Think About It

The Gun Control Myth

  The anti-gun lobby has been trumpeting the number of people killed annually in the U.S. by firearms.  It now appears the anti-gun lobby has been engaged in  --  well -- fudging the figures.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a 2005 study they did on firearm deaths.  They found that 55% of our annual firearms deaths are suicides.  So, yes, technically the anti-gun people are correct when they refer to all of these deaths as deaths caused by firearms; however in all probability those who committed suicide with a firearm would have used other means if no firearm had been available.  This means the actual number of murders by firearms is only 45% of what the anti-gun people have been claiming.

Speaking of anti-gun bias, Justice Stephen Breyer used the word suicide 14 times in voicing concern about the impact of striking down the handgun ban.  One has to ask, “What does suicides have to do with whether it is the individual or the militia that has the right to have guns.

This bring us some interesting questions:

If the actual number of homicides are less than half of what is being represented, then how do these new numbers stack up against American deaths by auto accidents? 

Or deaths per 100,000 in Iraq?

What other impact will these new figures have?

Supreme Court Decides Gun Issue - Barely

  Whew, that was a close one.   Many of the Supreme Court decisions that come down are lauded as “landmark decisions,” but the Supreme Court did in fact hand one down today when they upheld the Second  Amendment, narrowly.  In what should have been a “no brainer” for the court, the court’s liberals came down on the opposite side of the Constitution.   If there ever was a “smoking gun” (pardon the pun) that shows the court’s liberals to be legislating from the bench, it is their statements that are expressed in the minority opinion that prove them unfit to sit on the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had not given an exact interpretation of the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

The justices had to decide whether the amendment protects an individual's right to own guns, individually, or whether this applied only to those who were part of a state militia.

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the 64-page opinion that an individual’s right to bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.

The minority opinions went like this:  Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority "would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons."

Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the most off the wall biased opinion when he wrote a separate dissent in which he said, "In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas."

The other liberal dissenters were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter.

The majority consisted of Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.
Questions:

What will the anti-gun advocates do now?

What would have been the impact had the decision gone the other way?

What would the public reaction have been?

What would have happened procedurally after such a decision?

Would such a decision reduce crime in the U.S.?

What impact would it have had on the upcoming election?

Obama's Attack on the U.S. Constiution

Most people are aware that Barack Obama is for some type of gun control.  He says he is a friend of hunters and has no bias against guns.  So what’s the real deal on Obama and gun control.  John C. Sigler, President of the National Rifle Association wrote a recent article in the American Rifleman about Obama’s track record on guns.  Sigler wrote that Obama over the years has either voiced support or voted to ban all handguns, ban the sale or transfer of all semi-automatic firearms, ban “the right to carry” in every state, and ban firearms in the home, even for self defense.

Barack Obama

1)    Voted against a self-defense exception to victims of criminal attack in their home.

2)    Answered a 1996 senate campaign questionnaire that he would support a blanket ban on the manufacture, sale, and possession of handguns in Illinois.

3)    In 2000 sponsored a “one gun a month” law, which would have restricted Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens.

4)    Supported bans on ammo magazines, gun lock mandates, renewal of the 1997 Clinton gun ban, and California style gun registration.

5)    Proposed a law banning registered firearm dealers from a five-mile radius around any school.

6)    Voted “Present” (which is a no vote) in 1999, to try teenage gang bangers as adults if the fire a gun on or near school property.

7)    Voted against the death penalty

I invite all of you to exercise you imaginations on this one.

Questions:

What would be the net effect of a Democratic Congress and Obama as President?

How would they approach their anti-gun agenda?

Is Obama right on any of these proposals?

What strategy should McCain use with respect to Obama’s record?

Gun Control Coming in 2009?

  It’s pretty clear where Obama and Hillary Clinton stand on gun control.  Both are given a grade of “F” by the National Rifle Association, despite Hillary Clinton’s new found love of duck hunting.  If either is elected President, gun owners can be assured there will be renewed efforts to further restrict gun ownership.  A friend send me some interesting information on countries that imposed gun control.

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated
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China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million 'educated' people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.
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  I can't vouch that all of these statistics are 100% accurate, but one thing is clear: It's much harder to take over a country whose citizens are armed.  Meanwhile, in the U.S., forty states have passed “Right to Carry” laws that allow citizens with no criminal records to carry concealed firearms, once they pass a prescribed training class.  Gun control advocates fought against passing these laws, predicting an apocalyptical vision of shootings in the streets, wild west style.  Of course none of this came to pass.  Actually, there was a decrease in crime in those states. 

However, with all of this being said, there are many questions that deserve discussion: 

Should handgun sales be restricted to those without criminal records?  What should be done to filter out persons with mental problems?  Who should not be allowed to own a handgun - a long gun?
Should semiautomatic weapons be outlawed as some gun control advocates suggest?