Reply #4: It's a difference of philosophy. [View All]

[OpSomBlood]

I wouldn't go so far as to call the VPC a bunch of Nazis (I leave juvenile ad hominem attacks to people who are otherwise unable to prove a simple point). They probably do have good intentions, and it is foolish not to acknowledge the fact that there is a serious gun problem in this country.

The difference lies in the solutions to the problem that have been presented. Pro-gun people like me have been shooting all of their lives (including *GASP!* as small children) and understand that strict adherence to safety rules will always prevent accidents. We obey the law, and would never use our guns to break it.

On the other hand, there's a large portion of the country that have never even seen a gun, let alone handled or shot one. These are the people who are the most influenced by baseless anti-gun rhetoric. They are the ones who are easily led to believe that the term "assault weapons" refers to machine guns.

But the simple fact of the matter is that gun technology has undergone very few changes in the last hundred years. What we today call an illegal machine gun used to cost $15 at the hardware store 70 years ago.

It is foolish to blame guns for crime, since the guns themselves haven't changed much while the crime rates have. There are sociological shifts that have resulted in a disregard for the law, and these need to be addressed rather than collecting guns from law-abiding citizens in an effort to appear progressive.