Fear is a powerful emotion, and it tends to promote action. My concern is that far too many people have lost the ability to think about their fear and analyze its power. Blaming guns is easy, but thinking about our thoughts and considering the possibility that our fear is misplaced is hard. Sadly, I see this inability to think outside of emotional responses on both sides of this (and every other) issue today. “I’m right and you’re stupid” is not a valid stance in any argument, but watch the news, read social media, or watch anywhere else people debate topics these days and that’s what you’ll see on both sides. What’s worse, if you watch videos showing government in action, you’ll see it there too. (more…)
Month: December 2015
How Much Ammo is Too Much?
It is unfortunately common to hear the mass media exclaim in disgust about how much ammo someone had. Usually this is after some horrific crime where the talking heads on the television need the viewer to understand how evil the perpetrator was. They would have you believe that anyone who has 5,000 rounds of ammo can’t be normal, and what better way to make someone appear to be a member of the lunatic fringe than to make obvious the depths to which they would sink in the name of preparedness? Take this quote from the LA Times in response to the December 2015 San Bernardino massacre:
Farook and Malik fired up to 75 rounds during their killfest and 76 while exchanging fire with police. Cops found 4,500 rounds at their home and 1,600 in their car.
Nobody needs that many bullets unless they’re arming for mass mayhem.
The message is simple: normal people don’t have that much ammo. But how much is too much? Well, that seems to be up to the people judging the alleged criminal in the name of news. Certainly 5,000 seems like a lot. But is it, really? The answer is, as is often the case, not so simple. (more…)
There Is No Such Thing As Common Sense
A seemingly ubiquitous phrase in today’s gun control debates is common sense, as in “Common sense gun laws”. This phrase is used in an attempt to invalidate the opposing view since it suggests that anyone who disagrees is devoid of common sense. It’s an almost clever way of trapping someone in an argument because no one wants to admit to being stupid. But what is common sense, really? (more…)