On Guns: More from the US Problem
A gun is a tool and, like such, has various advantages and disadvantages. Tools also evolve, as have guns. The evolution from old to new can be seen in the ease of use, accuracy, and power, really a fascinating study in itself. This article will focus on the prevalence of guns and the positive and negative effects on society.
Why have a gun(s)? There are many right answers to this; hunting, target shooting, and admiration of craftmanship are my favorites. Protection, I think, is way overrated. Then again, I am a bit of a gun snob and like beauty and function over just function. Responsible gun owners don’t have a loaded gun in the house anyway for fear of accidents, plus if you wake from a dead sleep, you should become awake enough to load the gun before using it.
Why have high volume, high firing rate guns? In the military, where these are useful, soldiers are still taught to conserve ammunition. High fire rates are primarily used for what is known as cover fire, where the objective is to keep the advisory from shooting back while you maneuver into a better approach. Rapid-fire is also useful when shooting at fast-moving targets, such as planes or other vehicles with speed on their side, but for a single target not especially efficient or advisable.
Guns are not going away; there are too many out there now, a near-impossible task to take them from everyone. The real key is to limit the use of guns, especially by criminals, and could be said the same for police. In Britain, for example, if you commit a crime and have a gun loaded, unloaded, or even fake, you just added ten years to your sentence.
Further, the British gun law stated that you must show proficiency to buy a gun and how you will be storing it. Sounds controlling, but not really, just think of the hoops you must go through to drive a car.
Many calls for a ban on high-capacity semi-automatic guns in the US, which though it can certainly be devastating, is legislation not likely to pass. A saner approach would be a variation on the British laws and have gun use and specific gun use during a crime to automatically tick up the time you will be serving. As for the need to have one of these “assault” weapons, I cannot think of a good reason, except for blowing off steam.
My bias against high-capacity high volume guns is that they are not needed for anything outside of the military or SWAT type units. Hunting should be a one or two-shot exercise, lest you are digging out bullets forever trying to get meat, and in public, they produce way too many stray shots that could injure or kill innocents.
This goes not only for the public but also for police; the last thing police should do is pull a gun. And the one-shot, followed by everyone following suit, creates poor outcomes for both the police and their reputation. I recommend that police are issued revolvers, moving to semi-automatics only after becoming detectives and more training. Specialized units with more firepower, such as SWAT units, can have whatever is appropriate, as they are fully trained not to shoot until they have a clean shot.
My own experience with my .357 single-action revolver and my 1911 .45 reloading a single magazine is that I can shoot nearly the same number of bullets at a target with either one in the same amount of time. Accuracy and skill in loading/unloading is the key, not the amount of lead downrange.
I support going to a range and being able to rent, plus ammo or course fully automatic guns to release some tension. A friend of mine once made a .22 caliber Gatling gun, and I will confess it was a blast, no pun intended. We used it for shooting rats at the local dump, it was a small town, and we always followed the safety-first rule. But properly set up, you could put on the radio, wait for the rats to come out and investigate, put on the high beams, and as they were caught in the light, blast away. Childish, to be sure, but fun.
On the subject of gun ownership, besides a robust training program, and to note this is what the NRA was initially formed for is a must. I would add the “Old Yeller” test, in which people, especially kids, would have to watch “Old Yeller” or an equivalent movie, and if they did not tear up, no guns forever for those people, as they lack empathy.
In conclusion, I am pro-gun, but with an extreme bias towards responsible. Guns deaths are highest among suicides and tragic mistakes, not crimes. We will never ban guns in the US, and that’s fine, but let us use them as the tools they are meant to be, recreational, hunting, and in extreme circumstances protection. A final note is that I would never keep a loaded gun nearby while sleeping; if needed, you need to be awake enough to get the gun and load it so you are sharp enough to know what you are shooting.
