by Vlad's Dog
Re-posted here from Newsvine, with permission of the author.
As a gun owner I am embarrassed and angry at some of the other gun owners in America almost daily, and the recent letter written by "Joe The Plumber" is the latest shot heard round the dinner table. Since Joe has a bit of fame and is a gun owner he thinks he gets to speak for all gun owners without any repercussions from fellow gun owners, I guess because we must all stick together and fight those "gun grabbing extremists" and protect all of our rights. well, I disagree, I think more of us gun owners need to speak up against voices like Joe, does he really speak for you?
First, the idea that our government can confiscate all the guns in our country is ludicrous, anyone with half a logical mind can see that the logistics of doing this is well beyond the scope of our government. I have 4 guns just in my house and none of them are on any list, they were all bought many years ago and no one will ever find a record of these guns anywhere. Now add that up with the many years we have bought, traded and handed down guns and you can easily see that many guns are not even accounted for in any way, shape or form. So these guns cannot be traced or found at all. Add to that the many gun thefts over the years and then you have records of guns that are no longer owned by those who bought those registered guns. Then you have the guns that were bought in one state, carried to another state and sold on the black market. These mostly end up in the hands of criminals and gangs and how does one find a gun like this during a round up of all guns?
Secondly, how could any plan to do this confiscation of all guns even get started without someone giving someone else a "heads up" about this? I mean really, the idea that a plan of this magnitude can go on for any time period before implementation and elimination without any leaks is more like a movie script than reality based thinking. The idea that everybody in the military, government and police forces around our nation would all be "in on it" and will accept this idea of gun confiscation is another bit of conspiracy fantasy that sounds very scary but has little connection with reality.
And last but surely not least, we must all as gun owners speak out daily against those irresponsible gun owners that leave loaded weapons around for others to pick up and then "accidentally" discharge the weapon and many times end up killing innocent people every damn week now. This rise in "gun accidents" cannot be dissociated from the crazy "they are coming for all our guns" conspiracy. The more they scream this stupidity the more guns get bought each year. A few idiots have created a crazy gun herd mentality for many citizens and that is a real problem we must also address as responsible gun owners.
If we are responsible gun owners then one big thing we must not do is accept that these so called "accidents" and mass shootings are just an inconvenience and protecting the second amendment trumps these needless deaths every year!!!!
Yes, I just yelled at you all, get over it and listen dammit.
An irresponsible gun owner is not your or my pal, friend or compatriot, all irresponsible gun owners should be the bane of our very existence. It is these gun owners, and those stories about "accidents" that tar and feather all of us, it makes us look insensitive, ignorant, irresponsible and just plain dumb.
If we really want to keep this right then we better step up to the plate and show the nation that we cannot accept the idea that the second amendment excuses the unwarranted death of other citizens by irresponsible jackasses who think guns are a toy or a symbol of manly status, like a new shiny chain saw to show off to our friends, family or even strangers.
And I cannot condone or support open carry everywhere to show other Americans that we are responsible gun owners, that argument is really shallow and not worth our time arguing over it. A responsible gun owner never needs to show off their guns to others anywhere and at any time. That's just as logical as saying that someone who uses dynamite for a living also should be able to carry a stick around in his pocket to show others he knows how to use dynamite safely and to never worry about dynamite.
If you are a responsible gun owner you never really need to show anyone that you own one.
It's that simple.