Who Needs An Assault Rifle?

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:35:44 GMT <== RKBA ==>

John Taffin at Guns Magazine - Mr. Taffin tells of how he verified the lies from an anti-gunner that evil assault weapons cause good people to turn violent. He bought two of them, and, golly gee, he didn't turn evil. I've seen this thesis before, but Taffin tells it very well. [guns]

Fifteen years ago I did not own an assault rifle, and from here on we will use this term in the same way the all-knowing "mainstream" media does even though it is incorrect. My only semiauto rifle was a Ruger 10/22 customized by Jimmy Clark with a heavy match-grade barrel and match trigger. I had also given my daughter and son-in-law a 10/22 for a wedding present. I really did not see the need to personally own an assault rifle. Then it happened. I was sitting in my hotel room in Quincy, Illinois, after covering the Masters Tournament and waiting to go to the airport for the flight home. Turning on television I was astounded to hear the words of a Northeastern governor testifying before a Senate committee about assault rifles. He said, "It is the very nature of the weapon that causes normally law-abiding citizens to turn into criminals."

There it was! The cause of crime was not environment, nor poverty, nor someone looking for the easiest way to gather money. It was all the fault of this hideous weapon -- the assault rifle. This man was saying these magic weapons could somehow change the character of anyone who even touched one. Could this actually be true? Did I dare to take the chance of finding out for myself? If I procured one would everything I have ever been taught be thrown by the wayside? Would the influence of parents, grandparents, teachers, and ministers suddenly be destroyed by a few pounds of metal and wood? Could the nature of this inanimate object really cause a normal law-abiding citizen to turn to crime and violent behavior? Did I dare take the chance to find out? If this governor was right and I put myself in possession of an assault rifle my whole life could change.

It was a dangerous chance to take but I had to know if this governor was right. Surely he could not be either lying or ignorant. After all, he was an elected official. If he was right in his assessment, I could possibly ruin my life forever, perhaps destroy my family and lose any standing I had in my community. I thought about it for quite a while spending several sleepless nights. The decision was made and I would order not one, but two assault rifles. I would take the supreme test with both a .223 and a 7.62x39. It was possible one would not be enough to overcome my character. But if I survived both of them, I would be a stronger and better person, and I would also know that governor was either an ignorant liar or a lying ignoramus.

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Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair