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My, quite the gangster, this one.
Meghan wrote a piece about how much she enjoys firing guns and why everyone should own one to protect themselves from Barack Obama, the poors, Mexicans, and whatnot.
The beginning is priceless:
As an NRA member—their annual convention kicks off today in my hometown—the shooting range is one place I'm Republican through-and-through. I find it empowering, especially as a woman, to fire off a few rounds.
In the days after my dad lost the election, my brothers and I went to shoot rounds at the local shooting range. Partly because—as anyone who knows how to use a rifle and can do so safely understands—doing so is hugely stress-relieving, and partly because, we half-joked, it might mark the beginning of the end of our Second Amendment rights under the Obama administration. Now I admit we probably thought as much because our emotions were running so high following the election, but the fact remains: The right to bear arms, and specifically the idea of it being taken away from me, is one of my biggest concerns.
Whaaaa?!?!?!?
I digress:
Putting it bluntly, we’ve done a disservice to our violence problems by making the political argument about guns instead of whatever causes people to be violent in the first place. Anger, alcohol, drugs, economic hopelessness, reckless driving—they can all precipitate tragedy. Simply removing guns from the equation does not solve the larger problem. Worse, it gives the wrong impression about what can and should be done to help those who are troubled. The real solution to preventing gun violence is not taking away the tools, but tackling its causes: poverty, inadequate health care, mental illness, joblessness, inadequate housing, and poor education. Desperate people will make anything a weapon. We need to eliminate desperation, not guns.
...So, yes, the girl who wants to legalize gay marriage and thinks the GOP is out of touch with progressive-minded Republicans is fiercely protective of her Second Amendment rights and finds it empowering, especially as a woman, to fire off a few rounds and get closer and closer to the desired target. This is one issue where I’m red through-and-through. Last year, I heard Marcus Luttrell, author of Lone Survivor, speak at the NRA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. His story—Luttrell was awarded the Navy Cross for his courage during a devastating firefight in 2005 that left him the only survivor of his SEAL team in eastern Afghanistan—was moving and inspiring beyond words. Besides, you can’t miss the NRA billboards as you drive around Phoenix these days. How could I not be pumped?
...The sooner we concentrate on the real problems that lead to gun violence and not the guns, we'll get closer to saving lives and keeping our nation safer. Do I own a gun? No. I don't feel I'm skilled enough yet to keep one safely in my possession. But that doesn't mean someday I won't own one. Or several.
via The Daily Beast
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