I never cease to be amazed by the gun lobby. They want restrictions on marijuana, prescription drugs, straight sex, gay sex, alcohol, pornography and speed limits but they don’t want to discourage the sale of any firearm to anyone.

The National Rifle Association crowd leaves their old city slicker ZIP code behind due to the ever increasing criminal element and moves to mountain enclaves like this one but want gun laws left unchanged.

Gun worshippers oppose reining in gun shows in Nevada and Arizona where California criminals stock up on arms and ammo. Then they claim California’s stricter gun control laws don’t work.

Gun lovers buy guns to fight off government tyranny someday, but want the government to go after mentally ill people who own guns even though both the Aurora, Col., and Virginia Tech shooters passed two background checks.

I grew up reloading ammo with my dad in the 1970s. We used our RCBS reloading press in 90 percent white Idaho.

I went to a gun safety class at the local VFW hall in order to hunt legally in Washington when I was 13. We walked to our neighbor’s meadow and shot gallon milk jugs filled with water from 150 or 200 yards.

That was 40 years ago, and the world has changed since then.

Low scores mean less educational opportunity, which means more perpetuated poverty, which always means more crime for that community.

Four out of five high school dropouts end up in prison or on government assistance. Or didn’t you know that SoCal’s Palos Verdes Estates and Wilmington are just a few miles apart?

Children grow up. Even angry entitled unmentored ones. Arming the idle with assault weapons from Nevada and Arizona gun shows is absurd.

Earth to Idyllwild. High capacity assault weapons are fired right here on public land. The brass scavengers love them.

Ending only-cash-needed gun shows nationwide where five people were accidently shot last weekend is a start.

We need mentor-led gun safety classes like the one I took. We need to ban resale of high capacity assault weapons and magazines until spontaneous human violence can be eradicated.

Oh, I know. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.

But people also distribute child pornography, illegal drugs, and break speed limits. Shall we disregard or disgard those laws too?

Criminals will always get guns. Sex offenders will always get kiddie porn. Drug dealers will always deal drugs and reckless drivers will always speed. It’s what enables them.

But inanimate objects don’t need laws to behave. People do. Don’t you love NRA logic?

Mike Reno
Pine Cove

6 COMMENTS

  1. I 100% agree with the author but I doubt most others will share my view. The NRA has so many followers and they all crow the same thing, "The government is trying to take away our 2nd Amendment rights!" No, the government is not trying to take away your 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. They are trying to take away your right to own any gun imaginable! You have the right to own a gun and keep it in your house for protection against intruders. That is fine. But why do you need assault rifles or 100 bullet clips? Do you expect an army of intruders to attempt a break-in of your home? Keep your gun, no problem. But please ban the sale of all these other weapons of mass destruction NOW!

  2. There is a lot of misinformation being spread by those who do not support the second amendment, while using the first amendment to do it. We should not be using disingenuous and straw man arguments to try and push an agenda, instead let’s look together for a way to solve the issues that we have.

    We do not need knee jerk reaction legislation based on a few horrible incidents. I have never read so much insulting and hateful rhetoric as I have in regards to conservatives. Even if you do not agree with someone it reflects poorly on you to be condescending and attempt to force someone to believe as you do.

    Everyone deserves to be treated with respect. If you want to convince someone that they are mistaken about something educate them using facts, don’t berate and insult them using emotional language.

    Although there has been a lot of talk about “assault weapons”, the actual rifles being discussed are not automatic weapons, they are semi-automatic. This means for each pull of the trigger one round is fired.

    What is really being targeted though is the “scary” looking rifles, the ones that look like military weapons. Many people like to have rifles that are similar to military types for a few reasons; one is that ammunition is cheaper; another is that there are a lot of interchangeable parts.

    There is another reason that a smaller group of people have, it is because they are or were in the military and liked the rifle they carried, or want to get some practice in on their own time. You may find this hard to believe but in both the Army and the Marine Corps, your promotion is affected by how well you shoot, yet you may only see/touch/use that weapon about 1 week a year. Having one week a year to improve a skill that your promotion, or even life, may depend on is not a lot of time.

    I am pretty much a live and let live type, as long as what you do does not affect me directly, then it is your business and none of mine.

  3. If you don't like the NRA's position on guns, organize and get people who oppose the NRA's position to join the NRA. When a majority of the members have an opposing view point, it will be the new position of the NRA.