The mariner is not a gun advocate. He is not a hunting advocate. Further, he thinks that people who are afraid that government will take their guns are paranoid and irrational. The easiest solution is not to own a gun so there is nothing for the government to take. The mariner thinks people who hole up in remote places and maintain an arsenal of weaponry to defend themselves against government are the very crazies that should not be allowed guns in the first place. The ne’er-do-wells that gathered round the rancher who was to be arrested for grazing cattle illegally are the very ones who should not have guns.
In American culture, the gun is easily absorbed into the owner’s psyche. Somehow, owning a piece of steel and gunpowder magnifies one’s sense of self importance and minimizes one’s rationality. These are the very people who should not own guns.
In Australia, guns were outlawed. In the next year, death by gun statistics dropped by half. In the United States, more people die from guns than die in automobile accidents. The mariner is more afraid of gun owners than he is of government – and that says a lot considering his opinion of government.
The mariner knows an individual who owns a fifty caliber machine gun. Fortunately, it is too heavy and bulky to carry around and cannot be concealed. But weapons like the AK-47, grenade launchers, automatic handguns can be carried about, even concealed in some cases.
None of the gun owners mentioned would be identified as mentally ill. However, mentally ill is not a constant state in most people; mental irrationality pops up in everyday life. In those moments of duress, a gun should not be handy.
Instead of providing military hardware to civilian police departments (tanks?), government should bolster data bases sophisticated enough to identify domestic disturbance, spousal abuse, underage (21) applicants, and a registration system that will catch the ownership of any weapon obviously intended for hunting people rather than game.
The President spoke forcefully today. It is worth watching at
The President made a plea to US voters to vote only for those who oppose undocumented gun ownership. He was sincere but the mariner fears the plea is futile. Mariner is skeptical about the wisdom of voters. It remains true, to the President’s dismay, that voters get what they vote for.
To check on a candidate’s record on gun control, simply search online for the candidate’s name along with “voting record guns.” It is as important, if not more so, to search local and state candidates as well as federal. As an example, the mariner typed “Steve King voting record guns”. The search sent back pages of sources. The first source, http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Steve_King.htm#Gun_Control
returned the following sorted by subject for his entire record:
Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. (Oct 2005)
Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. (Apr 2003)
Rated A by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun rights voting record. (Dec 2003)
No United Nations taxation on firearms. (Sep 2003)
Loosen restrictions on interstate gun purchases. (Oct 2011)
Allow veterans to register unlicensed guns acquired abroad. (Jul 2011)
Ban gun registration & trigger lock law in Washington DC. (Mar 2007)
Allow reloading spent military small arms ammunition. (Apr 2009)
Anger fades now, to sorrow for the victims and families. But this must not fade as any other fading massacre has. It is a bridge too far. There is a very important election in 2016. The mariner urges the sane among us to change the stranglehold of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers who lobby and give too much money to elected, in-it-for-the-buck, officials.
Ancient Mariner