Guns — Let’s Really Commit To Them.
In the 1970s when fictional sitcom redneck Archie Bunker proposed arming passengers as a way of ending the then all too common airplane hijackings, the live audience laughed uproariously. Some forty-three years later, people aren’t laughing any more (now they’re laughing at this) and there is a growing openness to the idea of people carrying guns around during everyday activities. The thinking is that:
- Criminals are deterred by the thought of deadly force being used by the common citizen and
- Mass shooters will be thwarted by armed ‘good guys’.
Statistics be damned, it’s a compelling thought that empowered citizens in exercising their Second Amendment rights can act as a force for good by their simple presence and if needed, within seconds; well before a police officer can be summoned.
As of January 1, 2016, Texas became the 44th State to allow licensed citizens the right to carry a loaded (holstered) gun around openly. Previously, Texas was a ‘concealed carry’ state. Other states will no doubt follow. The fact that gun crime is considerably higher in the United States than other Western countries is not seen as a failure of these new laws but rather, the limited adoption of citizen empowerment. There are a few states that stubbornly cling to the notion that more guns means more gun crime. Their elitist arrogance in using logic and statistical evidence to make their point simply reinforces the notion that facts aren’t as interesting as opinion. More alarmingly, there are holdouts in pro-gun states that stubbornly refuse to allow more widespread application of these new laws.
Every one of the Republican Presidential candidates is pro-gun. It’s part of the G.O.P. DNA so to speak. Ex-Canadian Ted Cruz has even boasted of cooking bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of a machine-gun and letting loose with a few rounds. Say what you like about his penis size; I’ll bet his breakfasts are fun events.
Anyway, I have an idea that seems so obvious that it’s hard to believe that no-one’s thought of it before. If the idea is that more guns provide more protection, then the last holdouts to open and concealed carry laws must be persuaded of guns’ merits and demonstrate that they mean what they say.
Some events come to mind that could be used to exemplify the merits of gun ownership: GOP debates and fundraisers. Astonishingly, participants and audience members are not permitted to ‘carry’ during many of these events. Surely organizers are failing to understand the need for a well-armed citizenry.
Well, it’s high time they did.
For too long, gun owners have been denied their Second Amendment right to defend themselves and others at these important gatherings. Let’s hope leadership by example is not just another empty phrase when it applies to responsible gun ownership and the logical implications of more guns.
Freedom!