Gun lies in the media and from the Left are nothing new. Sadly, most of them are so far removed from reality, and so few people know the truth, that we have to set some basic things straight.
A Gun Doesn’t “Look” Automatic
One of the biggest gun lies in the media is that any gun that looks “scary” is an automatic weapon. A gun is not automatic based upon its look. It isn’t any weapon that has handguards or an adjustable stock.
This is an automatic weapon:
There’s a catch, though. It is an air-soft rifle from RedWolf Airsoft. You won’t be going on any killing sprees using something like that, unless your victims are squirrels or gophers.
An automatic weapon has a very specific function. It is a gun that reloads itself and keeps firing until the trigger is released. A semiautomatic weapon, on the other hand, fires a round and reloads itself, but does not continue firing while the trigger is engaged.
That’s it. It is nothing more, nothing less. It has nothing to do with the capacity of rounds it can hold per magazine, the accessories that it can accept, or how many people it can kill.
The Most Dangerous Weapons EVAR Are Automatic
After every mass shooting or illegal gun seizure [sic], the media almost always notes that the weapons were automatic whether it is true or not.
This is another of most common gun lies in the media.
Why are they automatic? They are automatic because they kill people! Weapons that are automatic must go around killing without discretion! That must mean that they are way more dangerous, because they lack the human compassion and reason necessary to stop their murderous killing sprees! Exclamation mark overdose!
Of course, this is nonsense. A gun isn’t going to go around and kill people unless the user utilizes it in that capacity.
Furthermore, an automatic weapon is extremely impractical for doing that. It will just burn through all the rounds in the magazine, making it a rather impractical for just about anything, for that matter. When a weapon only has a limited capacity (unlike the movies), there is little point in having a weapon that can do that—especially when the average soldier only carries 210 rounds.
That last bit is kind of funny seeing as so many Hollywood know-it-alls and politicians usually fall back on the line, “Why would a civilian need a weapon meant for a warzone?” Despite the obvious logical flaw that such a weapon would be needed before it can be owned (which it isn’t), they don’t realize that having a weapon that would burn through all a soldier’s rounds in under a minute using such a function is hardly ever used.
Guns Can’t Be Good–EVAR!
Bob Costas, after the murder-suicide of Jevon Belcher and his girlfriend, said: “I defy anyone to give me one example when an athlete having a gun averted trouble, defused a situation, protected someone from harm. But we can think of countless situations where an athlete having a gun led to tragedy.”
The only problem is, athletes have done positive things with guns.
Future general, George S. Patton, was in the first Olympic pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Patton was an exceptional marksman—so much so that he was disqualified from the event for missing a shot that he claimed went precisely through one of the previous holes in the target at which he was shooting.
You don’t make it to General without putting in your dues, and Patton did just that by serving his country in the Poncho Villa Expedition and World War I before becoming the Commander of the US Third Army during World War II, helping guide the Allies to victory to defeat the Nazis and end their atrocities.
If that isn’t “averting trouble” or “protecting someone from harm”, then nothing is.
Of course, mentioning this little fact only elicits the response from other liberals or gun control advocates, “Well, that’s just one person—every other time they’ve just hurt people!”
Except that isn’t true either.
Pat Tillman was a linebacker for Arizona State University before being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in 1998. He turned down a $9 million dollar, five-year contract with the St. Louis Rams out of loyalty for his team.
Eight months after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, after finishing the remaining games of the 2001 season, Tillman once again turned down a $3.6 million dollar contract for three years with the Cardinals to serve in the US Army as an Army Ranger.
Tragically, Tillman was killed by friendly fire on April 22, 2004. Many, including General Wesley Clark and Tillman’s family, believe that he may have been murdered.
Why?
Because they think he may have been murdered due to his opposition towards President Bush as well as to the War in Iraq. Of course, the Left assumed that he was a “rightwing poster child” anyways.
Tillman died protecting our freedom and pursuing justice for the crimes committed by terrorists on innocent American lives. He paid the ultimate price, and of all people, Bob Costas should know that Tillman used guns to defend our nation.
Tillman was a man who served his country. He gave up millions to do so.
We know this isn’t what Costas meant, but applying a blanket statement to a highly specific situation is deceptive and misleading…especially when it is wrong.
One of the Biggest Gun Lies in the Media: Higher Capacity Magazines Equal Higher Body Count
Just like Mayor Bloomberg’s soda ban, the only thing that banning high capacity magazines does is require someone to buy more magazines. Like soda as well, guns have been demonized for using the same tactic as tobacco companies. Of course, though, that makes sense, because despite all the restrictions and bans, Philip Morris alone rakes in almost $7 billion in profits every year. So, clearly, their methods work.
Sure, nicotine is addictive, but so is sugar. In fact, research now shows that nicotine, sugar, cocaine, and guns all release the same chemicals as any other addiction, and that chemical is a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine is one of the body’s primary ways to reinforce behavior, which makes it’s ties with addiction all the more concrete.
That doesn’t mean that we are addicted to guns (necessarily), but it does show that we are hardwired to love guns in the same way we are hardwired to love sugar and—yes—cocaine.
So, in light of that, does it really seem likely that people are going to forgo buying an extra magazine if larger ones are made illegal?
Nope. Sure doesn’t.
Further, when highly trained US troops use 250,000 rounds per rebel killed, it makes the idea that having an extra 10 or 20 rounds is going to equal 10 or 20 people killed more than a little ridiculous.