Talking about gun control in a commercial context is tough. Like abortion, it’s a polarizing topic. Yet, it’s one that can’t be brushed under the rug–not in a nation of shooters.
According to Adfreak, Modernista has erected the nation’s largest outdoor board on the Mass Pike near Fenway Park on behalf of its client, Stop Handgun Violence.
Since 1995, Stop Handgun Violence has increased public awareness about the epidemic of gun violence and forwarded state and federal legislation requiring responsibility and accountability on the part of gun owners, dealers and manufacturers.
This is an old issue for me. I wrote a report on handgun violence in grade school. It’s also a newly important issue for me, as a friend and colleague of mine was shot in the neck by a heartless thug this summer.
I own two shotguns. I grew up in Nebraska, where hunting is part of the culture. I’m pro-hunting, where gun safety is part of the equation. But no one, not even a hunter, can tell me that they need a handgun. Handguns are made to shoot people. They have no other purpose.
It may be too late and too radical to restrict the sale of handguns or the ammunition needed to shoot one, but we can clearly knock the NRA off its perch and get some common sense legislation enacted. The gun show loophole (which the outdoor board is advertising) is nothing more than the work of Washington’s most powerful lobby on behalf of its members and corporate backers.
The NRA can be stopped and the insanity of handgun violence can be stopped. But we have to want to stop them and it, united as a nation. We have to read The Constitution and understand the context it was written in. The right to form a militia in order to beat back an Imperial oppressor has nothing at all to do with the right to own assault weapons and handguns, or to buy them without a background check.
The premise of that billboard is preposterous, it’s a lie, gun dealers at gun shows are required to perform the same background check as any brick and mortar shop, that advertisement is nazi-esque propaganda.
The concept that handguns are inherently evil is as ridiculous as the billboard. You say handguns aren’t needed, and you have the right to feel that, but my “need” to own a handgun isn’t the issue, it’s my right.
You don’t like that I own a handgun, but the bill of rights guarantee’s that I can. I don’t like what you said in your article, (mostly because it’s untrue) but you don’t hear me crying out that your right to free speech should be taken away.
The fact that someone got shot by a thug is appalling to me, and I’m sorry for your loss, but I’d be willing to bet that the firearm used was not procured from a legitimate dealer.
Gun “control” laws do nothing to prevent the theft of a gun, or the acquisition from “some guy my friend knows” those two methods af acquisition account for over 90% of handguns used in crimes
I believe in what I say, the Email is real, but if you write me, be prepared to defend your stance with hard numbers, not liberal propaganda
But no one, not even a hunter, can tell me that they need a handgun. Handguns are made to shoot people. They have no other purpose.
So why do cops carry them?
Is the job of the Police to “shoot people”? Or is it to enforce the law.
Could it be that they carry firearms because they are a tool used to project force? That the very same characteristics that make them suitable for use in crime, also make them suitable for use in PREVENTING crime?
Would you be less disheartened had your friend been stabbed in the neck by the thug? Would your loss be less acute? Your friend less injured or dead?
Gun rights aren’t about hunting. They are about a 100 lb woman, the wheelchair bound octogenarian, the 40% disabled US military veteran (that would be me), or anyone else who would be at a disadvantage, having the most effective tools available to defend themselves against violent criminal attackers.
Violence is perpetrated by people, not objects. Even if you could eliminate one object (an impossibility, but for the sake of argument…) used by the perpetrators of violence, they would just move on to another object and the violence would continue apace. Please google “knife crime in the UK” for an example.
Finally, I wonder…was the perpetrator who shot your friend an otherwise law abiding citizen? Or did he, as do most violent criminals, have a long history of crime and violence? Wouldn’t it be more effective to keep violent people off the streets and out of society than attempting to limit the tools they have available with which to commit violence?
Gun control isn’t about crime. Gun control isn’t even about guns. Gun control is about control.
I’m not speaking to the pro-handgun crowd here, although you’re more than welcome to “educate” me and our readers. That’s why we have open comments. I am speaking to others like myself who are interested in taking down the NRA, a peg or two. To do so will require a massive and coordinated effort.
But doesn’t the NRA (at least ostensibly) advocate gun safety?
I hardly think gun safety is their main purpose.
I am speaking to others like myself who are interested in taking down the NRA, a peg or two. To do so will require a massive and coordinated effort.
But why? What do you intend to accomplish by doing so?
The NRA is not some faceless, remorseless leviathan. It is a group of over 4 million people who have banded together to support gun rights, gun safety and the shooting sports. It is those 4 million people…the vast majority of whom
The leadership of the NRA is elected by the membership. Contrary to the baseless accusations of the anti-freedom forces, the NRA is NOT in the pocket of the gun industry. The gun industry has an industry lobbying group…the NSSF. The NRA represents its members. Often that translates into supporting the gun manufacturers as it would be very difficult for us to exercise our second amendment rights or enjoy the shooting sports if manufacturers didn’t exist…but that’s not what the NRA “is about”.
As far as “yikes” comment…I hardly think you know as much about the NRA as you would like to believe. If you get your information from the media or from the anti-freedom web sites, you are woefully misinformed. Gun safety and education absolutely IS the main purpose of the NRA as is reflected by the tens of thousands of clinics and safety classes provided by NRA instructors every year.
It is those 4 million people…the vast majority of whom
Sorry, didn’t finish that thought. Got interrupted by a phone call.
What I meant to say was:
It is those 4 million people…the vast majority of whom vote religiously…that gives the NRA its clout in Washington, and it is the collective dues and donations from those 4 million+ members that fund the NRA…unlike the anti-freedom groups who are funded by a few deep-pocketed foundations and their benefactors and who’s memberships pale in comparison.
You’re right, the millions they spend lobbying Congress for access to armor-piercing cyanide tipped bullets are totally for safety.
Look, I’m not saying safety promotion isn’t part of what they do. I’m just saying gun rights and fighting for gun rights is their priority.
Quit being so fucking defensive. Considering you’re probably packing, it makes me a little nervous.
If you get your information from the media or from the anti-freedom web sites, you are woefully misinformed.
Anti-freedom? How original. How about this…I’d like to enjoy the freedom to walk down the street without worrying about which nut bag might be packing. And all this rhetoric about “rights” is utter bullshit. We have the right to form a militia. No where does it say we have the right to assault weapons or handguns. Look it up. The Constitution is not the media, and it’s not an anti-freedom web site.
The Constitution hates freedom.