Knox Talks 8.10.04
By Steve Knox
In today's "watch your own ass" world, people are placing more and more concern on their own personal safety, a.k.a. paranoia. Many will go to any length to squelch this paranoia: home alarms, security cameras, even hired guards to be on watch twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Others, however, prefer to take matters into their own hands and gun safes. The majority of these people enjoy the benefits of the Second Amendment as they were meant to be.
The government, in its infinite wisdom, has at several times decided that it should incorporate aspects of real-life communism into our democracy. I speak specifically of Congress in 1984. It was then that they passed a ban on, among other things, fully-automatic assault rifles and magazines exceeding a capacity of ten rounds. This was done in an effort to reduce crime and, in my always-right opinion, keep us United States citizens as stupid and defenseless as possible. As with anything however, all banned items that were made pre-ban could not be deemed illegal (all praise Habeas Corpus). So, in effect, the government did not do anything.
Why did they instate this ban? On the premise that guns kill people, and if they took away that which did the killing, all problems would be eliminated. True to chaos theory, nature will find a way. Without their automatics, criminals turned to semi-autos and are thriving just as strongly today as they were thirty years ago. As Larry the Cable Guy said, "If guns kill people, I can blame misspelled words on my pencil." Guns do not kill. People kill. Sharks kill. Donkeys kill. Not guns. About the time the ban was passed, a massive riot in, I believe, Rwanda resulted in a brutal slaughter - Not with guns, but with machetes and sticks. Using the logic of the government, we should outlaw trees of any kind. A bit silly, no?
Twenty years later, the ban will be lifted on September 14th due to its statutes. For primarily political purposes, both of our presidents are expected have this ban re-instated. This is Bad news for NRA nut jobs. Stepping into their shoes, I can see why this would be a necessary step. Realistically speaking, who would want a President that makes mass-killing a $300 dollar option for murderers? Republicans, you're right.
Kerry wants to go one step further. He wants to include semiautomatic and auto-loading weapons in the next instatement of the ban. That is too far. Law-abiding citizens rely on semiautomatic weapons when they are forced to fire. When criminals, who have no respect for the law, catch you on the business end of a Kalishnakov AK47 and you have to reload after each shot, you are a walking dead man. Kerry needs to get his head on straight, or we will not have any law-abiding citizens for him to preside over.
To this, I propose a compromise of sorts. First, let us keep our lives and our rights by keeping our semis. Next, do not ban each and every fully -automatic weapon. Yes, some need to be kept out of our hands due to their nature, P90's, SAW's, things of that nature. Those left over, however, should be legal with the proper training and certification. With them being legal, people with a pension for illegal activities will be dissuaded.
I leave you with this: would you want to see the day when you cannot beat your neighbor with a tree limb, because idiots in Rwanda killed each other with sticks? I think not.
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