Monday, July 13, 2009
Phillips Guns-in-Everywhere is Not the End of the World
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 8:44 PM
1. No politician should have advanced any guns-in-everywhere legislation without checking
We might call this point "Guns don't pass ridiculous pieces of legislation; politicians pass ridiculous pieces of legislation."
2. We might could start to be honest that people carrying guns a bunch of places is not the end of the world. Will people do stupid things with their guns? Yes, yes, they will. They do stupid things with their guns now.
But is it going to turn Tennessee into the Wild West?
Well, let's be honest, for a lot of people living in Tennessee, it is the Wild West already. So, I'm not actually all that excited about sticking with the status quo.
Listen, I get that, in reality, I might have a gun stripped from me and used against me. But that's not a reason to not have a gun. That's a reason to train extensively in how to use it.
And I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and tell a woman who's been stalked or raped that she shouldn't carry because it makes me uncomfortable. Her actual feelings of safety and security trumps my imagining of potential scenarios in which something maybe might go wrong.
Listen, I know it's fun to turn every conversation about gun-rights into "You only want to have a gun because your dick is so small" v. "You are afraid of guns because you are a pussy." And we could sit here and spend all night analyzing the gender bullshit underlying statements like that.
But while men across the state argue about who has the smaller dick, women--who are people, too--use guns as a means of self-protection. Does a woman who is being stalked really have to give up her gun to go into a restaurant?
Maybe it makes me a bad liberal, but I just don't believe she should have to.
Comments (9)
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Amen and Amen. What this law says is that permit holders don't have to disarm when they enter parks or an establishment that sells alcohol (hello, O'Charley's? Mapco?). Permit holders don't drink and shoot, don't start fights, and generally don't break the law. The facts of this legislation don't make for easy headlines so we're debating the "Guns in Bars Bill" or some similar bullshit. This law will be inacted, nothing will change (the bad boys already have their guns in bars), and we'll be talking about something else in 30 days.
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Feel free to cite findings from a peer reviewed journal when making fact claims about the criminal habits of gun permit holders. What I see is a fact free pile of crap.
Gun permit holders commit more crimes and are alcoholic degenerates who shoot puppies in parks. Proof - who needs it! I've given exactly as much evidence for my claim as you.
Are you two arguing with each other even though you agree or are you both trying to fight with me, even though we agree?
I'm embarrassed to say I can't quite tell what's going on here.
I jut think it's cool that I'm no longer the only liberal blogger in Tennessee who supports this thing.
Ha! One of Pith's own has demonstrated the capacity for rational thought on this issue! No surprise that it would be you, B. Thanks for having the brains and the guts to say things that need to be said.
"Maybe it makes me a bad liberal..."
Don't worry about it.
There's no such thing as a good one.
This isn't a liberal vs conservative issue. Plenty of liberals sadly face the reality of being confronted by criminals and realize their position is dangerously flawed.
99% of the people that are against this have never been victims of violent crimes (thankfully) and believe that their cookie cutter insulated lifestyle can be applied to everyone else (sadly). I have seen friends of mine with shotguns put to their backs while working in a local restaurant. There were signs over the bar that said "No Firearms Allowed"...guess what? They had no effect on the criminals.
If you aren’t convinced this law is a good thing, I encourage you to watch this two minute video.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8145457.stm
It isn’t outrageous or irresponsible to want to protect your family. If your argument is people will come in and break the law by drinking anyway or by carrying even though a sign is posted, then you can’t contend that they wouldn’t break the law by carrying in these places if the law was repealed. You just said, yourself, that they would do it anyway. Permit holders deserve more respect than that and everyone deserves the right to defend their lives and the lives of their families no matter where they are.
Here is the factual information on criminal activity of HCP holders that you wanted, Ian. I'm sure you'll find that our statements about our level of responsibility are in keeping with this evidence.
http://www.tennessee.gov/safety/stats/DL_Handgun/Handgun/HandgunReport2008Full.pdf
