Introduction

A major subject in today's news is the battle for gun rights. Hopefully this blog will help educate some of the less informed and answer the questions of the curious. If there are any questions, feel free to comment and I will answer them as soon as possible! This blog addresses things like self defense, the pro-gun lobby, shooting sports, firearms educations, and much more. Enjoy!

Firearm Education at a Young Age

Ever since I was young, Guns have been a part of my life. With my father being a collector we have always had guns in the house, so naturally he instilled proper gun safety in me at a young age. Through that, I learned how to respectfully and safely handle firearms. A major problem you see in todays youth is that they have been raised with a fear of guns instead of a respect. Think about how kids work, if you tell them they cannot do something, theyre just going to want to do it more. And without proper education on firearms, that can be a deadly combination. So buy a .22, set up some cans, and teach your kids safety, first and foremost.

One of The Most Informative Firearms Slideshows Created

http://www.assaultweapon.info

This website really shows many of the truths in the war on "Black Guns". I suggest that anybody interested in politics watch it.

Hunting and It's Connection With Nature

Being from the south, I've grown up in the woods. From rabbit hunting with my father to deer driving with my grandfather, hunting as always been not only a big part of my life, but my family's heritage. One of my favorite types of hunting is duck hunting. Most people would look at duck hunting and think it sounds like the worst thing in the world. Waking up at 3:30 in the morning just to go stand out  in the freezing cold and shoot at birds. But when you get out there, it's like nothing else in the world. To watch the sun come up over the water and hear the whistle of wings above your head followed by the boom of a shotgun, its an odd kind of beauty, but it is just that- beauty. If guns were regulated, this would no longer be the same. Sure, I could wake up at 3:30 and go bird watching, but without the pursuit of game, the hunt is no longer the hunt.

The Wide World of Shooting Sports

Shooting Sports are one of the less bleak sides of Gun Rights, forget the talk of tyranny, self defense, and things of the sort, let's talk about one of the most fun aspects of being a firearms enthusiast. Shooting sports encompasses everything from knocking over cans with a .22 to intricate IPSC 3-Gun matches. Theres nothing like going outside, setting up some targets and testing your skills against your buddies or heading to the Sporting Clays course for a little friendly competition. Shooting sports are also one of the best ways to encourage the education of young shooters, as we discussed earlier. As this blog continues, we will get in to some of the more serious issues of Gun Rights, but remember, we can have a safe, good time with our firearms as well.

Tyranny!

The Anti-Gun campaign loves the statement "you don't need an assault rifle (we'll go over my hatred of that word later) to kill a deer!" Well, they're right. If I was going deer hunting, I wouldn't grab my AR and head out to the stand, I'd grab my Remington 700 which is a bolt action rifle with a capacity of 4 rounds. But that doesn't mean we don't need our ARs and AKs. The 2nd amendment wasn't established for people to go deer hunting, it was established in order to keep a well regulated militia to prevent tyranny. So yea, maybe I don't need my assault rifle to kill a deer, but that definitely doesn't mean I shouldn't have it.

A major controversy among both the pro and anti gun advocates is the use of firearms for personal defense. In reality, having a firearm on your person at the time of a defense situation may be the difference between life or death. One major part of this controversy is the concealed carrying of firearms on college campuses. Being a college student, this is a topic that I have put quite a bit of thought into. A story related to this topic that made major headlines is the story of Amanda Collins. Collins was a student at University of Nevada. She had noticed a man following her back to her car one night one night and began to get worried. Being a Concealed Carry Permit holder, she usually had her Glock 19 in her purse, but being on her college campus, she did not have it with her tonight. The man ended up following her to a dark parking lot and raping her, and the unanimous conception was that if she would have had her weapon on her that night, she would have been able to prevent the rape. Many colleges have responded to this situation, including my own, by putting in “blue light stations”, which are direct call boxes to the local police departments. Seems like a great idea, push a button- get a cop. In reality, however, Collins would not have been any better off with a blue light station, because most likely by the time she was aware her follower was a threat and pressed the button on the blue light station, it would have been to late.

"But it looks scary!"

Within the past few years, members of the anti-gun campaign have locked on to a new target- the so called "black guns". The term "black gun" has come to describe any weapon that has the cosmetic appearance of a modern military weapon. The list of BG's includes AR-15s, AK-47s, FALs, IWI Tavors, and many other firearms that the liberals Anti-Gun activists have deemed much to scary looking for the public to own. These firearms commonly have features such as detachable magazines, pistol grips, adjustable stocks, railed fore-ends, large magazine capacity and other military like features. These weapons are commonly (and mistakenly) called "assault rifles" by the media. The term assault rifle did not exist before 1986. It is a term that was created to make military styled weapons appear more frightening, thereby gaining support in there battle for making them illegal. Lets do a little bit of compare and contrast. In one corner, we have the M1A. The Springfield M1A , based on the M14 platform and operating system, and also firing the same 7.62x51 cartridge, is a common "Black Gun" on the market today. They're great, reliable rifles that can be picked up for around $1,200 dollars at your Local Gun Store. In the other corner, we have the Mini 30. The Ruger Mini 30 was developed by Ruger for use as a ranch rifle on Texas farms. This rifle is also based off of the M14 operating system and fires a 7.62x39 cartridge. In the state of New York, the proverbial mecca of gun control, one of these rifles are illegal with no modifications, and one is legal with no modifications. Let's take a look at our competitors.

Springfield M1A

Ruger Mini 30

These rifles, similar as they appear...... Yea, they're actually really similar. Lets take a look at what makes one legal, and one illegal

• SIMILARITIES
• Both fire a .30 caliber projectile
• Both have magazines with capacities over 10 rounds
• Both are based on the same operating system
• Both are american made

•     DIFFERENCES
• The M1A has a compensator on the end of the barrel
• The Mini 30 looks "less scary"

A Compensator is on the M1A to help deal with the recoil of the .308 7.62x51mm round. It helps reduce recoil, not turn your brand new M1A into a ruthless killing machine. Yet for some reason, this useful modification makes this rifle illegal to own in the state of New York.

"Guns dont kill people, People kill people"

While on Facebook a few weeks ago, I came across this article. A man set out to prove that for a firearm to kill somebody, there had to be a person behind it. Something that the Anti-Gun lobbyists just cannot seem to understand is that guns don't just get up on their own, walk out the door, and kill somebody. According to FBI statistics, more homicides are committed each year with hammers than with assault rifles AR-15's, the newest target in the anti-gun campaign. Much like a gun, a hammer doesn't jump of the toolbox and go on a killing spree, someone has to be behind it. People realize this, yet hammers are still legal in all 50 states. Just doesn't make to much sense to me.

"If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns"

One of the most common phrases heard in support of the second amendment is "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." The reason this phrase has become so cliche is because it goes to support everything the second amendment stands for. Whether it be to protect your home and family, legally pursue game animals, or to prevent tyranny, if legislation is passed to prevent legal ownership of firearms, the only people owning guns with be the criminals. According to a survey done by the DOJ in 2004 where inmates accused of gun crimes were asked about the method they used in obtain the firearm. These are the results:

• 2% say they acquired their gun from a flea market or gun show.
• 10% said they acquired their gun from a legal retailer
• 37% said they illegally obtained it from family or friends
• 40% obtained it through theft or other illicit measures

Now by looking at these statistics, we see that it is not the legal gun owners that are the problem, it's the criminals that are the problem.

Conclusion

All in all, I believe that what was given to us in the beginning as an "Unalienable right" should remain so. Whether it is for self defense, sport, hunting, militia, or just the feeling of security ownership of a firearm provides, we as Americans should be able to posses the firearms that we would like to posses. If our congress goes in to the constitution with a red pen to "modernize" it, where is the line drawn? When does free speech become "irrelevant to the modern world"? When is right to religion declared "obsolete in current times"? By allowing our leaders to make corrections now, we are opening ourselves up for the future.