only weapons used for sporting purposes....

[bossy22]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/opinion/l02guns.html?_r=1

"no serious gun control proponent should reject the principle that most gun owners are entitled to keep hunting and sporting weapons, the use ofwhich traces to colonial times."

here we go again with the sporting purpose...

[slackmaster]

1. Can the editors of the NYT not recognize an obvious No True Scotsman fallacy?

...Just as no serious sportsman will have difficulty agreeing that assault weapons and .50-caliber sniper rifles need not find their way into civilian hands...

The structure of that statement alone flags it as poisoning the well.

[krispos42]

12. I'd be interested to see when the "OMG!! Ban the .50s" movement started

I'll bet it was after 9/11 when we were collectively freaking out about terrorism.


In other words, it's an artificial "moral panic" movement.




Yanno, just speaking personally, there are only 2 semi-automatic centerfire rifles I want: an M1 Garand for pride of ownership and an M1 Carbine for home defense. For anything else I'd want to be using a centerfire rifle for, I'd probably be using a bolt-action gun.

Of course, my particular situation makes the best home-defense gun for me a handguns, not a rifle, but just speaking in general terms.


And if, God forbid, I'm ever in a dangerous violent situation, you can bet that I'll want to be holding in my hands a gun that the Brady Campaign defines as an "assault weapon".

[AtheistCrusader]

13. I want a .50

I'd be happy with a bolt-action though. Shouldn't really matter. Not like you can get off two shots without everyone within a mile and a half knowing exactly where you are.

[krispos42]

14. Meh, I have no desire to have one

It's like getting a 60" high-def TV set... no matter the refresh rate or response time, it simply doesn't make the TV content any better.


I'm never going to be able to hit a dinner plate at 1200 yards, so... :shrug:


Give me a pair of single-action revolvers and a lever-action rifle in .44-40 instead and I'll take up Cowboy Action Shooting, for the money... :-)

[TXRAT2]

15. Give me a pair of single-action revolvers

Now your talking my language, I do have a passion for old colts.

[krispos42]

16. I went to a CAS practice meet last summer, just out of curiosity

It looked pretty fun. One of the guys there let me try out his guns. He was shooting Ruger Vaqueros and a Marlin lever-action, all in .38 Special.

I did pretty well with the rifle... I got to try out the "blast the moving plate as fast as you can" exercise and the "shoot the 5 plates on the starfish" drill.


And if I actually had any surplus money I'd probaby join up... it was fun! :-)

[TXRAT2]

17. CAS

Several of my friends shoot in CAS events; they've about got me convinced I need to try it. I've got a couple of second generation shooters and a Taurus Thunderbolt all in 45 Long Colt that would work just fine.

[bossy22]

19. it started when the

ban semi-automatics movement started to die down...basically around 2002-2003

the gun control movement has always been about "incrementalism" (like most movements)....50 BMG weapons looked like the easy place to start chipping at

[krispos42]

21. Piggybacked onto the post-9/11 paranoid and fear.

Gee, that's a fucking shocker, isn't it?

Can't take pictures of a bridge anymore. You might be a terrorist. Can't take pictures of a tall building anymore. You might be a terrorist. Can't access infrastructure maintenance reports. You might be a terrorist.


Blah blah blah fearmongering bullshit.

[SteveM]

2. "hunting & sporting" in "colonial times," but not self-defense?

As long as the NYT is using the precedents of "hunting and sporting," why do they forget the precedent of self-defense and use of militia, esp. versus the French and the Native Americans? Another example of the Christian salad bar.

It should be noted that the idea of regulated "sport" hunting in this country arose well after the Civil War, not in colonial times. I guess the Times forgot all about T. Roosevelt, John Muir and others.

The Times is every bit caught up in the gun culture war as some shrill War-on-Drugs prohi.

[Chulanowa]

4. While we're talking about forgetting things...

It might bear noting that the militias of the US were never once used defensively against the Indians. They were used to protect settlers illegally occupying treatied Indian land, but forgive me if I don't exactly count "giving thieves armed backup" as being defensive. They were also used quite extensively to simply clear said Indians away.

Other uses of militia has been similar attacks against Mexicans (ala Kit Carson) and Chinese (see miners in the west), armed breakups of democratic demonstrations on both coasts, and of course the very famous use of militia to gun down miners on strike in Colorado and West Virginia alike. ANd let's not forget the modern militia movement, who's main purpose is to take arms against whoever it defines as "liberal". Let's also not forget the modern "official" militias of the police and national guard, the primary purposes of which have become the protection of the wealthy elite and the suppression of domestic protest.

Also when speaking of self-defense, you might want to draw a line between actual self-defense, and legal murder. I know it's a hard line for a lot of people to find, but it's there, for real and for true.

[old mark]

3. The Times has its head up its ass, as does NY State in general

on this subject.
mark

[Iktomiwicasa]

5. Late 18th

century Americans were armed with state of the art military weapons.

[jeepnstein]

6. True.

They had the best arms available for the day. The Kentucky rifle was a uniquely American thing. Just because they were often elegant in appearance some folks tend to ignore just how lethal they were, and still are.

[Iktomiwicasa]

10. I have several front stuffers

and they are my favorite guns to hunt with.

[Iktomiwicasa]

11. I'll also add

that I have an 1860 Colt Army revolver ( cap and ball) and it is a very fine and supremely accurate revolver. If it was the only handgun I had for self defense, I wouldn't feel undergunned :)

[benEzra]

7. Is competitive and recreational target shooting a "sporting purpose"?

Why, then, does the Times want to outlaw the most popular target rifles in the United States?

[dairydog91]

8. Not when the rifles involved are vewwy scawwy...

[Tim01]

9. Ban hunting and sport shooting. Not protected anyway.

Gun ownership is protected by the second amendment. Keep the guns, get rid of hunting and sport shooting.

[ManiacJoe]

18. Did you forget the sarcasm tags?

[Tim01]

20. Yep.Of course,the 2nd amendment doesn't protect hunting.

[Pullo]

22. AR's and hanguns enjoy more 2A protection than "hunting" rifles and "hunting" shotguns

The 2A is NOT ABOUT HUNTING!