Yes, this article (link at bottom) obviously has a bias to it, but if you were to remove the "fear mongering" type of rhetoric, it's a valid issue and argument. The current gun control debates are rife with nebulous, undefined, inconsistently defined, misused, factually incorrect terms and data and this misuse absolutely feeds the entrenched positions on both sides. Whether the fear is intentionally created or not, it's there and it's being fed, not fought against, by the most vocal spokesmen - legislators and media. Some simple examples:
1) "Automatic weapons" should be banned. -> They already are and have been for decades. An "automatic" weapon is a "machine gun" and it means that one squeeze of the trigger results in continuous firing until the trigger is released or the firearm runs out of ammunition, or the weapon malfunctions.
2) "Semi-automatic" means 1 squeeze of the trigger results in 1 round being fired. This accounts for the majority of firearms sold today, including most handguns, many rifles and some shotguns. Essentially the only non-automatic (machine gun), non-semi-automatic firearms are: revolvers (mostly pistols but there are some rifle revolvers); bolt-action, lever-action, pump-action, breech-fed, or muzzle-loader rifles and shotguns. Most modern firearms sold today for personal defense, target or sport shooting, and some for hunting are semi-automatic.
3) Clip vs. Magazine -> These are FUNDAMENTALLY different things! If anyone really wants to ban clips that hold more than 10 rounds, go for it! It won't solve a single thing - EVER! Why? Because a clip just holds ammunition together so you can handle it more easily. Sometimes a clip is used to help load rounds into a magazine. But it's the MAGAZINE that is inserted into and feeds the firearm! There's a pretty good and brief description of the difference with a picture at this website. You have to scroll pretty far down to the heading, "Part 2: Clips and Magazines - Know the Difference".
http://texicantattler.blogspot.com/
4) What is a "high capacity" magazine? It's undefined. Is it more than 10 rounds, or is it more than 7, as enacted yesterday in New York state? Both of these numbers are arbitrary, decided upon by people with agendas, not based upon any factual analysis of anything or even an agreed upon definition. The NRA and other pro gun rights groups have been using the term "standard capacity". While there isn't a single definition for what that means, it's at least easier to comprehend - it's the capacity of the magazine that the gun is designed and sold with - what comes standard for that firearm. "Standard capacity" magazines I'm familiar with come in sizes of 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, (maybe 16 and 17), 20, 25 and 30 rounds. Higher capacity magazines and / or drums that hold 100 rounds exist for some firearms, but they're not "standard" for any commercially available firearm as far as I know. Incidentally, on Jan 4, 2013 near Atlanta, a mother defended herself and her two young children against a home intruder. She fired all 6 rounds from her revolver, hitting the intruder 5 times at very close range in the face and neck and he still got up and DROVE AWAY from the scene! In incidents like this, the crime victim doesn't have time to reload. She emptied her firearm and still didn't kill the 1 intruder. If there were multiple intruders or if she had missed with more of her shots, she and her children might have been harmed. In this incident, because this was with a revolver there wasn't an option for more bullets. But I believe it to be a strong argument that 7, or even 10, rounds may not be enough to defend oneself. "Enough" rounds is best defined by the number it takes to accomplish that defense. Lacking a consistent, quantifiable value for that, which is, of course, impossible to determine, I think "enough" should be the "standard capacity" of rounds that firearm was designed with, ranging from 5 to ~20 for semi-automatic handguns.
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/mother-of-two-surprises-burglar-with-five-gunshots/nTnGR/
5) What is an "assault weapon"? It's almost impossible to hear anything about the gun control debate without hearing this challenge. Another undefined term. In 1994 it was a firearm that contained 2 or more "features" that were mostly cosmetic and didn't affect the functioning of the firearm. One exception I know of is 'fed by detachable magazine'. That does affect the firearm's function. Now, Senator Dianne Feinstein's proposed legislation may reduce that to just 1 "feature" and those features may include being magazine fed or having pistol grips. This is a HUGE problem for pro gun rights / 2nd Amendment people and it ABSOLUTELY feeds their fears! Referring back to #2, above, virtually ALL semi-automatic firearms are fed by detachable magazines. (There may be a few exceptions here. I am not a firearms expert who can speak to this definitively.) Using the broad (arbitrary) 'definitions' and feature lists in use by legislators and the media, and especially coupled with statements by Governor Cuomo and Senator Feinstein, who are both on record as saying 'confiscation is an option' and '...if I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate...I'd have gone after them "all"...', EVERY gun rights advocate has substantial enough reason to believe this proposed legislation can result in "them" coming for their guns - all their guns, or all their semi-automatic (magazine fed, pistol grip) guns. This isn't even an issue of interpretation - it's what they're ACTUALLY SAYING with the terms they're using! The differences in the actual terms being used vs. other terms that may be more accurate and factually correct may seem subtle to some, and are certainly confusing to many (maybe deliberately, maybe not), but their implications are HUGE and will always be deal breakers for the pro gun rights / 2nd Amendment advocates! No amount of 'no one is coming for your guns' statements can undo what has already been said on record and in plain speech by others on the pro gun control side of the issue.
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/15/a-gun-lexicon-if-you-speak-out-speak-accurately/
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