Awesomely Funny Video

The song is catchy, but the point is... guns are not evil. It's not the guns, it's the people who are using the guns that are the problem.

This is from Australia, which has tighter gun laws than the US.

Can Gun Control Work? Probably Not.

I recently read a blog post a friend forwarded to me. The post text is not nearly as important as the video. In the video, ABC News interviews the author of the book Can Gun Control Work?, Professor James Jacobs from New York University. 

I was very interested in what Prof. Jacobs had to say about gun control. I thought his interview would include more emotion and rhetoric than reasoned discussion. Prof. Jacobs approached the subject rationally, with an open mind when he wrote the book. Of special interest is the fact that he's not a gun owner himself.

His answer to the question? "I think it's not possible to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people." You can tell this is not the answer the hostess wanted to hear. She tries to qualify his answer by talking about "trying" gun control if it will save one life. Prof. Jacobs rightly points out, however, the cost of that law would be more than most of society would be willing to bare. Jacobs states that the number of gun deaths each year (almost 31,000 in 2006*) is the cost we pay for gun ownership.

As an example, Jacobs points to the known statistic of traffic fatalities (over 45,000 in 2006**). If we wanted to save one life, we could definitely enact more traffic laws, or even ban all private cars and make everyone use public transportation. Would these laws save more lives? Yes, undoubtedly. However, whether society would actually be willing to do this is another question. 

This interview happens without even touching on an important point, however, the constitutionality of more gun ownership. The 2nd Amendment gives individuals (i.e., "the people") the right to have guns. Any laws developed have to be balanced against this fundamental right.

*This number includes ALL gun related deaths, including accidents, sucides, homocides and officer involved shootings. Numbers based on information from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

**As indicated by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Protect My Rights... ALL OF THEM!!

Holy cow! Can you believe the audacity of the president elect's administration, including this question in their job application packet? As was correctly pointed out on another website, this is discriminating against people who chose to exercise one of their rights.

Now remember, this is the same gentleman who wouldn't change gun laws (bottom of the page) to ensure people defending themselves in their homes were not charged with a crime. He is supported by a Vice President who helped write the Assault Weapons Ban, some of the most illogical rules about gun restrictions based on the appearance of the weapon.

I hope the NRA keeps up their pressure on Obama, because if they don't we may see our legal, individual right to own a gun taken away from us.

Exercise Your Rights Now, Before they're Taken Away

I do not think it is a coincidence that, with Obama recently elected, more people are out buying hand guns. This has been reported in multiple news sources over the past couple of weeks. Seriously, go read.

Link 1, Link 2, Link 3 and Link 4.

One obvious conclusion from this news is that people do not trust Obama when he says he will not try to take away people's guns. And why would they think this? Part of this is because he has provided very unclear and at times completely contradictory statements about the legality of guns and gun ownership. So, to look beyond the statements, let's look at his past voting record. What do we see? A man who does not trust the populace with handguns or certain types of amunition. Actions speak louder than words. This is a man who will move to restrict gun ownership and conceal and carry laws, if he can.

This means if you want to own an assault rifle, or high capacity magazine, or exercise your constitutional right to own a hand gun designed for personal protection, you should be on your way to the local gun shop in your area NOW, while it's still legal.

The 2nd Amendment is About Empowering Citizens

And apparently Obama wants to take away those rights our Founding Fathers gave us. He wants to replace it with the "right" to medical treatment. How asinine.

I love this video.



The reason why is it emphasizes how true evidence trumps rhetoric.

This video is damning for a few reasons.

1. The evidence the NRA provided and that she reads on the air is damning. We see the same question answered in the same manner TWICE!! And once with the candidate's hand written notes on the questionnaire. To say that because Obama did not initial each individual page means he may or may not be represented by the questionnaire's answers is ridiculous. This is a questionnaire that his campaign responded to TWICE!! That means they had 2 times to cover the material. At least he didn't flip flop in his position.
   
2. The Democratic spokesman seems to approach this interview as if it is somehow beneath him, as if Fox News was a second rate station, instead of a national leader in ratings. He castigates Fox for giving the NRA "free air time" to post their message, while not acknowledging that they have brought him on specifically to answer the acusations. Instead, he tries the old Left's tactic of vitriolic attack. He calls the ads "complete crap" because the ads interpret real data in a manner consistent with the data and not consistent with his rhetorical stance.
   
3. Even Obama had just come out and stated his reasons why he's for gun control (which he obviously is), I think we would see very different ads from the NRA. Instead of putting Obama on the defensive, he could actually win some more support with the gun control crowd by owning up to his position. Of course, he pretty much has a lock on the Left anyways, so we know he won't do this. Stating his real position on gun control would lose him some of the independents he's trying to woo.
   

Watch this video again, then pass it along to any of your friends who think Obama would be a good choice to lead this nation and select new Supreme Court justices.

God help us.