If, by chance, you’re one of those people who contend our country is in such a mess that it’s driving everyone crazy — or if you simply believe the Apocalypse is upon us — here’s something to boost your argument. Check out Gail Collins’ column in today’s New York Times, about Americans and guns. Collins makes several good points, but what jumps out as proof of (your pick) A. growing national insanity, B. the Apocalypse, or perhaps C. NRA Delusional Syndrome, is this one stark fact: The Utah state legislature is seriously considering a bill to make the Browning M1911 pistol the “official state firearm.” For the moment, forget what this may say about our odd national mindset, and think of this: Within two weeks of a mass slaughter in Arizona that was fostered by another sign of the Apocalypse — i.e., states allowing crazy people to buy dangerous weapons — the wise leaders of Utah want to name an “official state firearm.”
As for the inevitable cry from gun lovers that more gun ownership would lower the crime rate, Collins has an honest, revealing reply: The truth is that no one knows whether that often-repeated, NRA-approved belief is valid. The reason we don’t know for sure? “. . . the NRA’s crack lobbyists have managed to stop almost all federal financing for scientific research on gun-related questions.” Hmm, wonder why?
This article appears in Jan 25-31, 2011.
>> The truth is that no one knows whether that often-repeated, NRA-approved belief is valid.
Incorrect.
Read the work of Professor Gary Kleck, a Democrat who set out to prove that private gun ownership did nothing to reduce crime, but found the exact opposite to be true.
“the NRA’s crack lobbyists have managed to stop almost all federal financing for scientific research on gun-related questions.” Hmm, wonder why?”
Because it was a waste of time? The CDC has been trying to find correlation between Gun Control and less crime and has come up “inconclusive” (techno lingo to say “we couldn’t find squat”) every time since the studies began during the Clinton Administration.
“In summary, the Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence”
CDC
First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Firearms Laws
Findings from the Task Force on Community Preventive Services
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5214a2.htm
Only in America do we fight to preserve our right to own any weapon we want anytime we want and then stand in line everywhere we go so that people can search us to be sure we aren’t carrying them.
Lewis Carrol could not have written it better.
You have a typo and an error in your photo caption. It says “M1191” when it should be “M1911”. Also you say “automatic” when it should say “semi-automatic”. An “automatic” is a rapid-fire weapon such as a machine gun where multiple rounds are fired from one trigger pull. A “semi-automatic” means that one round is fired and the next round is chambered but requires another trigger pull to fire.
wow. A gun has never hurt anyone! Its the person who pulls the trigger. Guns in the hands of true americans are what makes this country safe, and there is no reason states should not have a state gun. Why dont you whine about something that matters