The hysteria over so-called "assault weapons" is intentional. Those behind it rely on media ignorance to spread public confusion. Case in point, Violence Policy Center instigator Josh Sugarmann wrote:
"The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these guns."
What this results in are calls to ban semi-automatic firearms because of convenience or appearance features, not because they function any differently from other semi-autos, that is, one shot per trigger squeeze. We get ignorant anti-gun politicians like Carolyn McCarthy calling for banning safety features like barrel shrouds, when she clearly doesn't even know what they are. And we get opportunists like Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey, who would extend the "assault weapon" definition to include pump-action shotguns.
Years ago, some friends in the now-defunct The Lawyer's Second Amendment Society came up with a poster intending to highlight the absurdity of cosmetic gun bans. This parody piece really brings home how ridiculous they are:
Happy building!
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Don Gwinn has joined our lineup as the Chicago Gun Rights Examiner. Among other things, he'll bring us a needed insider's perspective on one of the most politically anti-gun areas of the country.
Don...has moderated The Firing Line and The High Road forums and serves as a Director of Illinois Carry, the only Illinois gun-rights organization dedicated to winning shall-issue right-to-carry for Illinois. Don also blogs at The Armed School Teacher and answers all email sent to: dongwinnATthefiringlineDOTcom.
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I once was blind but now I see...
Austin Gun Rights Examiner Howard Nemerov is looking for interview subjects who share his experience of converting from an anti-gun position. I'll let him explain.
"I would like to interview people from all walks of life who, like me, used to believe that only the government should have guns, but had an enlightening experience which led to their conversion to pro-self-defense. You can help broaden our outreach effort across all social, religious, ethnic, etc. backgrounds to induce the politicians to leave our rights and freedoms alone. If you, a friend, or neighbor, fit this description, please contact me."
Do so at: AustinGunRightsATaustin.rrDOTcom
Check out the latest from other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: You bet it's personal!
- Austin:
Does civilian gun ownership cause bloodshed?
- Boston: Sotomayor: Unfit to serve
- Charlotte: Sotomayor: Where for art thou, NRA?
- Chicago: Judge Sotomayor thinks gun rights are about hunting?
- Cleveland: Ohio Highway Patrol may get carbines next year
- DC: Sotomayor: latinas, guns, and werewolves
- Denver: Lessons from "bring your guns to church day"
- Los Angeles: On Sotomayor: The Judiciary Committee needs to get it, too.
- Minneapolis: It takes a gun to stop a gunman
- Seattle: NRA takes stand against Sotomayor; committee vote Tuesday
- St. Louis: The Brady Campaign to create 'gun crime'
- Wisconsin: Party like it was 1773
Comments
Great parody! I would expect a huge knee-jerk reaction from the uninformed gun paranoia crowd, despite the age of the article.
Maybe someone could update it a bit, to include the capabilities of "bringing down a 747", blowing holes "big enough to drive a Mack truck through", and the ever popular "shoulder thing that goes up"....
I have 2 Ruger 10/.22 rifles that look like an "assault weapon." One has the Archangel kit, the other the "Krinker-Plinker" that makes it look like an AK.
They are exactly the same danger as a 10/.22 so will Eric Holder ban them?
The alternate way to get an "assault weapon" is to just wait a few years until the feds declare whatever you already own to be one. Think your lever action BB gun is safe? Just give it time.
If you put a Halloween mask on a five year old kid it will transform him into a real bloodsucking vampire even though undead human vampires don't even exist.
It "logically" follows that if you put a detachable magazine and pistol grip on a 22 rifle it transforms your rabbit gun into a real "assault weapon" even if the anti-gunner has no idea of what a real "assault weapon" is.
Texas Shooter, you should be able to accomplish all that by cutting a cardboard washer that fits the end of your cardboard tube. Then drill a half-inch hole in the center of that cap, thus converting your rifle to .50 caliber. Now you're ready to take down an airliner.
I don't know what it is about the Flash things on your site, but I haven't been able to get any of them to play. I don't have this problem on other sites.
Don't know, HB--I did find this:
"Scribd iPaper requires that Flash cookies are enabled, which is the default setting in Flash. If the requirements are not met, there is no message; the white or gray display area is simply blank."
I'm not a gun owner currently, but not because I disagree with the right, just don't have funds for equipment to secure a weapon with a kid in the house.
If I'm not mistaken, don't modifying accessories change the legal definition of certain guns? For example, in the government's eyes, doesn't adding an accessory (like a foregrip, shroud, etc.) to an AR-15 mean that it is no longer defined as an AR-15, legally speaking?
Legally Defining Weapons,
"If I'm not mistaken, don't modifying accessories change the legal definition of certain guns? For example, in the government's eyes, doesn't adding an accessory (like a foregrip, shroud, etc.) to an AR-15 mean that it is no longer defined as an AR-15, legally speaking?"
It did during the AWB a few years ago. However now its only in states that have AWB laws which is a handful. Of course such laws can only be made by truly brilliant politicians who use movies to base their laws on more than people who actually own them.
So you are technically correct in that adding different features changes their LEGAL definition, however it doesn't change the function or technical aspects one bit.
Yes, a vented barrel shroud (see= "menacing looks") on an otherwise "featurless" rifle turns it into an .... "assault" weapon. Sit back and reflect on just how ludicrous that term is.
Texas Shooter,
Be careful with all that "bringing down a 747" talk. I was in Home Depot last week, and I saw razor blades and duct tape I suspect one could still these get through airport security at any U.S. airport.
Shhhhhhhhhh. Keep this hush-hush, but I've heard tell of an Internet rumor where razor knives were used to bring down some airplanes almost 8 years ago.
To get a Home Depot credit card, now you might first have to get an FFL.
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