I don’t usually do chain letters. Some people call them memes, but it’s the same thing (minus the fact that a chandelier will fall on your dog and you’ll be cursed for 5 years if you fail to pass on a chain letter) and I’m not usually a fan of either.
Still, Jennifer tagged me in this one, and I thought it was an interesting enough subject that I could actually create a decent blog post out of it. The concept is to lay out 5 things that indicate an “honest gun owner”. So what exactly IS an honest gun owner?
1. They acknowledge that safety is a way of thinking, an ongoing process, and not a set way of doing things. Col. Cooper’s rules are just the starting point, and even they have many permutations. A single man living by himself might safely keep a loaded Glock on the nightstand, while a family with toddlers on the other hand prudently keeps firearms unloaded and locked up when not carried in a holster. What is safe in one situation is not necessarily safe in another. Honest gun owners know this and evaluate each situation on its own merits and make adjustments when necessary.
2. Honest gun owners know that problems with accuracy generally lie with the shooter, not the platform, and that the solution is more training not more accessories. Almost every bolt action rifle on the market today is capable of shooting 1-MOA. Most semi-auto modern sporting rifles are as well. If it’s a quality modern firearm, the problem is not the gun, it’s the shooter. The corollary to this is…
3. For each problem there is a unique solution and honest gun owners are realistic about the performance of a given firearm. An AR-15 is not suitable for hunting elk at 600 yards while a .458 Winchester Magnum is overkill for Texas whitetail deer. At the same time, a Desert Eagle is not suitable for concealed carry (along with a lot of other things) while a .25 ACP Jetfire is not a great choice as a service pistol. Like any tool, guns are designed for particular uses. Just because a .380 pocket pistol is a lousy choice for hunting doesn’t mean that it’s a useless firearm. An honest gun owner identifies the problem and chooses the appropriate firearm without disparaging other firearms. This rule also has a corollary, which is…
4. An honest gun owner never begrudges someone who purchases a firearm simply for its intrinsic value. Garand collectors, 1911 owners, and Desert Eagle aficionados all have something in common here: All three of those guns are older designs with any number of flaws, and there are any number of modern firearms available that can do the job better and more reliably. It’s perfectly fine however to go out and purchase a Deagle, because hey… it’s a Desert Eagle .50 AE. And it’s coool, man…. Make mine nickel plated please.
Finally, and most importantly:
5. An honest gun owner knows that this gun thing is not actually about guns. It’s about being tool-using monkeys and having the ability to think for, and be responsible for, ourselves. It’s about a government that thinks that by banning and/or regulating things that they can stop violence.
Whether it’s guns, knives, lasers, or any number of other tools, the above rules always apply. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter that the tool you prefer is a rifle, bow, throwing knife, or chainsaw. All are neutral objects with no inherent good or evilness in and of themselves. Like all tools, it’s the wielder that matters.
I enjoy being a tool using monkey. Tools are fun to use. They make work easier and more interesting. Thank god for thumbs.