What Do Liberals Get Wrong on Guns?

2nd Amendment – R2KBA Authors Columns S.H. Blannelberry This Week

The Guardian posed this question to gun owners and Second Amendment advocates at the 2016 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Louisville, KY.  You can see the responses from the interviewees in the video above.

But before you watch the video. Why don’t you, in 300 words or fewer, answer the question in the comment section below. What do liberals get wrong on guns?  I’m curious to read your thoughts.

Below, you’ll find some of my reflections on the matter.

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The big problem with liberals is that they emphasize public safety at the expense of personal preparedness.

Personally, I want to live in a safe area but more than anything else I want to be prepared. Safety is the absence of threats. Preparedness is the ability to confront and handle all threats an environment poses.

One’s safety, therefore, is a fluid condition contingent upon the potential threats in an area. Since it’s impossible to control all the variables and conditions of an environment, one is never truly safe or out of danger. Something can always go wrong. A threat can always emerge. Hence, it pays to be prepared, to have a degree of agency in an environment, to have the training and confidence to act decisively to neutralize a threat.

Yet, liberals by and large don’t believe in personal preparedness. Like with everything else (health care, education, child care), they encourage you to rely solely on Uncle Sugar to provide you with what you need. Why? Because the more you are dependent on government the more you are malleable to the government’s agenda, which is and has always been the rapacious expansion of its power and control over the people it is supposed to serve.

Liberals, therefore, tell you that the government can protect you. This is a lie. The government cannot protect you! You, and you alone are responsible for confronting and handling the dangers you may face day to day.

The government’s role in public safety is to enforce the laws and take bad guys off the streets — to remove threats from society. But more often than not this happens retroactively. That is to say, after the crime has been committed, after the victim has been victimized. In the moment when your life is on the line, it’s up to you to defend it. The government won’t be there to save you.

What’s worse than the lie about the Uncle Sugar being able to protect citizens is the falsehood that maximum public safety is created through a maximally disarmed populace. Liberals support complete civil disarmament because they contend that gun-free zones are danger-free zones. This is absurd for obvious reasons. First, as we’ve witnessed time and time again, gun-free zones are frequently exploited by spree killers with tragic results (e.g. Paris, France). Second, when the government removes our ability to protect ourselves we are more vulnerable to threats — not less.

What’s sinister is how this liberal approach to public safety is manifesting in our society. It’s a downward spiral that will eventually lead to the revocation of the Second Amendment. It works something like this: Liberals propagate the lie that the government is responsible for your personal protection. They then add the caveat, to properly protect you, the government needs you to embrace gun control and gun-free zones. Ironically, this makes the public more susceptible to violent attacks and violent crime. When these attacks happen, liberals double down on the lie that the government can protect you. However, to optimally protect you, they argue, the government needs to continually ratchet up gun control until complete civil disarmament is achieved.

At the end of the day, the liberal agenda is clear. It’s to expand the power and control of government by convincing more and more people that in order to achieve ultimate public safety citizens have to give up their personal autonomy and freedoms as it relates to their fundamental right of self-defense. In a nutshell, liberals want everyone to believe that you are more safe when you are less free to defend yourself. If that sounds crazy, that’s because it is crazy. But that’s what liberals get wrong on guns in my opinion.

I should add that not all liberals are anti-gun and using the term “liberal” may be too broad a brushstroke. “Neoliberal” or even “statist” is probably a more appropriate term than “liberal” but for sake of convenience, I opted to go with “liberal.” I’m not going to dwell on labels or the differences between the terms. However, I thought I’d acknowledge that there is a distinction between a classic liberal and some of the big government leftists out there, the latter of which I’m referring to in this commentary.

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  • Ry October 30, 2016, 11:59 am

    The trouble with our liberal friends isn’t that they are ignorant, it’s that they know so much that isn’t so.

    Ronald Reagan

  • ExNuke October 27, 2016, 9:31 pm

    The question in the article can’t be answered in 300 words or less. The term Liberal is too “broad brush”, it is also deceptive. There are no “Liberals” in the gun hating crowd, only Repressives if they stand to gain power by disarming people and Regressives who are gullible enough that they think the former have the least interest in their dupes personal safety. Personal Safety IS important to Repressives, their own personal safety. As an example: Nancy Pelosi went ballistic about .50 BMG rifles as soon as she found out her limo wasn’t armored enough to stop them even though they have never been used in a violent crime.

    Easier to say what they get right about guns.
    The square end goes against the shoulder and the bullet comes out the little end for rifles and shotguns.
    They know Inner-city Democrats can’t hit the one they are shooting at but ~10% of the time.
    They know that they would be dangerous to everyone around them if they had a gun because why should they need training, they are always right.
    They know that Police are murdering rasist bullies and thugs and that only the Police and politicians should have guns.

  • ExNuke October 27, 2016, 9:02 pm

    The term Liberal is too “broad brush”, it is also deceptive. There are no “Liberals” in the gun hating crowd, only Repressives if they stand to gain power by disarming people and Regressives who are gullible enough that they think the former have the least interest in their dupes personal safety. Personal Safety IS important to Repressives, their own personal safety. As an example: Nancy Pelosi went ballistic about .50 BMG rifles as soon as she found out her limo wasn’t armored enough to stop them even though they have never been used in a violent crime.

  • Patriot October 27, 2016, 10:51 am

    Affordable Care Act – Important, Please Read!

    Obama held all of this until his term was almost over and Hillary will do nothingto change this.
    The fee for Medicare goes up starting next year.

    Medicare at age 76!
    If you don’t read this, and do nothing about it, don’t complain when it affects you or your loved ones! This is the second Judge to have read the Obama Care
    document comments. More highlights of Nancy’s “pass it and then find out what’s in the bill”! Show this to everyone nearing the ripe old age of 76. These are just a few of the things that we seniors are going to have to deal with which started in 2014.

    MEDICARE AT AGE 76, IMPORTANT PLEASE READ – ANYONE WHO DOUBTS THIS IS TRUE CAN DOWNLOAD THE NEW OBAMA CARE AND LOOK UP THE PAGES
    MENTIONED. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING….

    THIS should be read by everyone, especially important to those over 75……. If you are younger, then it may apply to your parents. Your hospital Medicare admittance has just changed under Obama Care.

    You must be admitted by your primary Physician in order for Medicare to pay for it! If you are admitted by an emergency room doctor, it is treated as outpatient care where hospital costs are not covered. This is only the tip of the iceberg for Obama Care.

    Just wait to see what else went into effect in 2014. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE THIS…
    At age 76, when you most need it most, you are NOT eligible for cancer treatment…

    * see page 272. What Nancy Pelosi didn’t want us to know until after the healthcare bill was passed. Remember, she said, “We have to pass the Bill so that we can see what’s in it.” Well, here it is.

    Obama Care Highlighted by Page Number THE CARE BILL HB 3200 JUDGE KITHIL IS THE 2ND OFFICIAL WHO HAS OUTLINED THESE PARTS OF THE CARE BILL.
    Judge KITHIL of Marble Falls, TX highlighted the most egregious pages of HB3200. Please read this…… especially the reference to pages 58 & 59. JUDGE KITHIL wrote:
    Page 50/section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally.

    Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual’s bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts.
    Page 65/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the
    government) for all union members, union retirees and for
    community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – ACORN).

    Page 203/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?)
    Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors’ fees.

    Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient’s age.
    Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception.

    Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an “end-of-life planning” seminar every five years. (Death counseling..)

    Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.
    HAD ENOUGH???? Judge Kithil then goes on to identify:

    “Finally, it is specifically stated that this bill
    will not apply to members of Congress.

    No wonder they did not see the need to read it….doesn’t apply to them!!!

    THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED TO STAND UP TO WASHINGTON.

    Winds Of Change — is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn, ask each of those to do likewise……If you do…..In three days, most people in The United States will have this message.

  • Russ Ol October 23, 2016, 7:23 am

    I began watching, but basically gave up when you puked up your limited understanding of history. The “tranquility of the middle ages? NRA to Nazi’s!? WOW. Maybe you have a learning disorder ,,, ?
    While you weren’t even yet the idea of a dirty squirt into somebone’s filthy bottom men were dying on the beaches of Normandy for you moron; what were they supposed to do, use cute words?
    Put your earplugs back in little boy, hop on your lithium-powered scooter and scoot in front of the nearest quick-moving bus, your genes be gone.

  • Bruce B. October 21, 2016, 10:26 pm

    If the liberals win this election and gain control of the Supreme Court by appointing liberal, anti-Constitutional judges, they WILL gut the 1st, 2nd, 4th and probably all the other Amendments as well as re-write the Constitution via liberal interpretations of cases coming before them. Then they will withhold funding from states that do not enact legislation that forbids gun ownership and the states legislatures will cave in and line up to take away gun ownership. Another eight years of this liberal leadership at the top will put us over the edge, of push us over the cliff. I am glad I am almost 70 so I may not have to deal with it too long if the liberals win again.

    • Brian B. October 23, 2016, 10:56 pm

      You miss understood the questions. It what do LIBERALS get wrong about guns. Not what conservatives get wrong about liberals.

      • Mo Kahn October 24, 2016, 4:47 pm

        Well put. No one is conservative or liberal on every issue. To express your ignorance on issues by labeling someone is a waste of time. How about what do white people get wrong about liberals? Just another uneducated mistake? Although, uneducated, undereducated or over educated, there is no excuse for STUPID! But then try talking rationally to a member of the Klan.

  • noduty2submit October 21, 2016, 8:53 pm

    Here is what the 2nd Amendment Community Gets Wrong About Guns:

    1. State Firearms Statutes do not infringe on the Second Amendment!
    2. The “License to Carry” is a Commercial Contract, herein the object of regulation is COMMERCE!
    3. State Firearms Statutes are “acts authorizing the making of [commercial] contracts with the government.” (74 US 666 – Supreme Court)

    Please See the PROOF:
    https://youtu.be/vw0O_R5_0p4
    https://youtu.be/L-JKnyAC5LY

    BEAR ARMS!!! (But DON’T “carry”…unless you are being paid for it!)
    thank you!

  • John October 21, 2016, 8:38 pm

    The biggest problem with banning something is…IT DOESN’T WORK.
    Doesn’t work with drugs, didn’t work with liquor, and it won’t work with guns/magazines…at least not for the criminals.
    So what will citizens do when they have another “Battle of Athens”, (when WWI vets rebelled against their corrupt government).
    Does no one remember the 1965 Watts Riots? Or the 1992 LA riots, or more recently the Hurricane Katrina looting & killing.
    Mass shooters love to use hi-capacity weapons? So do people that want to defend themselves FROM the mass shooters…unfortunately ANY law banning “quick-firing high capacity guns” will only be obeyed by citizens, NOT the criminals, (and the citizens that have had enough of meddling with their rights).
    How many times has our National Guard been called out to kill their own citizens?
    Maybe some people don’t think we need a weapon any more, but they doesn’t speak for me….maybe they think our Government could never turn on us…it could never happen in America….BUT IT ALREADY HAS!

  • Chil October 21, 2016, 7:25 pm

    Rank and file Liberals go directly from emotion to action. There is no thought process. Liberal thought is an oxymoron. This lack of thought and lack of a basic understanding of the principles that made the USA the most exceptional civilization in the history of mankind enables the Progressive elite to obtain their Fascist One World goal. The 2nd amendment is an obstacle in achieving that goal. You have to hand it to the Progressives. They are a patient and focused bunch. Their ideals have been fostered generationally through the education system and a complicit media. All of our God granted rights are in their sights. Progressives must disarm those of us who have been able to resist their evil intentions before they can continue toward the One World goal. Liberals don’t understand that we are all proverbial frogs in the pot, and the water is getting hotter.

  • John October 21, 2016, 6:57 pm

    You are confusing liberals with anti- gunners. It’s like saying that everything that holds bullets is clip, when they really mean, ammunition going into the magazine. I am a liberal, and own many firearms, have a chl and hunt.

    • John October 21, 2016, 8:40 pm

      THE GREAT DIVIDE
      Ever since its first European settlements, in the early 1600s, America developed as two completely different republics. We have been politically divided ever since, and will always remain so. This is because our two founding republican traditions are both opposite and irreconcilable.
      On one side of the divide were the agrarian republicans like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They gave us the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, with their foundation stones of equal creation, personal freedom, and the inalienable rights of every citizen.
      Theirs was a republic of innate virtue, where crime and vice were nothing more than aberrations. An individual’s misbehavior was only of concern to the State when other citizens had been harmed by it.
      On the other side of the divide were the puritanical republicans like the autocratic clergyman, Cotton Mather. These men believed all citizens to be innate sinners, irresistibly driven to dastardly deeds unless rigidly restrained by the State. Their puritan republic, their City of God, was like a brittle chain, which a single weak link would sunder.
      In their world, even the slightest mis-step from pious purity had to be prevented at all cost. Countless detailed laws and regulations were devised, and then constantly revised, in order to eliminate every possibility of straying. To the true puritan — whether pious Christian, secular humanist, or leveling socialist — notions of rights and responsibilities are meaningless. All that matters is the prevention of sin. No form of prior restraint can be too severe, if it advances this fundamental goal.

      • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 12:19 pm

        Well- nice try John-! You need to dig deeper in your rewrite of history and the centuries of struggle in English Law that lead up to OUR ” Bill of RIGHTS” as it was New England(you refererred to) that demanded them or refused to ratify the Constitution(esp the 2nd- Amendment).
        As well as definitely WHERE the English Law for armed citizenry was derived from- going back thruearly European, Roman+Greek philsopher’s and the Scripture’s themselves = all derived from and written of by OUR
        Founding peoples(read them to get it right).

        I agree religious Pharisee’s today, early America or in Christ’s time were all about faux power over their fellow man. Jesus got in their faces daily calling them names so bad there’s no one word for them and He was God in the flesh and they hated Him and all He stood for.

        True Christ followers thru-out time have had to deal with hypocrite’s.
        They did not Found OUR Representative Republic they fought against it.

        I say these people your referring to were the Tory’s then and now that always liked and wanted control- whether British-statist’s then or the
        socialist/statist’s today(Hillary+ilk). Proof is they fought alongside the Redcoats then to stop OUR Liberty then and these Tory’s among us are still at it today.
        They are less than 1/3 + WE are slightly more then 1/3; this is why they cheat in elections- to defeat WE the “silent+moral-majority”).
        With the remaining 1/2 neutral, independent or could care less.
        WE- being of the Conservative/libertarian mindset(values with independance).

        All in all WE believe in the Foumdational “freedoms under Liberty” where the now Far-Left believe in granted-privileges that they get to decide for you at all levels and activities. Just like King George did w/his overseers here+Britain including a State Church by force.
        And the liberal/progressive/socialist/statist’s with PC agenda’s want the position on of both rulers and overseers = kicking God out first and replacing Him, His Word and Spirit with “self “over us peon sheople .
        Sounds like original sin to me- “right there ” ~!

  • Robert S Bruchmann October 21, 2016, 3:20 pm

    The greatest danger American’s have with liberals efforts to restrict or ban guns, from back ground checks, to registration to type and caliber of guns is simple. How will they enforce gang members from getting guns and ignoring the law, how will they stop criminals from stealing guns from homes, how will they enforce thugs from shooting other thugs. What intelligent thought process do liberals go through to assert that their ideas and proposals will curb violence and reduce gun use in the commission of gun violence. Oh, yeah there is no intelligent through process by liberals only self serving grandiose gratification of how concerned they are while hiring body guards or having body guards provided by taxpayers. I hope Americans get over being stupid wake up and realize these folks are the “real” danger to us, not the thugs f we have guns!

  • Ron October 21, 2016, 1:42 pm

    Why 2nd amendment, and why we all should have right and own a firearm. Prime example is Mosul Iraq. There are over a million (1,000,000) helpless people be held at bay (with so many more displaced from Mosul) by current estimate of five thousand (5000) armed ISIS militants. If those people were armed they could rise up and restore their city to their own again. If the people are the owners of their city and country they should have the right and ability to stop the radical elements when those elements become organized and a threat.

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 12:49 pm

      Of course Ron- that’s commonsense for a realistic analysis…
      However commonsense is so rare in modern liberal thot it’s become a superpower in this “strange new world” we’ve let them put us in ~!

  • Paul October 21, 2016, 1:41 pm

    What do liberals get wrong about guns? Pretty much everything.

  • singleshotcajun October 21, 2016, 1:06 pm

    EVERYTHING

    • Chil October 21, 2016, 7:32 pm

      Nailed it with 299 words to spare!

  • Andy La Patra October 21, 2016, 1:04 pm

    First the facts:
    1. Most mass murders/shootings have taken place in gun free zones, not police stations, gun clubs or NRA meetings.
    2. The psychological profiles for most mass murderers shows they have or had mental issues.
    3. NICS background checks have been in place for over 25 years originated through the help of the NRA.
    4. NICS background checks have not and most likely will not included HIPAA health information, mental problems information or VA health info, the Left’s “common sense background checks” is a catch phrase for ‘Taking our guns.’
    5. The DOJ currently prosecutes less than .1% of NICS background check violations.
    6. Criminals don’t care about gun laws no matter what the penalties.
    7. Many of the gun laws on the books are not even being enforced. STOP & FRISK WORKS.
    8. The only indisputable proven correlation between stricter gun laws and murders are Chicago and Washington, DC.
    9. Rich, high profile individual and politicians are surrounded by gun carrying guards for their protection.
    10. The percentage of citizens who own firearms and have committed any crimes, let alone murder, is almost negligible.
    11. Self-proteciton and family protection is critical since “when seconds count the police are only minutes away.”
    12. AND FINALLY, the Progressive Left has ALWAYS wanted to take away guns from citizens. The NRA originally helped Black People achieve the right to purchase and own guns.
    Fight for your right to own and carry guns, because the Left is coming to get them! 2ND AMENDMENT ALL THE WAY.

    • Elmer Thielman October 22, 2016, 3:26 am

      Excellent.

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 2:12 pm

      Most of the “mental issues” are directly related to being put on various pharmaseutically prescribed drugs that “liberals” push on OUR children via public school run by the federal dept of Ed(thanks to Jimmy Carter 1979) and the commie NEA with their Commie-Core(which Hillary champions).

      Moreover in everyone of these mass shootings- family, neighbors, community, schools, both psychologist’s+psychiatrist’s and even law enforcement KNEW these persons were a threat = sometimes repeatedly and clearly. So what did libs in charge do-?… prescribe more drugs.
      Nothing serious was really done.

      Even with Orlando the FBI cleared the guy and he even went thru the
      hoops of NICS background check. A lot of good that did thanks NRA-!
      (And why I never became a member but supported all the other orgs that actually fought in court- not spot adds preaching to the choir @ election time on TV)
      NICS was the beginning of them knowing now they could eventually get to confiscation, it was the fed bootjack in OUR door= “shall not be infringed”.
      You’d had to be blind deaf+dumb not to see that then-!
      You can’t be a little bit pregnant = again- “SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED”
      Outraged WE and OUR leaders should have marched on DC and every s5ate capitol. Now liberal/progressives just laugh at us like spoiled kids that say-
      “F U dad you ain’t never gonna do anything anyhow- I’m taken the car for a few day’s or so + a few C-notes from your wallet to buy ho’s- why don’tcha cry about it”

      Only one armed person could have stopped any of these serious head cases from carrying on human carnage, instead of helplessness.

      I’m stating right now America will see Paris shootings in OUR cities by ISIS faux ” immigrants” let in by MAO-bama. Not to even imagine Khill-liar-y and her immigration policies on steroids to cause anarchy with then legal grounds for Marshall Law and U.N. troops in your neighborhood to force “Gun-Buyback” (ie- Confiscation).

      THEY knew with NICS it was only a matter of time and chipping away while pushing the “reasonable gun control” mantra to the sheople that they’d eventually disarm us. Why-??? Because WE compromised on that just like taking Scripture+prayer out of schools as “acceptable” when all three are unConstitutional.

      My God they made murdering babies an individual Right when Life is the first guaranteed “UNALIENABLE RIGHT” from God to everyone of us. Huh-?
      These are all related and inter-related- the idea is in the end it will all get thrown out * “Declaration/Constitution+Bill of RIGHTS”.

      You WILL comply then or else get sent to a “re-education center” – political prison workcamp(ie- Gulag in northern Alaska) or just never be seen again.
      Do you read history-?…….
      Ever heard of Communism= now over 200million murdered in the last 100yrs.
      There is no joking around this-!!! The- “Communist goals for America” was read into the U.S. Congressional record in 1963 – search it- there’s 45 goals.
      Today all 45 are a done deal- just as Kruschev said ” Without firing a shot”.

      WE are not frogs in hot water in 2016 WE are almost frog-soup ~!

  • Joe Smith October 21, 2016, 12:58 pm

    See gun control article in today’s New York Times!
    Do you think any legislators will finally acknowledge that banning “assault rifles” and “high capacity magazines will not solve anything!!!
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/22/us/shootings-gun-violence.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 4:14 pm

      Quite the investigative reports by the Times there on Chicago.
      Very interesting- being it’s the shooting center of crime in America.
      Funny for all the interviews none on just where the thug gang members get their firearms or ammo.
      I hate to say it but the answer as to nailing the guilty there is in massive amounts of quality surveilence camera’s to ID vehicles and persons. Or the shootings will just continue.
      Seems like young people would just get out anyway they could. Join the military go south east west learn a trade to become skilled and build a life.
      There is no life there- only drugs death and sadness.
      Just my thots ~!

  • Raymond Pedrow October 21, 2016, 12:32 pm

    If the government outlaws buying guns, they will have just created more criminals! People will flaunt the law and get guns by whatever means are available! There will be people who manufacture guns illegally and customers to buy them in spite of what the government decrees! And it will lead to another revolution complete with citizens fighting and killing gun takers!

  • jd October 21, 2016, 12:28 pm

    liberals assume all people are nice. there is no evil in the world around them. it is somewhere else but not near them. if all people are nice no need for weapons. by human nature there will always be people who want what is not theirs and will try to take it from you. that might be material things you have worked for or it might be your way of life or maybe even just your freedom from their control. through out history one group of people have tried to control another group. this will never change. Have you walked thru a neighborhood that is not yours and people look at you with a semi stink eye? try that in inner cities where personal space is a lot smaller. you can be attacked for simply not being “from there”. How many pictures have you seen of rioters and looters. what connection does that have with peaceful demonstrations to bring attention to your ideas? None. It is just one group of people using any excuse to take what is not theirs by force. get in their way and you are viciously attacked. Perhaps seriously injured or killed. this can happen anywhere at any time. where is the government to protect the individual? 5-10-20 minutes later you may see the police, or not if it is not the “new” politically correct response. you have every right to protect yourself. why to important politicians travel with their own guards? they are not waiting the 10 minutes for the police to show up. they have their own protection. In a world of nice people everybody is reasonable and respectful of others. Read the news to see how many people are not nice.

  • Gregory Weinman October 21, 2016, 12:15 pm

    I live in a large California metropolitan area where most are devoutly against personal firearms. Yet, no cogent arguments originate from any willing to discuss the attempts of our governor and our legislature to curtail ownership. The brainwashed iterate the oft repeated talking points with a defense I just don’t like guns. Interestingly, they will stand in line to see Jack Reacher. Violence in movies and TV titillates them. They know not how ridiculous are scenes of bullets hitting everything but the target while every bad guy has a fully automatic weapon. These misinformed think assault weapon bans prevent that from happening on our city streets
    The populace are malleable. As a whole they buy the promise of “Yes we can!” In my city few will listen to salient points when it comes to guns. “That’s Chicago. We don’t live in Chicago.” doesn’t explain how a city with one of the most restrictive firearm laws and the highest incidence of shootings has one of the lowest prosecutions for crimes committed with a gun. Those brainwashed to dislike guns will never listen. My wife emigrated from a country where guns are banned. She doesn’t like the ones I keep. She will never see a valid reason for personal possession. I will never be able to convince her otherwise. I don’t bother to try.

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 4:49 pm

      Sadly Greg-
      It might take a breakin at a neigbors or relatives home to awaken her.
      Or even your home when you are gone and she’s “home alone” or worse w/children there.
      If she survives it she may then wish she could go back having a gun and set things right- especially God forbid she or children where harmed or raped.
      Harsh reality has a clarifying effect- tho sadly many folks don’t survive the first encounter with evil person(s).
      Maybe a survivor of could relay such an encounter to her for a heads up ~?

  • leslie jones October 21, 2016, 12:01 pm

    simple, they get pretty much every thing wrong, we need to restrict the criminal not the guns. If you do a strong arm robbery , rape, car jacking etc you get 5 years , IF you use a weapon ,be it a gun , knife or tire iron you get 10 yrs no parole , second offense life. If gun owners were as bad as the left wingnuts say we are There would be no left wingnuts left.

  • g October 21, 2016, 11:08 am

    The challenge is to find a way to educate them. If you just say they are all idiots, there will never be any movement in a positive direction. It is incredibly frustrating, but they likely feel the same way, and the polarization just gets stronger. It is difficult to help someone understand an issue when they have no real interest in it. It is going to require talking through.. hearing their concerns and having answers to their concerns that are not hostile or derogatory.

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 4:53 pm

      Becoming a survivoring victim of a crime really helps one see the light ~!

  • Robin Miller October 21, 2016, 10:22 am

    Please don’t assume all liberals are like the caricatures described by Drudgebart et. al. Bernie Sanders and I are both liberals and we’re fine with people owning guns. I own a couple myself, along with a rather large ammo inventory (just in case).

    I’d like to see somewhat better background checks to weed out gun-buying criminals and those suspect of terrorist connections — who should be subject to extra scrutiny, not prevented outright from owning guns.

    And the idea that we should repeal all traffic laws because criminals don’t follow laws is both silly and a worn-out argument. Or was that about gun regulations? Same in either case. Just possessing a gun if you’re a felon is now a federal offense, which means it’s easier for police to lock up baddies, and easier for judges to give them substantial Federal sentences, which are typically heavier than State ones.

    You will never get guns out of the hands of every idjit who might murder his old lady. But we can at least try to make sure legit people have guns if we want, and the illegitimate people can’t get hold of them easily.

    One other thing: liberals aren’t coming for your guns. We have our own, thank you.

    • JoeUSooner October 21, 2016, 11:10 am

      Robin,
      It is entirely possible that you – and other Liberals (the “common folk” among you, anyway) – are indeed NOT trying to disarm Conservative gun owners… but your political leaders damnably-well ARE intending to disarm us. They have (demonstrably and provably) said so, publicly and privately.

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 5:06 pm

      Robin: Why you can’t see what WE know and are talking about is because you are not one of us.
      How’s that picket fence up you behind feel- ie- so get off the fence.
      See “freedom’s under Liberty” come with a price = you cannot have it both ways – sorry-!
      Safety traded for freedom are padded chains- the very wise, courageous and Faithful persons that invented, created and gifted us this nation wouldn’t allow it then- nor should WE now.
      See “traffic laws” nor wagon, buggy or horses are in the” Bill of RIGHTS”.
      WE didn’t gain “freedoms under Liberty” by running over the Redcoats.
      Take time + really learn the true history of OUR Founding to understand it ~!

  • VA mtn Man October 21, 2016, 9:49 am

    In order to answer this question, there has to be some honesty on the part of those who espouse the anti gun rhetoric. Those at the grass roots (chanting, sign carrying) street level of the movement are ignorant naïve pawns of those at the top who use the reduction of crime and violence to veil their true intent and motivation. Bloomberg, Soros, Clinton, and power brokers on the left are advocates of big government involvement and control in every facet of our lives. For this to come about, the populous needs to be rendered docile and benign; a 300 million head herd of sheep if you will. Hysterical soccer mommies and the millennials have drunk, nay, chugged the koolaid with ardent enthusiasm and are always ready to parrot the official narrative with media only too happy to assist. To answer the initial question, they have everything wrong. That said, their handlers have gotten everything precisely right in that the true agenda continues to expand in the shadows, disguised as benevolent concern for American society. “Gun control” is not now, nor will it ever be about crime and violence. It is about people control and the fear of an enraged and well armed populous (AKA militia) who have had enough of Bloomberg, Soros, Clinton, and their ilk wiping their asses with the bill of rights in order to don the crown and ascend the throne.

    • Sharon Hollen October 21, 2016, 1:55 pm

      Such super powers you credit Hillary and others with! Can you imagine the hundreds, if not thousands of complicit people that would be needed to pull off what you suggest? And no smoking gun of her malevolent conspiracies yet? Amazing.

  • Glenn Kenan October 21, 2016, 9:29 am

    “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an unarmed man.”
    Thomas Jefferson

    • Glenn Kenan October 21, 2016, 9:31 am

      The last “unarmmed man” should read “ARMED MAN” – my mistake.

      • Sharon Hollen October 21, 2016, 1:14 pm

        Even if this is a valid quote, (and I don’t believe it is) to compare what firearms and life was like in his day to now is is not sound thinking in my opinion.

  • Chris Mallory October 21, 2016, 8:49 am

    They aren’t “liberals” . Supporting guns is a “liberal” stance. The anti gunners are progressives and statists. They infest both major parties.

  • Ken Sawyer October 21, 2016, 8:03 am

    Quit sending this rot to my email address.

    • Ken Sawyer October 21, 2016, 8:05 am

      what part of keep off my computer do you not understand.If you do not let me post then do not send this drivel to me. Ken Sawyer

      • Wild October 21, 2016, 10:07 am

        Learn to use “unsubscribe.”

      • p c October 21, 2016, 10:18 am

        Ken,
        Whats wrong?

  • DIYinSTL October 21, 2016, 7:28 am

    A very thoughtful response by Blannelberry. I would have simply replied “Just about everything. If the subject was race or religion they would be calling themselves bigots.”

  • P K Keethler October 21, 2016, 6:43 am

    What one of the main problems is they do not research the existing laws that are currently on the books, and then the legal system does not have the backbone to enforce them.
    If the legal system did the job correctly there are a lot in the Senate and the House that would be in jail.
    Our political parties have become a joke …from the original concept.
    A lot of the blame for all the violence in this Country comes from the homes … the children are not taught to respect the Flag and Country, our law enforcement and they’re elders.
    To many have lived on welfare far to long. They grew up with parents who grew up on welfare. Don’t get me wrong welfare has it’s place.
    We don’t need all of the refugees brought into this Country … we have Vets, our eldery and children that need our care before other countries.

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 5:17 pm

      Becoming a survivoring victim of a crime really helps one see the light ~!

  • Nunya October 21, 2016, 6:26 am

    Gun control laws only punish those who otherwise already obey the law (i.e., law abiding gun owners). Those laws mean nothing to those with criminal intent. Criminals are criminals because they don’t obey the law. What’s one more law going to do to/for them? Absolutely nothing. Just because they pass yet another law, the criminals aren’t going to all of a sudden stop carrying/using/buying/having guns. Instead, they are going to do whatever criminal act they set out to do, without regard to whether they are breaking another law. The decrease in violent crime has paralleled the increase in conceal and carry permits across the country, and it’s not just a coincidence. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

  • Doctor Moebius October 21, 2016, 6:10 am

    As an NRA member, socially liberal, financially conservative Independent, who despises BOTH candidate, and sees this country as now being in the hands of a criminal conspiracy of the ultra-wealthy, the result of a coup d’etat when JFK was murdered, I, too, wish ALL weapons would be banned, and All War be illegal. But that isn’t going to happen anytime soon, so in the meantime, while we have a criminal gov’t that may yet need to be overthrown, we need to be able to form militias, and defend ourselves from the burgeoning Neo-Nazi Fascism that seems to be rising in this country.

    It’s always a case of “us versus them”, whether over land, wealth, and coming soon – food and water! We cannot afford to let this fear-based way of thinking to persevere. We HAVE to stop the war mongers (greed mongers) from killing the planet. Everyone needs to be more conscious, and responsible for themselves. we have to stop breeding uneducated, poor morons across the planet first. We need to re-distribute the wealth of the 1%, and create a system that prevents this kind of imbalance from happening again. And we need to put our resources into telling the Truth to the People – whether about the treason of the Bush family on 9/11, or the Sandy Hoax in Dec., 2012. Instead of spending time & effort on War, these skills, tools, and talent should be spent developing space technology. Our ET visitors (or masters?) won’t let us get very far if we bring fear and aggressiveness to the stars – they seem a whole lot more rational than we are!

    My point is, until we clean up the big mess described above, both Liberals AND Conservatives are just wrong if they promote the status quo. We should use our tech to develop non-lethal weapons that can incapacitate ANY threat (which we nearly have). We should replace our corrupt national leadership and faulty Legislation with new leaders and updated theory, laws that make sense, and hold EVERYONE accountable. Then, once ALL the guns owned by criminals and psychopaths are no longer needed, the rest of us will turn our guns in. Until then, Stay off my back and out of my home. I don’t take kindly to those who seek to curtail MY freedom.

    • blh557 October 21, 2016, 10:57 am

      “Redistribute the wealth…” Yeah, just like Mao… and Stalin… and Pol Pott… and Castro…
      ‘Nuff said.

    • Lou Fisher October 21, 2016, 7:58 pm

      What a jerk off! – Move ==

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 5:25 pm

      “WE the People” will never ‘turn OUR guns in’ .
      This ain’t about crime there Skippy.

      Due diligence is required to fully grasp
      the true wisdom of OUR Founders~!

  • Mike B October 21, 2016, 5:16 am

    Personal safety, everyone takes personal safety into their own hands each time they drive a vehicle, buckle in a child, this action while encouraged by the gov’t also takes a common sense approach. I carry concealed for mine and my family personal safety as the gov’t does not watch me buckle up and can not avoid accidents, so can they not guarantee my safety in a mall, a theater, or anywhere else. As a responsible adult, my actions are my own and as I chose what safety measures to engage in, what risks to avoid, and where I will make my stand to protect my family, and yours if the need came down to that. Protection see no color, no life style, only what can I do to save lives.

    Side note, argument about what style of government is best only creates animosity and will not availe discussion to different mentalities. Mentalities are changed when opinion combined with emotional facts are presented in a non-threatening manner.
    Example would be after Orlando night club, huge upswing for gay gun ownership and interest in personal safety.
    Facts wins the argument most of the time.

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 5:31 pm

      The Founding; Declaration of Independence- Bill of RIGHTS+ Constitution-
      Trumps them all ~!

  • David Bennett October 21, 2016, 3:32 am

    I have pondered that very question since Hillary’s husband was potus. I will state for the record that I am without a doubt adrift without any fellow travelers. My political philosophy is certainly radically progressive and most closely resembles a democratic socialist. Now it is important to understand that I am a staunch supporter of the entire Bill of Rights plus the added amendments that corrected some problems left out of the original 10. It is my opinion that any further restrictions on the 2nd Amendment invites Tyranny. I will not get into any debates regarding those suggesting that they went to war to defend the our Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms because unless you are a veteran of WWII you only fought to defend Corporate Imperialism. Korea is an exception being a “UN Police Action.” I am a long time student of our history and fully understand the foundational reasoning for the 2nd Amendment. It is true that without it there would be no 1st Amendment. If my politics makes me liberal so be it. I certainly have no clue what their reasoning is for attacking the 2nd Amendment. I believe them to be the most serious threat to our freedoms but Trump is not an option. Hillary is a Fascist but so is Trump. The difference is that I understand that Social Security is an Insurance program. It is Not an “entitlement.” I worked my ass off for over 50 years and those checks are MY money but I digress…. I’ m a lifetime shooter and hunter. I will defend my home with lethal force if necessary and will Never Surrender To Tyranny!

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 5:40 pm

      Your honest take all sounds good….. to you and the unknowing.
      However you need to become a far better \”student of history\”
      to put the full true picture together = lots of holes in what yyounow see.
      You sound like one who\’d want to know the larger picture and the why\’s.
      Try-
      http://www.krisannehall.com
      http://www.annavonreitz.com

  • gary October 14, 2016, 11:16 am

    If Amendment 2 goes down what’s next 1,5,14 there will be no stopping the zealot’s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is not the USA I fought for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am ashamed I ever fought for this country and the I should have run off to Canada we my friends and come back under amnesty! My friends that fought with me died for our Bill of Rights, and now the country we defended wants to trample it to bit saying its out of touch with the people, something is wrong with this picture.

    • Voice of Reason October 21, 2016, 8:53 am

      Gary, Don’t look now but the First Amendment is gone in practice. Ever hear of “politically correct speech”?
      How about voicing your personal opinion? Someone will always be a hater exercising THEIR right because you don’y agree with them. Liberals are all about their little world and not about anyone else. Let’s not just look at the Constitution but ALL the crap they try to shove down good peoples throats!

    • Chil October 21, 2016, 7:44 pm

      Gary, Thank you for serving, and thank you for not running up to Canada. Even though this country has morphed into something that it was not when you served, it is still worth saving. Stay strong!

    • mtman2 October 22, 2016, 6:39 pm

      I am very sorry for your huge disappointment.
      But you were put into a “police action” similar to Korea.
      Not to win = or you would have- but weren’t allowed.
      OUR true overseers are the “Unseen-hand” of the actual owners and operators by the worlds international money changers.
      Their illegal unConstitutional and controlling branch office here is the Federal Reserve- illegally installed by Democrat Woodrow Wilson and Dems in House+Senate; like with Obamacare not one Republican vote.
      Tho R’s do seem to “go along to get along” don’t they, and that’s because they also benefit from allowing a corporation to run OUR union of States called America and not them.

      This corporation is the “USA-Inc” and like a spreading disease has been allowed to slowly take control of every aspect of OUR lives for 100+yrs.

      This international cartel known as the IMF/WB forced FDR to allow the U.N. on American soil and these Banksters have set up and financed both sides of most every war in the world since at least the year 1800.

      Yes ALL the ones WE have been in- starting with the War of 1812(one almost with France before that), Mexican+U.S., the unCivil War it was potus Buchanan that bankrupted America handing the Civil War to Lincoln who had to borrow from them and they have owned us since 1862. WE have been under Marshall Law ever since and why they killed Abe.(also all 20th centuy)

      Prior-Andrew Jackson fought the Banksters to a standstill and won – but one man can’t do it all(nor could Reagan or a Trump).
      “WE the People” must awaken to see OUR nation thru the return to the true
      Continental Constitution that OUR very wise Founders set up.
      It can be done w/an awakened public(Adolf called us the “sleeping giant”).

      And this without bloodshed- the rest of the world too has been under the “Unseen hand” Iceland just arrested the international Bankster there- it can be done.
      However if they can take the USA wholesale they’ve then got the world.

      These Banksters sponsered the Bolshevik Revolution to create a counter balance to U.S.+freedoms influence around the world.
      Long story- I’m working on a book to uncover this all for the layman. As my father fought communist terrorist in firefights in Eastern Europe to eventually flee to America.
      For which I am eternally grateful and wish to respectfully compile the legacy he left me and how much he truly loved America and knew what Reagan meant by us “Being freedoms last stand on Earth”.

      The end goal of these Globalist’s is a One World system they can control
      the masses by instituting electronic “buying and selling with a number” and WE are almost there.
      MAO-bama + Clintons are their puppet shills that can do anything and nothing touches them. In effect they and their ilk have “sold their souls to gain the whole world”. It is unfolding before OUR very eyes but WE can’t see the puppetmasters strings. Tho well moneyed henchmen like George Soros gladly fund the breakdown and final downfall of OUR Representative Republic.

      Be wary of anyone that calls America a “Democracy” that’s either a sign of ignorance or intentional compliance. Even GW Bush used it occasionally leaving me concerned then. Tho now I see most all politicians esp career parasites are in the bag in one form or another.
      This in any party- knowingly or not but definitely financially rewarded for “going along to get along” = RINOS.
      SORRY – for the length- however WE all need to awaken or it’ll be too late ~!

  • Tom Horn October 13, 2016, 7:02 pm

    Well stated Mr. Blannelberry. So many liberals believe they are living in the safety bubble of the nanny state, and when an evil person attacks them, they believe something must be done to fix the bubble (blame guns). Safety is an illusion. We are ultimately responsible for our own safety, and those we care for. Most Americans now days don’t care as long as they have an ear bud stuck in their ear, an I-phone in their face, and numbness in their brain (Plugged-in, Turned-on, and Tuned-out).

    Are there any Boy Scouts, anymore? Remember, “Be Prepared?” Maybe we should make Scouting mandatory.

  • DRAINO October 13, 2016, 8:06 am

    They get wrong the fact that the Govt belongs to US…..WE don’t belong to the Govt. They are wrong in not taking personal responsibility and expecting someone(the Govt) to take care of everything for them. They are wrong in not realizing that freedom is bought and paid for by blood and sacrifice. And being lazy cry babies does dishonor to those that have paid that price. They are wrong in forgetting why and how our country was founded….to be free…. and get away from govt’s and people who would take those freedoms. They are wrong for trying to enforce their laziness and lack of caring about personal freedoms on everyone else.
    The guy on the video who said there is a lack of education is correct as well. There needs to be mandatory military service in this country. Along with that service is military training(THE profession of arms), weapons training(of course) but history education as well. Too many people don’t know, or have never been taught, the blood that has been shed for our country. We need to bring back the gun culture, the military culture….we need to bring back the education of freedom….we need to remember the dead in our bloody past. It is the lazy liberal that is ignorant of these things. It is them that will destroy our great country.

    • DRAINO October 13, 2016, 8:41 am

      Reminded of this while reading how Obama has commuted the sentences of all those convicts….many with firearms related convictions. — Another thing that liberals get wrong about guns……They are very ignorant about most if not all gun laws currently in place. They are totally ignorant to the fact that the “gun show loophole” and the “internet loophole” and the “background check loopholes” are ALL FAKE!! Lies made up by….liberal politicians. Again, bring back the education!!

      • Tom Horn October 13, 2016, 7:19 pm

        Spot on!

    • Louis Taylor October 21, 2016, 4:37 am

      I believe the easier question would be, What do liberals get right about guns. Before the rest of us to be treated like criminals, They should take the time to educate themselves about firearms. If they don’t care enough to do that or just don’t like guns, Then just don’t buy one, but leave the law abiding gun owning citizens alone concerning their gun ownership. As far as background checks go, I have bought a couple of guns and have had to fill out background forms each time and also carry a concealed carry permit to which there was also a very extensive check. If the laws that are on the books were enforced, There wouldn’t be and isn’t a need for more gun laws. Criminals don’t obey laws any way. If there were no guns, How would we get rid of those old assault rocks,sticks, hammers,knives and all the other assault things? Truth be told, It’s not about me owning a gun. It is about control. Just take a look around the world and see what is happening even as i write this. Those who have been unarmed are under control of those who want nothing more that to kill the rest of us. We can not and must not allow ourselves to be disarmed so that we can so easily be destroyed.

  • Cliff Smith October 12, 2016, 7:53 am

    So much of the liberal objection to guns is based in ignorance. Before anyone’s opinion on guns should count, they should have at least attended a gun safety course and fired a gun at a range with an instructor–how can you ban what you do not know? A gun provides self reliance and acknowledges that we are responsible for our own safety. police will respond to solve the crime and maybe catch the offender, but when it happens, it is just the criminal and the victim and it is up to the victim to provide his or her defense! We encounter hysteria everyday in the media where guns become weapons of mass destruction with a single push of a button or where the number of bullets in a magazine defines a person’s intentions?

  • Henry Alau October 11, 2016, 5:20 pm

    ‘Tis a long list (what liberals get wrong about guns), but a better question is what do they get wrong about violence? In short, the world is not safe and it never has been., Liberals believe that the default setting of the world is “safe” and, therefore, anything that is other than that is an aberration. Conservatives believe the default setting of the world is not necessarily dangerous, but is certainly NOT safe and prepare accordingly. The error with liberals comes when they believe that those who are PREPARED to commit violence on behalf of themselves or others are GOING to commit said violence whether justified or not. The crime statistics say otherwise, but that is not enough to shake that belief. In other words, they can’t tell wolf from sheepdog, so their answer is to disarm the sheep dog and then blame him when the wolf comes to call and the sheepdog has no weapons, or, even worse, blame the sheep dog for the actions of the wolf. This is not merely wrong thinking on guns, it s wrong think about violence, the members of our society who try to keep that violence at bay (citizen, law enforcement, whoever) and, most notably, wrong thinking about the right of people to defend themselves. Sorry if that was a little longer than 300 words…

    • DRAINO October 13, 2016, 8:07 am

      Well Said!!

  • Justin Opinion October 11, 2016, 4:25 pm

    Marvelously written, as always. I tend to stick with the simple classification of “liberal”, because I detest very little more than a liberal gun owner who will not advocate for gun rights. A registered Democrat, for example, who is not actively trying to correct the wrong direction their party takes on gun policy is – so far as I’m concerned – a traitor to the very right he or she enjoys. Democrats could do far more to sway policy from within their party that we on the outside chanting the same rhetoric at them. Just an opinion. 🙂

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