I Can't Help Myself (Update, bumped)

Somebody wrote another gun-control op-ed.

I left a comment.

Okay, two three four. Hell, I've lost count.

UPDATE - 10/24:  OK. I've left nine.  Here's the last one:

This thread appears to have petered out, so I'd like to make one final point before leaving. At the time of this writing, there are 38 comments (and one deleted) by eighteen commenters. Of the eighteen, two support more gun control. Of the two supporters, one left one comment, one left six. Each of the comments left by a gun control supporter was countered by generally two respondents, generally with statements of verifiable fact.

The opening statement of the essay we're responding to asserts that "... the National Rifle Association and gun industry merchants ... through misinformation and clever public relations" have hoodwinked the American public into buying more (and more lethal) firearms.

I submit that this comment thread debunks the idea. Defenders of the right to arms are not ignorant and deluded, we're well-informed. We've reached our conclusions after examining facts, not hyperinflated scarey numbers and hyperbole.

AND WE'RE ACTIVE. The various gun control forces - the Brady Center, the Violence Policy Center, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the author's Stop Handgun Violence, and all the rest - cannot generate grassroots support. They're attacking the problem from the wrong end, and most of us understand that.

I will close this comment with a quote from writer Teresa Nielsen Hayden that explains their problem as succinctly as I've ever seen it put:

"Basically, I figure guns are like gays: They seem a lot more sinister and threatening until you get to know a few; and once you have one in the house, you can get downright defensive about them."

Who'd like to go shooting?

It's already got one "Like."