More Gun Control

And now onto the miscellaneous arguments put forward by many opponents of gun control, who seem determined to put their fingers in their ears and starting singing loudly, lest they be distracted - there is little danger in most cases of them being swayed - by the mountain of data that supports the need for gun control. You know the breed: "My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts!"

Let's get a real doozy out of the way right off the top - the Hitler argument. You've heard it: Hitler implemented gun control, Hitler used gun control to perpetrate the Holocaust, Hitler said "to conquer a nation you must first disarm its citizens". He didn't, he didn't, and he didn't. But it isn't enough to just put the truth to these idiotic misconceptions. When bastards like Drudge and LaPierre spew crap like this, it unfortunately isn't just stupid. They know they're lying and are fully aware of how inflammatory, even incendiary, such lies are but do it anyway because they want to tap into the visceral feelings people still have in response to anything associated with Hitler or Nazis. And that is dangerous and immoral. Not to mention, in Drudge's case, that comparing President Obama - our sitting U.S freaking President! - to Hitler, even obliquely, is horribly offensive to a large portion of our population, even many of the president's ardent opponents.  Drudge is a hater and troll of the worst stripe.

How about the claim that stricter gun laws don't work? Oops, they do. No, they really do, and this one even has maps! Even the rabid pro-gun folk have trouble dodging this insistent little truth.

More people are killed by means other than firearms? Wrong. This is where you get insipid crap like "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Yeah, but mostly with guns!

More guns make us safer. The opposite is true. And the idea itself is false. This spawns the idiotic "When guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns", which is even more annoying than common. And it's sloppy language to boot.

And while it probably isn't true that people need guns to protect themselves, it is undeniable that having a gun in your home increases the odds someone in your home will be shot. That on falls under the "Well, duh!" category.

I have tried here to present reasonable and rational responses to the mostly sane, if misguided, arguments against gun control. The problem, unfortunately, is that my original premise remains unchanged: the people that think guns are good are not interested in entertaining the idea - no matter how much evidence you may be able to produce - that guns might be bad. So I feel frustrated and impotent, especially since odds are that you, dear reader, aren't in the group I would like to convince. My other problem is that the other side is so prone to telling and believing such horrible, horrible lies. So while I am by no means giving up, I feel my use of this forum to further this cause is ebbing. I will depart with an urging to continue following this issue with the professional help of the brilliant Joe Nocera and Co here, who are just doing fantastic work. And if you ever need a stinging reminder of why this issue must not be allowed to slip away until we have change, just stop by here. 

I have been unable to nail down credit for the following quote, but it seems all too appropriate:

"If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."

Pay attention.