Four Things That Need to Stop Being Said By Gun Advocates If They Hope To Ever Get Anything Done

Alright.  I'm all about responsible gun ownership, and the folks who want to take away all guns from everybody are, even to an idealist like me, a tad unrealistic.  Can it be done?  Yes, it certainly can, and probably should, if for no other reason that we've shown, as a species, we probably shouldn't be trusted with particularly pointy sticks, much less high velocity projectiles.  But is it likely?  No, not even a bit.  So, in the spirit of compromise, I'm offering some advice to people who believe guns should have no restrictions whatsoever, because I keep hearing a few frankly shortsighted and ill-thought-out arguments which do little more than give those who argue with you a free shot.

1. "Guns are the great equalizers. A gun in the hands of a 125lb. woman can make the difference when she's faced with a 250lb. rapist/mugger/etc."

Alright.  I'll grant you that, in that particular situation, a gun is certainly an excellent deterrent.  The thing is, what happens when the gun is in the hands of the rapist?  Then you've got an ARMED 250lb. man staring down a 125lb. woman.  Because think about this logically.  In a rape scenario, or any other crime, for that matter, who's generally the more prepared for the rape to happen, the perpetrator or the victim?  And given that most rapes take place in what are called "safe" settings, with known perpetrators, unless the woman is strapped and one hell of a quick draw, she's not too likely to be able to get to the gun in time for it to be of any use.  So, while this one is a valid statement, to a degree, be careful, as the use is pretty limited, in reality.

2. "If everyone had a gun, and knew how to use it, no one would ever do it for fear of repercussion."

K.  Imagine this for me, for a minute.  Take the sketchiest, creepiest or even just most irresponsible person you know.  Got them in your head?  Now give them a gun.  Anything from a .22 to a high-powered assault rifle.  Okay...Now put them alone in a room with your kid, your cat, your dog, your elderly grandma...any reasonably defenseless person.  That make you nervous?  It should.  If it doesn't, then you need to do a quick reality check and make sure you aren't wearing your argument blinders.  The fact is, some people shouldn't be trusted with guns.  The majority of people, really.  And that includes, as we've seen lately, quite a few who already legally possess them.  There needs to be a middle ground.  We need to have some restrictions.  It's just that simple.

3. "If more people had guns, there would be fewer gun deaths."

The point of this one, which isn't quite the same as point number two, is that in a situation where some nutjob goes off and starts firing into a crowd, your average well-armed citizen could neutralize the threat quickly and efficiently, thus preventing further harm.  While it's true that your average well-armed, heavily-trained special forces operative or secret service agent or the like could definitely have a positive impact on that situation, your average person isn't too likely to do much more than add more bullets flying through the air for the crowd to get away from.  And here's why:

You are not a hero.  Life is not a movie.  No matter how much time you spend at the range or how often you go hunting, you are not prepared for that kind of a situation.  You just aren't.  The highly-trained folks mentioned above?  One of the biggest parts of their rigorous training is being able to think with any semblance of clarity in that situation.  But, because we've been raised on action movies, we all want to believe that we'd be that cool, calm or, at worst, scared but awesome hero who doesn't feel that instinctual panic.  But, when it comes down to it, studies, statistics and even most of those highly-trained folks all back up the simple fact that, when in a life or death situation, we all kind of revert to scared children.  We have heroes in this world, but the chances of your average person being one is pretty slim.  Let's leave it to the trained professionals.  So stop saying this because it's like saying that if everyone owned a wrench, we wouldn't have nearly as many power outages.

4. "The Founding Fathers never intended there to be gun restriction, else they wouldn't have written The Second Amendment."

Before I address this one directly, let me just offer a blanket statement to people on both sides of this, and in general.  Stop trying to offer interpretations of history when you very obviously have no idea what you're talking about and/or are incapable of adopting any historical perspective.  Just. Stop.  Alright.  Back to the point, though.  When The Second Amendment was written, you have to realize two things. 

First, these guys had just fought one hell of a war to free themselves from what they saw as a tyrannical regime that used, when necessary, and sometimes when it wasn't, force to administer its rule.  (Oh, and as a side note, stop throwing around the word tyrant.  Tyranny isn't just not being able to do whatever the hell you want, else every single parent is a tyrant.  And for the same reasons.  Suck it up.) 

Second, when they said we could all have guns, guns weren't what they are today.  They couldn't have possibly foreseen modern weaponry.  Hell, it wasn't until 1825 that percussion-cap guns were in common use, nearly 50 years after The American Revolution.  And most, if not all, of them were dead by the time we got around to anything resembling automatic weapons.  These were wise, thoughtful men, for the most part.  If they could have foreseen guns which could be concealed in the waistband of pants and held seventeen rounds, or guns whose fire rates were measured in fractions of a second, they would have restricted them, too.  Because, as point one demonstrates, if you have them, then the other guys can get them, too.

Alright.  There you have it.  This, as with so many other things, has become one more way that we've been needlessly divided.  Let's step away from the extremes, stop getting both offensive and defensive and sit down to talk about this like the grown-ups that both sides seem to think are only found on their sides, which is, funnily enough, the hallmark of children.  It's time to compromise.