My brother directed me to this Wall Street Journal article that I wish everyone, especially the extremes on each side of the gun debate, would thoughtfully read. Entitled "Why Our Gun Debate is Off Target," Dan Baum writes from the perspective of a gun enthusiast with a concealed carry permit who is also a self-described liberal Democrat. Baum castigates the "angry extremism" of the NRA and the insults to "gun culture" from the far left.
If we heard from rank-and-file gun owners like the ones Baum talked to, there would be a lot more understanding of the affinity the nation's 100 million gun owners have for guns - their history, workmanship, and the confidence-building effect of mastering them.
Baum stated that while gun owners dismiss the political left simply because of their "tribal antipathy to guns," gun owners have a lot to answer for in gun violence. I like how he boiled the argument down: "[B]oth sides of our "gun debate" can think no further than what government might do. Gun controllers call for more restrictive laws, gun guys gnash their teeth over same. Meanwhile, the single step that I believe would save the most lives wouldn't involve government at all." That step is to require guns and/or ammunition to be locked and/or separated. Baum described the safe he keeps his handgun in under his bed that pops it up toaster-style with a three-digit code. "Many gun guys use such safes," Baum said. "They just don't want to be told to use them."
The additional measure that would make gun control laws unneeded, Baum said, is for gun owners to "make unsafe gun behavior socially unacceptable, just as it has become unthinkable, among most Americans, to smoke inside another person's house or to make lascivious comments about underage girls." Baum suggests gun culture would change if, say, owners would not go shooting with others who don't secure their guns in their home or if they refused to patronize businesses who sold guns but not safes: "Little by little, shooters and gun stores would get the message, and the problem of unsecured guns—the main source of gun tragedy—would wither away"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324162304578304000178156938.html?mod=WSJ_myyahoo_module
If we heard from rank-and-file gun owners like the ones Baum talked to, there would be a lot more understanding of the affinity the nation's 100 million gun owners have for guns - their history, workmanship, and the confidence-building effect of mastering them.
Baum stated that while gun owners dismiss the political left simply because of their "tribal antipathy to guns," gun owners have a lot to answer for in gun violence. I like how he boiled the argument down: "[B]oth sides of our "gun debate" can think no further than what government might do. Gun controllers call for more restrictive laws, gun guys gnash their teeth over same. Meanwhile, the single step that I believe would save the most lives wouldn't involve government at all." That step is to require guns and/or ammunition to be locked and/or separated. Baum described the safe he keeps his handgun in under his bed that pops it up toaster-style with a three-digit code. "Many gun guys use such safes," Baum said. "They just don't want to be told to use them."
The additional measure that would make gun control laws unneeded, Baum said, is for gun owners to "make unsafe gun behavior socially unacceptable, just as it has become unthinkable, among most Americans, to smoke inside another person's house or to make lascivious comments about underage girls." Baum suggests gun culture would change if, say, owners would not go shooting with others who don't secure their guns in their home or if they refused to patronize businesses who sold guns but not safes: "Little by little, shooters and gun stores would get the message, and the problem of unsecured guns—the main source of gun tragedy—would wither away"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324162304578304000178156938.html?mod=WSJ_myyahoo_module
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