“They’ll show us how to break the rules
But never how to make the rules
Reduce us down to witless punks
Fascist cries both black and white,
Who’s got the blood, who’s got the gun?”–David Bowie
If you pay attention for long enough you will notice patterns in gun legislation. There are fear ads released every time a Democrat is in the White House. He is coming after your guns. It doesn’t matter who “he” is. It could be Obama. It could be Biden. It could be Clinton. It could be Carter. All we know is that “he” is coming after your guns. I can only imagine how bad it will be when we finally have a “she” in the top spot.
Predictably, Texas is moving forward with legislation to protect the rights of gun owners. The urgency is apparently there because of what Biden is destined to do. Of course, Carter was destined to do it and it didn’t happen. Clinton was destined to do it and it didn’t happen. Obama was destined to do it and it didn’t happen. Anyone noticing a pattern?
Let’s ignore the fact that we are ignoring problems with the power grid, infrastructure, and education. That’s par for the course. Let’s take a look at the issue at hand. Let’s look at gun violence and crime statistics throughout the world and see how we stack up.
According to 2019 data we aren’t the deadliest country in the world in regards to guns. Amazingly, most of the countries ahead of us exist south of us. They include Mexico, Central America, South America, and some of the Caribbean islands. The notable exceptions include the Philippines and Iraq.
When you compare the data with most of Europe and Asia there is no comparison. Those countries are much safer in terms of gun violence. Those nations are safer overall as well. Naturally, there are tons of factors involved here and gun control laws are only a part of it, but it’s high time that we consider the logic of it.
According to known statistics, there are approximately 120 guns per 100 citizens in the United States. Let’s let that sink in for a moment. That is nearly twice as much as the second place country. That’s more than one gun per person. Why in the holy hell do we need more guns? Why do we want to make it easier for people to own guns? How does this make sense? How in the world does this make us safer?
Yet, that is the direction the legislature is going in. I already thought that conceal carry and open carry were the dumbest things I had ever heard. Now, they are doubling down on stupid. Now, they want to allow open carry and conceal carry without a license. I would love to know how that makes us safer.
If I were to invoke logic I would point out that legislation is only wise if you can successfully argue that it makes our lives better. Some would argue that it won’t make our lives worse. Even if you can successfully make that argument (you can’t) you should not be spending valuable time and resources on action that will not have a positive or negative effect.
Government should only act to make the lives of its citizens better. How does this make their lives better? The concept of guns being somehow limited is out the window. No one is coming for your guns. We simply want to take a moment to determine who should have a gun. If you should then there’s no harm in waiting or in barring you from walking around like you’re Wyatt Earp.
halloffameindex 