But..."assault weapons"

Should anyone really be surprised?

From top to bottom: Ruger Mini 14 semi-automatic rifle; AR-15 semi-automatic rifle; M16 military full-auto rifle, actually used in war; M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, actually used in war. The first three all use the same ammunition.

Annnnnd….cue the histrionics. In the wake of the shootings in Lewiston, ME that occurred on October 25, President Biden is again (has he ever stopped?) calling for banning “assault weapons” (you know, those scary looking black rifles - more on that shortly) and “high-capacity magazines” (what constitutes “high-capacity”?). Every time a shooting occurs, these firearms are vilified as if they were going out and committing crimes on their own. What ever happened to punishing the criminal for the crime? But…”assault weapons.”

Right on cue, Biden came out of the gate with the following statements:

Today, in the wake of yet another tragedy, I urge Republican lawmakers in Congress to fulfill their duty to protect the American people.

and

Work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers. This is the very least we owe every American who will now bear the scars — physical and mental — of this latest attack.

In keeping with his typical MO, Biden brings up “universal” background checks which are already in place and, as has been shown time and again, would have done nothing to stop this nor most (if any) other “mass shootings.” “Safe storage of guns” would have done nothing to stop this nor most other “mass shootings.” Gun manufacturers are not immune from liability for malfunction of their products - what Biden wants is gun manufacturers liable for the (mis)use of their products - something for which no manufacturer of any product is liable (nor should they be). But…”assault weapons.”

Also along the lines of eye-roll-inducing business-as-usual is the media’s water-carrying for Biden through obfuscation, omission, and conflation.

At this point, I have not seen any reports as to what type of weapon was used in the Maine shootings. Have you? But…“assault weapons.” Are chances good that the perpetrator used a rifle of some type? Sure. Though as one skilled with firearms, the current suspect, David Card, who is an Army Reservist and reputed to be a shooting instructor, could certainly have accomplished the body count seen in this incident with a pistol. But…”assault weapons.”

The media, out of necessity of course, includes with their stories the number of “mass shootings” that have occurred in the U.S. so far this year. I mean, where would we be without such statistics? This is, however, disingenuous. There is no set definition for “mass shooting.” According to Britannica, the FBI defines a mass shooting as “an event in which one or more individuals are ‘actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.’” The FBI assigns no specific number of injured or dead to this definition. News outlets may rely upon that definition, or they may rest upon a U.S. statute (also noted in that same Britannica article) that “defines a ‘mass killing’ as ‘3 or more killings in a single incident.’” Notice the equivocation there - “mass shooting” vs “mass killing.” Others, for statistical purposes, define a “mass shooting” as at least 3 people injured (not necessarily killed) during the course of a single incident (not including the shooter). Let us assume the media is referring to the latter Britannica definition. According to an Associated Press article regarding the Maine shooting, there have been 36 “mass shootings” this year in the U.S. What no such reports ever manage to mention, however, is that the vast majority of these shootings are committed with handguns, not rifles. As a matter of fact, according also to Britannica, in less than 1/3 of “mass shootings” since 1982 has the offender employed a rifle of any sort (that changes to about 2/5 if shotguns are included as “rifles”). But…”assault weapons.”

Taking it from a different perspective, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 35,383 firearms-related deaths so far this year, 19,800 of which were suicides leaving 15,583 “unintentional” shootings (1,302), officer-involved shootings (1,219), defensive shootings (983), “murder/suicide incidents” (553), and violent crimes (11,526). Of those 11,526, 566 were injured or killed in “mass shootings.” So, total injuries and deaths from mass shootings amount to 1.6% of firearm-related injuries/deaths. But…”assault weapons.”

Something else of which several articles regarding the Maine shooting are making note is that David Card was someone about whom authorities were concerned. According to the AP report:

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that Card was an Army reservist who had been taken by police for an evaluation after military officials became concerned that he was acting erratically in mid-July. The official said commanders in the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment became concerned about Card’s behavior while the unit was training at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York.

The official said military commanders became concerned about Card’s safety and asked for the police to be called.

Other outlets have related that Card was allegedly “hearing voices.” Why was he not under institutionalized care? But…”assault weapons.”

Still, Biden and the media believe government should “do something.” Never mind that pesky piece of paper known as “The Constitution” that says the people’s “right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” It doesn’t really mean that, does it? This is where conflation comes in to the picture as well. The AP journalist writes, “Maine has a longstanding culture of gun ownership tied to traditions of hunting and sport shooting. The state doesn’t require permits to carry guns.” First, from the founding of the country, permits were never required “to carry guns.” Again, the Second Amendment says we have a “right” not only to own arms, but to “bear arms.” Second, the “traditions of hunting and sport shooting” have nothing to do with the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment is about defense - defense of self and defense of country against tyrants, both foreign and domestic. It can be argued (and I have before) that the purpose of the Second Amendment was explicitly so that citizens would always be able to own “weapons of war” so that the government could not raise up a force against its own people that could not be overcome by those same people (read The Federalist No. 29). It was “weapons of war” that the founding fathers used to defeat the most formidable fighting force during their lifetimes. Do you think their arms were at all inferior to those of the army they faced? But…”assault weapons.”

The allusion to hunting is always specious, but it never fails to come up. For that reason, the following meme is quite revealing:

The two rifles show in the picture are identical in function despite their differences in appearance. Most people have no issue with those who would own the first, but the second…Oh My Word! It looks like a weapon of war! No one needs that! This is how propaganda works. But…”assault weapons.”

It is time the American people stop allowing politicians and pundits to manipulate them through fear and lies. It is time the American people stop allowing politicians and pundits intimidate us through their ignorance and the ignorance of most Americans when it comes both to firearms and the Second Amendmnet. It is time Americans stop blaming the tools and the tool-makers, and instead lay culpability where it belongs - at the feet of the criminals committing these heinous acts. There is no reason, considering concerns that already existed, that David Card should have been free to commit this atrocity. It was allowed to happen despite his known instability. Perhaps we should blame the authorities for not taking him off the street prior to the incident. Perhaps if someone else had been carrying in one of the locations where Card pulled the trigger, he would have been stopped before he could carry out this horror. Perhaps if we stop listening to government and anti-gun idiocy and learn to defend ourselves, the toll from these episodes could be minimized. But…”assault weapons.”