“Imagine this scene: Some of the Founding Fathers are sitting around the barbecue drinking wine and beer and eating chicken wings while some civilian is giving them a demonstration of the firepower of the AR-15,” Lawrence Goldman writes at ydr.com. “Next up is the M107 .50 caliber sniper’s rifle, and it is destroying targets at over a mile away. Then they get the Uzi 9 mm submachine gun, which can fire 600 rounds per minute. Are they impressed? You betcha!” But not in the way that you or I might imagine — at least according to Mr. Goldman . . .
They would all probably keel over and drop dead of a heart attack upon hearing that any American citizen who has not committed a serious crime can own one of these weapons legally and those with criminal records could acquire them through the black/gray market.
Who knew that an Uzi sub machine gun was so readily available to an American citizen on the “black/gray market”? Mr. Goldman, apparently. Of course, the only proper response to that demonstrably false assertion is “pity it isn’t true.” But the truth about guns — and gun rights as guaranteed by the Constitution — isn’t on the menu here . . .
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Now, to anyone with half a brain, this line should be interpreted as that the only people who should own weapons are those who participate in formal state-regulated militias like the Pennsylvania State Guard. Do you think that this is what the Founding Fathers had in mind? Well, duh.
Formally trained people are the only ones who should own firearms (like those who participate in the Pennsylvania Guard). Anyone who believes that their weapon is going to protect their home from criminals is living a TV fantasy. The vast majority of civilians will freeze the moment they are faced with a dangerous situation. Those people who are walking around with concealed carry permits are just plain ignorant. They will be slow on the draw and dead before their weapon even leaves its hiding place.
Unless they’re not. According to the lowest known scientific estimate of annual defensive gun uses, tens of thousands weren’t. But we shouldn’t expect Mr. Goldman to know this, or the fact that the United States Supreme Court’s McDonald decision recognized/enshrined Americans’ individual right to keep and bear arms.
In Mr. Goldman’s opinion, American gun rights aren’t about individual citizens protecting themselves from government tyranny . . .
It’s all about the money. If weapons didn’t “trickle down” to the criminal class in this country, all the firearms manufacturers would have to close their factories because I mean, really, how many do you need to make? The legal market is only so big. Their closings would lead to unemployment and you won’t last long as president or member of Congress if there is high unemployment.
It’s the economy stupid! Which is just plain stupid. So stupid that if our Founding Fathers could have read this kind of statist tripe they would have shaken their collective heads with profound disappointment. And disgust.