(Update: I originally wrote this to express my anger at people who in my estimation richly deserve the moniker “gun nuts and ammosexuals.” As my soon-to-be bride pointed out, making a case from a place of anger and resorting to the same sort of name-calling I deplore may not be the wisest approach. It’s a point I find difficult to contest. With that in mind, and with gratitude for the reminder that I really am trying to be a better person, I’ve replaced “gun nuts and ammosexuals” with a phrase I’ve “borrowed” from Stephen King: “proudly closed-minded gun control foes.” My anger and conviction remain unchanged, but I agree; I’ll try to leave the name calling to others. I’ve also made a couple of much needed editing changes (thanks, Erin)…which is what I get for writing this at 5:00 a.m. I should set up a GoFundMe campaign so I can hire an editor…or at least pay Erin for reigning me in. Mea culpa…and thanks for all the fish.)
So you were NOT able to answer 3 simple questions. You do a good scared dog running away imitation. Too bad your tail is curved under so tight it’s actually stuck up your nose.
The quoted comment above is why I’ve (finally) decided that I’m no longer willing to debate with proudly closed-minded gun control foes. As Winston Churchill once said, “I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.” Doing so leaves me with a headache and a lingering sense of despair for the world my nieces and nephews will soon inherit from us.
After many, many fails, it’s become clear that the overwhelming majority of people who believe MOR GUNZ!!! to be the solution to our collective problems have no interest in the exchange of ideas. They’ve no interest in investigating opposing ideas, engaging in honest discussion and debate, or exploring common solutions. All they’re really interested in is burying you in (generally cherry-picked) “facts” in order that they might walk away victorious (at least in their own minds) as they thump their chest and proclaim their moral superiority. It’s a safe bet that the chest-thumping will involve healthy helpings of name-calling and personal insults. Why would any sane person choose to participate in such a charade? Proudly closed-minded gun control foes have no business participating in discussions of public policy.
In the aftermath of the (yet another) mass shooting in Charleston, SC, it seems clear to me that if proudly closed-minded gun control foes refuse to participate in finding solutions, they can and deservedly should be ignored. If they can’t or won’t play nice, they should be squashed. If they wanted to participate in crafting solutions, I’m more than willing to listen…but it’s clear their idea of “discussion” too often involves insults, name-calling, and refusal to consider any position save their own. They care little for the public’s safety and well-being- unless by “safety and well-being,” you mean “the right to carry any type of lethal weapon anywhere I see fit…and &^%# what Liberal pussies think.”
Proudly closed-minded gun control foes have no interest in common sense, and even less in the collective welfare. They don’t give a damn about anyone or anything save their narrow interests, nor are they interested in the reality that their opinion on the subject of gun control is not the One, True, and Only Faith. As far as most of them are concerned, THEY are the only true Americans, and as such the only ones who truly understand the Constitution and the intent of its authors…though to call most of them poorly educated would be an understatement. They’ve twisted the 2nd Amendment into the most willfully misunderstood and misinterpreted 27 words in the American language. Their idea of negotiation is intimidation, often threatening the lives of elected officials and those who dare disagree with them and/or carrying AR-15s into public place like the world’s busiest airport. How do you reason with people so thoroughly unreasonable? You don’t; ultimately they must lose their studied, impenetrable arrogance and self-superiority…or you run them over. I’ve always believed that even the most strident among us have a least a modicum of decency at their core. When it comes to proudly closed-minded gun control foes, it’s become clear that giving them the benefit of the doubt is wholly undeserved…and a threat to public safety.
I’m done with it. I will continue to voice my opinion on common sense gun control, but I’ll no longer entertain the delusion that proudly closed-minded gun control foes want to have an honest discussion. All they really want is to dictate and rule through the barrel of a gun and the power of the Big Lie. I’ve finally lost my belief that compromise is possible. If you believe with all your heart that carrying assault rifles into crowded public spaces is your absolute right under the Constitution, I pity you. If you believe that your sick, twisted, self-interested definition of the 2nd Amendment- and ONLY your definition- represents the intent of the Founding Fathers, you have no business carrying or being in possession of a firearm. ANYWHERE.
Translation: Jackie-boi can’t argue like an adult and tries to cover it up with hand-waving and stupid ad homs. And you’re right. Burying you with facts and proving you’re ignorant, is pretty easy[.] That you admit to it, and justify your running away like a beaten cur, with it, proves you to be an intellectual nonentity.. Actually, you pouding your head into concrete with not change your inability to argue the subject intelligenty[.] I suspect you already got where you are because you previous “pounding”.
Wow…how could I possibly hope to counter such rapier-sharp logic (poor syntax, spelling, and punctuation aside)? When an adversary claims victory because you refuse to engage and play the game by their rules, you’re not dealing with someone interested in an open and free-flowing intellectual discussion. You’re dealing with a closed-minded zealot interested only in grinding you into dust with cheap personal insults and ad hominem attacks…even as they accuse you of the same. ”Course, a person like that can only win if their intended mark takes the bait…and I’m done with that. I will no longer engage in a battle of wits with unarmed adversaries; it’s a waste of time, energy, and brain cells.
If the angry White males who comprise the vast majority of proudly closed-minded gun control foes are irrevocably certain their opinion and ONLY their opinion is valid and worthy of consideration, it’s time to grind them into dust. If they can’t or refuse to participate in a discussion geared toward finding middle ground, what’s left but to impose the will of the majority of Americans on them? The truth is that the vast majority of Americans don’t want AR-15s in coffee shops, airports, and shopping malls. They don’t want to have to worry about the safety of their family in a public area because an attention whore with an assault rifle slung over their shoulder believes himself to be “exercising his 2nd Amendment rights.” Exercising (real or perceived) rights aren’t synonymous with being an insensitive, self-absorbed, inconsiderate prick. You don’t get to endanger others because you feel entitled to “protect yourself” from the threat of violent assault in a Starbucks. If you’re that concerned about your safety, you shouldn’t be carrying an AR-15; you should be heavily medicated and under a doctor’s care.
If proudly closed-minded gun control foes displayed anything resembling even faintly redolent of an honest interest in the exchange of ideas, I might feel differently. I feel as if I’ve made a good faith attempt to meet them halfway. Unfortunately, when you’re dealing with people who equate compromise with capitulation, no honest exchange or discussion is possible. When it’s clear that proudly closed-minded gun control foes have no interest in coming out from behind their barricades, what’s the point? When it’s clear they’re primarily and only focused on defeating you utterly through the unquestioned moral superiority of their argument, why would any rational person take the bait?
If I had my way, guns would be taken away- every last one. If England and Australia can do it, to assume that America couldn’t is absurd. That said, I understand that my dream is both unattainable and impossible, thus my willingness to meet somewhere in the middle. I proceed from the assumption that the 2nd Amendment in no shape, manner, or form provides for an American citizen carrying an AR-15 or AK-47 into a public area, whether it be an airport, a shopping mall, or a coffee shop. There’s simply no logical device that allows one to apply the realities of life and firepower of 18th-century America verbatim to the world we live in today. If you believe such egregious and willful disregard for public safety to be your God-given right under the 2nd Amendment, you’re not a patriot. You’re a sociopath with compensation issues.
I’d like to think that good people can disagree while still coming together to discuss a problem in the hope of finding common ground. Not that gun aficionados aren’t or can’t be good people. That said, I have to wonder about someone who’d argue with all seriousness that the 2nd Amendment represents the God-given right to carry any type of firepower- regardless of potential lethality and the risk to those around them- anywhere they choose. How do you have a rational discussion with those who refuse to accept ANY limitations whatsoever on such reckless and dangerously selfish behavior? How do you find common ground with those who believe themselves to be above the law and accountable to no one? How do you reason with zealots convinced their gun “rights” trump any and all other considerations…including the safety and well-being of those they come into contact with? How do you reason with “patriots” willing to dismiss opposing opinions and enforce theirs via threats of violence? That’s not a point of view; that’s a clear and undeniable indicator of mental illness.
Samuel Wurzelbacher (“Joe the Plumber”) once wrote that “your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights.” Yes, that’s a truly insensitive and dickish thing to say, especially expressed as it was in the aftermath of the mass shooting at UC-Santa Barbara. That Neanderthal sentiment is representative of the self-entitled nature of what proudly closed-minded gun control foes believe. As long as they’re not burying their own, mass murder remains merely an abstract concept that should IN NO WAY be used an an excuse to impinge upon their “gun rights.”
If you believe with all your heart that “MOR GUNZ!!!” is the best (and only) solution, the most effective way to protect Americans from criminals, you’re a pitiful excuse for a human being and I truly feel sorry for you. You live in a very dark, joyless world and deserve to be pitied.
It’s too bad, really. I’m willing to accept that I won’t get what I want- banning guns outright- but I’m willing to work towards find common ground. Most proudly closed-minded gun control foes are pathologically unwilling to discuss any compromise that doesn’t represent complete and total capitulation to their demands…because to them compromise IS capitulation.
How many more innocent Americans will die needlessly because proudly closed-minded gun control foes refuse to recognize reality? Or before good and decent Americans decide enough is enough and defeat intransigence and inflexibility with common sense gun control? I’m not certain, but the trend of senseless bloodshed (followed by a plethora of outrage and a dearth of effective response) shows no signs of waning any time soon. Proudly closed-minded gun control foes seem to have no problem with the truth that they (once again) have blood on their hands.
Hey, as long as they’re not burying their own, what’s the problem??
