More about guns

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

It’s kind of funny to me that I’m the guy who jumped into the middle of this gun control argument. But people get defensive as soon as anyone asks what reasonable gun control is in this country.

Reading these letters, I find myself wanting to engage the writers, sort of in the way that I’d do it on Facebook. But people read my printed words, and then reply as though they read somebody else’s words, or make assumptions that simply aren’t true. In some cases, they seem to assume my ignorance, as though I don’t know what I mean when I say this country should buy back then ban all automatic and all semi-automatic weapons.

I own a semi-auto handgun and a shotgun. I’ll probably buy a small double-action revolver at some point. I’d give up the semi-auto if there were a national ban. I don’t care if our Olympic athletes don’t have semi-automatic weapons on American soil. Semi-autos are not the majority of hunting weapons. I didn’t call for repeal of the Second Amendment, but amendments to the U.S. Constitution can be repealed. If the Second Amendment is what stands between us and reasonable gun restrictions, it should be repealed. Gun-free zones are ineffective in a country where one-fifth the population owns 250 million guns. And by the way, four-fifths the population is easily enough to make an amendment to the Constitution.

The Second Amendment was written to enable citizens to protect our government from other governments, not themselves against our government. There are laws specifically forbidding firing on representatives of our government. Read it again: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Finally, this argument about banning ammo is absurd. It’s too easy to make or reload ammo for that to be effective. In fact, seems like a good skill since the gun nuts’ fear purchases have dramatically increased costs.