Larry Gross has a lot to get off of his chest. There are some things he’ll just never understand. And one of them, as he tells us in a recent cri de coeur in Cincinnati’s citybeat.com, is ‘gun people’. Larry doesn’t like ‘em. Not one little bit. And he’s not afraid to let you know about it…
You have to give him credit, though. Most gun grabbers lie and deny that taking gun owners firearms away is their ultimate goal. Not Larry.
I’m for gun control. Yes, I want to take away your gun. I believe only a few people should be allowed to have them…
He’d let the usuals keep their heaters, of course. Police, military. Maybe the occasional hunter. Thanks for the honesty, Larry. At least we know where you stand.
The only problem is, Larry doesn’t really know a lot about guns. Or gun people. He once gave the negative results of a consulting engagement to a business owner he knew to be carrying a gun in writing rather than in person “because it was better than running the risk of getting my brains blown out.”
Gun people: I don’t pretend to understand them. I don’t relate to people who carry guns, collect them or shoot them. To me, guns encourage violent behavior and are a danger to society.
I shot a gun once back when I was 11 or 12 years old. Living in the country, my father let me shoot his gun into a field. I remember the shot being loud and me falling down as the gun went off. It was scary.
I don’t want to play armchair psychologist, but I’ll stick my neck out and say Larry’s still scared of guns. And he’s pretty sure all that hooey about their being just a tool like a hammer or a wrench is a bunch of propaganda.
In urban society, guns kill people. I don’t go along with this bullshit that guns don’t kill people, that people kill people. If a regular citizen wasn’t allowed to carry a gun, then the temptation wouldn’t be there to pull the trigger when tempers flare.
But please don’t tell him about the nationwide decline in gun crime even while gun sales have skyrocketed. Facts can be inconvenient, especially when you hold such heartfelt beliefs about the ills of society.
At least Larry isn’t a hypocrite, though. He’s not one of those people who has a gun to protect himself but wants to prevent others from owning one. Larry doesn’t need a gun for protection. He prefers to use his cane, which is certainly his prerogative. And he doesn’t just whine about society’s ‘gun problem’, he comes to the table with a solution (in addition to confiscating them, of course), too.
We need to become a more civilized society. We need to respect life and not allow ways to damage it. Some people understand this, but some will never be able to figure this out — like that business owner I did consulting work for.
While risking self-exposure as one of those obtuse people who will never figure that out Larry, I’m glad we have a Constitution and laws (in most places, at least) that prevent people like you from confiscating guns from people like me. And until we’re able to lobotomize everyone and create that utopian society you long for, I’ll keep my guns, use them safely and protect myself and my family from the bad guys who don’t respect life and people like you who think they know what’s good for me.
If I were the kind of person who made sweeping generalizations about people I don’t know, I might conclude that Larry’s infantile and irrational fear of guns stems from some traumatic childhood event. Pure speculation here, but I would bet it was when his father told him to “cowboy the ‘f up” after he fell on the ground and cried like a baby the only time he shot a gun.
“Gun people: I don’t pretend to understand them.” Rarely do we hear such an admission of ignorance. I can only hope that most people turn the page as soon as they read that. Anything he has to say after that is irrelevant.
+1
He’s admitting that everything he says is irrelevant and uninformed.
“I don’t pretend to understand nuclear physics, but I’m going to go ahead and opine about it and it’s applications anyway.
Guys like Gross are one reason I refuse to engage with the Balloonheads. No matter how hard you try, you can’t fix stupid.
Honestly, trying to explain anything about guns to this sort of person is exactly the same as trying to reason out race relations with a Klan member. They’re immune to reason, uncaring of facts and choose not to see the world as it is. They opt instead for a worldview that they find emotionally pleasing, reality be damned.
James Felix describes those trying to stop gun violence as “racist Klan members.” James Felix. Wrong for America. Wrong for you.
You should sue your English teacher.
I never thought I’d see an attack ad in the comments section…it’s getting rough out there this political season
His description seemed pretty right for me.
Well, considering that early gun control laws were designed to keep Southern blacks disarmed, James Felix’s analogy is particularly apt.
See “The Dark Secret of Jim Crow and the Racist Roots of Gun Control,” by noted Second Amendment scholar Dave Kopel, for more information.
I would be willing to bet that this individual is one of those who is all for multiculturalism and understanding of all belief systems.
Too bad that he is unwilling to apply a more progressive mindset towards trying to understand gun owner’s culture, rather than admitting his intentional ignorance of that culture. Sounds like something that more conservative minds are accused of all of the time, a lack of understanding and ability to compromise.
I almost feel sad for someone who actually professes and believes that ignorance is a good way to live.
“To me, guns encourage violent behavior and are a danger to society.”
Emphasis added.
That, right there, is the main defect in the mind of most antis. “Guns encourage violent behavior” is a testable hypothesis. It’s either correct or it isn’t, there’s nothing subjective about it. “To me” doesn’t enter into it. It’s like saying “To me birds have gills”. But they don’t want to test their hypothoses, nor do they want to hear the results when other people test them.
“I don’t think my grandfather owned a gun, but he did own a rifle.”
Sometimes the material does write itself.
“Back in the 1960s and living on a large farm, he would go hunting for deer or rabbit. I understand this. He was shooting for food to put on the table. He wasn’t looking for a fight with another human being.”
Yes, you nailed us gun people. Each day we wake up, strap on our guns and think, “Who can I get in a fight with and kill today?” This attitude of aggression is what keeps us out of jail and free. Of course, the truth is that ALL of the concealed carriers I have ever come into contact with go out of there way to avoid conflict because of the liability strapped to their hip, in their sock, up their ass, etc.
Wow, I thought only people in prison concealed carried up their ass!
Not according to him.
“Not all guns are concealed in pockets. You can put a gun in your sock, in your underwear or even up your ass.”
Somehow I don’t see a gang-banger shoving a 9mm Glock up his ass and then yanking it out on the street to fire off a few rounds at someone wearing the wrong colors….. Just thinking about that makes me want to run to the hospital and get stitches!
If gang bangers were required to carry their guns up their ass I think we would see a swift and complete end to gang-related gun violence.
Haha, I’d almost pay for that to be law…that concealed carry for a weapon is legal without a permit as long as it’s up your ass…
Why bother even commenting on this? What can an intelligent, rational person counter to such mind-numbing ignorance that would have an effect? You might as well try to rationally converse with a five year old who claims “Girls are doody-heads.”
I’ll just say what I’ve said before: dullards like this are the very reason I own guns – in case their hard-on for view-based tyranny ever leads to Constitutional disintegration.
Well at least he tells it like it is and doesn’t try to conceal his true agenda, like the others.
I know you weren’t referring to me because I’ve been pretty straight about what I’d like to see. Your problem is you find it hard to refute what I say since it would leave almost all of you still in possession of your fetish equipment. If you can pass the mental health exam as well as the criminal background check, if you don’t get high too much or beat up your wife or others, you’re a good bet to keep on keepin’ on, even in my best world.
But that’s not bad enough for you to get really worked up about. You have to invent the idea that I, and others like me, really want to remove all guns, especially YOURS.
Carry on, boys. Keep tellin’ each other that’s how it is. You know what Marlo said, “You want it to be one way, but it’s the other way.”
Your problem is you find it hard to refute what I say…
Mike, we refute it on a daily basis. And you never, ever have any kind of reasonable answer to our refutation.
If you can pass the mental health exam…
See, here comes a fine example of one of us refuting something you say. Your proposed mental health exam:
1) is impossible because it would be too expensive to implement
2) would be an unprecedented and unjust government intrusion
3) would be immediately politicized and could not possibly be administered fairly
4) would do nothing to stop any violence because criminals would a) not submit and b) are mostly perfectly sane (stupid, but sane).
Now, if you have some actual freaking data with which to dispute my objections I’d be happy to hear it. Show me how many crimes are committed each year by people who’d fail your psych test, then show me how your law actually keeps guns out of their hands.
You have to invent the idea that I, and others like me, really want to remove all guns, especially YOURS.
You say this one paragraph after you say “Well at least he tells it like it is and doesn’t try to conceal his true agenda, like the others.” One paragraph! That’s the span of your memory. You read a story about someone who advocates disarming civilians and then comment that we’re inventing the idea of people who want to disarm civilians. That makes loads of sense. No, really, it does.
Well, then… there should be a mandatory mental exam before exercising your right to vote, as well. I mean who can argue with that notion? No doubt there are people voting irresponsibly… without regard to the good of the many.
Mike:
People who go on and on yapping about others mental health are usually the ones that are unbalanced. As much as I like you I think you have some pretty serious mental issues. Delusions of grandeur, parnoia and probably sexual inadaquecy. You need to get help before you talk someone to death.
So you didn’t make these comments?
After TTAC posted on a self defense gun use in Detroit I posted to Mikes blog. Mike’s (by his proxies) solution to gun wielding criminals is to give them what they want. He doesn’t believe that they will hurt you if you give them your money they would never ask for your life.
You’re absolutely right, Mike – you finally were honest about what you want:
All right, I was exaggerating. If you guys suddenly cooperated with the common sense gun control laws that we propose and we saw a tremendous decrease in gun violence, we would naturally want stricter laws in order to lower even more the remaining gun violence. Eventually, I and most of the others would conclude that no guns at all in civilian hands is the best way to go.
If we let you have your way with your nonsense “mental health checks” you would want more, and more, and more, and more, until no one had any privately-owned firearms at all.
I’m not “inventing” anything. Just quoting your own words back.
I have a theory. I think mikeb is secretly pro-gun and is only acting like a confused, double-talking, contradictory, nonsensical, cowardly gun-grabber just to make their side look bad to everyone.
Thanks, mike! You’re doing a hell of a job.
mikey, if you will only STFU, I will get rid of all my guns. It’ll be worth it.
It’s weird, I carry a gun every day and I have yet to shoot someone. I think my gun may be defective.
Perhaps your rifle is out of order.
I can guarantee that I’ve punched more people than I’ve shot (seeing as how I’ve shot zero people)…..I guess my hands should be amputated as well when they confiscate my guns?
So in a moment of boredom and curiosity I wanted to see what else this individual had written. Low and behold this article…
http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-23483-shut-up-and-cut-my-hair.html
In it he complains about hair stylists who talk to him, saying things like…
“I hate getting my f&cking hair cut because I hate making small talk with the person doing the cutting.” (my ampersand, not his) and “Just shut up and cut my hair.”
But for me the winner is this little gem…
“And while I’m complaining and being a grump, it’s bad enough when a hairdresser fakes interest in my life but when I’m forced to fake an interest in theirs, it’s almost enough to send me over the edge and look for a gun.”
Mayhap it is his own anger management problems that cause him to mistrust everyone with guns. After all, if someone who hates guns as much as he does wants to shoot someone for talking to him, what does that say about us folk who enjoy shooting both “guns and rifles”. Then again, maybe he just hates anyone who doesn’t think and behave as he believes they should.
Might have a point there; the “projector” archetype is a classic.
And why am I not surprised this guy is an a-hole in general everyday life?
You know its funny how they think ridding the world of guns will solve violence issues. I am extremely fit, strong, fast and well trained.. If I want to hurt you without a weapon, I can. The only thing able to bring a weak person on level with the strong is a firearm. Would you deny a carpenter a hammer when working on your house? Would you deny an artist a brush? No. They need those tools in order to do their job, much like a weaker person or group of people needs the tools to maintain their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Gun people: I don’t pretend to understand them. I don’t relate to people who carry guns, collect them or shoot them. To me, guns encourage violent behavior and are a danger to society.
Such lightweight thinking is emblematic of so many gun control types. They can’t even engage in rational debate. Had these yahoos not been so influential and successful in outright banning guns in so many locales, there may not have ever been a Heller decision.
Most Americans are not pro-gun, but they are pro “Leave-Me-The-Hell-Alone”. And they’ll gladly cede debate to the pro-gun side when confronted with whiny utopian scolds who want to ban things.
So…who is Larry Gross and why should I care one bit what he thinks about anything?
You should care because his type of thinking is far too common among a class of politically active people. If you don’t pay attention to him then his twisted views can become the law of the land in just one generation.
Really, who is Larry Gross?
Another presumed liberal whose name I’d have to google beclowned himself in public?
“It’s easy to curb the freedoms of others when you see no immediate impact on your own.” -Malcolm Forbes
Mr. Gross…1973 called…they would like their hairstyle back…Pussy…oops…I probably seem like one of those “Crazy Gun People” that he is referring to.
I remember the shot being loud and me falling down as the gun went off. It was scary.
Sure Larry, real scary. In grade school we had a name for a boy like this.
Americans should be proud of the right to bear arms why should only the criminals carry guns ban guns and what happen honest citizens are disarmed leaving the thugs muggers and gang bangers armed and extremely dangerous
It’s easy to think one’s own point of view is “common sense” and “perfectly logical and rational” regardless of how irrational, unreasonable and ridiculous it actually is.
When you see the world through your emotions, your thinking will be emotional. Emotions are, by nature, irrational and illogical. Emotions and logic are mutually exclusive. That fact is why we have two brain hemispheres, and why the rational and logical one is NOT in charge of the emotions!
The fact is, a gun is an object, and an inanimate one at that. It does nothing unless acted upon by a person. Therefore, and gun cannot do anything of it’s own accord; certainly none of my handguns or rifles ever picked itself up, loaded itself, took it’s safety off, and then aimed itself at something and pulled its own trigger.
Guns don’t kill people. Just like hammers don’t drive nails. But guns can be used by people to kill… just like hammers can be used by people to drive nails. But without the people to cause the action to take place… nothing happens. Because hey, they’re both inanimate objects! Imagine that.
But logic always fails to sway the afraid. They are, after all, running away from reason by embracing and thinking through the emotional lens of their fears. And because they cannot see that fact, they can rarely be swayed. But it’s definitely worth continuing to try. After all, overcome the fear of the unknown by making whatever it is known and normal, and that fear goes away.
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