Gun Facts For Dummies

I thought about giving this a really misleading title, like: “GUNS ARE EVIL!” just so I could get the anti-gun hysterics folks out there to read this. But then I said fuck it gosh darn it, I’m not a bullshitter, not a coddle-r, I’m a fact girl. I like facts. So, I figure there’s got to be at least one liberal person out there who likes facts, too, right?! Either way, I’m going to shove these facts down their throats offer up these simple truths to anyone willing to educate themselves on a ‘hot topic’.

Let us begin with my usual self depreciating yet honest disclaimer: I am not an expert. While I do in fact carry a licence to well…carry (a firearm), I do not currently… carry. Simple reason being that I do not yet consider myself in any way proficient in shooting, therefore I am not confident in my ability…yet. This is something the libs  some people don’t realize about us responsible gun owners: we are (for the very large part) incredibly mindful of the burden of responsibility that gun ownership entails.

Now, on to facts vs. fiction:

The media and many of our outspoken ‘stricter gun regulation advocates’ would like you to believe several erroneous things about guns and gun violence. Obviously, shame on them. But really, shame on YOU. Seriously. In this day and age of easily accessible information, you choose to be led like mindless sheep? C’mon now. Are you really that fragile that you can’t tolerate a balanced report/story when it doesn’t fit your wishes? Yikes. Okay, okay, tangent over. Anyhow, remember how (up above) I said I’m not an expert? Well, being that as it may, I had to do some research. Why? Because I…like…facts. EVEN if they don’t support what I believe! Crazy, right? Fortunately for me, the facts here DO indeed support what I already believed. Shall we?

Fiction:

Gun violence is the leading killer in our society

Fact: 

Top 10 leading causes of death in the US:

  1. Heart disease
  2. Cancer (malignant neoplasms)
  3. Chronic lower respiratory disease
  4. Accidents (unintentional injuries)
  5. Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases)
  6. Alzheimer’s disease
  7. Diabetes (diabetes mellitus)
  8. Influenza and pneumonia
  9. Kidney disease (nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis)
  10. Suicide (intentional self-harm).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Wait, what?! Guns aren’t even in the TOP TEN? No way!! 

Fiction:

An AR-15 is an ‘assault weapon’ and should be banned.

Fact:

Sigh. This literally took me one minute to look up. Seriously, I typed in “facts about the AR-15′ and poof, up comes this super simple, excellent website that gives straight up basic facts for even the least gun savvy person to follow! Thank you http://www.assaultweapon.info/ for this! In fact, it’s so great, I’ll just share their direct quotes & images:

First, that term, ‘assault weapon’:

“The truth about assault weapons is that there is no such thing. So-called assault weapons are semi-automatic firearms—the guns most commonly used by millions of law-abiding Americans.”

Ah, I saw you roll your eyes, but sorry, it’s true:

“In the late 1980s, more than two decades after the AR-15 was first sold to the American public, the anti-gun lobby began a systematic campaign to conflate it and other “military-style” firearms with machine guns. The media followed suit, and soon the American public began to think that an assault weapon was, like the assault rifles it resembled, a machine gun.”

So what the fuck heck is an AR-15, anyhow? Well, let’s start with what it is NOT.

‘AR’ does NOT  stand for ‘assault rifle’, kids. The AR actually stands for the maker of the gun, Armalite, Armalite Rifle = AR.

It is NOT a machine gun, meaning it does NOT go ‘POWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOW’ when you pull the trigger.

It is NOT the popular choice of mass shooters, either. See full http://www.assaultweapon.info/ page for full details if so inclined.

What it IS:

The AR-15 IS a rifle.

It is basically a modern day musket, or a dressed up, fancy-shmancy version of this guy:

It IS a semi-automatic weapon, meaning one trigger pull=one shot. Pull=BANG.

It IS no more powerful than these guys:

It has a low recoil and is lightweight, making it popular for small game hunting and competition.

Wait, but this guy said:

 

ar(ha ha, this part was hysterical!)

So…what’s up with that, hmm? Well, it’s one of two things: he’s a pansy ass wimp that needs to turn in his man card, or he’s a lying sack of shit pseudo-journalist deliberately misleading you to further a liberal anti-gun agenda. I dunno, you pick. PS, he’s an absolute POS for suggesting his ‘trauma’ from his little experiment is comparable with anyone who lives with PTSD. Let me guess, you ‘mispoke’? I bet that’s what he’ll say.  A guy who’s livelihood, who gets PAID based on his ability to string together words for public consumption? Awesome. Hey, Gersh Kuntzman:- how fucking dare you minimize their suffering with your trivial crap? You owe a HUGE apology, jackass.

Counting to ten…okay:

While there are SO many branches on this tree I could follow, I’m purposely keeping the scope narrow, specifically on this AR-15/ assault weapon limb. And, I’m keeping this short. The very last thing I’d like to address is the frequent question/comment:

Could someone explain to me why anyone would NEED and AR-15 in the first place?

Ha, that’s easy, thanks the the beautiful & brilliant Jan Morgan, owner of The Gun Cave & frequent news outlet go to for straight shooting (haha, see what I did there?) facts on guns & gun rights, who I’ll direct quote (because I couldn’t have said it better):

“The last time I checked, it’s the Bill of Rights, NOT the Bill of NEEDS.” 

So, yah, there’s that. For as long as we can legally obtain and own legal firearms, we will… because we can. Explanation is not owed to you, any more than you owe an explanation for your legal/lawful choices. Whether love guns, hate guns, or are indifferent to guns, they are a lawfully protected part of our culture. Period. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ll say I’m cool with ‘common sense’ laws, such as: “If you’re on an FBI watchlist, you don’t get to legally own a gun.” Oh, but, hey- an FYI…you anti- gunners might want to take a gander at at the repeated failures by our government to enforce and adequately punish violators of the numerous laws on the books already, before you shoot (sorry) for MORE laws. Juuuuust sayin’! Here’s a link to back that shit up: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/23/despite-rhetoric-gun-prosecutions-plummet-under-ob/

And  a cool pic, too! :O

 

Official White House photo of President Obama shooting a shotgun on Aug. 4, 2012. We’ll save the other debates for another time…

 

Written by

Elsa Kurt is a multi-genre, indie & traditionally published author, brand designer, life coach, and motivational speaker. She currently has seven novels independently published, as well as three novellas published with Crave Publishing in their Craving: Country, Craving: Loyalty, and Craving: Billions anthologies. She is a lifelong New England resident and married mother of two grown daughters. When not writing, designing, or talking her head off, she can be found gardening, hiking, kayaking, and just about anywhere outdoors. Or, you could just find Elsa on social media: https://facebook.com/authorelsakurt/ https://instagram.com/authorelsakurt/ https://twitter.com/authorelsakurt https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15177316.Elsa_Kurt https://allauthor.com/profile/elsakurt/ https://amazon.com/author/elsakurt and her website, http://www.elsakurt.com

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