There's a lot of talk these days of "The Next Revolution" or "The next American Civil War" and, while I believe those days are very near and upon us, I do not believe it will be a war of guns and ammo. It will be a war of ideas and rhetoric.
We've already seen the beginning of it with the latest Assault Weapons Ban being proposed in the Senate. This new Assault Weapons Ban, among many other things, is essentially saying this: Law Abiding Gun Owners are Guilty until Proven Innocent. They are Criminals.
Don't believe me? Think I'm being hyperbolic? The new AWB (Assault Weapons Ban) imposes rules that require registration of all firearms with local law enforcement. What other group of people have to register with local law enforcement and maintain open channels of current residence?
- Child Molesters
- Rapists
- Murderers
- Parolees
So...now a law abiding gun owner has to be put on a national, and public, list along side men and women who sexually molest children? Are these people insane? In what way does that save lives?
93% of *ALL* firearms used to commit a crime in the United States of America, are ILLEGAL firearms. Meaning the person who used that firearm to commit a crime was not allowed to have it in the first place.
If the words mean nothing - let's try a pie graph
So. You see that light blue slice? That's the number of crimes committed with a firearm owned by a law abiding citizen. 7%. That's a might small piece of pie...let's put that into perspective.
If you go buy a large pizza from some place like Papa Johns, you're going to end up with 8 slices of pizza. Each piece of that pie represents 12.5% of the overall pie. The % of legal firearms used in crime is less than 1 piece of pizza in a size large. So, as we can see, so far the rationale seems to be that we can reduce that 7% to something less, by stripping tens of millions of other law abiding citizens of that right. So *maybe* it falls a few points? Maybe? But how many of those 7% were "non assault weapon" guns (we'll get to that term later) We don't know right now, i'm sure the data exists somewhere, but it's buried, and for me, completely irrelevant.
The AWB is saying "Lets not worry about the 93%, let's go after the 7% and take it down to 5"
So it's going in the face of common sense and the spirit of the law. They're taking the lazy minded way out of things...but why? Because, as I said earlier, this is a war of rhetoric and ideas. These people feel strongly about their ideas, and no amount of fact will change their mind - this is their cause, they feel it makes them important, and it'd be one hell of a trophy on their wall. The 2nd Amendment. Stripping guns by enforcing laws with guns. Doesn't sound very democratic.
But it doesn't end there. Let's look at this AWB a little closer.
The term "assault weapon" first off, is a pejorative. It's a politicians word. It doesn't mean anything.
There are "assault rifles". Those are the rifles that people typically envision when they hear the term "Assault Weapon".
But what's the difference you might ask? Well, the AWB sets out to ban anything that LOOKS like an assault rifle. They'll tell you "Assault Weapons are bad" and then talk about what an assault rifle can do, making you think something like an AR15 can do the same thing. It can't. Simply put.
You can read another article on this on Not A Blog if you're interested in more indepth detail about the difference between semi-auto and full-auto.
So, once again, we have a war of rhetoric. Intentionally false and misleading language to force a conclusion on uneducated minds. If this were about saving lives, why the need to lie and deceive?
That's because this isn't about saving lives. It can't be. If you look into the numbers yourself, you'll see why.
"Assault Weapons Ban" bans guns like the AR15, semi-auto AK47, pistol grips for shotguns, etc. It doesn't ban weapons used in most murder: Handguns. Cheap ones. So if this is about saving lives, why are we banning the weapons that are used to kill the LEAST number of people?
For a lot of the information we're going to go over, please reference the available chart. This is information taken directly from the FBI Crime reports available HERE.
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| Click Image to Enlarge |
Now, keep in mind, the FBI does not record data on "hunting rifle vs assault rifle" because they are smart enough to understand there isn't a difference. A rifle is a rifle. A handgun is a handgun. Only uneducated ignorant people believe otherwise. So lets start with the 20 year average.
In the 20 year span of 1991 to 2010, the United States had:
- An average population of 282,541
- An average # of murders totaling 16,728
Why is it not handguns? Handguns represent 67% of murder in the United States, according to the FBI. But, the AWB doesn't seek to ban those, just certain types. The very expensive types that common criminals don't use to commit crimes to begin with.
According to the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF for short) the most common firearm used in crime is a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver. A gun not on the ban list. Well, why not? It's used to kill more people than any other gun there is, according to the United States Government. I'll tell you why not. It's not a scary gun. Look at it.
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| Smith & Wesson .38 Revolver |
Don't get me wrong. I love that gun. In fact, I love all guns. Never met a gun I wouldn't love to own. But again, I submit, if this is about saving lives, why isn't the gun responsible for the most murders on the last of banned weapons in the latest AWB?
This one gun is responsible for more murder than all rifles combined. In fact, while we're comparing murder to rifles, lets take it a step further...
In that same 20 year time frame, 4 times as many people were murdered with a knife than any kind of rifle... No bans on knives are being proposed. You don't need a permit to own a knife, no matter how large or sharp. No matter how small and concealed.
In fact, more people died from a blunt object (baseball bat primarily) and pure brute force (beaten to death) than were murdered with a rifle in a 20 year span.
Yet...we're going after rifles. But not just any rifles. "Assault Weapon" rifles. Scary Black Rifles. We're going after rifles that *LOOK* like this
They both fire a round that looks like this
So, one version is banned, the other is not. Well...what about this rifle?
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| Weatherby Vanguard |
The 30-06 is a 180 grain bullet (compared to 55 from the 223). Where I come from, that's a much larger bullet.
Yet...nobody is banning that round. Well, why not? It's larger. A lot bigger. It's *THE* quint essential military round - it was used to destroy Nazi German in WWII. It's a nazi killer through and through...yet it's not being banned in the AWB. Just the 5.56 (.223) (Click here to read up the history of the 5.56 and why it's the NATO round of war)
So...we're not banning firearms used to kill people. We're not banning the biggest rounds with most power...then what are we banning?
We're banning the firearms seen in movies. Demonized by the media. We're banning firearms that are easy to ban because they're easy to manipulate images of in the minds of uneducated, irresponsible, apathetic masses.
If this were about saving lives, we'd be looking at an all encompassing piece of legislation that looked at stiffer penalties for criminals. While I would not support it, we would be looking at a piece of legislation to outlaw the .38 revolver. It wouldn't be about disarming citizens, it would be about deterring common criminals from ever wanting to commit a crime.
There are many FACTS to be discussed, but one stands above them all - The more law abiding citizens in an area that are armed, the less crime. That is a fact that simply cannot be argued with - AT ALL. If you're interested in some other Facts - you can click HERE. And don't worry - they're all backed up with evidence. This isn't the Main Stream Media. I actually source my information with official and credible sources.
But lets pretend for a moment, for arguments sake, that rifles were the problem. We have something in our nations history to compare this to. The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban which was, if you didn't know, written by the same person. Senator Feinstine of California.
The 1994 AWB (commonly referred to as the Clinton AWB) spanned from 1994 to 2004. Here's some information about the time frame during the AWB, and the time frame, so far, afterwards
So DURING the last Assault Weapons Ban, an average of 557 people were killed with a rifle. In the years after the AWB expired, an average of 404 people were killed with a rifle. So an average of 153 more people were murdered, every year, during the time frame in which assault weapons were banned, than in the years after the ban expired.
Can someone please explain that? An AWB didn't work last time, and even according to the Government its self, the AWB did nothing and banning hi-capacity magazines did NOTHING. You can read more on that HERE.
And in case you're wondering why did I include "Automobiles" in this graph...if this is about saving lives, where is the ban on cars going over 55 mph? Twice as many die, every year, from automobiles, than firearms. Let's discuss facts and not emotion.
All of that is why the next Civil War will be a war of rhetoric. A War of Words. Not of bullets. The enemy has fired the first shot, how will YOU respond?
For all of our incompetent citizens, The United States of America has still evolved beyond the need for the next war to be made of gunpowder and lead. Like Modern Warfare, results are really decided more by the swipe of an ink pen, than a firing pin.
BUT! What does all of this mean? Why am I ranting about this? Well, to me anyways, it's simple. It's time we all got off of our asses and did something. It's time we stopped holding our beliefs close to our chest in fear that we might offend some freedom hating heathen.
It's time we fought back with knowledge and education, fact over fiction, and it's time we stopped giving up so easily simply because the other side refuses to immediately acknowledge that they are wrong.
This is a war of ideals. Ideals are not changed over night. The other side has learned this long ago, and long ago, they planted the seeds that they are beginning to reap today. Our tactics must be no different. Our tactics must be of equal longevity and patience, and we must not give in, we must not give up.
When you hear something you disagree with - speak your mind. When you hear someone spreading nonsense, step in with common sense and reason. Read up on statistics. Stay informed with current events. Know what's going on in your Government, and for GOD SAKES, stop watching main stream media. Be informed, stay informed, and question EVERYTHING. It's a long winded process, to stay up on things, but if hte other side is willing to do it, and we aren't, they win, and we lose our rights.
So ask yourself, what's more important? Not pissing your boss off on Facebook by posting your opinions of modern events? Or planting a seed in the mind of your friends and family that might one day grow into an idea.
The next American Civil War will be decided on a battle field of the mind. We have the upper hand, since long ago the opposing side has lost their damned minds, but they're in more vocal numbers than we are right now, and only *WE* can take it back.
The answers are all out there for those who want to seek them. You might not have all of the answers at your disposal right now, but as long as you proceed knowing that the answers are there, and that facts side with the 2nd Amendment, then finding them becomes much easier, and supporting them becomes 2nd Nature. It takes effort to fight this war of rhetoric, and the side with more effort will be the one who wins.
People like us *ARE* the silent majority. It's time we stopped being silent. It's time we started being PROACTIVE instead of REACTIVE, and it's time we started taking our country back.
If you take nothing else into battle with you - take this:
You are going up against a truly disgusting human being. One of truly infantile logic. Take with you the arsenal needed to convey truth and information to them. Seek to educate and inform them, instead of yell them down and make them out to be the fools that they are.
Speak to them in their own language. You can start with this, written in the medium of their choosing. A message so simple even a gun grabber like Obama & Feinstine can understand it...written in crayon. Shall not be infringed. Doesn't get any simpler than that.
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| ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ |
