10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down

[Gary_Sheldrake]

Boatswain2PA]Ummm…have you ever heard of Lois Lerner? There CERTAINLY are government bureaucrats whose work extends beyond their own single little silo. Recently revealed E-mails even show that Lerner worked with the DOJ to bring CRIMINAL charges against some people as retribution for their political beliefs. Of course, this is the same DOJ who shipped guns to Mexican cartels, yet refuses to prosecute clear-cut voter intimidation charges against people of color in Philadelphia.

Good Afternoon Boatswain: I’m certain that you realize that while there are pockets or corruption in any system, these fall far short of a full blown government conspiracy to take a nation by force. The system has inbuilt checks and balances.

The picture you paint of the solitary government bureaucrat toiling away in their own little cubicle is woefully inaccurate.

Mine is a first hand account. What is yours?

Gary - none of those things matter if you do not have your freedom. Subjugation is insidious. “First they came for the socialists, but I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, but I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, but I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

That’s the good thing about our system. The closest we ever came to the National Socialist upheaval you are citing was the Tea Party takeover a few election cycles back. They’re on their way out because most of them had little knowledge of constitutional law or governmental process and only caused a short disruption that is coming to an end. It’s hard to have a narrow minded agenda for very long in a world of 24 hour news cycles, Google and YouTube. Eventually people see you for what you are. The party that brought them into view is now distancing itself from these people because they know they can’t run a national candidate and hope to win with those people roosting among them.

The purpose of the second amendment is to ensure the government is always a little scared OF the people, not the other way around. This little bit of fear is healthy, as it PREVENTS the government from attempting to subjugate it’s people. It’s kind of like how our nuclear arsenal’s prevented the US and USSR from engaging in open warfare.

The arsenals caused the problem. The arsenals didn’t solve it. As for the 2nd Amendment, I have already covered that about a dozen posts back.

Bottom line Gary - you owe your freedom to guys with guns. Those of us who carried guns while wearing the uniform of our nation protects your freedom from OTHER nation’s governments. And those of us who own guns while NOT wearing the uniform of our nation protects your freedom from OUR government.

The military and police who carry guns are who you are referring to. Not people running around with guns on their own, or vigilantes. By the way, I served in uniform, and I have seen first hand what guns do to people. I have had the shattered remnants of skulls blown open by gunshot crunching under my boots, and have smelled abdominal wounds. I have seen a tongue protruding from a neck where a head used to be. I have seen a lot of things first hand, and I have earned a right to have a say in this matter.

Of course, you are so well protected by these scary men that you are allowed to sleep well at night, not even knowing that men are willing to lay down their lives to protect you and your family.

I have never offered the idea of taking weapons from the police or the military. And I was in fact one of those scary men that protected you.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Sochi]

…Ours is a government of the people, by the people and for the people,…

uh…

commondreams.org/headline/2014/04/18-8

ampedstatus.com/the-financial-oligarchy-reigns-democracys-death-spiral-from-greece-to-the-united-states/

nytimes.com/2011/11/04/opinion/oligarchy-american-style.html

motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/how-oligarchs-took-america

rt.com/usa/us-democracy-oligarchy-policy-512/

upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/04/16/The-US-is-not-a-democracy-but-an-oligarchy-study-concludes/2761397680051/

Ding-a-ling: Wake up time!

 

[Gary_Sheldrake]

uh…

commondreams.org/headline/2014/04/18-8

ampedstatus.com/the-financial-oligarchy-reigns-democracys-death-spiral-from-greece-to-the-united-states/

nytimes.com/2011/11/04/opinion/oligarchy-american-style.html

motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/how-oligarchs-took-america

rt.com/usa/us-democracy-oligarchy-policy-512/

upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/04/16/The-US-is-not-a-democracy-but-an-oligarchy-study-concludes/2761397680051/

Ding-a-ling: Wake up time!

Good Afternoon Sochi: For the sake of public discourse, and in order that my replies might be viewed in light of that which they are in response to, it might be a good idea if you simply listed what points you took away from these articles. I will be happy to discuss that with you if you like.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[tabycat]

I’m not necessarily against gun ownership, but I think being “responsible” goes well beyond taking gun classes. It takes a certain individual who is highly disciplined and lacks anger, hatred, rage and severe mental illness. This does not only apply to the gun owner, but his household and personal environment as well, as family members or a friend may gain access to the gun and use it to kill themselves or some other family member. The high incidence of murder, suicides and accidental killings within the domestic settings is alarming, indeed. Gun ownership should not be a right so that any wacko can own one, but a privilege.

And I’m neither liberal or conservative.

LOVE!

So, I guess the gun lessons my dad gave me when little would not count as ‘gun classes’. One, thing who would decied an individual, and his/her household, personal environment, relatives and friends are without hated, rage,anger,or mental illness, and are highly disciplined??? As for gun ownership not being a right for any wacko. I do not think that the English thought we were ‘wackoes’ because we did not like to pay their taxes.

 

[rfournier103]

I’m sorry that I don’t have any stats to prove what I am about to say… I only have my own personal observations and opinions. That being said; I’d like to add my two cents…

Is it me, or has gun crime INCREASED over the decades? When my parents were young, guns of ALL kinds were easier to get (no background checks, and in many places no permits needed!); yet there were no (or far fewer) mass shootings. Why is it that now that guns are harder to get, gun crime has increased? Anyone…? (crickets chirping)

Also… I lived in Texas for two years and noticed that there weren’t very many shootings at all. I watched the news and read the paper and almost NEVER saw news about a shooting. Stabbings were through the roof, however. Why is that? (more crickets)

I live in Massachusetts (on the New Hampshire border) where guns are VERY hard to get; yet there are many more shootings in Massachusetts than in New Hampshire where guns are very EASY to get. Can anyone explain that? (yep! you guessed it: crickets)

Can anyone shoot down these Anti-Gun “Myths”? By the way… I get the pun about “shooting down” myths. Very clever.

Just remember: when every second counts - the police are only minutes away.

.

 

[LilyM]

A government with all the power never fails to abuse that power and ultimately do terrible things to it’s people. Why should I trust a man made institution to protect myself and my family 24/7? The power of the citizens (which one could argue comes from being armed) keeps the government in check… “People shouldn’t fear the government, the government should fear the people”. It’s the harsh reality of living in this world.

• A Catholic who owns an AR-15

You are way more likely, whether intentionally or accidentally, either to harm or be harmed by a family member or friend with that weapon than to suffer in any way by not having it.

 

[Robert_Sock]

You are way more likely, whether intentionally or accidentally, either to harm or be harmed by a family member or friend with that weapon than to suffer in any way by not having it.

And that is reality!

LOVE!

 

[Gary_Sheldrake]

I’m sorry that I don’t have any stats to prove what I am about to say… I only have my own personal observations and opinions. That being said; I’d like to add my two cents…

Is it me, or has gun crime INCREASED over the decades? When my parents were young, guns of ALL kinds were easier to get (no background checks, and in many places no permits needed!); yet there were no (or far fewer) mass shootings. Why is it that now that guns are harder to get, gun crime has increased? Anyone…? (crickets chirping)

Also… I lived in Texas for two years and noticed that there weren’t very many shootings at all. I watched the news and read the paper and almost NEVER saw news about a shooting. Stabbings were through the roof, however. Why is that? (more crickets)

I live in Massachusetts (on the New Hampshire border) where guns are VERY hard to get; yet there are many more shootings in Massachusetts than in New Hampshire where guns are very EASY to get. Can anyone explain that? (yep! you guessed it: crickets)

Can anyone shoot down these Anti-Gun “Myths”? By the way… I get the pun about “shooting down” myths. Very clever.

Just remember: when every second counts - the police are only minutes away.

.

Good Afternoon rfournier103.

Gun deaths per 100,000 residents, Massachusetts: 1.8

Gun deaths per 100,000 residents, Texas: 3.2

Gun ownership, Massachusetts: 12.6%

Gun ownership, Texas: 35.9%

Summary: Statistical positive skew showing a relationship between rate of gun ownership and gun related deaths in the two states you mentioned.

*Source: “Table 20: Murder by State, Types of Weapons, 2010”. Uniform Crime Reports. Crime in the U.S. 2010. FBI.

Thank you,
Gary

 

[Gary_Sheldrake]

Just remember: when every second counts - the police are only minutes away.
.

-The rescue squad is also minutes away when seconds count.

-Annual Deaths In the US from Heart disease: 597,689.
Source: Center for Disease Control.

-Annual deaths from murder in the US: 16,259
Source: Center for Disease Control.

-Gun enthusiasts like to say that guns are needed for their safety. Yet, your chances of dying from a heart attack are 17 times greater than from death from an attacker.

-Cost of home defibrillator: $1,099.99 from (Amazon.com)

-Cost of AK-47 $679.00 (from Atlantic Firearms)

So why do I see gun racks in the back of pick up trucks all over your home state of Texas, and no defibrillator racks? I have to conclude that people who want to play with guns either will throw any obfuscation they can at you to justify their position, or they don’t think things through before they post.

Thank you,
Gary

 

[tabycat]

Is it just AR-47s, all long guns (rifles, shotgons), hand guns or is it all guns that should be banned? I grow up around rifles (22’s) from the time I was born and, to hear it, somebody in my family should have been hurt or killed because of the ‘evil, nasty, shot-on-their-own’ guns. Oh by the way, I have lived in the North my whole life, so no ‘you Southerners with your gun racks in your pickups’ talk.

 

[Brendan]

So why do I see gun racks in the back of pick up trucks all over your home state of Texas, and no defibrillator racks? I have to conclude that people who want to play with guns either will throw any obfuscation they can at you to justify their position, or they don’t think things through before they post.

Thank you,
Gary

The guns are also sporting equipment. As I pointed out earlier, they have other useful purposes.

 

[Annie39]

Good Evening Shockerfan: The only compromise in that arrangement is the compromise of our convictions and our dignity, which are lost when we let the least among us set the standards of our behavior or to dictate the manner in which human affairs will be conducted. And that’s what we’re doing when we say that we will carry weapons so long as criminals carry them, or that we’ll lay them down when criminals do. Life holds no quarter for indolence born of cowardice, and leaving things as they are in regards to this issue is precisely that.

Thank you,
Gary

Gary, would you be willing to put a sign in your window that states “Gun free zone” that can clearly be seen by all passers by?

 

[Gary_Sheldrake]

Gary, would you be willing to put a sign in your window that states “Gun free zone” that can clearly be seen by all passers by?

Good Evening Annie: Sure! I have lots of friends and family who own guns. They don’t bring them near my house though, so the sign would not inform of anything new.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Robert_Sock]

-The rescue squad is also minutes away when seconds count.

-Annual Deaths In the US from Heart disease: 597,689.
Source: Center for Disease Control.

-Annual deaths from murder in the US: 16,259
Source: Center for Disease Control.

-Gun enthusiasts like to say that guns are needed for their safety. Yet, your chances of dying from a heart attack are 17 times greater than from death from an attacker.

-Cost of home defibrillator: $1,099.99 from (Amazon.com)

-Cost of AK-47 $679.00 (from Atlantic Firearms)

So why do I see gun racks in the back of pick up trucks all over your home state of Texas, and no defibrillator racks? I have to conclude that people who want to play with guns either will throw any obfuscation they can at you to justify their position, or they don’t think things through before they post.

Thank you,
Gary

Nice arguments, Gary!

 

[Annie39]

Good Evening Annie: Sure! I have lots of friends and family who own guns. They don’t bring them near my house though, so the sign would not inform of anything new.

Thanks,
Gary

I wouldn’t recommend it. It isn’t your friends and family who should concern you.

 

[Gary_Sheldrake]

Nice arguments, Gary!

Thank you Robert!

 

[rfournier103]

So why do I see gun racks in the back of pick up trucks all over your home state of Texas, and no defibrillator racks?

Thank you,
Gary

Texas is NOT my home state, Gary. If you read my post carefully, you’ll notice that I said that I lived in Texas for two years. Never said I was from there.

I am a die-hard New Englander who; except for those two years that I lived in Texas for work; has lived in the greater Boston area my entire life.

Thank YOU for reading so thoroughly, Gary.

Happy Easter.

 

[Gary_Sheldrake]

I wouldn’t recommend it. It isn’t your friends and family who should concern you.

Thank you for your concern Annie. If someone decides to hurt me because I am non-violent, then who is it that really gets hurt? I would have no problem with a sign. There is no escaping death, so I see little point in compromising my conscience over the fear of such things. As for friends and family, it’s a mater of principle about not having guns around. They also know my positions on participating in any cycle of violence, and without my ever mentioning it, many of my friends have followed my lead over time in becoming vegetarians. I have never recommended it to any of them.

 

[Gary_Sheldrake]

Texas is NOT my home state, Gary. If you read my post carefully, you’ll notice that I said that I lived in Texas for two years. Never said I was from there.

I am a die-hard New Englander who; except for those two years that I lived in Texas for work; has lived in the greater Boston area my entire life.

Thank YOU for reading so thoroughly, Gary.

Happy Easter.

My apologies for getting the chronology of your residency wrong. No slight was intended.

Happy Easter to you too Rfournier103.

 

[LongingSoul]

Originally Posted by Gary Sheldrake
Good Evening Annie: Sure! I have lots of friends and family who own guns. They don’t bring them near my house though, so the sign would not inform of anything new.

When criminals know that one group are unarmed and fair game ie. foreign internationals like Chris Lane… how does your government address that anomaly? Are we less human than Americans? Why don’t we have the right to be armed by virtue of our human right to armed self defense in a violent environment like the US?