Ever notice how quick folks from the anti gun crowd are to insert their foot in their mouths after making a dumb comment? With the exception of some exceptionally hard heads, the first one that came to my mind would be Piers Morgan. Some of the most level headed and responsible arguments I have heard come from people who are in fact pro gun, while a few exceptions aside most of the argument that comes from the “ban guns” crowd relies heavily on over inflated, missing, or skewed numbers, a gross misunderstanding of how guns work, emotional response, inciting mass hysteria and phobias, demonizing those who they feel are supporters of only the rights they have issues with, and outright lies. You see in today’s digital age too many people fall for the bait on the shiny hook when it comes to information, that’s why The Box O Truth, Mythbusters, and Snoops do so well. For some folks doing “research” on a meme they see on social media involves heading over to Snoops.
The latest such example comes from an otherwise unknown opinion piece writer of The Gazette Newspaper out of Iowa. Lynda Waddington had a terrifying experience at a book store. She saw the print of what she believed to be a gun under a mans jacket. Immediate paranoia and hysteria (notice a trend here folks) followed as she immediately began to scan this gentleman top to bottom hoping to see a hint of a badge. Now I’m going to pause for a moment here to surprise everyone and give her credit. In today’s anti cop society it is actually in a very awkward way a breath of fresh air that she hoped the armed man was a police officer not a law abiding citizen with a CCP. Pause over, game on. In her fear she then reaches for her purse going as far to pat it as she feels this is a tell tale sign that she too is also carrying, which is obviously an outright lie (I hope you guys are keeping count here). Some how this bluff makes her fell safe when she is faced with what could be a person with a not so well concealed gun who may very well be a LEO, as she says many times she has no clue who he could be as different scenarios kept playing out in her head. She also goes on a bit of a lecture about the psychological wellbeing of someone who feels they need to carry a gun in a store, which I find funny considering I question the psychological wellbeing of someone who pats their purse to give the impression that they are carrying a gun. This outright lie of course is fueled by an emotional response (OK, I’m done spelling it out).
She then goes on a tangent about gun laws. She notes that there is a sign that says “no weapons allowed” on the door to this book store. Which depending on exactly where she is in Iowa she is, that sign could have as much merit as a unicorn, and could have even less if the gentleman in question was a LEO. She also attacks Iowa’s CCW permit process stating that there is no required range time. But of course responsible gun owners everywhere are to be held to blame for that, not her elected political figures, but I digress. Fact is, most people who own firearms, and go through the hoops of getting a permit to carry enjoy shooting them. While there are some LEOs out there who are also “gun people” for a majority of them it is just part of the job. Much in the way that an accountant probably doesn’t go home and play with a calculator just because he enjoys pushing the numbered buttons. This is a generalization of course just as I expect to be hammered by some LEOs who are “gun people” I halfway expect to get a nastygram from an accountant posing for a selfie with his favorite calculator. One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t say something that everyone agrees on, and you ought to have thick skin when speaking on a platform that will be heard by a large number of people.
Her bantering continues to include wanting to see maintenance records of the firearm being carried. I’m sure she would get a kick out of some of the creative ideas folks have had when they do the Glock Torture Tests on YouTube. I am pretty serious about the physical working conditions of my guns, but I’m also a realist. My guns show wear from use, but not abuse, and all function flawlessly. If they don’t they get repaired or they get gone. Lets be honest for a minute, even guns in need of repair are pretty safe in a holster, pointed at the ground. I’m not sure where her fear comes from, perhaps there is a gross misunderstanding of the way guns work (cough, cough) kinda like the way people look at a burning car and just assume that it is going to blow up like in the movies (but only in one of those slow motion sequences where someone is running away from the car and gets blown away towards the camera like a flying squirrel).
I find it funny that her piece is titled “Why Your Gun Makes Me Nervous,” because as a law abiding citizen who carries a gun every waking day of his off duty life, I could care less how my gun makes you feel. My God given right as recognized by the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution trumps your feelings in every way shape and form. The anti gun crowd is mighty quick to demonize groups like the NRA and sing praises to groups like Moms Demand Action and Everytown For Gun Safety or whatever Bloomberg named it. These groups are quick to point out the NRA’s budget and lobbying ability but one funny thing is they will never admit that the NRA’s budget comes from a very LARGE group of supporters, whereas MDA and Everytown is mostly funded by a single rich guy who hates guns.
Now let’s look at the backpedalling shall we. In an attempt to justify herself Lynda writes a new piece stating she writes from a “centrist position.” I still feel the burning in my sinuses from the hot coffee I intended to drink as I read that. She is still “sticking to her guns” (or at least patting her imaginary one) about her stance on her state’s gun laws. Writing in her newspaper she feels is more effective than writing to her elected officials. In fact she isn’t “advocating Iowa raising the bar” at all for the curriculum, which brings me to the conclusion that the way I was raised must differ from the way she was raised. I was always told to have a solution to bring forward with the problem you are bringing forward, otherwise you are just complaining or as my own dad (the Drill Sergeant) so elegantly put it “being a whinny little bitch.” But I would never call Lynda that, because I was raised better.
In her own rebuttal she also goes on to say her first piece wasn’t “anti gun.” Remember that coffee incident I told you about earlier? It is a good thing it happened then otherwise it might have happened as I read that. Of course Lynda goes on to say she was raised around guns and has no problem being around most people who own and use them. It is the people who are disrespecting firearms, carrying it incorrectly, or who are being “sloppy with their holster” she gets concerned with. Apparently wearing too tight of a jacket while carrying a CCW is on the long lost missing third tablet on what we thought was the 10 commandments of gun safety. And I surely hope all of you responsible gun owners out there aren’t being “sloppy with your holsters” because I hear mustard stains are a bitch to get out. Of course nowhere in her assault on Iowa CCW permit holders does she mention anything about how changing ANY gun law will impact on the criminals who are carrying illegally to begin with. She also has a surprisingly noticeable lack of any numbers that backup any of her fears, because skewing or omitting actual statistics and instead typing with raw emotion is right up her kind’s alley (I swear I’ve heard that somewhere else). Don’t feel bad Lynda, even after issuing an illegal executive order, the CDC couldn’t even agree with your side.
I want to thank you for reading my rant, I hope it sheds some light for some of those out there. As always,
Till next time
– Stache