…and
Gun Facts For The Newly Uninformed
For
those of you who are new to the public debate about All Things Guns that has
sprung up since the Parkland, FL tragedy, this brief primer is for you whether
you are a mommy, daddy, guardian or teacher of school-age children. Most of
all, if you are a politician or reporter, this one has your name on it.
A basic Google search for
“guns” returns 299,000,000 results in 0.52 seconds. So why another gun article? The cacophony of stultifying
idiocy polluting media outlets via the Evening News, talk radio “commentary”,
wasting untold newsprint and bandwidth demands it. Never has the old saw, “He
only knows enough to be dangerous” been more evident than in the blatherings of
those who have swallowed whole the mistruths, half-truths and outright lies on
everything from “firearm terminology” to the “gun show loophole.” Indeed, many
of the spouting pundits hosing audiences with their indubitable certitude are
motivated by an evil political agenda that has been marinated in decades of gun
grabbing propaganda, fear mongering elitism. And worse. (See MSDNC’s “Morning Joe”)
Sadly,
strewing scary stuff stifles any rational discussion about guns. Anti-gun
groups are using “NRA!” as the new pejorative replacing “RACIST!” as their
trump card to shut down dangerously productive conversations. Claiming “we need
a public debate about guns” really means “STFU and do it my way!”
To navigate this swamp of
polluted palaver, here are just a few of the 372 Unadulterated Truths you can
memorize and deploy in next big argument at work or Chuck E. Cheese. They are
also suitable to Cut ‘N Paste or carve into other suitable persuasive materialsfor more formal
situations.
Note: the following assumes the
Reader knows the absolute minimum about guns, i.e., they go BANG! propelling a
projectile at Warp speed toward whatever lies immediately ahead. This is true
of rifles, pistols, and shotguns– also cannons, bazookas, mortars, RPG’s and
other weapons of destruction,”mass” or otherwise.
Let’s
get started
First, despite the MSM and
members of the phylum “moron” dedication to mislead you,
there is no such thing as “gun violence“. “Gun
violence” is code from the Aggressively Ignorant for “It’s not my fault; the
gun did it.” As an inanimate object, any firearm is no more intelligent
or self-actuating than a rock (an early ancestor). All firearms require some
level of participation from a human to function. This phase of the interface,
loosely described as “human intelligence”, is where problems begin.
Next, for purposes of
accuracy and sanity, you must understand once and for all time, the indelible,
incontrovertible difference between “Automatic” and “Semi-Automatic” firearms.
Simply put “automatic” is the defining function of the “machine gun” like the one
that did in Sean Connery in “The Untouchables“. One
pull of the trigger keeps the weapon firing until the trigger is released or
ammo runs out. “Semi-automatic” describes weapons requiring one trigger pull
for each “BANG!”. Period. This is all you need to know at this level. Further
details will either confuse you or turn you into an expert who embarrasses
their friends at parties by winning all the arguments. Refusal or inability to
comprehend this simple distinction qualifies you to be a Network TV News Reporterwhere ignoring such
technicalities are encouraged in order to keep the viewer petrified and even
more ignorant than the reporter.
Contrary to Media’s Favorite
Myth, fully automatic weapons (“machine guns”) are not illegal unless
acquired outside NFA requirements and regulations. With a
Federal Class III Special Occupational Tax license application, fingerprints,
pictures, license fee ($200) and hacking through additional red tape, you may
(after a typical 10-12 month “processing” period) receive the government’s
Permission Slip to take delivery of your very own “machine gun”. If this makes
your leg tingle, be advised there are a mountain of other regulations imposed
on the new Owner. If you live in one of the States that specifically
prohibit Class III weapons (CA, IL, NY, NJ, CT, RI, DE, IO, WA, DC, HI), you’ll
have to move. Be sure to check your Sate’s peculiar restrictions. Oh – FYI:
right this minute, a Colt M16A1 like mine is
currently available for $33,000. (Less expensive makes/models are
also available). Bottom Line Media Mythbuster: Full auto
firearm ownership is legal in the majority of these here United States.
Finally, there is no also
such thing as “the gun show loophole”. Like the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and
Ethical Politicians, it is just more liberal media effluvium. Depending on the
archaic, freedom-snuffing status of laws in your state or gulag, there are two
ways to purchase a firearm at a gun show: through an FFL licensed dealer or a
private citizen walking his Iver Johnson. The dealer will require you to
complete the BATFE form 4473 which requires your
answers to several mildly intrusive personal history questions, show some
state-approved picture ID and some accepted medium of exchange (FRNs, MC/VISA
or similar wampum). He will then call your info into the NICS
System. Assuming you are not a convicted felon or similarly
disqualifying lowlife, you will eventually be “approved” and off you go with
your newly acquired shootin’ iron. The Private Citizen transaction is
infinitely easier inasmuch as it is a simple negotiated exchange of Personal
Property: haggle the price with the seller, agree, pay, leave. State laws vary,
but even in the most lenient, it’s a damn good idea for Buyer and Seller to
show each other some form of picture ID. Be thoroughly familiar with State and
Local laws. The world is full of (insert profane noun here) and no principled
person wants to be party to a transaction that could have dire consequences of
any form. While there is no “gun show loophole”, there are always ways,
knowingly or not, to circumvent any law. Unless you’d like a tiny room with
metal doors, a lousy view and hangin’ out for a few years with some dude named
“No Ky”, best to be intimately familiar with them instead of him.
There
is a boatload of scary fairytales about guns floating around – usually on TV
around 6p and, even worse, 24/7 on Social Media. Do your homework. Avoid
becoming another brain-dead zombie, spouting clichéd, erroneous and terminal
dumbness. Like free speech, guns are as beneficial as they can be dangerous. Be
certain Intelligence is loaded before shooting mouth off. The Parkland shooting
has released a frenzy of adrenaline-fired, fact-challenged, politically
distorted, Freedom-killing propaganda. Know the truth – it just might keep us
free.
Brian
Wilson [send
him mail], nationally ignored talk show host and occasional LRC
un-indicted co-contributor, is currently taking a break from his daily
annoyance of miniscule audiences and concentrating his efforts on the Libertas
Media Project, a multi-media Internet news distribution and
discussion center from his technically challenged studios on the shores of
Smith Mountan Lake, Virginia.
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