{"id":27543,"date":"2014-11-19T12:12:36","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T17:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/?p=27543"},"modified":"2014-11-19T12:12:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T05:18:46","slug":"meditations-moderate-gun-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/meditations-moderate-gun-owner\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditations on the Moderate Gun Owner: What do we do about them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all have that friend, right? You know the guy who owns a few shotguns, maybe a pistol or a revolver, he hunts on occasion, but he doesn’t drink the new age kool-aid. You know, he’s just not into the black rifle scene. Maybe he’s a bit older, from your dad’s generation; or maybe he’s just a bit old school in his views. He values the Second Amendment, but he also believes in the “common ground” bromide bandied about by gun-control advocates. He believes “Shall not be infringed” means, “Well, there are some reasonable limits with respect to magazine capacity, black rifles, certain types of ammo, etc.”<\/p>\n

Overall, he’s not a bad guy. But he’s not one of us. Let’s call him Tom Brokaw. Yeah, it appears the former news anchor is one of these guys. He’s a longtime gun owner, hunter, and outdoorsmen. But he’s moderately pro-gun in his views, which is to say that he exercises his right to keep and bear arms but he also supports some onerous restrictions.<\/p>\n

While promoting his new show \u201cOpening Day,\u201d a one-hour special on NBCSN chronicling pheasant season, on CNBC\u2019s Squawk Box<\/a>, Brokaw shared his thoughts on the matter:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve owned guns all my life. I\u2019ve got a closet full of them in Montana and back here in the east as well. Hunting has been a terribly important part of my life growing up and it remains that. At the same time, as an urban dweller and someone who\u2026feels the same pain that a lot of others do when we have these mass shootings, we need to have a discussion in the middle. We just can\u2019t be a polarized country when it comes to guns.<\/em><\/p>\n

We have the First Amendment as well as the Second Amendment. The First Amendment says, however, that you can\u2019t yell \u201cfire\u201d in a crowded theater. I think when it comes to a gun debate we\u2019re now in a crowded theater. We need to have a way of talking to each other sensibly about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I was growing up we didn\u2019t have all the semi-automatics and the sniper rifles and the TAC-22s. And a lot of people that I know in the American West will say the same thing\u2026we don\u2019t need to have access to all that. There\u2019s got to be a middle ground of some kind.<\/em><\/p>\n

Before you start hating on Brokaw, and millions of other gun owners who likely share his position, remember this, the moderate gun owner is nothing more than an inexperienced and uniformed gun owner. That’s all. In the majority of instances, the reason why these guys don’t mind bans on many commonly owned and widely popular black rifles is that they’ve not spent a lot of time around them. \u00a0They’ve probably never fired them. They’re ignorant. They simply don’t understand that an AR-15 is no more dangerous or deadly than a standard big game hunting rifle, e.g. 30-06.<\/p>\n

What’s more is they’ve been bombarded with the idea that black rifle equals mass shooting and more violence. This is a false thread\u00a0that is perpetuated by a mainstream media that is sympathetic to the pro-gun control cause. The truth is that rifles of any make or model, including the “scary” black ones, are used in about four percent of crime. \u00a0That’s all. \u00a0Hardly the scourge gun-grabbers make them out to be.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are other facts to share that might get them to move of the fence and join our side, such as the fact that overall violent crime is down<\/a> while concealed carry rights have been expanded to all 50 states, including ‘shall-issue’ laws in more than 40 states, or the fact that various government departments found that the Clinton-Era ban on black rifles had no statistical impact on crime rates. A 2002 Centers for Disease Control study found<\/a>\u00a0that there was \u201cinsufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottom line, when it comes to Brokaw-types or your moderately pro-gun friend, they just need to be educated. They need to go out and put some lead down range with an AR-15. They need to be given the facts about black rifles. Then we can have a discussion and see which side they end up supporting. My guess, they’ll end up on ours.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here are some AR facts courtesy of the National Shooting Sports Foundation<\/a>:<\/p>\n