Kristen Gwynne, Rolling Stone contributor and nascent firearms expert (Photo: RT)
Rolling Stone is a high quality rag, for sure. Earlier this week, they told us how to beat the NRA. Now Kristen Gwynne is out to make sure the populace knows just how dangerous guns can be. Five guns to be specific. So—inquiring minds want to know—what are the five most dangerous guns in America?
Let’s begin with Gwynne’s premise. “Contrary to what those who defend the right to own high-powered assault rifles believe, not all guns are created equal.”
As the Editor-in-Chief of GunsAmerica, I take issue with anyone who claims all guns are created equal. But I’ll let that slide. Gwynne was about to tell us about the most dangerous guns.
“Using firearm trace data from the ATF, as well as FBI homicide records, we determined the types of guns most often recovered from crime scenes and/or used in murders.”
Wait. Firearms types? It’s bush-league pshyc-out stuff. The title clearly said The Five Most Dangerous Guns.
#1 Pistols
“Popular among handgun-owners, pistols are defined by their built-in barrel and short stock.” This is some good information. Pistols have built in barrels and short stocks. Pistols are popular with handgun-owners. I’ll let Gwynne in on a well-kept secret that she completely missed; pistols are even more popular with pistol owners.
Before you question the integrity of Gwynne’s investigative approach, consider this. She spent at least enough time on Wikipedia to procure this gem: “One of the most popular pistols is the Glock, a short-recoil operated, semi-automatic pistol produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H. in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. Glocks comprise 65 percent of the market share of handguns for United States law enforcement agencies and are also frequently used by international law-enforcement.”
I’m not implying that GLOCKs are responsible for murders. It was Gwynne that chose to juxtapose the data on homicide and the popularity of GLOCKs with law enforcement.
#2 Revolvers
In case you’ve never seen a gun, Gwynne offers an explanation of intricate firearms nomenclature. “Revolvers,” Gwynne notes, “named for their rotating chambered cylinder, placed second in the ATF’s ranking of guns found at crime scenes….”
Don’t get confused by the rotation of a simple cylinder, firearms noobs. Stick with Gwynne. She knows her guns. “Some grenade launchers, shotguns, and rifles also have rotating barrels[sic], but the term “revolver” is generally used to describe handguns.”
I’ve been dying to get my hands on a rifle with rotating barrels.
#3 Rifles
“Pulling the trigger of a rifle fires one projectile at the intended target, as opposed to the shotgun’s ability to spray. According to FBI latest publicly available homicide records, in 2012 rifles were used to murder more than 320 people.”
A black rifle. Don’t be scared. (Photo: GunsAmerica)
More than 320 people? How many more? By God, the number could be astronomical? Is it millions? Tens of millions?
322.
Whew. Fists killed 678. Blunt objects killed 518. No doubt those blunt objects were the short stocks on Gwynne’s pistols. Many, if not all, of those 678 people beaten to death were beaten by fists that were holding guns. That’s how dangerous these things are.
Sorry. I was so swayed by the insight of the Rolling Stone piece that I got off track. I’m back now. And I’m still learning. Look what Gwynne has to say about the origin of long guns.
“Rifles were created to improve the accuracy of smoothbore muskets, for which the musket ball was often an [sic] bad fit due to manufacturing complications. Accurate and easy-to-aim, rifles are now the most common hunting weapon.”
Musket ball manufacturing complications? Note to Rolling Stone: that would make a great band name.
#4 Shotguns
Gwynne looses me with her technical understanding of shotguns. After offering up more on how a shotgun sprays, she notes, “the explosive that creates the energy to fire the gun occurs in the fixed shell of a shotgun rather than the metallic cartridge of a rifle.” The fixed shell. It must have been broke and she done fixed it, as they say in the parlance of the South.
So there we have it. Pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns. Did she miss anything? The title promises five, so she has to fill it out. Is there a fifth type? Yes.
#5 The derringer
One of the most deadly machines known to man, the derringer remains a popular way to carry two deadly rounds hidden beneath the crinoline of your hoopskirt.
Rolling Stone. Time well spent.
Is there a light at the end of Gwynne’s tunnel of exhaustively investigated hoplophobia? Maybe. After spending so much time on Wikipedia, I think Gwynne might be coming around. The article’s conclusion is almost an apology for the very real fact that “high-capacity-magazine assault weapons” are not as evil as some would like to portray.
“While high-capacity-magazine assault weapons have bee [sic] linked to large numnber [sic] of mass shootings over the past 30 years, varying definitions of ‘assault’ rifles make comprehensive information difficult to access. We do know, however, that assault weapons — loosely categorized as semi-automatic, rapid-fire weapons designed for combat use — are used in a small minority of homicides and other gun crimes.”
We can’t know how deadly these guns are because we can’t access any comprehensive information. It is just too difficult. The varying definitions form an impenetrable wall. I’ve tried to figure out what a high-capacity-magazine assault weapon is, and it is futile. Yet criminology professors, writing in the journal “Homicide Studies,” determined that “assault weapons” were present in only 24.6% of these shootings. It is understandable that Gwynne wouldn’t have access to such information, though. I had to click on two whole links to access an actual academic study published in a peer-reviewed journal. That is a stark number of clicks.
What did Gwynne miss?
Let’s help Gwynne keep up this level of investigative journalism. What would you suggest? I can see several glaring gaps in this list. I mean why stop at five types of guns? She’s completely ignored the dangers of Punt Guns. There’s no mention whatsoever of Starter Pistols. Despite the long trail of bloody corpses, Gwynne’s given a pass to Nerf.
Good one Pete. The writer is obviously an English major, and, I might add… one hell of an editor. Very seldom I read an article and smile, and yes, chuckle. Boring Stone.. ah.. the good old days are just that . Good and, old. No creative writers left.. just a bunch of morons with too much time on their hands.
The source of her job rolling stone mag says a lot about there people and care in choice of subject they know nothing about also. An other rag job by a RAG Mag.
Great article in, what was it … Rolling Stone, or Mad Magazine? Thanks to Dave Higgenbothem for highlighting the most entertaining parts of Kristen Gwynne’s brilliant satire. She obviously was spoofing the shallow research and mundane writing found at progressive websites and publications.
What about the Pea Shooter?
Firearms “Expert”???
This woman is NOT any kind of expert in firearms. The shot gun does NOT “spray” anything, no shotgun does. A shotguns pattern with bird or buck shot ( this will add to the “experts” information ) is more compact than she says. At 5 yards the pattern is about the width of 8 inches or so. As the yardage increases so does the shot pattern but ever at about 40 or 50 yards the patter is still tight ( how do you think all those ducks, doves, geese and other birds are killed?? ) at about 2 or so yards spread. Geese are NOT easy to kill and that is with the tightest shot pattern.
“Expert”??? Just another ‘disarming the public any way possible’ liar from the liberal democrat party, who’s idea’s are so great they have to be made into law’s, rather than choice.
Flintlocks. Of course once you run out of guns, you could always start identifying all the Bowie knives people have been disemboweled with….
I think a better article would be what gun each race favors for their bloodletting
She forgot the plasma disrupter photon rifle.
This is my new, favorite article on gun control! Kudos for keeping the humor through the entire piece!
She missed howitzers and mortars.
seems some guns will fit or conceal in body cavities our local S.O.finds them often when welcome searching new prisoners both male and female, seems females conceal the largest types for some reason. found a large old western type cow boy revolver concealed on/or in
a womans body recently. said she takes it along when riding horses bearback,,,,! seems NAA minis can be carried in ass holes (not by them) and larger revolvers are duck soup for ladies’ pajinas
Hmmmm, an average of ten teens are killed EVERY DAY, by something that Moms demand Attention and Everytown for Gun Safety are condoning and encouraging…… an unregistered and unregulated assault PHONE and high capacity SUV’s.
If we’re going to focus on types, the glaring omission is legal versus illegal. The percentage of crimes committed with firearms which have been obtained illegally is 95%; there are plenty of web sites which will confirm this claim. All of the gun laws in the world aren’t going to fix this problem. Gun restrictions merely penalize the law abiding citizen. See that’s why we call the bad guys “outlaws”, they don’t obey the laws no matter how well intended they are.
LIBERALS ONLY LOOK SMART TO STUPID PEOPLE.
Ditto, their misinformed and happy to spread misinformation. Let’s ban the “Rolling Stone” We can’t?
They have rights? Sh*t!
Are derringers more dangerous than machine guns & sub-machine guns? I guess they are ok then.
She forgot about the potato gun and all of its victims. I got shot with one if those things, and now I can’t enjoy french fries any more.
You forget the paint ball guns ,those paint balls hurt and leave marks. Oh and those wooden cap guns, and so on.
… and the grease gun. It doesn’t scatter so much as oozes ….
Ill bet she wonders why the men who have enjoyed her”favors”never call back,,,,
I read the article in question, hoping to see something to the effect of this:
1. Para-Ordnance 12-45
2. Henry model 1860
3. Glock G 30
4. Bushmaster AR 15
5. Remington Versa Max
Instead, I got a C+ homework assignment from a high school journalism class. This journalistic gem did expose my sexist mentality. I always though Captain Obvious was a man.
I find your comment about the south very insulting and inappropriate I am done with Guns America
“It must have been broke and she done fixed it, as they say in the parlance of the South” .
You’re a funny guy, Jay B. But you’ve nailed the personal outrage trend.
You know the army trains every single recruit how to shoot all types of firearms. The pistol,the rifle,M16,sniper rifles with scopes,105 howitzer. The list goes on. They did not train me the proper way to use a Bernie flip shooting acorns . Save a life stay I the kitchen.!!!
By the way, they already make a rifle with a rotating clyinder. Have been for some time. Check it out in the Gunn Digest. gordon lehnert
The only thing that needs to be said here is consider the source.
Would anyone seek information on any technical subject from Rolling Stoned?
Yes, unfortunately Liberals get their information from articles and people like this every day.
Wow. And to think I used 1 of each of her dangerous weapons to kill during my army service to keep her dyke ass safe in her bed in San Francisco…waste of perfectly good air.
Ps – By the way, she got her writing skills at Berkley.
The biggest advantage that pro-gun folks have to protect against anti-gun idiots is:
(Drum roll please …… …… …… ) Anti-gun idiots.
Anti-gunners are generally firearm ignorant, lacking the acquired common sense that comes from substantive experience. The few that actively and objectively seek knowledge and experience sufficient to produce a cogent argument often lose their zeal for the anti-gun position as a result of being armed with that knowledge and experience. Many actually switch sides.
This is why so many work so hard to prevent facts from getting in the way of their weak and faulty positions.
Her time would have been better spent doing something with that hair! Or maybe all that hard thinkin’ has frazzled both the hair and the brain beneath it. Really tho’ sarcasm; hmm a little too easy in this case. well deserved but VERY EASY! 10 rings all!
What a monumental waste of print.
As if anyone believes Rolling Stone is a firearm authority.
Hey Kristen Gwynne, sign up for a lifetime membership with the NRA, your worthless.
Hey Rolling Stone
How could you even begin to accept a article written by a woman who lacks any knowledge of guns.
What a insult to those who pay for priveledge to read your magazine.
Editor in chief you need to post a formal apology to your subscribers about this woman.
Hope you did not pay her, if you did you got screwed
No doubt this article was written in her funny smelling, smoke-filled office at Rolling Stone Magazine.She left out one of the most important weapon,the deadly water gun! Even more deadly when filled with foul smelling fluids!! When the smoke clears away,Ms Gwynne could go on to a brighter career as a brain surgeon.
The obama administration is letting kids (14 and up) loose in our country THAT HAVE ADMITTED to having killed people and being in gangs that kill people. Just busing them into cities and turning them loose.
Why am I more concerned about that then guns?
Maybe we should outlaw the obama administration and appointees. That would actually save lives. And our country.
#4 shotguns
” Gweynne ‘looses’ me…..” how loose did she make you?…….her article is dumb, but, your sarcasm of her writing skills might be due a wee bit of introspection or at least some spell checker.
Political term, assault rifle, better term, tactical rifle.
If you know anything about guns, reading Gwynne’s descriptions of firearms is like reading English that was written by a Chinese person. It all sounds kind strange, foreign, and non-sensical. Of course the problem is that most RS readers don’t know anything about guns.
Holly s%#( this girl knows her stuff Does any of the gun or ammo have openings for her? Oh well I didn’t think so maybe next month, In the mean while Get a life what a waste of space on earth not to mention the C02 you use.
And that my friends, is one of many reasons why I 86’d my subscription to RS a long time ago.
If you want to put a stop to this BS, never again vote for a socialist, anti-constitution democrat. They push this thought because they don’t want any threats to their power. I once saw a movie where only the police and military had guns it was called “Schindler’s List”. Guns save lives, in fact if Germany, Russia, and Red China had a second amendment there would have been about 20 million lives spared during and after WWII.
don’t waste good sarcasm. just get to the point. Gwynne thinks she’s a journalist. what a slap in the face to real ones. if under-informed is her approach to all her pieces, shame on anyone who would follow her. hopefully, for her sake, she will develop a work ethic and prepare better, dig deeper and get out in the real world before putting pen to paper(yes. actually write it down first) in the future.
Forgot the “firearms expert” part.
The day a firearm walks down my street with out anyone folding it and kills someone maybe I will think about it. Put the blame where it belongs on the people, they kill people if not with a firearm with a rolling pin, knife, rock, their cooking and properly the music they listen too>
More people are killed each year in auto accidents than by guns. Do we start banning cars?
This is clearly a reporter out of her depth. I was able to find exact statistics on the FBIs website for each category of deaths in America. This shows that guns account for far less than beatings, knifing, bludgeoning and other forms of homicide. It must be nice to cherry pick the facts to skew around to your point of view. Why did she not present the facts? When I went to journalism school we were taught to get the facts nailed down solid. She did not even present the facts. This was just an opinion piece with no backing in reality. It will now be used by the gun-banners as established fact. Shoddy journalism!
This is clearly a reporter out of her depth. I was able to find exact statistics on the FBIs website for each category of deaths in America. This shows that guns account for far less than beatings, knifing, bludgeoning and other forms of homicide. It must be nice to cherry pick the facts to skew around to your point of view. Why did she not present the facts? When I went to journalism school we were taught to get the facts nailed down solid. She did not even present the facts. This was just an opinion piece with no backing in reality. It will now be used by the gun-banners as established fact. Shoddy journalism!
This is clearly a reporter out of her depth. I was able to find exact statistics on the FBIs website for each category of deaths in America. This shows that guns account for far less than beatings, knifing, bludgeoning and other forms of homicide. It must be nice to cherry pick the facts to skew around to your point of view. Why did she not present the facts? When I went to journalism school we were taught to get the facts nailed down solid. She did not even present the facts. This was just an opinion piece with no backing in reality. It will now be used by the gun-banners as established fact. Shoddy journalism!
C’mon….you and I both know that the LAST thing liberal media wants to do is to present “facts” that have not been cherry-picked and then spun for effect. Almost ALL reporting by liberal media today is at least 1/2 opinion. Of course, FOX has been caught in numerous bald-faced lies, too. Bottom line: Don’t trust ANY of the mainstream media in this country to give you unbiased fact; double-check everything yourself.
I give this young lady a B+ for this article, and here’s why. My guess is that she’s one of these “single mothers” and has a 6 year old in first grade. I bet she was helping her 6 year old write a paper for “social studies” class. Somehow, this paper was confused with the one intended for RS submission. And we already know the brain power at work at RS, (see Boston Bomber cover). Therefore, once it was out of Mom’s hands, it was as good as printed. Come on, folks, for a 6 year old in first grade, it’s not badly written. Sure, the premise and the facts need some work, but our first-grader still believed in Santa Claus and unicorns too. But it’s a strong B+ for first grade! Well, maybe B-.
You have a point. She fooled Rolling Stone, didn’t she. They published what supported their agenda.
Rolling “Stoned” should stick with what they know, which apparently isn’t much.
And the five most dangerous cars are:
1) A coupe
2) A 2-door sedan
3) A 4-door sedan
4) A station wagon
5) A convertible
How could you possibly be so obtuse as to leave off the deadliest of deadly:
The “Minivan”!
JK. (About you being obtuse. The Minivan really is a death machine)
She also forgot to list the nail gun!
Potato guns.
You forgot potato guns.
If this is information used to keep the electorate informed we are doomed. It reaffirmed to me many journalists write about topics they know almost nothing about. Tragic.
If this is information used to keep the electorate informed we are doomed. It reaffirmed to me many journalists write about topics they know almost nothing about. Tragic.
There is never never land and now we have gwynndal land. If joe biden had a daughter? So a Taurus judge is double dangerous
It’s a shotgun and a revolver!!
That is a Shevolver! Lol
Number six on the list.
It’s a shotgun, revolver and a Judge.
I saw an assault rifle assaulting an old lady outside a Wal-Mart. It kicked and punched her until she was ont he ground, and then it stole the $3.74 she had in a penny jar before running towards the trailer park behind the supermarket.
Doesn’t that make it a “felonious assault rifle”?
They should really stick to music… frankly – Rolling Stone was not as keen there as some may think. Tthey didn’t like Led Zeppelin much either and well… we can see how that turned out.