From PZ Myers:
The story of Bianca Roberson brings back ugly memories. Any place along the highway were you were forced to merge two lanes together was going to provoke some people to fury, needlessly. All I had to worry about generally were the obnoxious drivers who’d flip you off and pound on their horn and drive recklessly to insist that they get to merge ahead of you. Bianca Roberson met a fellow driver who pulled out a gun and shot her in the head.
This is rank madness. You do not need a gun to drive on a highway, no, not even the Schuylkill Expressway. A gun does not help in any way. It makes everything worse, to no good purpose. You do not need to be armed at all times. You do not need a gun at a movie theater. You do not need a gun at school. You do not need a gun on your daily commute.
“You do not need a gun to drive on a highway, no, not even the Schuylkill Expressway. A gun does not help in any way. It makes everything worse, to no good purpose. You do not need to be armed at all times. You do not need a gun at a movie theater. You do not need a gun at school. You do not need a gun on your daily commute.”
Nope, you don’t need a gun on the highway (unless some lawless would-be murderer is threatening you with his gun and you cannot pull off or get away from him.)
You do not need to be armed at all times (unless there is some terrorist punks shooting up the mall, nightclub, or restaurant you happen to be visiting with your grandkids.)
You do not need a gun at a movie theater (unless you are there and some psychopath murderer comes in during the latest installment of Batman and starts emptying his rifle towards my family.)
You don’t need a gun at school (unless you are there when bullied teens in trench coats decide to “get even” by running through the school shooting our kids.)
Yeah, we don’t need guns to protect us from the billions of good people in the world, but I sure would like to have one at hand when some road-rage fanatic or psychopath in the grocery store starts shooting at my wife, kids, or me.
Do you know what you call an unarmed citizen in those situations?
A dead victim.
On one hand, I want a gun to defend myself. On the other hand, I don’t want to live in a society where everyone is armed all of the time, which may lead to more injuries and death (and paranoia) than we get from the occasional shooter now. I understand not wanting to be a victim or feel helpless, but I don’t know the people around me in a theater: I don’t know what might set them off, how much training they have with their guns, or whether they’ll target the right person (instead of each other) if someone starts shooting and I can’t trust that they will all behave rationally. So while I am all for people having something to defend themselves on their own property, I am much less keen on the idea of people having them in public places, whether visible or concealed.
Ryan, I absolutely understand and even share your concerns. I too want to have a gun to defend myself; however, I am not always confident in the abilities or even the mental faculties of the guy packing in the theater seat next to me when some lunatic comes in shooting at innocent people.
I don’t know if he has decent situational awareness, knows how to safely operate his weapon, can even hit the target at which he is aiming, or is paying attention to the cowering folks standing behind the evil gun man that could get hit by an errant shot of his, or if his ammunition and weapon are such that a bullet could pass right through the bad guy into innocent folks behind him.
All I can say is that I have and want to always have the right and means to protect my loved ones and innocent lives. I consider even drawing a weapon from its holster as an absolutely last resort option, and certainly not something to be done in a juvenile rant of braggadocio or in a road rage instance to intimidate the jerk that just cut me off.
I hope all gun owners would go to the range to practice to ensure that they are proficient marksmen. I hope that all gun owners ALWAYS practice gun safety and act as if every gun is loaded. I hope that all gun owners ensure that all guns are locked away and stored safely when not physically on their person to ensure that children and others do not have access to them.
It is similar to driving a car. I try to be aware of my surroundings and fellow drivers on the road, I follow traffic laws, and I drive in a non-aggressive and defensive manner. I hope that other drivers are similarly trained and responsible, but we all know that not everyone is. And yet we don’t want to take away everyone else’s right to drive, unless they are dangerously negligent or reckless in their driving.
Yes, we should make sure that a would-be gun owner is not a felon, domestic abuser, drug addict or alcoholic, or mentally unstable BEFORE being able to purchase a weapon. Even the vast majority of my fellow NRA members also believe in this, contrary to the PC rhetoric. And when a gun is used in a crime, the punishments should be even more severe, just like drunk driving punishments have been significantly increased over the last few decades. There are still going to be free citizens that abuse their right to be armed or drive, but if we crack down on those that do so irresponsibly, we will have a whole lot less of them, sir.
I think you and I can probably agree on most of these points on this topic, I would assume, Ryan.
I am a firearm owner. I grew up hunting and fishing in the Great North Woods. I’ve never fallen for the far Right fever and propaganda that feeds the baseless paranoia that Democrats will take my guns. And I don’t carry, or sleep with weapons.
Those who feel a need to be armed for mortal combat every day are already victims. They just don’t know it.
They are victims of their fear, anger, resentments and even hate. I’m sure Mr. Paine is a rare exception, of course.
Like the racist vigilante killer Zimmerman, many are just looking for an excuse to shoot someone. They often see a threat that isn’t there, just like poorly trained and unqualified cops who shoot someone because they felt “afraid for their lives”.
Do you know what you call an unarmed citizen, or even a citizen like Philando Castile, a black motorist in Minnesota in lawful possession of a firearm, in those situations?
A dead victim.
When that happens, there is no justice for the victim and families, those who had real reason to fear for their lives.
And when the Black Lives Matter group protests the butchery, the fearful, racist, ignorant con-ervative gun nuts call them terrorists. They are ready to shoot those uppity blacks and teach ’em a lesson for not being white, for not “respecting the law”.
Of course the obvious problem is clear to rational people.
If a shooting situation occurs, gun toting vigilantes could likely be shot along with the original gunman. “Good guys with guns” look just like “bad guys with guns”. But we can’t tell them that.
The same goes for “stupid guys with guns”.
Look no further than the KKK, militia nuts, and other con-servative Trumpists that went to “defend confederate honor” at Gettysburg.
One of them shot himself in the leg.
That bullet could have just as easily killed an innocent bystander. But we can’t tell these idiotic, paranoid Trumpist gun nuts a damn thing, can we?
From 2005-2010, almost 3,800 people in the U.S. died from unintentional shootings. More than a third of the victims were under 25 years of age. No worries, we always have more victims for human sacrifice to the NRA and weapon manufacturers. More guns do not equal more safety. People of all age groups are significantly more likely to die from unintentional firearm injuries when they live in states with more guns, relative to states with fewer guns.
But we can’t tell them that.
Perhaps we fearful and insecure types should carry a doctor strapped in the car at all times too.
After all, the need for a physician is far more frequent than a need for a firearm.
And he would be handy when stupid, racist, Trumpist gun nuts accidentally shoot themselves.