Shot in the Dark

One For Your Mental Library

I commend this article – Why I “Need” An AR15″, from the left-leaning “Medium”, by apparently left-leaning writer Jon Stokes – to all of you who have an interest in the Second Amendment, pro or con.

Those of you who oppose the Second Amendment – or even just “assault weapons” – should read it to unlearn some of the complete fabulism that a sloppy and incurious (at best) media has brought to the subject.

Those of you who support the Second Amendment can fill in your intellectual war chest with some new arguments; as, indeed, I did.

For that matter, the disclaimer at the beginning is pure gold:

…some 5 million Americans have decided that they do, in fact, “need” an AR-15. Are all of these people bloodthirsty savages? Delusional survivalists? Military fetishists? Insecure men with tiny… hands?

If you’re prepared to answer ‘yes’ to all of the above and consider the case closed, then please move on and don’t read anymore. This article isn’t my attempt to justify anything to you — it’s not a defense of what’s in my gun safe or of the AR-15 itself. If, for you, my AR-15 ownership is prima facie evidence of my mental instability, sexual inadequacy, lack of a conscience, or what-have-you, then I honestly don’t care what you think about this issue. You can go back to broadcasting your own moral superiority on social media, and I can go back to tuning you out until your rage therapy session is over.

(Nota bene: While my comment section is intended to be a vibrant, diverse conversation reflecting many points of view, comments I deem to reflect the point of view in the second-to-last sentence – AKA “stupid” comments – will be deleted without fanfare.  Disagree with me all you want.  Do it stupidly in almost every other post on this blog, past, present or future.   But not here.   That is all).

Worth a read.

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32 responses to “One For Your Mental Library”

  1. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    I’m just about persuaded. You can adapt an AR platform for .30, can’t you?

  2. The Big Stink Avatar
    The Big Stink

    You’re going to monitor and edit stupidity in the gun debate? You’ll never sleep.

  3. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    Depends on what you mean by “.30”.

    .300 Blackout is VERY common and getting very popular.

    You can also get or build an “AR47” – an AR platform in 7.62x39mmR (Russian).

  4. Bento Guzman Avatar
    Bento Guzman

    Of possible interest . . .
    http://i.imgur.com/5CxpYmm.jpg

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  6. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    The premise is faulty for starters; there appears to be a huge difference between need and want that is incorrectly conflated here.

  7. Bento Guzman Avatar
    Bento Guzman

    Apparently DG did not read the article.

    This article isn’t my attempt to justify anything to you — it’s not a defense of what’s in my gun safe or of the AR-15 itself. If, for you, my AR-15 ownership is prima facie evidence of my mental instability, sexual inadequacy, lack of a conscience, or what-have-you, then I honestly don’t care what you think about this issue. You can go back to broadcasting your own moral superiority on social media, and I can go back to tuning you out until your rage therapy session is over.

  8. swiftee Avatar
    swiftee

    It didn’t have any pictures, Bento.

  9. kel Avatar
    kel

    Of course DG couldn’t be bothered to read the article, she is too intellectually slovenly to actually engage the subject matter. Had she done so she would have run across this: https://medium.com/@jonst0kes/i-think-the-need-framing-of-the-piece-from-the-headline-to-its-repetition-as-a-trope-in-the-1eabeea7ae21#.c559d1yft

  10. Bento Guzman Avatar
    Bento Guzman

    The other day I bought a Ruger Mk III handgun. It’s a target pistol, it shoots .22 LR. The kinetic energy delivered to target is about equal to a fastball (which can kill or cripple). It can be deadly, but it would never be the first choice of a mass killer. Or the twentieth choice. It is a great trainer. .22 LR is a few cents per round, vs. around $0.35 per round for .45 fmj.
    Peev is a gun owner, I am sure that he is as eager to reduce the cost of target practice as much as I am. Where I live, the range costs $30/hr, and a hundred rounds of .45 fmj, about as much as I shoot in an hour, costs about $70. For comparison, I can do 9 holes at Volcano Golf Course (not irrigated) for $21, and 9 holes at a popular Kona golf course for about $90.

  11. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    Bento, interesting aspect-economics. I have a Ruger 10/22 that I use for target shooting and my usual companions have, respectively, a Ruger Mini 14 and an old Remington Nylon 66. In case any of you are unfamiliar with the 66, they were introduced in about 1970 and, if I remember correctly, it was the first gun on the consumer market with a stock made of man made materials, which, in this case, was primarily nylon.

  12. Mr. D Avatar
    Mr. D

    Dog Gone has no idea what any of us need.

    Actually, the last five words of the previous sentence aren’t necessary.

  13. kel Avatar
    kel

    DG, Scott Adams summarizes the problem nicely:
    “So it seems to me that gun control can’t be solved because Democrats are using guns to kill each other – and want it to stop – whereas Republicans are using guns to defend against Democrats. Psychologically, those are different risk profiles.”
    you can read the whole analysis here: http://blog.dilbert.com/post/146307088451/why-gun-control-cant-be-solved-in-the-usa

  14. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    Adams has a point. A very quick look at murder statistics indicates that blacks, who vote 90% Democrat or more, commit about 7000 murders per year–with some ambiguity because a lot of cities aren’t arresting and convicting the murderers. That’s half the total–so if we presume that the remainder is even evenly split between liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican, we’d expect that at least 70-75% of murders are committed by those who (if they are allowed to vote) would be predisposed to vote liberal/Democratic. I am guessing the disparity is even more stark when you go into other groups broken out by the FBI. There was a statistic back in 2000 that found that the murder rate was about six times higher in counties that voted for Gore than it was in counties that voted for Bush.

    Solution; ban gun ownership by Democrats!

    No, seriously, the solution is to encourage law abiding Democrats to defend themselves. Let a certain number of Crips, Bloods, Vice Lords, Nortenas and the like assume room temperature when they pick the wrong fight, and the death rate among Democrats will plunge.

  15. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    And for what it’s worth, an AR-15 would be a great weapon to have if your home were visited by a street gang. I call that “need”.

  16. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    DG,

    Sorry, but the faulty premise is yours; if you take self-defense seriously, the proper firearm is not a “want”.

  17. Joe Doakes Avatar
    Joe Doakes

    “After you’re done with this piece, before you take to some social media channel to inform me that I don’t know the difference between a “need” and a “want”, please read this.” [link omitted – JD]

    The precise point Dog Gone raised, and her precise method of raising it, is specifically addressed in the article. Can she not see how completely ridiculous that makes her?

  18. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    Bike, not only can you get AR in .300 blackout (usually used with a sound muffler here in TX), you can get AR ‘s in most big bore cartridges, albeit with shortened cases. Pricey, though.

  19. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    Bike and JPA

    Of course I completely forgot the AR10, which is 7.62×51 NATO. Full-power cartridge, so not many parts are interchangeable with AR15s, but same basic idea.

    And the mainstream calibers I’ve seen available at retail for the AR15, so far, are:

    • 5.56/.223
    • .300 Blackout
    • 6.5mm SPC
    • 7.62 Kalashnikov (7.62x39R)
    • 9mm Luger
    • .22LR
    • Something called .223 Wilde, which sounds more like a drink than a type of ammunition.
  20. kel Avatar
    kel

    DPMS model LR-308/7.62 NATO
    http://www.dpmsinc.com/LR-308_ep_124-1.html
    Don’t have one yet but having fired a couple hundred rounds through one at the range its amazingly accurate at 300 yards especially for a semi-auto

  21. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    2 sec explanation: .223 Wilde is a way the chamber is cut. It accurizes .223 vs 5.56 in the same chamber. Yes, there are differences between .223 and 5.56. If I recall correctly, there is no such thing as a .223 Wilde round – and if it is listed as such it is a misnomer.

    Kel, Ha! A 24″ bull barrel will do that you! On any platform.

  22. swiftee Avatar
    swiftee

    Remington Nylon 66

    Best. 22 rifle. Ever. Made.

    I own 2.

  23. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    swiftee, ever shot Vostok?

  24. Ian in Iowa Avatar
    Ian in Iowa

    When I first saw this post yesterday, there were a couple of comments. Today, there are (as of this writing) 21. My first thought was “I guess DG made one of her usual fact-challenged tirades before scampering off, and the other commenters chimed in.”

    It’s too bad DG doesn’t stick around, as there are so many volunteers willing to educate her when she gets her facts wrong (but only on days ending in ‘y’).

  25. Bento Guzman Avatar
    Bento Guzman

    Bikebubba wrote:
    A very quick look at murder statistics indicates that blacks, who vote 90% Democrat or more, commit about 7000 murders per year–with some ambiguity because a lot of cities aren’t arresting and convicting the murderers.
    I’ve heard some pro-2nd amendment types say that congress should go ahead and fund research into preventing gun violence because honest research will make it perfectly clear that gun violence is primarily confined to poor and especially minority communities. If Mitch Berg and his buddies were all given permission to own sawed off shotguns and submachine guns, the needle on the gun violence gauge wouldn’t so much as quiver.

  26. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    swiftee,

    Yup! That is one sweet little rifle. I’ve tried to buy it from him several times. At least I know why he laughs at me every time I ask.

    Bento;

    That’s a fact. As Mitch and others have pointed out before, with the number of legally owned guns in the US today, Minneapolis and St. Paul would look like Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.

  27. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    DOH! Didn’t finish the comment. Should have said if things had turned out like the Hand wringing libidiots predicted.

  28. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    kel,

    I don’t think that there is anything in DPMS product line that isn’t a sweet shooting gun. I talked with Randy about three weeks ago and three years out, he says the Freedom Group has maintained his quality standards.

  29. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    Bento–the question is whether Congress would fund honest investigations into gun violence. If the number of hit jobs on abstinence education is an indication, the answer is “no”. You can do any number of things to torpedo a good investigation that only real wonks will spot–and they’re almost powerless to get that message to the masses.

  30. kel Avatar
    kel

    bikebubba,
    agreed, the congress provides the money for the research grants, but the federal bureaucrats are the ones that actually choose which grant proposal to fund and a great deal of the choice is left to their discretion. The federal bureaucracy, much of which is unionized, is predominantly Democrat/Progressive and largely female, I wouldn’t expect anything approaching evenhanded treatment. I doubt that John Lott would be approved for a research grant but Michael A. Bellesiles would be a lock.

  31. golfdoc50 Avatar
    golfdoc50

    Tangential thought. The Orlando attack is being portrayed in the MSM as an assault on GLBT somehow divorced from the fact that the shooter was Muslim and made the usual religious and political statements prior to and during martyrdom. That’s partly true. But the selection of a gay bar as the ultimate soft target (pun intended) suggests that he didn’t want to go into a Bubba Redneck bar where a lot of the customers might be carrying. Guess he never heard of the Stonewall bar. Nor did he care. He wanted to let Americans know they aren’t safe, anywhere. All Americans. Gay, straight. Whatever. So go ahead, Mr Obama, try to pretend there isn’t a war. It’s interested in you.

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    […] As we’ve noted before in this space – the people who say there’s no legitimate self-defense use for 20+ rounds in a magazine really have only the most academic possible understanding of the topic. […]

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