Jeffrey Goldberg writes a fairly balanced article on nine pervasive myths associated with the gun-control debate:
1. The extremism of the National Rifle Association and its chief executive officer, Wayne LaPierre, is hurting its cause.
2. President Barack Obama is going to confiscate your legally owned weapons.
3. There is no proposed gun-control measure that would make the U.S. safer.
4. Renewing the assault-weapons ban is the clear answer to making the U.S. safer.
5. Only pro-gun extremists want to place police officers in schools.
6. Columbine proved that police officers in schools can’t stop massacres.
7. Issuing more permits for carrying concealed handguns makes society more dangerous.
8. “An unprecedented number of Americans support the right to own a handgun, despite the recent mass killings at an elementary school in Newtown,” Connecticut. (The problem with this myth is the word "despite," Goldberg argues.)
9. Video games are the real culprit.
Go read the article for yourself.
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Thursday, January 03, 2013
9 myths re: gun control
2 comments:
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to someone a bit left of center, the comments may appear balanced. To a right-wingnut such as myself, they reveal a definite gun-control undercurrent. To even consider a discussion of "the morality of the Second Amendment in the 21st Century" smacks of a serious misunderstanding of its purpose.
ReplyDeleteMy own take on the list of nine myths was that it leaned distinctly to the right. Here's my blow-by-blow:
ReplyDelete1. The extremism of the National Rifle Association and its chief executive officer, Wayne LaPierre, is hurting its cause.
Goldberg elaborates that LaPierre's seemingly insane conduct is a deliberate play to 2nd-Amendment "absolutists." Score one for the left.
2. President Barack Obama is going to confiscate your legally owned weapons.
Score another one for the left. Goldberg is here minimizing right-wingers' concerns about possible forcible disarmament.
3. There is no proposed gun-control measure that would make the U.S. safer.
Let's score this one tentatively for the left. Lefties are, after all, more interested in such measures than are righties; the latter group is convinced that enough measures are already in place.
4. Renewing the assault-weapons ban is the clear answer to making the U.S. safer.
Score this one for the right. Goldberg is talking sense here: the idea that renewing the ban would be helpful is indeed a myth.
5. Only pro-gun extremists want to place police officers in schools.
Score this one for the right, as well. Goldberg is acknowledging that the desire for heightened, armed security is shared by more than NRA-heads.
6. Columbine proved that police officers in schools can’t stop massacres.
Score this one for the right, too: (6) is a close cousin of (5).
7. Issuing more permits for carrying concealed handguns makes society more dangerous.
Another one for the right. Goldberg is acknowledging that more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens will not necessarily lead to the Wild West.
8. “An unprecedented number of Americans support the right to own a handgun, despite the recent mass killings at an elementary school in Newtown,” Connecticut. (The problem with this myth is the word "despite," Goldberg argues.)
This seems, at first blush, like a point for the left, but Goldberg's beef is with that one tiny word, "despite." The point he's making, in exposing this myth, is actually congenial to the right.
9. Video games are the real culprit.
Another one for the right. Most conservatives believe in individual responsibility; blaming outside sources for one's murderous actions is the antithesis of the conservative project. By declaring that "video games cause violence" is a myth, Goldberg again aligns himself with the right.
So the way I see it, the score is
Left 3
Right 6
Goldberg's article leans pretty heavily to the right.