Anti-Plastic discrimination

The Zumbo thing has had me thinking. I very recently bought my first true EBR (that's Evil Black Rifle, for my non-gun nuts).



Doesn't that look EVIL? It's kinda SCARY, right? It's a veritable KILLIN' MACHINE. Technically, it's a semi-automatic centerfire rifle with iron sights, chambered for the .223/5.56mm round. Just for gits and shiggles, let's look at another gun, shall we?



That's better, isn't it? That, my friends, is a gun for huntin'. See all that wood, that nice leather sling, the leather cuff on the stock and the nice checkering? Actually, it too is a semi-automatic centerfire rifle with open sights, only this one's chambered in .300 Savage (and built in 1938). The difference between this one and the one above it? This one is bigger, heavier, and I can drop a target with it more effectively because it fires a bigger round. In fact, at 500 yards, it's got TWICE the power of the above SCARY rifle (482 foot-pounds vs. 207).



How about this one? Most of you are nodding and saying, "huntin' rifle." And it is. A pretty good one. A Winchester Model 70 Short Action in .308. Incidentally, .308 is the preferred round of U.S. military snipers, and using this particular rifle, a skilled operator can drop a man-sized target at 1000 yards.

Are you scratching your head yet? Let's do one more.



This is the "deadliest weapon" in the Bad Dog arsenal. Like the Winchester above, it's a bolt-action. And it lacks a scope, which lowers its "sniper quotient" in some folks' eyes. However, it was built back when they really knew how to build them, and the sights are adjustable to 2000 meters (or yards, I'm not sure). Tell you what, if you're well trained and you practice, I'd bet you can HIT at that distance. This rifle is chambered in .30/06, which is the largest round any of our household rifles fires.

What we're getting at here, folks, is part of the reason why gun nuts are so defensive about their EBRs. They're fun to shoot. Really. A lot of Americans know how they work, know how to manipulate the sights and troubleshoot the weapon, thanks to military service. And the rifles and rounds? Well, they're really no more or less dangerous than the centerfire rounds fired by any other rifle.

There is a movement out there to get rid of the "killing machine" guns, and allow Americans to own that rifles of types that are "particularly suitable for sporting purposes" Oops! Clicking on that text will take you to an Assault Weapons Ban currently in House Committee...

What I want you to take from this point is this: The scary rifle on top is not a more effective killing machine than any of the other three. The effectivness hinges on user ability, and it is not an ability easily cultivated (either in respect to technique or mindset). Allowing a ban on the first sort of rifle, while assuming that the huntin' guns or old guns you might own are safe is bad business. Our anti-gun foes are not stupid, they are devious. Once they've come for the EBRs, they will come for the rapid-fire rifles (number 2 above). Then they will come for the sniper rifles (number 3 above), and finally they will come for the long-range rifles (number 4). And then when they come for whatever is left, we will have only nine toothless amendments with which to defend ourselves.

Write your congresscritters and tell them that House Bill 1022 (what a fabulous name) should be allowed to die a quiet death in committee.

(a note for my true gun nuts: #1 is a S&W M&P15 and it's mine. #2 is a Remington 81 Woodsmaster and it's Mr. Abby's. #3 has been ID'd, and it's Mr. Abby's. #4 is a Brazilian Mauser in .30/06 and it's mine)