It's time to stop the demonization of America's Rifle
Inaccurate terms like "assault weapon, machine gun, weapon of war, military style and mil-spec" are being used more frequently by anti-gunners to support their promise of AR confiscation.
A few years ago, a British newspaper reporter asked me about my “stance on assault weapons.”
I told her my feet were usually about shoulder-width apart, and I leaned forward at the waist.
She didn’t get it.
Nowadays, my response would not have been so cavalier.
Nowadays, we’re at war.
To be clear, the anti-gunners have ramped up their demonization of the country’s most popular rifle — the AR — in order to make them easier to confiscate.
They want to control the narrative, and the media is all too willing to oblige.
This, folks, we need to stop.
The gun prohibitionists feel emboldened because the Democrats control all the seats of power in Washington. They believe that now’s their chance, so they’re trying to label our rifles as evil — as if any inanimate object could ever be evil.
There’s an old Russian proverb that says if you call a man a pig often enough, eventually he’ll start to oink.
I agree with that, so if we don’t debunk their lies now, eventually their talking points could become publicly accepted facts.
It’s happened to us before.
Just look at some of their “loopholes” that don’t exist, like that mythical website where you can supposedly buy a gun and have it shipped to your home without a background check, or that the Second Amendment is all about hunting, or that criminals will follow the law.
The public actually believes some of these myths.
We, the gun community, need to counter their anti-gun maskirovka before it’s too late.
If we don’t, those of us who use an AR for self defense, target shooting, hunting, collecting or more will soon have to make a heady decision — to comply or to not comply.
Not an assault weapon
To be clear, the AR is not an assault weapon.
This is assault weapon, and a pretty good one:
By definition, a true assault weapon is select fire — meaning it can shoot semi-automatic and full-automatic at the flip of a switch.
The modern AR is semi-automatic only. There’s no giggle switch to make it full auto.
That’s the major difference.
Not a machine gun
To be clear, the AR is not a machine gun.
This is a machine gun, and it’s also a pretty good one:
Because the AR is not fully automatic, it cannot be classified as a machine gun.
Machine guns are heavily regulated by the federal government, and are legal to own in most free states, but they do require paperwork and ATF approval.
You’ll also need a lot of money.
There are only around 180,000 transferable machine guns that can be purchased by civilians. This has created a false economy and inflated their prices.
Because they’re so valuable, people tend to take good care of them.
You don’t need all of your fingers to count the number of machine guns that have ever been used in a crime.
Not a weapon of war
Anyone who says a semi-automatic AR is just like the M4 they carried in the military is incorrect.
Ask to see their DD-214. It could be telling.
I don’t know why some vets are saying this.
The last thing every veteran whom I consider a friend wants is to further restrict the AR platform, since most of us own a few.
Besides, most veterans tend to mind their own business. We’re not big on telling other folks how to live their lives.
In my humble opinion, the vets who are calling for more gun control probably don’t realize they’re being used by the gun prohibitionists.
I would really like to talk to them about the reasons for their actions.
We live in the greatest country on earth. They certainly have a right not to buy an AR, but they don’t have a right to stop me from purchasing one.
Not military style
What is military style, anyway?
It’s a relatively new term.
The anti-gun media only started using it after the gun community pushed back when they called our rifles “assault weapons.”
It’s a confusing term.
Are my cargo pants military style?
How about my backpack?
Are German Shephards or Belgian Malinois military-style dogs, or are they assault dogs?
I don’t get it.
The label makes zero sense.
Not mil-spec
To be clear, most civilian ARs are not mil-spec.
Many are a lot better.
My rifles are definitely better than mil-spec — light years beyond mil-spec.
Mil-spec means that a product has met specified standards, been accepted and is in use by the military. However, they’re usually made by the lowest bidder.
Many of today’s ARs exceed the standards specified by the DOD.
Conclusion
Words can have tremendous power, so when they’re used against us, we cannot give an inch.
When you hear these inaccurate terms being used by the media, don’t accept it.
Call them out!
It only takes a minute to email a letter to the editor, or to call a TV station’s news director and complain.
Nowadays, we have the power.
With diminished advertising revenue, the last thing the media wants is to go to war with their readers or viewers. They need money, not controversy.
It’s time for the gun community to switch on.
If we don’t, the next knock on the door you hear could be Beto and his fellow gun grabbers.
As always, thanks for your time.
Lee
The Gun Shoppe, located in world famous (okay, maybe just locally famous) Sarasota, Florida, just minutes from Siesta Key and Bradenton.
The Gun Shoppe offers firearms training and concealed weapons classes several times a week, specializing in defensive shooting to better prepare you to fend off intruders, attackers, and post-apocalyptic Scenarios.
The owners are friends, and they’ve got a great staff.
They are located at 4402 S. Tamiami Trail Unit C Sarasota, FL 34231
You can reach them at 941.822.0707 or email at info@gunshoppeonline.com
Range Werx is Florida’s premier shooting range.
Range Werx is in Ft. Meade, Florida, conveniently located about one hour from Orlando and Tampa.
The shooting facility was developed by Bob Keller of Gamut Resolutions, with the shooter in mind, and designed exactly the way Bob would want a range to be if he were a member.
Bob has had over 22 years in the Special Op’s community and has traveled across the United States teaching at hundreds of ranges. Bob also oversaw construction of shooting ranges overseas during multiple deployments.
For more info, email RD@rangewerx.com or call 813-600-9399
Ghost Inc. is your home for the best self-defense trigger connectors and accessories for your Glock pistol and AR rifles.
Ghost Inc. was founded and made in the USA since 2000. Everything they manufacture comes with an unconditional lifetime warranty and guarantee.
Shooting Instruction and Tactical Training. Home of Ready-Up™ Training
Gamut Resolutions provides world class instruction in pistol shooting, carbine shooting, and tactics.
At Gamut Resolutions, all our instructors are highly trained professionals with experience in the most elite units of the United States Armed Services.
We provide training for individuals and teams including shooting and tactical application. Classes are customized each time, so you learn what you need from experienced veterans.
As a combat veteran of Iraq, I just shake my head at these bunch of slow witted walking samples of primordial commie ooze.
The only way they'll stop is the same way you make any bully stop. I find that a punch to the throat or nose delivered with maximum effort or even a Martin Grammatica-like goingfora60yardfieldgoal kick applied directly to where the good Lord split them to be a strong and rather pointed deterrent to further unwelcome advances on my personal space or that of my family.
Not going to surrender any of my rights, all I want is to be left alone to live out my days. I am no harm to anyone unless THEY want to shove first. I'm a little long in the tooth for shenanigans, and have zero patience for these progressive/regressive passive/aggressive tactics. I do NOT sleep deeply so do what you want to do, and I'll do what I have to do.
I'm pretty sure my message to Scott and Rubio fell on deaf ears, there's plenty of dirt on them where they are easily compromised by the other side.
If however, they seem intent on foisting their desires on peaceful men, let it happen while I am here to step forward. I toed the line before, I'll do it again. They should just let sleeping dogs lie and keep their craptastic rhetoric to themselves.
100,000 armed Floridians need to peacefully protest at the state Capital. We must DEMAND our elected representatives make Florida a 2nd Amendment sanctuary.