Amanda Marcotte, a political writer for Salon.com, believes that now is not the time for the public to be arming itself.
She wrote, in an article published this week, “But the last thing anyone should be doing in this crisis, if they want to stay safe, is to buy a gun.”
“Buying a gun right now will make your family and your home less safe, especially if you, like many panic buyers, are not trained in gun safety and don’t have the proper storage,” she added.
On some level, maybe she has a point. A gun will do one no good if he or she doesn’t know how to accurately shoot it, properly maintain it and safely secure it. And it does make the individual less safe if he or she doesn’t take the time to learn the basics.
But the good news is that a basic level of proficiency with firearms isn’t that hard to obtain. Turns out guns are pretty user intuitive and, depending on the student, the training materials and resources the student has access to, and whether the student has an instructor or seasoned gun owner to help show them the way, one can learn how to shoot well rather quickly.
Don’t get me wrong, perusing gun safety literature and taking several trips out to the local range with a reputed instructor (while following the guidelines of social distancing) isn’t going to turn the student into Doc Holiday but at the same time, it should give the student a level of competency so that A. The gun is no longer a liability to one’s safety and B. It begins to become a viable tool for personal defense.
And, at that point, it’s good to have a gun. It makes one safer because one can effectively defend oneself, one’s family, and one’s property. Again, the student isn’t going to be a gunslinger but he or she will be able to point, aim and shoot at a target which is, in most scenarios, enough to get the job done.
SEE ALSO: Clay’s COVID-19 Gun Buying Guide for Noobs
It’s worth mentioning that in the vast majority of defensive gun uses (instances where good guys use firearms to defend themselves), no shots are actually fired. The mere presence of the gun is enough to de-escalate the situation. Put in a real-world, COVID-19 situation, prowlers and looters and other hooligans are likely to take off running when a homeowner simply presents a gun.
But Ms. Marcotte disagrees.
“The idea that guns are effective at self-defense is a myth, which is constantly propped up by the gun industry and has been repeatedly disproved by independent researchers,” she wrote.
To back up her claim she cites several studies, surveys, and papers collected by the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. I suggest you check them out and when you do you’ll see that the sample size on many is small and most of the data examined is from several decades ago before the widespread adoption of permissive concealed carry laws in the U.S.
Remember, we went from a virtual No-Issue/May-Issue country to a Constitutional Carry/Shall-Issue country in the span of about three decades, the ’80s to ‘00s. With almost 19 million licensed concealed carriers nationwide as of last year, our society is more prepared to deal with threats than it’s ever been.
And while we don’t actually know the precise number of defensive gun uses that happen annually, estimates have been as high as several million and as low as 100,000, or at least as common as criminals use firearms in the preparation of crimes, what we do know is that A. Self-defense with firearms is certainly not a myth (One quick example, per the FBI, concealed carriers stopped 8 percent of active shooter incidents in 2016-2017) and B. Crime rates have plummeted over the last several decades as more law-abiding citizens exercised their 2A rights.
SEE ALSO: FBI: Concealed Carriers Stopped 8 Percent of Active Shooter Incidents in the Last Two Years
Sure, correlation doesn’t mean causation. Crime rates may have dropped for any number of reasons. But at the same time, what we can say for sure is that more guns in the hands of responsible people does not increase crime nor does it endanger public safety! Any fair-minded, rational person has to acknowledge this reality.
Marcotte concluded by saying, “But one thing you should not do is buy a gun. It won’t make you or your family safer. On the contrary, it might lead to someone getting shot — and needing to be rushed to a hospital that’s already in danger of being overwhelmed by the coronavirus. So stay home and stay safe. Leave the guns alone.”
What I would say to all those considering purchasing their first firearm during this crisis is don’t buy a gun if you’re not going to take gun ownership seriously. If you’re not willing to put in the time to learn how to use it, don’t bother. Save your money for food or a security system or other supplies that might be useful during this global pandemic.
However, if you’re willing to practice and train and educate yourself, then, by all means, make the jump. While the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now!
Bet ya she is a single mom…
Oh, you poor snowflake! I feel your pain. NOT!!!
With all due respect; May I suggest that you move to Australia . Where law abiding citizens are not allowed to own firearms.
Only the Armed forces, Police and Criminals have firearms
See problem solved.
Better to have one and not need it than need it and not have one. There are plenty of instances where a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun. Average response time to a 911 call is around 30 minutes. A lot can happen to your family in 30 minutes.
The time to arm is when you become a functioning adult and can take responsibility for defending yourself
OK, message received: Snowflake libtards who don’t know which end of the tube the round comes out should not buy a gun (now or ever).
Wait till the looting and shooting begins to buy a gun. Wait til the Dow hits 30,000 to buy any stocks…
The only thing worse than an idiot, is an idiot with a gun.
People who want to be able to protect themselves with firearms must be more than willing to learn all the aspects of gun ownership. This national crisis has revealed the government brain washing agenda politicians and bureaucrats have been pushing for decades, that guns are bad and personal safety can only be provided by the government. Being proficient in the handling of guns involves actually practicing with it and considering the real possibility of actually shooting a human being.
Buying a gun doesn’t make you safe if you don’t know how to be responsible with it and that comes with time and training.
I can only hope when she is confronted with someone intent on harming her, that she shows them the studies showing how this never works, and they run away. I’d run away, but that’s because she has a screw loose, and subscribes to the liberal idiocy about guns, where if they don’t personally see a need, then nobody has a need.
Big Al; Include the Washington post, CNN and NBC along with Salon, there all some of the most SUBVERSIVE news orgs out there!
Amanda just needs a good home intrusion or to be attacked physically in order to find out how fast and how much the police will help! In Indianapolis the response time can be as long as 45 min answered with a little old fat woman cop. Been there and done that. A .45 and a 12ga offers a lot more protection!
What a joke . I’m not saying I hope she gets raped someday..but,,,, Maybe then she will realize that you can’t rape a .38 … Who is she to dictate how my daughter should protect herself ? I know my baby girl isn’t going to be a defenseless victim . She carries always .
She is 100% correct, they should NOT be buying it now, THEY SHOULD ALREADY HAVE ONE !
Stop with the PC “he or she” already.
She’s right. The last thing we should be doing is buying firearms. We should already have bought them to avoid the rush.
Don’t get Amanda Marcotte Derangement Syndrome.
She has a right to her opinion, and if she has a platform, to express it.
BUT, I’ve been a cop for 37 years, and I’m not afraid of people who carry LEGALLY. I do worry about panicky newbees with guns and no practice, no skills, and no knowledge of the law. I hope that some of them don’t hurt themselves, or their family members/friends, but it may be inevitable.
So, please be a friendly and responsible experienced gun owner. If you know someone new to gun ownership, reach out and ask them if they have any questions. Make sure they have the proper equipment, and know how to use it. Get them to practice. Make sure they do it with an EMPTY gun, preferably with the ammo locked up or in another room all the way across the house or apartment. They can dry fire with a penny on the slide if they have an S/A to learn trigger control. They can aim at the TV to practice sight alignment. They can draw in front of the bathroom mirror to practice coming up to the target. Make sure they know the three to ten (depending on who you listen to) cardinal rules of safety. Offer to take them shooting, if you can still go in your area. Talk to them about safe storage versus having the gun readily available, especially if they have kids. Get them to go online to Project Childsafe.com, to watch safety videos. By reaching out and helping others, we will create more responsible gun owners, and inform more citizen that their politicians have been lying to them about guns and gun ownership.
That’s how you fight people like this woman…
Another useful pawn for those who want to destroy this country and our constitution.
“The last thing anyone should be doing…is reading Salon”.
There, fixed it for her.
LOL!!!!!
“But the good news is that a basic level of proficiency with firearms isn’t that hard to obtain.”
In my area, with all gun ranges closed and people told to social distance, I’m afraid they’re going to be training with youtube. I hope we don’t have a rash of ND’s in the near future.
Hopefully someone busts down her door to victimize her and as she is screaming for help from the Police who can’t be everywhere. Then she will realize how stupid her comments are. Use your rights wisely, depend on yourself not others. Of course that’s the liberal way. Pathetic.
Not only can’t the police be everywhere, lots of police are calling in sick and that would only increase as they want to keep themselves and their families from danger of exposure (or stay home to protect them if we have a social meltdown). Leftists just can’t fathom not having a government entity responsible for their safety, health, security, finances, education, employment, housing…
From the same jerks who said Trump was a racist for shutting off travel to and from China? The libs have never been right about anything. I’d be a lot more concerned about morons in the big cities releasing criminals and providing sanctuary to criminal illegal aliens. It’s probably a signal we need to be armed more than ever.
Let me get this straight, empty the jails but a bad time to buy yet another firearm. Typical liberal BS logic. Of course most of us are already prepared and this current panic is laughable. Glad to live in a state that considers gun shops essential! Sorry lady, will by one if so inclined and it is NEVER a bad time to get a new firearm.
I bet she puts makeup high on her list of needs. I think the last thing women should be buying is tampons. Are they really needed? No. Stuff a rag in it. Ha Ha Ha.
If the argument is that a new gun owner buying a gun right now is dangerous, I can’t disagree. If you have no means of training yourself and you’re buying a gun out of panic, that could make for a potentially dangerous situation. This whole COVID outbreak and panic just underscores the importance of being ready all the time and hopefully it bolsters gun ownership in this country. Just remember, when all this shit calms down and we’re suddenly faced with thousands of fresh new gun owners, be kind and be helpful and show them the right way to train responsibly. If you can foster that in these new gun owners, you will only strengthen the 2nd amendment.
The writer is entitled to her own opinion, that’s fine. However, She is assuming that all the people who are purchasing firearms are not trained and have no way to safely secure them. What the writer fails realizes is that we are living in uncertain times. People tend to panic. I worry more about the people panicking over hoarding toilet paper than purchasing firearms. The writer is basing her opinion on what she hopes won’t happen. The people are who are purchasing firearms are buying because of what can happen. In Maryland, We can’t go to Church but the liquor stores can remain open. many of them have larger crowds than the congregations they shut down.
with whats going down with this pandemic and police saying they can respond only when they need to/feel like it she will be singing a different tune when she calls 911 and the dispatcher says shes on her own!
How many of her unborn babies did she abort? Her womb is not a safe place for her own children.
San Fran’s DA has turned that place into a free for all. Shoplifting is beginning to turn into looting. We’ll see……..
The last thing you should be doing is usurping my rights, you anti-constitutionalist.
Why is this rediculous opinion piece included in Guns America? I don’t give 2 sh*ts about her opinion. Please don’t include this type of garbage in your column or your will see a drop off in reader interest. Have a nice day.
Well, that’s YOUR opinion, but NOT many of us agree.
We believe in knowing who our enemies are, and not in being blindsided by ignorance.
I agree with Amanda Marcotte. NOW is not the time to be purchasing a gun to protect you and yours. That should have been done long ago.
Thats not even correct grammar. The tenae is off.
Buying. Not buy. Or do to buy.
Putting ellipses in there confuses the headline.
Yup. And she thinks she is a professional writer? Why didn’t the editor pick this up? I hope she wasn’t an English major in college. She’d flunk high school English.
She said: “But the last thing anyone should be doing in this crisis, if they want to stay safe, is to buy a gun.”
What she should have said is “But the last thing anyone should be doing in this crisis, if they want to stay safe, is buying a gun.”
Of course SHE probably has a gun. My favorite story is when I went to get my CCP in Boston, the Chef of Detectives pointed out that the guy in front of me in line was the head of the stop handgun violence movement for Boston. So he wanted us disarmed, but HE was packin.
Maybe this fluff head salon writer? figures on using her own real talent, oral sex to control the situation…
Well, I’m off from work for the next few weeks and what if I wanted to purchase a new AR that I intend to set up as strictly a wild hog killer and get in a few hunts on my back forty before I have to return to work? Who does this twit think she is to determine I shouldn’t be doing this ? Stay in your lane Jane !
Smug, snooty little urban twinkie who, if the SHTF, would be crying to the first man available to save her a**……
yes lets take advice on how to protect yourself and family members from a lady who cuts hair . im going to get tax advice from my dog walker next .
Anyone who hasn’t bought guns before now is a little late to the ball game! Everyone should be allowed to buy guns at anytime!! Guns can be purchased with minimal human contact if needed. At the moment it is what it is. I recommend buying lots of guns and ammo BEFORE a crisis hits!!
Who are you to tell Me what I need or don’t need?
you may need one, oh yeah you live behind a fence and have armed guards where every you go
She and her ilk should sh** and fall back in it.
The people who live in the NewYork/SanFran bubble profess to feeling confident in public policy solutions, but I don’t believe them. Rest assured they have Uncle Bob’s old revolver in the top drawer.
They just don’t want you to have that security, such as it is, because YOU might behave badly if left to your own devices. Many of them would benefit from a short class in the consequences of their misplaced confidence in public officials.
I prefer to show them the pro-gun Tshirt message that features images of Castro, Lenin, Mao, Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot, the one that says: The Experts All Agree–Gun Control Works
In response to this woman’s comments, everyone that owns a firearm was a new owner with little or no experience/training except for military personnel. That isn’t cause for alarm. The fact that inmates are being cut loose most certainly is. These people made up bad decisions or did stupid enough things to end up in the slammer. What are they going to do when released? Law abiding citizens have lost their jobs and need work. Is it safe to say that they won’t be working? What are they going to do? The answer is that they will most likely return to the same knuckleheads and their activities that landed them in jail in the first place. Is it wrong for law abiding citizens to desire to protect themselves from criminals or civil unrest? Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It would help if those opinions were rooted in the realm of common sense.
God help us if this rider ever suffers a severe paper cut?
I hate to say this, but she has a valid point. I used to work in sporting goods at a dept store when in college. I had several people come in to buy a gun shortly after being robbed who were still shaking. They just wanted a gun. Didn’t know the difference between auto and revolvers, calibers, ammo types. Just wanted a gun. These are the people we read about who injure themselves or family members. I spent time talking with these folks to help figure out what training they should acquire, storage, etc. About half decided they needed to calm down first so they could make a rational purchase. The other half ended up buying medium caliber revolvers that were easy to operate and could be easily operated. I never talked anyone out of owning a gun, just advised to make an informed purchase. Panic buyers usually end up being irresponsible gun owners.
Liberals should all be required by law to post ” Gun Free ” signs on their front doors. Criminals shouldn’t have to risk their lives guessing which house to break into. After all, they have rights too.
Oh boy……just what we need….another “writer” educating people about something she dislikes and doesn’t understand. This cow is simply a shill for the left and couches her disdain for guns under the guise of public safety. Her “facts” are from anti-2A sources and she writes for Salon which is a libtards rag. I hope she remembers where she parked her broom and quickly leaves to spread more bullshit to the rest of the world.
All good points. The liberal/socialist system has completely brain washed this woman who knows nothing about guns. She should keep her misguided opinions to her self.
Now fellas, she has a right to her opinions, and has a right to be blind or stupid also.
What is interesting about her and her ilk is how they change their tune, when they are violated and realize there is no help, immediate or after the fact…..
I agree that people should not be scrambling to buy guns. They should already have weaponry in place. Being prepared does not mean wait until there’s a problem.
The world is becoming a place of conform or die thinking. Everyday there is less of a place for individual freedom, opinion, choice and the idea of people not governments.
Once again, there’s that deranged logic that one person’s opinion should dictate everyone else’s lives, i.e., demoncratic liberal party of HATE think, hive mentality, sheeple mindset, pick one of the many that fits.
Hmmm… I’m going to agree and disagree with this one. On the one hand, someone buying a gun out of panic and not being reasonably competent with it is just about as much a liability as protection. They are likely to be hesitant to pull the trigger, so much so that it is very likely to be taken and used against them. It takes some nerve and confidence to pull a gun on someone and intend to use it. So a last minute purchase isn’t going to be that helpful.
On the other hand, just knowing that there is a gun in the house will deter most thieves from breaking in — at least if they suspect someone may be home. Too much risk of getting shot.
The moral of this story is that you should have a firearm of some type for emergency self defense, but you should have got it (and some training and practice) way before the emergency was in full force.
Dictating who, how, when and why is still dictating. Guns are tools, tools to protect. If you choose to use a tool of any kind to complete and illegal action, the tool is not illegal, the tool user is. Keep chipping away at Freedom and eventually there’s nothing left, we’re getting there every day with every attempt to dictate our Freedoms.
Too bad Nicole Brown Simpson were not around to comment on the matter.
Do not let anyone who knows nothing about guns, tell those of us who know about guns, about guns. Do not let them tell anyone else about guns as well.
How many prisoners and incarcerated cell mates are being let out of jail due to COVID19. We see how the policy in NYC is failing miserably releasing repeat offenders, and other places as well look at KA. So what can we expect from these actions Ms. Marcotte? Home Invasions, murders, rapes, child molestation, kidnapping, theft, etc, please pull your head out of your posterior and think before you speak.
Im ex millitary and will tell you now there is a big need for guns.i for one thank god ive not had to be put to the task of protecting my family but will tell you .you think i protected this nation watch me protect my family .
If anyone live close to this women put a sign up in your front yard that reads if you come to my home to do harm or steal you will meet the Lord before you may want to, now go to Ms. Amanda Marcotte home and have a good time stealing and what ever you wont be shot she don’t believe in guns in her home !!!!
Well underlying catch to this is that the liberals are taking advantage of this world we live in and i will be damed if now there finding a back door to rapeing us of our rights.
Amanda Marcotte needs to learn a valuable lesson, and that lesson is to respect the ways of others. This is a philosophy that has always set America apart from Europe. It is a philosophy that has been lost in 21st Century America.
The last thing anyone should do is listen to YOU.
Sure. And by the way, the last thing anyone should do is express an opinion not approved of by the DNC or Nancy Pelosi. You may be subject to imprisonment.
She may have point. I see a lot gouging going on. I guess she conveniently overlooked the mass release of the criminal element back into society at many jails nationwide. For starters.
That “gouging” is actually market forces at work. Gouging only works when you must have that item and there are no other sources. Market pricing helps keep products available for those who need them.
Market forces? There is imbalance in the current supply/demand equilibrium, so some retailers are raising prices at the consumers expense in this pandemic. It’s a temporary situation and will be back to normal soon.
Amanda Marcotte, as a retired soldier, I can tell you that you are wrong. Now is the perfect time to purchase a home defense weapon. With the increased demand being placed on our first responders, all are being stretched thin and response times are increasing as a result. While common sense is not common, we need to give our fellow citizens the credit for having the ability to think for themselves. I hope you live way out in the countryside, then tell me if you need a weapon!
Ms. Amanda Marcotte, may I have this pleasurable moment to tell you, burn in hell, I hope you die a long, horrible, drawn out death. I truly mean that. I hope all of the pieces of sh!t that want to impose their own idiotic beliefs on me suffer the same fate. I hope that one day you need to have a firearm to protect you and your pathetic family, but are too stupid and ignorant to own one.
You see, you are weak, you are a sheep, you are a follower, your genetics are not made to stand the test of time. You will never know how to survive, and there is a reason for that. Your mindset is a self-correcting problem. That how evolution works. The weak, pathetic, burdens on society (like you) die off and fall by the wayside. All hope is not lost though, you will probably make great fertilizer.
F#CK YOU!!
Chill out! She has every right to her own opinion. Your over the top response just makes all gun owners look like unreasonable beasts.
All liberals can and will burn in hell. Read a kjv bible fool. The vile person shall no more be called liberal, nor the curl said to be bountiful. Isaiah 32:5
The shall he destroyed. If a liberal democrat isn’t evil then what is evil??? They are exceedingly wicked and evil.
I agree. Progressive Liberal Statism or whatever you want to call it is the greatest evil we face in our modern times.
I’m sure you voted twice for trump. How sad for you.
Women are driven by fear and are generally limited to short term thinking. Listening to a Women regarding issues of Life and Death makes about as much sense as listening to a child about whether to have cake for dinner or not.