People, not guns, are the carriers of good, evil

My good friend writes a column in a local newspaper:

With so many areas of the economy lagging, it appears that the retailers of guns and ammo may be looking at record fourth quarter sales this year. Fears of a renewed ban on so-called assault weapons under a Democratic administration have prompted a fear-based buying frenzy on those models most likely to be restricted. Such fears are not entirely unfounded as a ban is indeed likely during Barack Obama’s presidency, but before rushing out to make a panic purchase, we should consider the role these particular firearms serve in a civilized society.

First and foremost, the term “assault weapons” is a purely pejorative description of firearms that are self-loading; meaning that they fire exactly one shot each time the trigger is pulled. They may share certain cosmetic features with the select-fire assault rifles used by the military, but the intent of the user and not merely the looks of a firearm are what determine whether it is being used for good or evil purposes.

If, as some suggest, these firearms are only good for “killing large amounts of innocent people” then we should ask if that is what we expect of our police or military to whom they are issued. If their real purpose is to protect innocent life from the lethally aggressive behavior of men bent on doing harm to others, then that need is just as real for the law-abiding citizen who doesn’t have the option of radioing for backup when danger appears. Standard capacity magazines are preferable to reduced capacity magazine for this same reason.

When confronted with multiple armed aggressors, a military-style self-loading rifle in the hands of an individual with the will to use it provides the best tool for solving a life-threatening situation. Unfortunately, statists have historically recognized that these firearms are also the preferred tools for resisting tyranny by affording a degree of parity with the sort of force the state’s agents are capable of projecting. Hence, they tend to view gun control as a means to the end of people control.

A powerful lesson can be gleaned from studying the genocides of the 20th Century in which out of control governments claimed the lives of nearly 170 million non-military individuals which were first carefully disarmed by gun control laws. This does not suggest that gun control causes genocide, but clearly shows that genocide can only occur when a targeted population is first rendered incapable of resisting. Col. Jeff Cooper said it best, “The rifle…may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but…they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”

In this regard, a military-style self-loading rifle in the hands of the law abiding citizen is much more akin to a life preserver than an instrument of evil. Whether we face stormy seas ahead or not, a life preserver is worth having on hand at all times. High quality training in how to use one correctly could prove quite useful. Consider this the next time “assault weapons” are being demonized.