Reader Matt writes:
I think the antis are turning tail on assault weapons because, A) they see the futility in it, and B) because we are going to see a renewed push against handguns. The antis turning around and agreeing with our points buys them ground with the public and puts us in a precarious situation. They can say, “See, we agree with you and acknowledge the fact that ‘assault weapons’ aren’t the real danger. We were wrong and admit it! And we’re even in agreement with you that handguns are used in more murders! So…why aren’t you on board with doing something about that?” . . .
And we, the pro-gun side, will unfortunately be left with a look of pure incredulity on our faces while most people forget they have been lied to by the anti side for decades and demand an answer to that very simple question. All because we don’t have a good and stupid-simple answer to give them.
Freedom, liberty, and personal responsibility are excellent answers, but they provoke too much thought and are too abstract for the average person to digest fully. You can’t just throw those ideas around without getting into a whole dissertation and expect something meaningful to stick. We need something simpler to get the idea across to the masses, lest we be caught with our trousers down and are vilified (yet again) as unwilling to compromise.
Maybe the reversal on evil black rifles means PA 13-3 will be repealed…but I won’t hold my breath.