of the thousands of gun laws already on the books and the immediate and harsh punishment of those who break them. Were they to do that, this nation's gun owners would rise and stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

Unfortunately, this will never likely happen and the argument over firearms — of any type — will continue with no end in sight.

And that's about as honestly as I can make my point.



Larry Simoneaux lives in Edmonds. Comments can be sent to larrysim@clearwire.net.

 

[WabashMX5]

This is a nice cap off to the year. Washington State is looking at banning those evil black rifles (again) with a new "assault" weapons ban. But a refreshing little editorial appears to inject some common sense in the debate. Nice to see there are still people on the Left Coast who have some common sense when it comes to crime, criminals and weapons

I generally like the viewpoint, but I hate conceding that full-auto is a bad (or even bannable) thing. Yes, I know, incrementalism is key, and choose your battles -- but still, I hate to see it taken as an unquestionable first principle that the Second Amendment allows infringement in any context.

But for the larger point that there are still right-minded people on the Left Coast, it is indeed comforting....

 

[melensdad]

Washington State already bans some weapons, I believe that Class III is not legal there. But I also know that they have a very tough road ahead for gun rights. But they just took a cop off of life support last night after he was ambushed on a domestic abuse call. He was the 6th cop to die in western Washington in less than 3 months. I don't think the public opinion is leaning toward the pro-gun groups at this time.

 

[pudly]

He was the 6th cop to die in western Washington in less than 3 months. I don't think the public opinion is leaning toward the pro-gun groups at this time.

This would include those 4 cops killed in a coffee shop by a known felon, correct? I understand your point about public opinion, but it comes back to the usual: Only the law abiding will abide the law.

 

[nova512]

i fully agree on the use the laws that are already on the books, if a person has it in their head that they want to do something they will do it no matter the result.and that bad apple makes all of the gun owners look like bad people to everyone else.the fact that the guy kept saying that we use them legally and responcibly, will make no difference to the people that make the laws they want us to be defencless little rabbits.and i hope that we turn everything bad against us for the good ,to show the good that does come from our passion.i guess its a dream lol.

 

[SavageEagle]

Looks like things could get dicey in Washington. I fear that if they institute an AWB that other states will follow. Some states already have models for such a Ban, but they don't seem to call them that. Looks like something to keep an eye on.

 

[jblomenberg16]

I think that the author makes a good point, when he says that the term "Assault" is attached to many more guns than it actually applies to. Of course law makers continually like to blur and distort the definition of "assault" so that they can get it to fit whatever they are wanting to ban, which is often all guns.

 

[edsinger]

Well at least someone understands the difference. I would like to see more publicity of events where a law abiding citizen saves lives using their legally owned guns be they semi or not.

 

[Phil502]

The guys good, I looked up some other columns and found this one. It seems he has no love for murderers or rapists either, he might be from Indiana.

HeraldNet: Can we finally get serious about violent crime?

 

[Lars]

I had a VERY liberal instructor in College who had previously lived in Seattle. He said something I'll never forget, and found at least somewhat amusing.

"Seattle is likely the only city in the nation where standing in line for coffee you'll have a vegan who will throw red paint on anyone he/she sees wearing a fur coat, standing directly in front of a bearded man in a red flannel shirt who's muttering under his breath "Gotta bury yer guns so the government doesn't take'em""

True or not, that does actually fit my view of that city. I assume like Illinois, one city is big enough to ruin the entire rest of the state legislatively.

 

[CarmelHP]

I had a VERY liberal instructor in College who had previously lived in Seattle. He said something I'll never forget, and found at least somewhat amusing.

"Seattle is likely the only city in the nation where standing in line for coffee you'll have a vegan who will throw red paint on anyone he/she sees wearing a fur coat, standing directly in front of a bearded man in a red flannel shirt who's muttering under his breath "Gotta bury yer guns so the government doesn't take'em""

So Seattle is like Bloomington?

 

[tv1217]

Note to self: Buy red flannel shirt.

 

[Woodsman]

Some of the logic used by anti-gun people is like the warning labels on suppositories when they say not to be taken orally. Anyway with half an ounce of sense can tell the difference, but it's the crazy ones who do stupid stuff that gets the attention and then used as a poster-child for the reason not to do it.

 

[StarKing]

I think I have a way to solve a vast array of current problems . . . gun control - global warming - corrupt politicians - violations of the Constitution - financial meltdowns - war . . . just to name a few.

We need to ban large cities!!!

I'm convinced this ban would solve nearly all of our biggest problems.

Do it for the children!

 

[kludge]

I have a couple problems with this kind of letter.

1. It assumes that the gun laws "on the books" are good laws and should be prosecuted, which by and large, they are not.

2. It assumes that gun-haters care about the diffence between semi- and full-auto, which they do not.

3. It conveys the message that even though semi-auto bans are bad, full-auto bans are OK, which they are not.