The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post

MLeake · January 26, 2013, 12:31 PM

... this may come as a shock to you, but when I was a child it was not at all unusual for people to keep guns in display racks in their living rooms. This was considered normal, but then so was gun ownership.

If somebody had implied, back in the 1970s, that a gun owner was morally or legally responsible for the actions of a thief, they would have been laughed at, and rightfully so.

So what are the differences between then and now, in the US?

First, gun ownership has been increasingly demonized, primarily by the types of people who believe the state should assume responsibility for the individual.

Second, in the 1980s, our mental health care infrastructure was drastically cut back, and this was followed by the introduction of crack cocaine. In the 1990s, meth started gaining in popularity.

So, the substantive changes have been in mental health care and a larger black market for drugs, with its accompanying (respective) erratic behaviors and violence.

Have the behaviors of lawful gun owners become somehow more outrageous? No. Have the violent crime rates for lawful gun owners gone up? Again, no.

Have more and more members of society tried to blame the actions of criminals on the rest of society? Yes. Have people tried to shift the paradigm from individual responsibility to societal responsibility? Yes, although only in the worst ways imaginable - IE by chipping away at the individual's ability to deal with issues (Spank your child? That's ABUSE!!! Carry a gun? That's why we have police!!!) while failing to hold agencies that have theoretically assumed those responsibilities accountable when they fail to provide acceptable levels of service.

So, now we have antis blaming gun owners for the actions of people who should either be in treatment programs or in jail, while society fails to hold the actual criminals fully accountable for their actions.

As I said earlier, I have a very good safe, and I use it. I have lockboxes for when I travel (for my suitcase, plus a vault in my vehicle). I recommend that others do the same.

But if a gun owner does not, and a burglar takes his gun, I don't blame the gun owner. I blame the burglar, and I blame the society that tries to shift the blame from where it should fall.

January 26, 2013, 12:31 PM	#28
MLeake Senior Member Join Date: November 15, 2007 Location: Outside KC, MO Posts: 10,128	To our foreign visitors... ... this may come as a shock to you, but when I was a child it was not at all unusual for people to keep guns in display racks in their living rooms. This was considered normal, but then so was gun ownership. If somebody had implied, back in the 1970s, that a gun owner was morally or legally responsible for the actions of a thief, they would have been laughed at, and rightfully so. So what are the differences between then and now, in the US? First, gun ownership has been increasingly demonized, primarily by the types of people who believe the state should assume responsibility for the individual. Second, in the 1980s, our mental health care infrastructure was drastically cut back, and this was followed by the introduction of crack cocaine. In the 1990s, meth started gaining in popularity. So, the substantive changes have been in mental health care and a larger black market for drugs, with its accompanying (respective) erratic behaviors and violence. Have the behaviors of lawful gun owners become somehow more outrageous? No. Have the violent crime rates for lawful gun owners gone up? Again, no. Have more and more members of society tried to blame the actions of criminals on the rest of society? Yes. Have people tried to shift the paradigm from individual responsibility to societal responsibility? Yes, although only in the worst ways imaginable - IE by chipping away at the individual's ability to deal with issues (Spank your child? That's ABUSE!!! Carry a gun? That's why we have police!!!) while failing to hold agencies that have theoretically assumed those responsibilities accountable when they fail to provide acceptable levels of service. So, now we have antis blaming gun owners for the actions of people who should either be in treatment programs or in jail, while society fails to hold the actual criminals fully accountable for their actions. As I said earlier, I have a very good safe, and I use it. I have lockboxes for when I travel (for my suitcase, plus a vault in my vehicle). I recommend that others do the same. But if a gun owner does not, and a burglar takes his gun, I don't blame the gun owner. I blame the burglar, and I blame the society that tries to shift the blame from where it should fall.