“Don’t be a sheep, arm yourself.”
There’s this sentiment, primarily in the US, that civilians owning guns is a good thing because it keeps their government afraid of them. This is mostly repeated by the idiots at the NRA, but also by people who are supposed to know better (such as Penn and Teller in their Bullshit! episode on gun control), so it bears addressing.
There are two things fundamentally retarded about the statement. The first is that the government should be afraid of the populace.
This meme is surprisingly popular in the US, but almost unheard of outside it, at least in the Western world, and with good reason. The idea that the government is the enemy in a democratic society is mind-boggling. Protip: the government isn’t the enemy of the people. It is the people.
Unfortunately, it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy in the US, which, of course, has only helped the popularity of the meme.
I don’t think it’s a reversible trend for as long as a significant portion of the voting population keeps believing it can’t be any other way, though. The American populace doesn’t seem to have a clue what a democratic society is anymore (if they ever did), and wide-spread apathy creates fun vicious cycles.
Anyway. The second flawed assumption here is that an armed populace scares the government.
This is just a schoolboy fantasy that sadly carried over into adulthood, and its considerably more harmful than you might think.
What are you going to do when the police knock on your door, with or without a warrant? Refuse them entry? They’ll break down your door, regardless of whether you’re armed. Are you going to open fire? That’s a great way to get yourself (and your family) killed rather than detained for a bit. Yeah, you may take one or two of them down with you. I’m sure the families of the victims will appreciate that as well. At “best”, this mentality leads to situations like Waco.
Or maybe you’d like to organise an armed revolution? Get a few of your buddies together and burn down city hall? Depending on the city and the number of buddies you can gather, you may succeed, until they call in the military.
Most people seem to forget half the global military expenditure is the US’s, and despite efforts to cripple science on all fronts, they still have the most advanced army on the planet. Iraq may tie up a lot of resources, but you can be pretty sure they’ll be able to scrounge up enough firepower to take out your little insurgency.
Or maybe you think a nation-wide revolution is on the table? Surely even the US military wouldn’t be able to counter that!
If you really think you can organise that many people, why not just vote? The US is still nominally a democracy, despite your best efforts, and while vote fraud can fudge the numbers a bit (and has in the past), you don’t just disappear the opinion of, say, two hundred million people.
But no, what this basically boils down to is puerile schoolboy fancy. Surprisingly, though, owning big guns does not give you a bigger penis, it just advertises your insecurity to the rest of the world.
If there are good arguments against gun control (and I haven’t seen any yet, except possibly to defend against a zombie plague, and everyone knows only shotguns work for that), this is very much not one of them. Grow the fuck up.
Mao said,
February 25th, 2008 at 2:51 am
I’ve actually never heard the claim that owning guns was for scaring the government. The only reason I’ve heard for having them is self-defense (which is pretty much shite) or hunting.
Cairnarvon said,
February 25th, 2008 at 3:02 am
It’s mostly Libertardians who push this argument. The first time I heard it was from P&T on Bullshit!, though at the time, I thought they were kidding.
Skatje said,
February 25th, 2008 at 4:09 am
I guess you haven’t run into any of the people who masturbate to the movie V for Vendetta.
Phillip said,
February 27th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I just really enjoy shooting. I also enjoy swimming, playing video games, scuba diving, writing stories and poems, dirt-bike riding, road trips, teaching, and other stuff no one cares about.
I don’t think it is a good idea to make blanket statements either way about things. Speaking for myself, plinking targets are just one of many things I enjoy doing.
Feel free to turn what I say to be for or against your view.
Cairnarvon said,
February 27th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Is that a reason people should be allowed to have guns in their homes or anywhere outside of a firing range/hunting reservation? Or own them without strict licenses?
I didn’t actually make any blanket statements. I’m not saying it’s a schoolboy fantasy to want to own a gun at all, just that wanting to own a gun for the reason discussed is.
spooble said,
February 28th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Why does there need to be a “reason” to allow people to keep guns in their home? What makes a gun any different than the countless other items that I keep in my home without the need to convince anyone that it’s ok for me to own?
I’m not foolish enough to think that the government is afraid of me because I own guns, and I would venture to say that the majority of gun owners in the US do not fall into this category either.
Cairnarvon said,
February 28th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
The fact that guns are lethal weapons? How much more blindingly obvious do you want it to be?
And I wasn’t suggesting most gun owners in the US believe the bullshit discussed, just that enough of them do that it merits addressing. This post was about that argument specifically, not the wider gun control issue.
spooble said,
February 28th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Knives are lethal weapons… and crossbows… slingshots… cars… ninjas… Chuck Norris’ fists. MacGuyver could kill a man with 2 paperclips and a rubber band. Killing is illegal. Owning a device that can kill shouldn’t be. I know we’ll never agree on this. It’s worse than politics! But I respect your opinion.
Also, I’ll agree there are more than a few the-government-is-out-to-get-us, conspiracy theorists over here who think that being heavily armed will keep them safe when the government comes to get them. Heck, even my father-in-law stock piled food, water, gas masks, and ammo when 2000 rolled around. In fact, I believe there is still an Israeli issue gas mask and cannister in my trunk… you know… just in case!
Cairnarvon said,
February 28th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Knives aren’t primarily made to be lethal weapons, and they’re a lot harder to accidentally injure someone with (and if you do injure someone with them, it’s more likely to be yourself than someone else, which is fine).
There are laws against owning high-powered crossbows in most civilised countries as well, though the thing about crossbows is that it’s much easier to see when they’re loaded, too.
Cars is an interesting point, but it’s incredibly invalid for a number of reasons, the most obvious one being that cars aren’t designed to kill or maim. And, of course, the fact that you need a license to drive a car.
Guns are too dangerous to be in the hands of just anyone; the US gun injury statistics (accidental and otherwise) prove that.
If you want to point to Switzerland (which has more guns per capita than any other Western nation, including the US) to claim that those statistics aren’t caused by guns but by people (and you’re an idiot if you really believe that NRA line), be aware that Switzerland also has nation-wide compulsory military service; this is where most Swiss people get their guns, and also where they’re trained to handle them with care. They also don’t suffer from the cult of gun worship and childish entitlement complex so many Americans are afflicted with.
I have no problem with people owning guns with a license, provided they’re required to undergo (very) rigorous training and testing before they get that license, and they’re subject to things like safe storage laws as well.
This idea that it should be a right for people to own guns is just bullshit, though.