Gun Control
Joe Bageant in his 2007 book, Deer Hunting with Jesus, has some pretty good quips to make on the topic of gun control.
“…when the left began to demonize gun owners in the 1960s, they not only were arrogant and insulting because they associated all gun owners with criminals but also were politically stupid.”
“Nearly twice as many people own guns as vote in this country – 41 million voters versus 70 million gun owners.”
“…more than 70 million responsible taxpaying Americans do own and enjoy more than 200 million guns. Doesn’t it seem more reasonable to take action to heal the social pathology that generates crime than to use gun control to blow another political toe off American liberalism during each election cycle?”
“Without a doubt, the left would do much better if it stopped yammering about guns and redirected that energy toward fair wages or health care.”
Cousin Jim and Cousin Bob at the gun range with their Ma.
“Approximately 200,000 women defend themselves against sexual abuse each year. The Carter Justice Department found that nationwide 32 % of more than 32,000″ rape attempts were successful, but only 3 % were successful “when a woman was armed with a gun or knife.”
This is still Joe Bageant talking. Wrighting. Deer Hunting for Jesus has a lot of great facts and figures. I’m just quoting and paraphrasing. Joe gets all the credit.
National Institute of Justice and GAO reports on firearms: “Citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year – or about 6,850 times a day…The majority of these citizens defend themselves by brandishing their weapons or firing a warning shot…Only two percent of civilian shootings involved an innocent person mistakenly identified as a criminal. By contrast, the error rate for the police officers is 11%.”
“Most liberal antigun advocates do not get off the city bus after working the second shift. Nor do they duck and dodge from street light to street light at 1 a.m. while dragging their laundry to the Doozy Duds, where they sit, usually alone, for an hour or so, fluorescently lit up behind the big plate-glass window like so much fresh meat on display, garnished with a promising purse or wallet, before they make the corner-to-corner run for home with their now-fragrant laundered waitress or fast-food uniforms. Barack Obama never did it. Hillary Clinton never did it. Most of white middle-class America doesn’t do it either. The on-the-ground value of the Second Amendment completely escapes them.”
“I have become deaf to the righteous wailing of the antigun intelligencia in the brownstones of Chelsea, most of whom would strap on a Glock pistol if lox and corned beef ran wild in Central Park.”