Positive gun article

[Metz]

Well, here it is:

How do we reduce gun crime and Aurora-style mass shootings when Americans already own nearly 300 million firearms? Maybe by allowing more people to carry them.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...ngle_page=true


It does have quite few facepalm moments (like when the author "sees no reason" for drum magazines being needed by civilians), but overall - not bad.

[internet troll]

Nice article that tries to show both sides of the issue with an emphasis on the pro gun part. I think that the article shows that anti's arguments are more emotional than thoughtful. A few parts that stuck out to me.

"Mauser expresses disbelief that the number of gun deaths fails to shock. He blames the American attachment to guns on ignorance, and on immaturity. “We’re a pretty new nation,” he told me. “We’re still at the stage of rebellious teenager, and we don’t like it when the government tells us what to do. People don’t trust government to do what’s right. They are very attracted to the idea of a nation of individuals, so they don’t think about what’s good for the collective.”


No shit people don't trust the government to do what's right. History is littered with the bodies of those who did.


Mauser said that if the United States were as mature as the countries of Europe, where strict gun control is the norm, the federal government would have a much easier time curtailing the average citizen’s access to weapons. “The people themselves would understand that having guns around puts them in more danger.”

Gee, I guess I am just to dense to understand what he in his enlightened state, sees so clearly. In his view we are ALL a bunch of short sighted ignorant savages. How pompous can you get?

"Gilchrist said he did not know the exact statistics on gun-related incidents (or on incidents concerning concealed-carry permit holders specifically, because the state keeps the names of permit holders confidential). He says, however, that he tracks gun usage anecdotally. “You can look in the newspaper. I consciously look for stories that deal with guns. There are more and more articles in The Columbus Dispatch about people using guns inappropriately.”

Really???? based on glancing at the papers you have come to the conclusion that there is more gun violence than before people were allowed to CC. How very scientific. NOT. I like reading things like this by anti's because it shows others just how ridiculous they can sound.

"Today, the number of concealed-carry permits is the highest it’s ever been, at 8 million, and the homicide rate is the lowest it’s been in four decades—less than half what it was 20 years ago. (The number of people allowed to carry concealed weapons is actually considerably higher than 8 million, because residents of Vermont, Wyoming, Arizona, Alaska, and parts of Montana do not need government permission to carry their personal firearms. These states have what Second Amendment absolutists refer to as “constitutional carry,” meaning, in essence, that the Second Amendment is their permit.)"

But the news papers are focusing more on gun violence according to the guy above meaning there must be more gun violence, so how can these facts be real?

But even some moderate gun-control activists, such as Dan Gross, have trouble accepting that guns in private hands can work effectively to counteract violence. When I asked him the question I posed to Stephen Barton and Tom Mauser—would you, at a moment when a stranger is shooting at you, prefer to have a gun, or not?—he answered by saying, “This is the conversation the gun lobby wants you to be having.”

Of course this is a conversation the gun lobby wants to have, it makes sense. Way to deflect the question.

[Statkowski]

Mauser said that if the United States were as mature as the countries of Europe, where strict gun control is the norm, the federal government would have a much easier time curtailing the average citizen’s access to weapons. “The people themselves would understand that having guns around puts them in more danger.”

Okay, Mr. Mauser, if we're not as "mature" as the countries of Europe, then why is it we have less violent crime (according to U.N. figures) and far fewer anti-government protests (as in calling out the Riot Police)?

With all the firearms possessed by Americans, could you imagine a European-style "protest" here?

[Metz]

Okay, Mr. Mauser, if we're not as "mature" as the countries of Europe...

Not to mention, how come (being all young and immature) we managed to avoid countless dictatorships in the past 200+ years, that claimed over hundred millions of lives in "mature and educated" Europe during very same period of time?