MSNBC has never been known as a bastion of logic-based argument and debate when it comes to gun control. In fact, they’re usually the ones who spout the most inaccuracies and false analogies when it comes to firearms in order to get their pro-gun control agenda out there. I found one such video over on Reddit, and figured it would be entertaining to tear down Ari Melber’s anti-gun rant point by point. Join me, won’t you? . . .

Ari opens his rant by pointing out that the remaining Boston bomber is charged with using explosives, and that it’s therefore logical that those devices should be regulated. According to Ari . . .

“That’s because there’s basically no legitimate private way to use a bomb. You can’t protect your home with an explosive unless you’re willing to blow up the whole house.”

I’m going to have to stop you right there, Ari. Obviously you’ve never tried to remove a hundred year old tree stump from your field to allow you to plow it, or heard of this cool thing called “explosion welding” that’s really useful in manufacturing. There are, indeed, legitimate uses for explosives in private hands. Ari’s just ignoring them to make his point, and depending on what that point is, I’m willing to give him a little latitude. What, exactly, is that point again?

“That’s why Congress has criminalized explosives. In 1994 it even bulked up the penalties for violent crimes committed with explosives. […] The justice system weighs the danger and motive associated with a given weapon. Explosives are illegal because they’re weapons for attack, not defense. They are designed and operated to assault, not defend. In plain English, they’re ‘assault weapons’. So I’m going to take a leap here and discuss how we should regulate similar weapons.”

Wait, did he just equate bombs with firearms? Trying to hijack the raw emotions that are flowing after the Boston bombings and directing them towards gun control instead, are we? OK, let’s take a walk down that road. What’s your main argument, Ari?

“Each of the characteristics I just discussed apply to the military style weapons that most democracies ban, like machine guns, m320 grenade launchers, and yes, AR-15s.”

See, now I really need to stop you. Let me debunk that claim right now. You say that an AR-15 is a weapon for “attack, not defense.” And yet just about every day, we see headlines like these:

I could keep going. I really could, but there goes Ari’s statement that AR-15s are only ever used to attack, and I haven’t even left the first page of Google results. The truth is that an AR-15 works wonderfully as a self defense firearm, and there are literally hundreds of examples of their being used to save lives every year. Just ask the thousands of police officers who carry an AR-15 in the trunks of their patrol cars. And the millions of Americans who have them by their night tables in case something goes bump in the night.

Just because you haven’t taken the time to actually research your opinions doesn’t make them right, Ari.

As for machine guns and M320 grenade launchers, I’d like to remind you that those items are already regulated by the BATFE. Heavily. And since 1994, there has not been one single use of a legally owned machine gun or grenade launcher in the commission of a crime. So in reality, all Ari is trying to do is scare his listeners into believing that these “dangerous and scary” weapons are out there on the streets and in criminals’ hands. Not to mention associating them with the common, legal and widely-used AR-15, despite the facts. Pretty underhanded there, Ari.

“These weapons, like bombs, don’t belong on the streets because there are no legitimate uses for them.”

watertown-gun-aimed-at-photogrphaer-923495_10200611106256641_1972215990_n

…unless they’re in the hands of the police, eh Ari?

 “And just like with explosives, they sacrifice precision for maximum impact.”

So you believe that the AR-15 platform is inaccurate? Is that why the U.S. military uses them (in the form of the M110 SASS) for their scout sniper teams…because they sacrifice precision for maximum impact? Or why police officers carry them, because police don’t care about firing stray rounds into crowds?

What we have here is another example of a typical gun control advocate not taking a couple of seconds to think about their position before they open their yaps. Police officers carry AR-15 rifles because they are accurate and reliable. In fact, the AR-15 platform is the cheapest and most accurate semi-automatic firearm you can buy.

What makes his statement even more nonsensical is that he claims the AR-15 sacrifices “precision for maximum impact,” when anyone who has studied the ballistics and history of the rifle knows that the exact opposite is true. The smaller projectile of the AR-15 was specifically designed to give better accuracy at long distances. That was a fundamental design requirement of the military who was still in love with the idea of the “American Rifleman” being able to shoot long distance targets on battlefields. That smaller projectile has actually been criticized lately by our troops for actually being too underpowered for today’s battlefield.

In short, our own troops think that the AR-15 is underpowered, not a “high powered killing machine.” Those would be the people with the most experience in this particular area, Ari. Just thought I’d point that out.

But Ari’s unencumbered by the facts. Ari cares about emotion. He’s trying to confuse his audience into thinking that the AR-15 is an evil firearm by its very nature, and that if we ban them all, the ills of the world will go away. But I’m not buying it.

He finishes off with that favorite old chestnut:

“You don’t need an AR-15 to hunt, and no responsible gun owner wants an AR-15 to repel intruders from their apartment.”

I have some bad news for you there. I hunt with an AR-15. And I know thousands of other Americans that use their ARs for hunting. Remington even sells an entire line of AR-15 rifles (they call them the R-15) that are specifically intended for hunting. The truth, Ari, is that the AR-15 is quite possibly the greatest hunting rifle since the Remington Model 700 came on the scene. And especially in Texas, where we have something of a hog problem, an AR-15 is pretty much required if you actually want to keep the little porkers under control.

As for stating what a “responsible gun owner” would or wouldn’t want, I don’t think you’re really in a position to make that judgement. Especially since the AR-15 has become the most popular rifle on the market in the United States. I’d say that those millions of responsible gun owners disagree with your analysis there, bub.

“But as we all know, AR-15s provide a fast killing machine for murderers. They were used to mow down the kids in Newtown. And to murder people at that movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Now, we’re going to hear a lot about security after Boston. And when we talk about public safety, to me, bombs and assault weapons are pretty much the same.”

They might be pretty much the same in your mind, but reality says otherwise. You can be as scared as you want of the creepy-looking evil black rifle, but those nagging little things called “facts” don’t agree with you.

Ari sees the AR-15 only in terms of mass murders. I’m sure if he only saw cars in terms of traffic accidents, he’d want to treat them the same way. But by willfully ignoring the benefits of the AR, and not doing any research into how the gun actually works, he shows exactly how much little he really know about this subject.

“So don’t let the NRA or their friends in DC tell you any differently.”

In other words, believe only the propaganda and lies we feed you. Don’t try to check any facts for yourself. Because we’re on the TV, therefore we’re telling you the truth.

Ari Melber lied on MSNBC. He used the standard civilian disarmer talking points without bothering to do any fact checking, and spouted off the standard lies about the AR-15 that are designed to elicit an emotional response. Trying to actually present a logical argument for banning these firearms was just too burdensome. Yeah, that doesn’t fly with me.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

64 COMMENTS

  2. MSNBC is nothing more than a telethon for the Democrat party, broadcasting lies 24/7/365. I’d rather shave my eyeballs than watch a second of it.

  3. M320’s? This guy has been playing too much Battlefield 3…I dont think M320’s are available for commercial purchase

    By the way, wtf is “Maximum Impact”? sounds like a cheesy action movie…again stupid people making stupid comments on shit they dont know about…

    • Actually I have two post samples that I got with an LE love letter….but I have an SOT tax stamp with my FFL.

      • So me not being an LE would prohibit me from buying it? What about a maxium impact? Is there a stamp for that? LOL

  4. Millions of people
    Laid down their own good money
    For useless rifles?

    I know the Gun Grabbers think they are smarter than everybody else, but do they think that millions of experienced gun users are so stupid that they would buy inaccurate weapons not at all suited to the purpose for which it is to be employed? Of do they think that everybody who buys an AR-15 intends to use it to massacre school-children?

    Maybe it is the best rifle for certain jobs, and the fact that it dominates the market reflects that reality.

    • I think they believe that the AR-15 has a certain demonic power over good, law-abiding people that possesses their very soul. You know, kinda like the stuff we see in horror films. Gun grabbers think that stuff really happens.

      • You never watched the 1983 movie “Christine”.
        .
        If cars can be animated into evil beings, so can GUNS! Evil guns! They can take over one’s soul. They can make good people do bad things.
        .
        all guns are bad! All Guns Are Bad!! ALL GUNS ARE BAD!!!

    • It’s people like that who wants the law abiding people to be victims and be at the mercy of their criminal, psycho and terrorist scum friends, like here in the USSK. Us law abiding sheep,serfs and slaves have been made totally defenceless and been left with no means to defend ourselves with the threat of prosecution and jail time for the “crime of defending themselves, while the ruling elite can have the benefit of armed protection and our pathetic excuse of a justice system mollycoddles and protects the criminal scumbags. Where guns and self defence is outlawed, only the outlaws have guns.

  5. That’s because there’s basically no legitimate private way to use a bomb.

    See also: Mining, construction & demolitions, seismic reflection surveys, avalanche control…

  6. More interesting is the near universal anti gun sentiment of US Jews. The lessons of totalitarianism and complete gun control go right over their heads, although they would be the first to decry Hitler’s actions.

    70% of US Jews who voted voted for Obama, a man who despises Israel and supports muslims at every chance.

    The biggest problem the RKBA crowd faces is the bulk of US Jews, who are so conflicted and removed from history they no longer make any sense at all. And no, I am not “anti semitic” LOL! Read my name carefully!

    • I guess you could be anti-Semitic if you really, really hated yourself…

      But seriously, I think a lot of these anti-gun people do hate themselves. They’ve been brainwashed into thinking that all violence is evil. Since all violence is inherently evil, the very thought of violence is evil, and since no one can suppress every violent impulse, everyone is beset by hidden evil. They can’t admit that violence is an inherent attribute of humanity (counterbalanced by the ability to exercise reason and restraint). They spend so much time trying to eradicate violence from themselves and everyone else that they’re obsessed by it. They become self-loathing slaves to the very thing they hate.

    • What is up with the whole “muslims are eviiiiil demon childreb from Kenya sent to destroy our country” theme? I mean I and my neighbours and family must be lousy muslims since we only killed people trying to kill us.

      • Maybe the fact that radical muslims have adopted jihad and are currently engaged in terror attacks worldwide?

        The FBI is watching the Southern Baptists but I cannot think of one terrorist act by Baptists in the last 20 years. Maybe I missed it. Oh, Tim McVeigh doesnt count, since his attack was politically motivated, not religiously motivated.

        Name one other religion that is at constant war with all the other religions in the world right now.

        We need to quit acting like Islam is a religion of peace, when a sizeable portion of its adherents are at war with every non muslim infidel on the planet.

        • There is radical muslims just like with other religions. Just google “christian terrorism” and you will find it on Wikipedia, you will also find a page on Jewish Terrorism. So dont pin this only on muslims, main difference is that the news wont mention christian or jewish terrorism.

        • “. . . when a sizeable portion of its adherents are at war with every non Muslim infidel on the planet. . .”
          .
          . . .When a sizeable portion of its adherents are at war with every other Muslim sect and non Muslim infidel on the planet. . .”
          .
          There. Fixed it for ya!
          .

        • Weelll… now that most gubmints are secular, there’s not so much thumb-screwing, branding, whipping, hanging, drowning, imprisonment, rape, confiscation of assets, burning at the stake and wholesale extermination of “heretics” (viz. infidels) as there used to be, but as a practicing Heathen of Jewish and Native American descent, I do not particularly trust Christians not to come after me and mine at some point, “for the good of our souls.”

          By the way, best not use the word Crusade in reference to our actions against Al Queda, the Taliban et cetera. As the folks who had their ancestors killed and sometimes eaten (look it up) by Crusaders, “they” don’t particularly like that word.

          What one has to realize is that it’s not an us vs. Islam thing; it’s civilization vs. barbarism. Or Berberism… 😉

          Turkey is Muslim. It’s also secular, and was the heart of the Byzantine empire. They’ve had female leaders and everything. Why? Because they’ve been civilized for five times as long as the U.S. has existed.

          Our enemies “over there” are two steps removed from being warring tribes.

          They are, with their religion, like the French Catholics slaughtering the Huguenots, Albigensians and what have you. Or the Irish chucking bombs at one another. Or the Serbs killing Muslims for fun and profit. Or half of Africa eating itself. Or the old saw that it’s alright to kill unconverted injuns.

          What was that about warlike religions, again…?

    • There is also a big difference between secular humanistic atheist and religious Jews. The former are quite damaging to the world.

  9. “Explosives are illegal because they’re weapons for attack, not defense.”

    I’m over here, enemy is over there. I want to keep the enemy from attacking me over here. Hey – why don’t I bury some explosives in the ground so that in case the enemy attacks, he blows up real good?

    Sure sounds like a defensive use of explosives.

    • He was thinking about Muslim extremists, dontcha know. They have this penchant for, yep, strapping bombs onto themselves and killing infidels for Allah. Of course.

      James Holmes: no bomb
      Jared Loughner: no bomb
      Adam Lanza: no bomb
      Nidal Hasan: no bomb

      So Nidal was a Muslim f*ck, but the other fellas were just plain batsh*t crazy.

  10. So since Ari is on MSNBC, I am sure he is very pro choice and for women’s reproductive “rights”- well, here ya go:

    “You don’t need a dildo to have sex, and no responsible female wants a dildo to have sex in their apartment.” See what I did there – I fixed it. I am sure Ari would tell a woman being raped just vomit, pee on themselves, or say you are on your period to convince the rapist to stop. I know – men should just be taught not to rape. that will fix it. or . . . if Ari really does believe a woman has a right to control her body, what better way than to be able to defend when the police are only minutes away?

    just saying.

  11. When I hear crap like this, I wonder: Do these people have children?
    Should adults at this level of willful ignorance even be allowed to procreate?
    What are these monuments to misinformation teaching their own children?

    Opinions based on objective facts are at the heart of an honest discussion,
    whereas subjective assumptions are only there to stifle honest discussion.
    I wonder if people like this think the AR in AR-15, stands for assault rifle.
    It wouldn’t surprise me.

    • I just took a very unscientific poll: 17 in 20 said assault rifle; one said automatic rifle and two said Armalite.

      I just took this “poll” in a suburban grocery store, rather than in the country.

      Still I weep for the children, that I leave them such a world.

      • Nice work, I may try this on my college campus. Only have a few days though before the semester is up.

  12. The more I read the “reasoning’ of gun grabbers, the more I see it as not just being in denial or delusional; but more as outright insanity.

  13. Last time I looked a claymore is a purely defensive explosive device, so are mines.

    These Chechen terrorists created their own explosives from mostly unregulated benign materials. No connection to a grenade, or dynamite at all. He might as well be trying to regulate shivs in prison.

  14. He could have shortened up that whole rant down to “I’m an ignorant tool. Thank you and goodnight.”

  15. Very good dissection Nick, you covered and countered every point with reason and reality. We need more of this, every day all the time.

        • Why not both?

          I’m old enough to remember seeing Dio’s album on the shelves, and that song helped suck me into the world of metal (from which there is no return). It’s genius. Iconic. I also love how the Killswitch Engage cover brings modern production and huge guitars to the front. The vocals can’t hold a candle to Dio (sorry), but it’s an epic homage to a great song. I think I know what’s going to be playing on my drive home tonight…

  17. Just another ignorant Phuck that shouldn’t be speaking at all about firearms nor anything firearms related.

  18. I’ll make leftists a deal. A real compromise I think we can all get behind.

    I’ll agree to universal background checks and training requirements for carry.

    If they’ll agree that in order to be eligible to vote, one must have a background check to determine citizen status, and must take and pass a comprehensive course on the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and American history, taught by the SAF.

    Same thing, right? Both are rights that demand personal responsibility. The difference is that the misuse of a vote results in a much more catastrophic outcome than misuse of a gun.

    Perhaps forcing people to actually understand the founding principles of their nation would result in fewer morons like Ari and his ilk.

  19. knowingly spouting b.s. should be punishable by public humiliation in the stocks & pies in the face

  20. Just thought to mention that reportedly in Aurora less than 30 rounds were fired from the AR-15, because the drum mag jammed. He then went thru at least three magazines on his .40 Glock 22 (he had nine more magazines for the Glock).

  22. My guess is that Ari was kicked off the debate team and that is how he ended up on MSNBC. One requires logic the other does not.

  23. I do not, in fact, want an AR-15 to defend my home. I have an AK-47 and an AK-74 for that. Personal preference.

  24. I’m glad my AR isn’t black. Eeeevil Flat Dark Earth Rifle doesn’t roll off the tongue the same way. If it were black, there is no doubt in my mind that many, many terrible things would have been perpetrated by it already. As it is in its FDE configuration, all it does is sit around and sing Kumbayah. Thank the heavens, crisis averted.

  25. sorry Nick. I don’t believe a word you say. My tinfoil hat doesn’t tune into “gun nut”.

    BWAHAHAHAHA I kill me.

    p.s. We should be on a single purpose mission to put Microsoft and NBC out of business.

  26. Y’all are preaching to the choir, y’know. You guys already know this stuff. Why not send him an email correcting his warped, factless, biased opinions? I did. Sent him right to this page. Hope he reads it.

  27. Explosive materials have no legitimate use? I sure hope that Ari Melber never stops by my garage, where I have a couple of steel cabinets holding an assortment of chemicals that could be turned into dandy explosives, incindiaries, or toxins with just a couple hours’ work.

    People who want to tightly regulate such materials generally failed their high-school Chemistry classes.

  28. The biggest point missed here is that these two terrorist made bombs from materials that were legally available. It’s not like they stole or bought grenades or components to build a bomb. They simply made a destructive device with the materials that were available to them. So in essence his jump from assault rifles to assault bombs has no merit whatsoever.

  29. “and no responsible gun owner wants an AR-15 to repel intruders from their apartment” . . . no true scotsman. I wish someone somewhere in front of a camera will put these two words together: “question” and “begging”.

  30. It’s photos like the one above–an ordinary, innocent citizen snapping a photo (legitimately, so) of officers finding himself at the end of a barrel–that ought to convince Americans that he 2A is necessary, and here to stay.

    I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: this event proved that Boston isn’t the city it was in 1776…and that’s no compliment.

  32. Hey nick send a few of those hogs (not the ones from the bar last night) to nj. I’m betting after a few people get attacked by the massive hogs we would breed (we get some massive deer that leave shits bigger than an english mastif does in the rich rural neighborhoods) the dems would start changing their tune.

  33. I did not know AR’s blew up? If they do, then they should be banned.
    Stupid effing libtard. Trying to outlaw semiautomatic guns is insane.

  34. One summer, I did a stint installing above-ground pools.

    I’d make a sale, get me down to the L.A. dockside vendors, plunk down $2000 for a pool, hire six or eight casual laborers to help install it, pay ’em well and at the end the day pocket $1500 or so for a day of toil.

    In Sun City, California, the ground hasn’t seen a drop of rain since before someone invented the wheel. It’s very hard stuff, and even a Bobcat can’t grade it. On my first job there, I lost money because I had to pay a professional to smooth a patch for the pool.

    The next time, I showed up with fifteen pipe bombs and a motorized auger. An hour after I started there was this horrendous BOOM and the whole area looked as though God had roto-tilled it.

    These were crude IEDs – two feet of 1″ gas pipe, 4F black powder and a camera-flash bulb for an igniter.

    Five minutes later, the cops showed. Following explanations we all had a good laugh, and I promised to give ’em a heads-up the next time I planned to blast.

    This was in the PRK of all places, about a quarter century ago.

    Um… He’s wrong about bombs in private hands.

  35. I left a message on his FaceBook page politely offering to explain how he was factually incorrect in every particular. Oddly, I have received no response yet… 8>)

  36. I live in Colorado which has no shortage of mining claims much of it for gold. For at least a century anyone with a claim will usually use dynamite to blast the surface of the claim for samples of minerals to assay.
    If this nitwit had his way and could ban explosives he would have one of the most powerful explosives on his list which is natural gas, right? Then there is gasoline, propane, butane, grain silo dust… Perhaps he would just wish to ban an ingredient which is common to all explosives being successful: oxygen.
    Perhaps I am being a bit lax in my science and physics but hey, why get “technical” when “emotional” is synonymous with “fact” or so it seems.
    I am always compelled to not believe anyone who speaks extensively about something they have not handled or experienced and/or appears on news programs. Hillary said she hunted ducks with her rifle all the time!

Comments are closed.