Gun Control – Is It The Solution?

Gun Control Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Once again we find ourselves stunned, in shock, confounded and searching for answers to make sense from the apparently senseless. As Americans we all share in the sorrow of parents who have experienced the most profound and devastating of losses.

As a parent who has lost a child to murder, I do not have to theorize about what the parents who lost their children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School are going through. I know first hand. They feel that their world is ending. There may have been presents already under Christmas trees that will never be opened. Each Christmas hereafter will be dimmed by the memory of their loss.

Grieving Parents

They need our support

Our hearts go out to them and we share – to the best of our ability – in their grief. Yes, we stand with them. Our hearts, prayers and thoughts are with them, yet in times like these, they are alone. No words of comfort, no tokens of solidarity no matter how well intentioned can truly reach into the dark rivers of their hearts. Only the passage of time will begin to heal their wounds. All we can do is be there for them and stand by them. Right now, they’re in shock. The darkest part of their night is yet to come. They will need our love and support in the days, weeks and months to come.

All Guns Are Not The Same

One of the things that creates so much problem whenever the subject of gun control comes up is the ignorance of those who have little to no familiarity with firearms. Those who are familiar with guns rapidly lose patience and what ensues usually degenerates to the hurling of aphorisms and clichés. Bottom line, communication ceases and people begin talking past one another as opposed to talking to one another.

To this end, for those who are not familiar with guns there are some terms and definitions that we need to make clear. All firearms possess similar components. Roughly they are:

  • Barrel
  • Sighting System
  • Trigger Mechanism
  • Magazine
  • Ammunition

These are the bare bones basics of all modern firearms. There are some exceptions. For instance, “single shot” firearms do not possess a magazine. The barrel is what contains the gasses and guides the projectile towards it’s target. The sighting system – could be iron sights or an optical sight – is used to acquire the target. The trigger releases the sear causing the internal mechanism to release the firing pin allowing it to hit the primer of the cartridge causing the firearm to fire. The magazine contains the ammunition and feeds the bullets into the chamber so that the next bullet can be fired. The ammunition or the bullets come in whatever form is appropriate to the firearm in question.

Revolver

Revolver showing open cylinder

When we talk about modern firearms we are talking about primarily three types of “actions.” Single shot firearms require that each bullet or cartridge be manually inserted into the chamber subsequent to firing. Revolvers hold 5 or 6 shots in a cylinder that rotates to advance the next bullet into firing position. Squeezing the trigger or in a single action, cocking the hammer rotates the cylinder. The automatic is fed by a magazine. When you squeeze the trigger, the bullet fires. The recoil causes the slide to cycle back. On it’s forward stroke, it strips a bullet from the top of the magazine and loads it into the chamber. When the slide seats, the trigger may be pulled again to fire another round.

Function Diagram of a Semi-Auto Pistol

“Cut-away” diagram showing the functioning of a Semi-Auto pistol

Under the category of “automatic” firearms there are two categories. These are what confuse most people unfamiliar with firearms. The “semi-automatic” fires only one bullet with each pull of the trigger. Just like the revolver. Just like the single shot rifle or shotgun. One trigger pull, one bullet down the barrel. The fully automatic or “full-auto” will continue to fire so long as the trigger is depressed. This will continue until the magazine is empty or in the case of some military rifles, until 3 rounds are fired. This is known as “the 3 round burst.” The United States military discovered that too many soldiers were “spraying and praying” instead of practicing aimed fire when under stress. The results were a lot of needless casualties because they’d run out of ammunition without hitting the target.

Assault Rifles

AR-15 and M-16

They may look similar, but they’re very different. One is fully automatic.

Almost every shooting in which an AR-15 – the civilian version of the military M-16 – or some variant thereof is referred to by the television pundits as “an assault rifle.” They do this either out of ignorance or because, like carnival barkers, they’re attempting to increase the drama of what they’re reporting. If you want to know what an assault rifle is, go to the people who make assaults and see what they use. They do not use “semi-automatic” firearms. They use fully automatic – “full-auto” – firearms. It is not about looks, it is about function.

A semi-automatic hunting rifle with a hand rubbed walnut stock, functions the exact same way as an AR-15 with a black stock that looks like an M-16. There is no difference in function. No difference in lethality. It’s all cosmetics. To use a popular analogy, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

Gun Control

Hopefully I’ve cleared up some misapprehensions regarding the various types of firearms and how they function. Now let’s get down to the real issue. Is gun control the solution? First we need to understand what the laws actually are. Let’s dispel some myths. You cannot go into a gun store, plop down your cash and walk out with a handgun. The “Brady Laws” prevent this. You have to fill out a federal form and there is a 7 day waiting period also known as a cooling off period before you can acquire your handgun.

The only exception to this is, if you have already acquired a firearms permit from the State in which you reside. To obtain such a permit, the State does a background check and you’re already pre-approved, so you could purchase a handgun and take it home on the same day. However, you already waited possibly up to 2 months to get your permit. Thus, purchasing firearms from licensed gun dealers is not the problem.

What about this gun show loophole you often hear bandied about? This is greatly misunderstood by so many people who pontificate as though fixing this one loophole would solve all our gun related crimes. Here is what the loophole is all about. If you go to a gun show there are tables set up where licensed dealers display and sell their wares. You can get some good deals at these shows. If you purchase a handgun at one of these shows from one of the licensed dealers, it is no different than making that purchase in a gun store. You have to fill out the paper work and there is still the 7 day waiting period. If the gun dealer is from out of town, what he will do is transfer your firearm to a local dealer who will hold it for the 7 days until you come in to pick it up.

ATF Form 4473

ATF form 4473 must be filled out and filed for all firearms purchase through a licensed dealer

So, what’s the so called loophole? What happens at these shows is, people often sell and purchase from one another in the parking lot without ever going into the actual gun show. There is no paper work and there is no waiting period. The sell could have been made at a McDonald’s. It could have occurred anywhere between two people who got together possibly in an Internet chat forum. The question is, how would you write a law to prevent this and be able to enforce it? The simple answer is, you cannot. If you could, nobody could sell illegal drugs. There would be no prostitution. You cannot prevent people from getting together to buy, sell and trade. Can’t be done. So when you hear people braying about the “Gun Show Loophole” they’re wasting time and using up breath they may need at a later date.

Gun Control – Is It The Solution?

We cannot enforce the laws we already have on the books effectively. It is already illegal to sell someone a firearm who has a mental illness. It is already illegal to sell a firearm to a felon. It is already illegal to own a fully automatic firearm without a “class 3” license. A class 3 license comes directly from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. There is an extensive background check involved. You cannot purchase a handgun until you reach the age of 21. You cannot carry a firearm without a permit.

The bottom line is, there are plenty of laws already on the books. For instance, shooting people is already illegal. People who decide to commit murder are not concerned with laws or breaking them. Thus, it stands to reason, passing more laws is not the solution.

More to come – continued in part 2

In part 2 we will explore some disturbing coincidences and ask the question “why do almost all these shootings follow the same murder suicide pattern?” Could there be something else at work? Something more sinister than what we would like to believe?

Separation Of Church And State – It’s Necessary

Separation of Church and State Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Separation Of Church And State

Almost everybody has a concept of what this means. As a phrase this is bandied about with abandon… usually by people who have slightly different understandings of what it means. I have heard religious leaders claim that the “Separation of Church and State” clause is a one-way street designed to keep the Government out of the Church, but not the Church out of he Government.

I have also heard it argued the other way as well. The “Separation of Church and State” is specifically designed to keep the Church out of our Government. Since both positions cannot be correct, let’s examine some facts and see which position has merit. First, where does the whole “Separation of Church and State” come from. Ironically enough, it comes directly from the very first Amendment to our Constitution.

First Amendment to the United States Constitution – Part of the “Bill of Rights.”

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Notice that you do not see the phrase, “Separation of Church and State.” So where did this concept come from?

History of the Separation Of Church and State

For those who do not study history, the present is often shrouded in mystery and appears to be a random series of disparate events that seem to intervene without reason in their daily lives. The very act of reading requires interpretation. When you read you are not only recognizing the words on a page or screen, you’re interpreting their meanings. Thus when we turn to the United States Constitution, we also take into account the intentions of those who actually wrote it.

Framers Drafting The Constitution

Framers drafting the Constitution

What did the “framers” have in mind when they wrote the “First Amendment?” What they wrote, what they deemed important was determined by their own history and world view. Most people understand that many of the original colonist, were fleeing religious persecution in the “Old World.” They had seen first hand what happens when religion and government share a bed together. Many had lost relatives to various “Inquisitions.” This wasn’t some theoretical bogeyman, they’d met him and knew he was very real.

Thus it is small surprise that when they framed the Constitution, they included a special section known as “The Bill of Rights.” The very first amendment in this section covers and protects those freedoms they believed were most important. Yes, even more important than firearms ownership and being able to protect their lives and the lives of their families. They covered firearms in the “Second Amendment,” not the First.

When we look at the wording of the “First Amendment,” It is helpful to read the discourses of the man who wrote it: None other than Thomas Jefferson. In a letter dated to 1802, written by Thomas Jefferson to the “Danbury Baptist Association” of Connecticut, Jefferson wrote:

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”   _Thomas Jefferson

If there was any doubt as to intent, Thomas Jefferson spells it out plainly. The “First Amendment” was designed – amongst other things – to build a wall of separation between Church and State.

Separation Of Church And State – It’s Necessary

Michael Angelo's The Creation Of Adam

Michael Angelo’s The Creation Of Adam

It is a flaw in human nature to assume that things will remain in the future as they are today. Christians who are the predominate religion in the United States, are all for things like prayer in schools, passing laws that fit their Biblical understanding of morality and having various

Science In The Classroom

Science In The Classroom

Biblical doctrines taught in our schools. “Creationism” is but one such example. What they never stop to think is, what if over time things change? Our population is growing, views are changing. What happens if some other religion becomes the predominate religion in this country? Would they be equally comfortable with our laws being changed to reflect a new reality? Would they be comfortable with their children going to school and being asked to pray to a different God?

These things are imminently possible, though rarely considered. The protections of the First Amendment with respect to Religion, actually do quite a bit to protect Christians. People who embrace other faiths are just as devout, just as convinced of their “truth” as any Christian is of theirs.

War On Christianity?

Blue Laws

Blue Laws are the results of Religion forcing it’s self on our secular society.

It is popular today to pretend there is a war on the Christian faith. It is just that, pretending. It is not a war when people push back against anyone – Christians in particular – who try to force their religious beliefs and practices on our secular society. “Blue Laws” are an excellent example of this. They don’t actually work and are more of a nuisance than anything else. The outlawing of Liquor sales on Sundays is a result of Christians forcing their religious beliefs onto secular society. If you don’t want to drink Liquor on Sunday, then don’t! However, why are you trying to force your religious ideologies on me?

The End Of Christianity

Creflo Dollar Mugshot

Yet another fallen Idol! You’d think they’d remember prohibitions against idolatry?

When the Christian Church attempts to hijack our legal system and bend it to their ideology, what they’re really admitting is that they have embraced a failed philosophy and in their hearts they know what they’re proclaiming to be fact, verified by faith, is nothing more than a myth. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot proclaim a sovereign deity, monitoring and in control of everything, then in the very next breath, say we as human beings need to enact laws to force everyone to fulfil His will. If you truly believe that God is in control, take your hands off the wheel! If you cannot do that, then perhaps you should keep your religion and your faith to yourself. The Separation of Church and State is Necessary!