Duncan Black (courtesy psmag.com)

“Lots of people like to engage their fantasies and play dress up. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any desire to put on a Doctor Who costume, but plenty of adults regularly do such things, and good for them. Fun is fun and I’m all for people having fun, as long as that fun doesn’t have a significant negative impact on other people. The problem with dressing up as a gun nut is that, well, you’re carrying a loaded gun that can quite easily kill people. And even if you’re a good guy with a gun, deadly accidents happen. A lot.” – Duncan Black, Guns aren’t meant to be fun [via usatoday.com]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

96 COMMENTS

  3. Ahhh, “Atrios.” A real gem, that one. Wants to ban cars, too, IIRC. Christ, did EVERY unhinged liberal blogger from the ’00s get a mainstream gig, or what?

  4. That must be why IDPA and USPSA have so many deaths every year compared to football…..oh wait.

  5. Same old same old fear and emotion tactic that USA Today uses. People at that newspaper will never understand which is a shame.

      • So then, since they peddle fear all the time, why are their revenues and circulation down so far? Could it be because fear and anger USED to sell papers, but it doesn’t work very well anymore, as more and more of their readers wake up to the scam that has been pulled over their eyes for decades?

  6. Guns aren’t meant to be fun any more than trucks are.

    However, they both have fun uses that are perfectly safe. As far as accidents go, I’ll give you a little scenario.

    Chili’s Manager: Excuse me Sir, I need you to take your gun to your car or cover it up. We don’t allow open carry here.

    Me: You’re asking me to do this because guns are viewed as dangerous and some (probably just one) of your customers are scared. Is that correct?

    CM: Yes, that’s right.

    Me: Then why on earth would I have my hand anywhere near it? That doesn’t sound safe. In fact, I think we should stop talking about it in case it gets mad. Because you know they have emotions and stuff.

    • Then trucks must be covered up, too, ’cause they’re not meant to be fun & deadly truck accidents happen a lot.

    • “Chili’s Manager: Excuse me Sir, I need you to take your gun to your car or cover it up. We don’t allow open carry here.”

      But this makes perfect sense, guns are birds. Cover them up and they’ll think it’s night time and go to sleep.

      Guns are loud and unruly when they’re awake.

    • I think there are a lot of gun models that are made specifically to be fun. For example a .22 LR MP5, AK-variant, or AR-variant clone. Also anything designed as a “target” gun. Target shooting/competition is not work, it’s fun.

      -D

      • Target shooting is work, was more tired after a one hour long competition shoot than after playing badketball for a hour.

        • Yeah, four summers ago, I was coaching multi-age, mixed gender Lacrosse in Taos. Four years later, my knees are so shot, I can’t even play with my grandson.

  7. I call BS on that article. The fact that some folks can’t understand that a lot of guns are designed as much to be fun as to be utilitarian just proves that they are irrationally afraid of guns.

    Irrational fear = Phobia. Phobias are treated as mental illnesses. How can we be expected to have a rational discussion when the opposition is mentally ill? It’s like discussing politics with an orange, you can talk all day but all you will ever get is juice.

    • ^ This!

      I have said it many times: gun grabbers’ reaction to firearms is hysteria plain and simple. Why anyone thinks hysteria should drive public policy and the passing of laws is beyond me.

      If firearms are so inherently dangerous, we should see thousands of deaths every year at gun stores and shooting ranges. But that isn’t the case. At most there are two or three deaths at gun stores and shooting ranges on any given year.

      • If you remove suicides and justifiable shootings (think attempted robbery) I’ll be the deaths from ranges and gun shops don’t even add up to 2 or 3 a year.

        • Logica arguments have no traction on emotion, though… and we already established that the other side is based on emotion.

          That is why ultimately this is a a culture war, not a debate.

    • “Irrational fear = Phobia. Phobias are treated as mental illnesses.”

      Yup, right along with the other old standby of the grabbers: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The anti-gun crowd is like field notes for the DSM.

    • Irrationally equals intentionally. Irrationality and intent are pretty much the same thing.

  8. “and is a fellow at Media Matters for America”

    Okay. What the f*ck is this guy talking about? I hate these sort of ‘in my opinion’ rambles.

    Great dude, thanks for stopping by.

  9. A lot of people dress-up like citizens and claim to protect the title by flaunting ignorant opinions while exercising a right (freedom of speech) that was only meant to allow an armed society to use mass media to speak out against their government and as a means of coalescing with other like-minded individuals. The first amendment was not for the “sporting purposes” b.s. spouted by Black in his article but his exercise is definitive and specific proof that at least the second amendment is adequately enforced enough for him to fit under its umbrella of privilege any way. Say thank you Duncan, and… every once in a while, step out of your phone box change into civilian attire (out of your Dr. Who costume) and carry a gun around for a few minutes and maybe you won’t sound like, well, …that.

    • A “citizen” is someone who participates, by being armed and prepared; all the rest are mere denizens.

  10. Ohhh, I think he means folks like the ones in my local PD that need to dress up and play “Seal Team 6” any time they execute a baseless search warrant. I do get a little worried about those ones.

  11. Oh, please protect me from me… these freedoms are too much for my abilities! I need someone to limit my gun’s capabilities even though the guys who kick in my door have no limits because of… of… reasons. I do have gun fantasies! I admit I fantasize about improving my abilities, and even being able to defend myself! Even if I only have an AR, because we all know an AR has NEVER been used defensively because they are only effective against children in “gun free” (shoot all you want until someone else with a gun shows up) zones!

  12. Yeah, and fireworks aren’t fun either. Worse yet nobody, I mean nobody, NEEDS fireworks. At least guns can be a useful tool. We really need to ban fireworks, do it for the children. (Sarc off)

    Of course things that go boom can be fun, no matter how much you want to deny it Mr. Black.

      • Well of course, because one or two children in a city of millions are injured every year. Makes perfect sense.
        /sarc

    • I DESPISE banners of every stripe. Except for the ever-popular “Ban Paul T. McCain” cult…..

  13. “The problem with dressing up as a gun nut is that, well, you’re carrying a loaded gun that can quite easily kill people. And even if you’re a good guy with a gun, deadly accidents happen. A lot.” – Duncan Black

    In the unlikely event that anyone is interested in the TRUTH, deadly accidents with firearms do NOT happen a lot. Total deaths from accidental, negligent, or unintentional discharge of firearms was less than 600 in the last year for which we have data. It is the lowest accidental death category that the Centers for Disease Control tracks … way lower than falls, poisonings, drownings, fire, and auto accidents.

    As for the “loaded gun that can quite easily kill people” comment, we can say the same thing about automobiles and containers of gasoline. If the criteria for banning something is that it “can quite easily kill people”, then we must ban automobiles and containers of gasoline.

    • The problem of dressing like a pedestrian is that you’re walking, and people who walk fall, a lot.

      • It’s a recognized fact that walking is controlled falling! Check it out as ye walk to bed. It’s AMAZING we don’t fall all the time!

  15. If that’s him in the photo … Awww. He looks really sad and glum. He needs a friend to drag him to a basics class and then a day at the range. That’ll turn that frown upside down.

  16. Guns aren’t meant to be fun

    You hear that? Guns aren’t meant to be fun people. Throw a bowling ball – not a bullet. Because deadly accidents happen – apparently a lot as the writer asserts (with no substantiation).

    And here is the truth people:

    …but let me remind people that guns are scary. They’re scary because they’re capable of killing people, and because it’s not unreasonable, in certain contexts, to think that a person with a gun might be planning to use it.

    OMG guns are scary!? That is the reasoning behind everything right? To think that a person with a gun might be planning to use it??! But what is so special about the gun? What about knives, or nail guns, or soccer moms in SUVS? The Chinese chef in the back swinging his huge knife and lopping off fish heads – (not scary). The construction worker’s twitching eye while popping nails into studs – (not scary). The grimace of a soccer mom stepping into a large SUV capable of crushing many people at at time – (not scary). What if they are planning to use those?

    Why else would you have it with you? People are going to suspect you’re a bad guy with a gun.

    Ain’t it the truth! There you have it people – guys with guns… they are bad. Gun owners are bad.

    But increasingly, “gun culture” just refers to people who amass large arsenals without any genuine practical purpose. Even if we accept personal self-defense against other people — the bad guys with guns — as a legitimate reason for firearm ownership, this is not a legitimate reason to stockpile multiple weapons. Boys do love their toys, but let’s acknowledge that is what they are. For most people, they’re expensive, noisy, deadly toys. Enjoy your games. Your too often tragically deadly games.

    Collector’s are bad. Arsenals people – Arsenals. Your business is our business, we don’t like you collecting amassing arsenals. There should probably be a law.

    The archetypal responsible gun owner is the hunter who keeps a hunting rifle locked in a safe somewhere, so that children or other untrained individuals cannot stumble across it accidentally with potentially horrific consequences. Someone concerned with self-defense will, understandably, want to have a weapon that they have easier and quicker access to. Fears of home invasion are overblown, but if that is your concern, your safely locked up firearm isn’t going to be much help.

    Responsible gun owners are hunters – who keep their guns locked up. Not people in fear of home invasion (which is overblown) with quick access to firearms.

    He hit so many of the pro gun-control theological ideology and Cliche’s in just one article. Well done.

    • The archetypal responsible gun owner is the hunter who keeps a hunting rifle locked in a safe somewhere,

      Come on, now. How many hunters actually own a, as in singular, rifle? I’d say a hunter doesn’t even have the basics until he has at least one shotgun, one rimfire, and one full-powered centerfire. That’s an ‘arsenal’, by this guy’s lights.

    • It reads as if it were written only to impress other hoplophobes. He does in fact rush from one unsupported assertion to another with rapidity. He actually seems to be a pretty good wordsmith, it can’t be easy to make a series of clichés and tired memes flow like that. Unfortunately his thinking is impaired and he’s a hack when it comes to content, as this also reads like he needed something to go to print and was short on time and ideas.

      • I think you hit on the reason. He’s doing it to get paid by the hoplophobes who edit and run the paper, and to score points with hoplophobe chicks.

    • “They’re scary because they’re capable of killing people, and because it’s not unreasonable, in certain contexts, to think that a person with a gun might be planning to use it” Sounds like a car, or my motorcycle. Or a knife, a chainsaw, a lawn mower, a framing hammer, a screwdriver, or especially a pen.

    • I don’t have a hunting rifle, nor a gun safe. Though I’m contemplating a safe. Mine are well-hidden, and not in operable condition.

      If I were asleep when my door was kicked in, I figure I have 8 seconds to react. My bedroom door has a flimsy lock, but it’s better than nothing. I have a Bushmaster Bullpup available, but I think I would grab my .45 and an extra mag before I did that.

  17. Guns aren’t much fun if a particular gun / ammo / sight combination isn’t working properly. Let’s say you took a new AR upper to the range without a thorough clean and lube, and it winds up jamming on you. That’s not fun. So you pull some CLP out of your range kit and generously apply it to a few spots on the BCG and charging handle. Boom! A reliable AR. That’s a lotta fun.

    I can admit my mistakes: in my haste, I hadn’t thoroughly cleaned and lubed the new upper. A heavy duty buffer spring was not a very good match for 300 BLK range reloads that were loaded pretty light. The overall lenght of the loads was also a little short.

    Still, even punching little holes in paper on a square range can be a good time. Accident with firearms are very rare. The vast majority of people actually pay attention when shooting and handling firearms. Whereas in the summertime, a whole lot of drivers and motorcyclists are completely oblivious. The drive to the range is statistically more dangerous than shooting with complete strangers.

    I therefore disagree with the entire premise of the quote.

  18. If accidental gun deaths happen “a lot”, then we have a pandemic of accidental drownings in pools. Pools are fun and apparently silent serial killers.

    Snark aside, obviously he did zero research and is just saying something he feels, pulled it out of his rear because he personally doesn’t like guns. This is a great example of a devolved human being, little emotional control, no real rational thought, just basic animal emotion, what he feels being correct because he feels it.

    Deity help the human race, we are headed for a real bloody savage period, a new dark age.

    • I agree James; there is a reason dark ages happen. We are seeing why in front of our eyes.

      This example of adults acting from the place of arrested child hood is not new; this type of behavior was the prevailing norm in Greece and in Rome before their fall into darkness.

      Civilization; whether two thousand years ago or today is like a well oiled machine; it takes all of it’s parts working at top efficiency to work at all; which means all of it’s citizens doing each of their individual parts; efficiently and well.

      When better than half of those citizens are parasites( Government workers and the welfare population) living off the efforts of those that do work hard and efficiently; at some point, the wheels come off. This is what has happened to all civilizations; it will also happen to us.

    • Superb, James. “James” is my first name, but I personally dislike it, and never use it.

  19. “Fears of home invasion are overblown”

    Right… And deadly accidents with guns aren’t? I don’t have any stats to back this up, but I would suspect there are many more home invasions per year than deadly accidents with guns.

    • In fairness, there are more accidental gun deaths than home invasion deaths, but the difference is that every gun accident is preventable. Most, if not all of them, involve negligence, in some cases criminal negligence.

      I trust myself and those I surround myself with to handle guns safely. Home invaders, not so much.

    • The THREAT of home invasion may or may not be “overblown”.

      The FEAR of a home invasion is not. The FEAR is an individual emotional thing and not business of anyone else.

    • I wanted to check out this statistic, and I found out the following information:

      “An estimated 3.7 million household burglaries occurred each
      year on average from 2003 to 2007. In about 28% of these
      burglaries, a household member was present during the burglary.
      In 7% of all household burglaries, a household member
      experienced some form of violent victimization (figure 1).”

      Source is the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics.

      The contrary is deaths via gun accidents-

      “From 2005-2010, almost 3,800 people in the U.S. died from unintentional shootings”

      Source is the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. I can’t find specific information on how many people get injured versus killed per year specifically in accidents, however.

      But based on these statistics, it looks like you are more likely to face a burglary while you are present during the burglary then you are to be killed in a shooting accident.

      • That’s good analysis, but there’s an important distinction to make here – comparing overall home invasion victims to gun accident deaths is apples to oranges. A quick Google search indicates there are 100 or so home invasion related deaths per year. It’s logical to compare that to the 600-700 accidental firearms deaths. Obviously, this doesn’t consider the number of deaths prevented by DGU’s, but it’s still the most straight forward comparison.

        Using your numbers above, and the rough calculation that accidental shootings are fatal 4% of the time, I get about 16,500 (using about 650 fatal gun accidents), the two most logical comparisons are either people who are present for a home invasion, or more realistically, people who experience violence in said home invasion. Based on this there are:

        1 fatal gun accident for every 63 or so home invasions in which a resident is present
        1 fatal gun accident for every 16 or so home invasions where a resident is violently victimized
        6.5 fatal gun accidents for every home invasion where a resident is murdered.

        • You are, of course, correct- I just wanted to address the general case that Atrios noted- “Fears of home invasion are overblown”. It seems to me that if accidental shootings are a concern, then based on the numbers, home invasions are a greater one. But more importantly, as you noted earlier, “I trust myself and those I surround myself with to handle guns safely. Home invaders, not so much.”

    • Because ‘home invasion’ isn’t an officially reportable crime there isn’t sufficient data to make a comparison, but accidental shootings resulting in death are so low that it’s statistically irrelevant. The take away point would be that if a gun owners irrational fear of home invasion isn’t good grounds for having a gun then a gun banners irrational fear of an accidental shooting isn’t good grounds for banning them either, yet this is what the author suggests, restricting activities with guns due to the negligible risk of accidental shooting.

      It’s another case where the initial premise is that guns are bad, otherwise the whole essay makes no sense. If one is actually concerned with safety there are scores of things one could talk about that would have more impact. I’ve suggested before that any anti who uses safety as a shield against simply being a hoplophobe, were they honest, would be writing about proper use and storage of prescription medication, or car seats, or seatbelts or swimming safety; all things that result in far more deaths than accidental shootings. The rate of drowning per pool in the US is 0.03 while the rate of accidental shooting per gun is 0.0002. If you really worry about safety, you’d be all over water safety long before you got to guns.

      • Your second point is obviously right, but to your second point, ColdNorth did a pretty good job of quantifying “Home Invasion” as burglary and provided good statistics there.

        • Ugh. “Your second point is obviously right, but to your first point” is what I meant. Sorry.

        • You’re right, I didn’t look hard enough for the data. He did do a great job with the home invasion data. Now I just feel lazy!

  20. Ah, so he equates own and carrying a gun as to being a child playing games and dress up.

    It is another example of transference. This so called “adult” is the one acting as a child in giving the responsibility to provide for his and his fellow citizens protection into the hands of the Nanny State.

    The fact that so many children; oops, I mean Subjects, Oops, I mean fellow Americans agree with this diatribe defending the right to be helpless, powerless, defenseless and dependent on the state; is…. frightening.

  22. Gee, I’m happy one uninformed opinion doesn’t hold a candle to all the successful DGUs per year that save lives.

  23. James . . . . Good point. Statistically, there are more children killed each year in drownings than are shot in schools. I guess the liberals are at a loss of how to describe how an inanimate object can kill . . . . . . OH! . . . . . . They have decided that only specific inanimate objects (guns) are to be vilified. Swimming pools are too heavy to carry with you (roll eyes).

    It seems we need to attack the First Amendment as vigorously as liberals attack the Second. Their right to say something stupid being attacked? How could they survive?

    Common sense is so rare these days that more than half the people must consider it a super power; that they will never attain!

  24. yea, its not like we would need any corroborating evidence or anything like that…

  25. Those who make a living out of attacking our civil rights are desperate. A year ago, they thought they were riding a tsunami of public hysteria. Now they realize they are just splashing around in the kiddy pool and nobody is watching. What is a Hysterical Mother wannabe to do? Make things up? Lie? Of course, but that is not enough. They are in a frantic search for a message that will resonate with the voters, and all they are generating is this drivel. They are in for a crushing political defeat this coming November and they know it.

  26. What a world of hurt this anus-wipe would be in if he had to actually provide hard facts to back-up his propaganda. But USA Today has no interest in publishing anything about gun owners that’s true. If we only had a daily printed propaganda rag where we could publish things like:

    “It might be fun to go into some of those places designated “Gun Free Zones” and go to a Movie, or get something fun to eat and many other great activities, but people get shot to death in those “Gun Free” places. A lot.” Okay…well, that happens to be true…but it illustrates the idea.

    • It is possible – nay, even probable – that one day The New York Post may publish truth in its never-ending struggle with the New York Daily News.

  27. “Guns aren’t meant to be fun”

    Neither is sex, it is meant for reproduction and furthering the species, but much like guns, it can still be tons of fun.

    And, both can be purely fun, or purely utilitarian, or they can even kill you if you’re not careful.

    Life is full of duality, Duncan.

    • You know that could be a very useful simile.

      What is only purpose of a gun? What is the only purpose (used as designed) of sex (or a penis)?

      Only potential problem is that these progressive libtards are so very very confused about the second question. Or they actually don’t know the answer or understand the question. Obviously they think they know everything to be known about the 1st.

  29. “And even if you’re a good guy with a gun, deadly accidents happen. A lot.”

    Let’s take the bias out of this…

    And even if you’re a good guy, deadly accidents happen. A lot.

    Deadly accidents happen everyday. But you don’t target cars, swimming pools, stairs. Look at it like this. There are (X) amount of gun owners. (Y) amount of accidents and (Z) amount of rampages.

    There are (X) amount of planes taking off
    There are (Y) amount of plane accidents
    There are (Z) amount of plane hijackings

    You tell me which ones make headlines…

  30. Atrios is a longtime far left radical blogger.

    Media Matters works directly with the White House to push the president’s issues and to attack critics of the president.

    The head of MMFA, David Brock, is mentally ill, and has admitted to illegally carrying a gun for protection.

  32. Guns, of course, are lots of fun as many people know. It’s not really a premise that requires defense. Where would the idea that they aren’t supposed to be fun come from? Who said so and on what authority?

    I get that it’s an opinion piece, but not all opinions are of equal value. Part of the value equation is the truthfulness of the underlying assumptions. The assumption that guns aren’t supposed to be fun has no basis in fact or reason. Playing the devils advocate, I can’t even formulate a reasonable argument that guns aren’t ‘supposed’ to be fun. I would imagine that once they were relatively sure it wasn’t going to blow up and injure them, the designers of the first gun immediately began shooting all sorts of things and ways for fun. Sure, sure, they were attempting to create a weapon, but I’d have a very difficult time believing that once they had it working everyone involved immediately wanted to try it out, because it looked like fun, well, except for the people it scared the hell out of. I suppose I should say that everyone who wasn’t a coward immediately wanted to try it out. It seems Duncan descended from the ones who didn’t want to try it.

  33. First they told me what I could not do with my land.

    Then they told me what I could not ingest into my body.

    Then they told me who I could not marry.

    Then they told me where I could not work.

    Finally they told me what I could not do for fun.

    F*ck these types of people.

  34. Guys are we even surprised in the slightest? A “fellow” from Media Matter. What else would he say but total ban, “For The Children” of course!

  37. The only… _ONLY_ part of that entire dribble I will agree with, without his context, is the statement ” it’s not unreasonable, in certain contexts, to think that a person with a gun might be planning to use it.”

    Which is why the tactical clowns in the OCT/Chipolte stunt anger me so much. If I’m chowing down on a delicious steak burrito, and two guys roll in with AKs at the low ready, let me tell you, I’m going to be carefully moving out of sight and my CONCEALED CZ 75 is going to be ready to come out of my holster and drop half a mag into each of their tacti-cool’d center’s of mass the second that weapon looks like it is coming up to raze the crowd. Why shouldn’t I be ready to do so? You don’t have a weapon for self defense, nor do you look like that is your intention. You look like you’re about to be the next James Holmes wannabe and the fellow patrons and I are going to be the victims that give you your 15 minutes (read: 15 days) of fame on CNN.

    You come in to get a taco with a holstered 1911 on your hip, I’m going to give you the mutual gun-lover nod of respect and might even make small talk with you about it. I realize that Texas has stupid open carry laws, but empty holster protest are much more effective.

    …that said, everything else Duncan Black said was painful to read, including his sad attempts to equate it with geek culture. As a proud geek, I found his “just because you like it, you should hide it away. That’s not appropriate” attitude insulting.

    There is a multitude of reasons why OCT tactics are a bad idea. Duncan managed to miss virtually all of them.

  39. The mind of a Brown University graduate on display. That school has gone completely off the rails.

  40. “fears of home invasion are overblown”
    Yeah sure try tellin youraelf that after 3 attempts in as many months like me. All 3 led to Ms. Mossy gettin pulled outta the safe in the closet, the dog goin nuts, the girlfriend hyperventillating, & the police being called to investigate. So far, they haven’t found the person/people responsible. I’m betting it’s kids or addicts as we really don’t have anything worth taking aside from some booze, electronics, & the shotgun.

  41. Most anti-gunners only see public carry when it is overt or there is an accident. They would crap bricks if they really knew that we walk among them.

  42. funny, im a life long doctor who fan, and while I was growing up, there were always guns around. im 3, ive never had a gun decide to shoot anyone, and if you’ve had one accidental discharge at a range or anywhere, the first thing you think of is others, is anyone hurt, the second thing is you train to avoid ever having one again. I have had one. a very dirty Remington 742. I couldn’t eject manually so I had it resting, butt on my foot, pointing towards the sky, and soon after the gun was cool enough to handle the bolt slammed home and the firing pin, stuck forward punctured the primer, and sent a round off. I never again bought a gun from a pawn shop and did not clean It an inspect it before firing it. there really are not that many accidental deaths or woundings due to firearms negligence, and suicides don’t count as they are intentional. lost my mother (who hated guns) to suicide by shotgun that she conned off a family friend. even the doctor, who would rather use violence as a last resort, used the occasional gun in the older, john pertwee era, and now im hearing inklings that a new political party wants to legalize hand guns an elf defense again…. now that’s the English blood that kept my family alive.

  43. Sex wasn’t meant to be fun either. It was meant to procreate and further the species. The fact that is fun is just an added bonus. But he probably doesn’t get that either.

  45. I know this is probably a dup. but I had to say it.

    “deadly accidents happen. A lot.”

    Umm, no they don’t, facts?

  46. “The problem with dressing up as a gun nut …”

    I don’t have to dress up as a gun nut, I am a gun nut.

  47. Dave beat me to it. I am a gun nut, no need to dress up.

    The fact that insects like this guy are upset that I have fun with guns will just have me enjoy them more, knowing how much they hate it.

    Hey, at least my nuttiness is confined to my love of guns and I’m not a general psychopath like leftists and antis.

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