By Logan Parenteau
As many of you have probably experienced, it’s been a long and hard road for our rights, especially in the aftermath of Newtown. Many of the people we either assumed or knew to be on the side of the Second Amendment suddenly had the opinion of “well I support the 2A, but maybe there oughta be a law”. We’ve all heard the same tired arguments and maybe even attempted to combat the Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt that seems to be such a hallmark of our day and age. Here is one short tale about teaching one young mind to think for himself. About dispelling the Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt that surrounds the simple machines of metal, wood, and plastic that we choose to include in our lives . . .
Not long after that horrific event perpetrated by a very disturbed mind, I had the opportunity to have a discussion with my lady friend’s oldest offspring. I had recently taken him out for his first range trip, where he fell in love with my old Savage 62 .22LR.
As we sat cleaning the various pieces of hardware that received a bit of work that day, a discussion about future additions to my collection took place. When I brought up the subject of building an AR, he responded with “I thought AR-15s were illegal?”
“Not at all. Did you mean an M-16? They’re very hard to get and cost a lot of money, but they’re not illegal either… They’re full auto. Anybody who basically isn’t a felon can own an AR, which is only semi-auto anyway,” I answered.
“Oh. But, we talked about Sandy Hook at school, and [name/position withheld] said that semi-autos are illegal because they’re assault rifles.”
“Well she’s wrong, dude.”
“Well I don’t think they should be legal,” he parroted.
For some reason, this jarred me quite a bit. I suppose, with myself and my girlfriend being firearms aficionados, it never occurred to me that another member of our household would disagree with it. My bad, I suppose.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Um,” and here the young man paused – I suppose he really hadn’t given it much thought, as I assume most of his peers hadn’t either. “Well, nobody really needs one, I think.”
“And why does it have to be illegal then?”
“Um… well, I dunno. That’s just what I think.”
“So…the .22 you shot today? That should be illegal?”
It appeared I’d confused him a bit with that. “No. Why would that be illegal?”
“For starters, you don’t need one. We live in town, there isn’t a whole lot up here you could hunt with it, and it’s semi-auto.”
“But it’s not an assault rifle,” he responded. “It’s for fun.”
I could see the confusion in his face and the start of some slightly angry independent thought creeping into his young mind.
I decided that was a good time to bring the lesson home. “Well, let me stop you there man. First off, you now kinda see my point. I could come up with any reason for you not to have a .22, just like [name/position withheld] apparently came up reasons for semi-autos being illegal. What you’re calling an assault rifle right now is pretty much the same as that .22. That’s not really the point though, it boils down to this: who gets to decide what I can or can’t have, whether I need it or not? I have no reason to own that XBox or that TV you use so much. They’re just for fun. An AR would be a lot of fun, not to mention very useful if I ever did need it. So if I’m not intending to murder people with it, why shouldn’t I have it?”
“Okay,” he said as he took it all in. “But you don’t need a long clip for it.”
I shake my head slightly at this and ask him, “So? I don’t need to let you play XBox anymore either.”
For some inexplicable reason, that last statement of mine was what finally seemed to change his mind. This year he’s going out deer hunting with a Mossberg 930 which, as many of you may know, is a semi-automatic shotgun… and he’s quite interested in an Arsenal SLR-107. Sadly, he has to wait until his mother gets her GLOCK.
I think his mom should hold off on the Glock and get the SLR-107 for him instead. It’s for the children you know!
This is what we should mean when we say “Think of the children!”
If everyone in the country were given a brick of .22’s and some reactive targets to shoot at, and not allowed to voice an opinion regarding guns til that brick was gone, there would be no argument about guns. An afternoon with a .22 will cure what ails ya.
Yep. And I highly recommend making sure the daughter gets to shoot a ..22LR in a bay next to a not-so-skilled guy. The minute she realizes she’s competitive, that’s that. Sold.
An AR with a muzzle brake or compensator is next. Sold.
Moms Demand Range Time.
Yes, that would be another brick in the wall for the pro gun side. Shooting is a great family sport.
“another brick in the wall”
Pun intended, right?
We don’t need no mind control.
That *particular* wall is now pricey as hell and hard to find bricks for.
/rant off.
That, or a human predator attempting to mug you; “a conservative is a liberal that was mugged”.
It’s a myth… some people embrace the victimhood. It becomes a part of their identity.
This maxim is pretty much dead on btw:
I was jumped myself about 10 years ago (by 4 “youths”…) and from that day forth it became “kill or be killed”.
A friend of mine who proclaims himself “ultra-liberal” was talking about somebody trying to break into his apartment in *shudder* Baltimore and him wishing he had a firearm to defend himself with.
Point out to your friend that he can thank O’Malley and his stooges for him being legally unarmed and the “youts” roaming the streets at night for being illegally armed. But gently, because he probably voted that bunch in, and will again.
I’m the decider!!!
If I decide I want to have something, and nobody else will be harmed by my having it, then nobody else has any reason to stop me from having it. Yes, I am the decider.
It’s the systemic indoctrination of our youth against Liberty. This is why we can’t have nice things.
Not only was the rifle used at Sandy Hook not an assault rifle. It wasn’t even an assault weapon. Connecticut has had an assault weapons ban for the last 20 years.
“But they are evading the law by complying with it!”
Most people can be “cured” by trying some guns themselves. The moment most people hold a rifle/pistol/shotgun and realize that they dont want to murder anything is the moment they start thinking. I know I was raised antigun, but I always liked/had an affinity for firearms so I tried it, started thinking and here I am.
Ah the Savage 64 always wanted one. Tried it too but no 25 rd mag makes it a tough sell, but I could mock it up to look like a Dragunov (due to long receiver). Thats an idea.
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