His stuff in the quote sections like:
"But unlike so many clear-cut, bafflingly contentious subjects in American life—racial equality, health-care affordability, abortion rights, climate change, LGBTQ rights—the issue of guns actually is somewhat complicated."
Yeah. All those other issues are clear-cut? I dunno about that.
"The idea that gun regulations should be regarded as a threat to constitutional freedom is a treacherous hoax. And yet, it's patently unfair to paint all gun owners (roughly one-third of Americans) as crazy rubes tooling up for the day the revenuers show up to raid their compound."
100,000,000 Americans. Say that out loud. Some people, not necessarily this crazy writer, think it's possible to take away the guns of 100,000,000 Americans. They think that they can even restrict the rights of 100,000,000 Americans. Expansions of our rights is coming. It's only a matter of time.
"I didn't realize why some guns were called pistols and others revolvers. I was a neophyte, verging on phobic. I thought of guns as dark magic, unpredictable talismans, better left alone."
Which is why he is super weird about guns throughout the article. He has a much longer way to go. MUCH. Much greener than I ever was. I was further down the firearm path at age 7, hitting pie pans with a BB gun.
"Only question five gave me pause: 'Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to marijuana, or any depressant, stimulant, or narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?' I mean, no, as it happens, but still, they're more worried about weed than a desire to commit murder, or the ability to demonstrate competency?"
You mentioned the 1993 Brady bill and the GCA of 1968. This reefer-madness bit is a artifact of the 1968 law.
"Almost every single person from this second [gun owning associates of the writer] group said two things: (1) They favor gun control, and (2) please don't use their name."
You know you might get upwards of 80% pro-gun-control in this country if everyone believed it was what it said it was. For safety. Not as incrementalism to the gun ban regime of Great Britain. Us wide-spectrum libertarian absolutists aren't as numerous as we'd like to be. You'll just never convince America again that gun control is not just a cover for gun bans. Americans aren't hardcore libertarian, but libertarian is in our national DNA.
"My aim remained poor no matter what distance I shot from, always dragging low and to the right."
I bet you are left handed... Relax and work on your trigger pull. Surprise break and all that.
"I believe the NRA's rhetoric about 'good guys with guns' is largely bullshit, the same as all marketing that tells you one thing in order to sell you another. Nonetheless, I thought that if my experiment was going to be fair, I should try a little harder to put myself in situations where I might have reason to feel, if not actually imperiled, then at least uneasy. "
NO! Don't go looking for a fight, fool! You have a lot to learn if you continue down this path. Which you shouldn't. You are a self-admitted prohibited person.
"Whether or not there's a causal link between those two seemingly contradictory facts [increased gun numbers, decrease in crime] is impossible to establish"
Contradictory? I don't understand? How is that contradictory?
"The first time I was hospitalized for acting on suicidal ideation, I was 15 years old. It wasn't a serious attempt—but it was a serious harbinger of the nearly 30 years that have followed. During that time, my feelings on the subject have ranged vastly, from no danger at all to dialing the first two digits of 911. I have envisioned killing myself in styles baroque and anonymous. I have written extensive suicide notes, including personalized messages to everyone I care about. I have pushed the edge of a razor blade until the tip punctured my wrist, and then stopped."
Yeah, if I felt like that I'd sell most of my guns off and the one or two left would be stored at a buddy's house, locked, where I couldn't get to it. There wouldn't be a gun in my house.
Now I'm not telling you how to live your life, but... Think on that.
I felt bummed when going through my divorce. It impacted my work. This very thought occurred to me, even then: "Now is NOT the time to go gun shopping. Maybe in the future." And I wasn't clinically depressed. I wasn't taking crazy pills for years and years. Like this guy still does in his mid-40s. I was situationally depressed because of circumstances, but still cautious and self aware enough to not even tempt myself. YOU, sir, are way beyond that.
I am worried you wrote this article as a going-away piece and will be dead before Spring. To sorta prove and anit-gun point, somehow.
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