(Reposting) Taking back our language from the gun grabbers
It’s time to stop using the other side’s hate speech.
Lee’s note: I screwed up. I sent this out earlier today, but I failed to send it to everyone. Apologies to those of you who got it twice.
by Lee Williams
I was on a good friend’s radio program Sunday night when one of the other guests raised a tremendous point: We need to take back our language from the anti-rights crowd and the legacy media.
Specifically, words like assault weapon, mainstream media, gun violence and many more have been creeping into our vocabulary and – mea culpa – even some of my stories.
Folks, it’s time to stop playing by their rules. It’s time to stop using their labels, which are both inaccurate and designed to frighten the public into supporting their anti-civil rights agenda.
Besides, there are better words to use in place of theirs.
I’ve come up with a few examples. Of course, there are many more. If I missed any, please let me know.
Assault weapon – True assault weapons use intermediate-length cartridges and are capable of select-fire. The term is a rough translation of the German Sturmgewehr. A modern AR does not meet this definition, even if it has a chainsaw bayonet attached.
Assault weapon ban – A violation of the Second Amendment and the Fifth Amendment’s taking clause.
Mainstream media – We are the mainstream, not the gun prohibitionists. They are the fringe. There are more gun owners in this country than non-gun owners, so rather than referring to their lapdog media as mainstream, let’s call it the legacy media.
Gun buybacks – It doesn’t matter if it’s a buyback held at a local city hall or the mandatory buybacks President Biden has planned for our ARs – the government cannot buy back something it has never owned. And we should start referring to Biden’s plan as what it really is – mandatory confiscation.
Gun violence – Do we say knife violence? Do we say fist or feet violence? How about baseball bat violence or cast-iron-frying-pan violence? It’s time to call violence what it really is – violence – regardless of the mechanism used.
Loopholes – There are no legitimate loopholes. The gun show loophole doesn’t exist. The online loophole is a joke. I’ve got a good friend who has a standing offer of $10,000, which he’ll pay to anyone who can show him a website that will sell him a firearm and ship it to his home without a background check. The Charleston loophole should be renamed the FBI-incompetence loophole. Loopholes are a fallacy. Unless we’re talking about the loopholes used by urban snipers, it’s time to stop using the term.
Pro-gun and Anti-gun – Instead, we should say pro-rights and anti-rights.
Gun rights – This term is should be replaced by human rights or civil rights.
High-capacity magazine – Standard-capacity magazine is far more accurate, even though the folks who coined the term don’t know the difference between a clip and a magazine.
Permitless carry – Constitutional carry is the only term for this because you do not need a permit for a Constitutional right. It’s the true intent of the Second Amendment – what the Framers had in mind. Everything else is unconstitutional.
Concealed carry permit – An unconstitutional act that occurs when the government strips you of your Second Amendment rights and then sells them back to you for a set fee, but only for a limited amount of time, and only if you behave.
Gun control – Let’s use crime control instead, rather than focusing on the weapon a criminal chooses to use. Do we say knife control? Knives and fists and feet are used far more frequently by criminals than firearms. Besides, for the gun grabbers it’s all about control anyway.
Gun-control advocate – Anti-rights activist.
Smart guns – Smart guns are pure science fiction. The tech simply isn’t there. We should call them Sci-Fi guns. I will start carrying a smart gun when Mr. Spock beams one into the glovebox of my flying car.
Ghost gun – Americans were building firearms at home long before there was a United States of America. To be clear, it is perfectly legal to build a firearm in your home. I’ve been referring to them as home builds.
Arsenal – How many times have you read a news story about an arrestee who had an “arsenal” of weapons in his or her home, even if it was just a handful of firearms and a couple boxes of ammunition? What the legacy media refers to as an arsenal, I refer to as a collection or a good start.
Concealable assault weapon – This term is new, and the Dems already want to ban them. It was recently coined by the gun prohibitionists to describe an AR pistol with a brace. It is the dumbest term they have ever come up with since assault pistol, which they invented to describe the TEC-9. I burst out laughing every time I hear a cable TV news actor use it in a sentence. Let’s let them have this one. It’s hilarious.
Commonsense – Commonsense sounds like a good term. We do need commonsense gun laws. However, the problem is who gets to decide what’s commonsensical. If it’s the folks inside the Beltway, we’ve got problems. Best not to use the term.
Second Amendment infringements – Civil rights violations.
Strong gun laws – Show me a state with strong gun laws and I’ll show you a state with strong civil-rights violations.
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National Firearms Act of 1934 and Gun Control Act of 1968 – Draconian, unconstitutional gun laws written by grandstanding politicians in response to two specific criminal acts committed by a notorious gangster and a communist lunatic.
Gun owners – How about well-informed voters.
Hollow points – Standard defensive ammunition.
Mass shooting – How about just calling it a shooting
Mass shooter – Felon or murderer.
Military grade or Milspec – The media uses the terms interchangeably to imply that a military grade or milspec firearm is super lethal or extra-scary. It’s a derisive term. Most civilian ARs and AKs are not military grade or milspec. They’re lightyears beyond that. Today’s ARs are far superior to anything made for the DoD by the lowest bidder.
Silencer or suppressor – Gun muffler.
Need – The anti-civil rights crowd constantly brings up need – as in no one needs a AR. I can’t find the term in the Second Amendment. I’ve looked. Just like deer hunting – it’s not there.
NRA, GOA, SAF, JPFO, FPC, CCRKBA and all others – Civil rights organizations.
Giffords, Everytown, Demanding Moms, the Brady Bunch and the Biden administration – Anti-civil rights organizations.
Gun grabbers – Gun grabbers. It fits.
As always, thanks for your time.
Lee
I have an old Army buddy, love him to death. He married another female soldier who is the dictionary perfect example of an anti-gun, promask, pro vaccine, helicopter mom , and super Karen. Her name is actually.......Karen.
I attempted to have a civil debate with her regarding the incorrect terminology she was ranting about in regards to just about everything in your post. I was civil, direct, and polite. All I accomplished was the equivalent of throwing a full 5 gallon gas can onto a bonfire. I was called a right wing extremist, a nazi, and pure evil for simply stating the truth.
I am now not welcome in their home (no loss there) , nor may I call their house phone. If I want to call my buddy, I have to call his cell phone while he's at work.
That side of the aisle is unhinged.
Politicians who oppose to citizen firearm ownership are the criminal's accessory before the fact.