One of the common arguments that I hear anti-gunners use when trying to justify disarming gun owners is that the 2nd Amendment was only talking about muskets and wasn’t intended to allow private citizens to own semi-automatic firearms (and certainly nothing as scary-looking as an AR-15!).
Of course, they’re wrong, but that doesn’t mean that some anti-gunner politicians haven’t jumped on this idiotic bandwagon, too.
One of these clueless legislators is Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) who recently tweeted,
Nobody needs an AR-15 to hunt.
Nobody needs a semi-automatic rifle to defend their home.
But mass shooters NEED these weapons in order to murder as many people as efficiently as possible.
And so nobody will miss them when they are illegal – except for the killers.
You’d think that Murphy wants all of us to defend ourselves and hunt with muskets!
Murphy, of course, has absolutely no understanding of what makes someone dangerous (hint: It’s the human brain and intention. Firearms are only tools.).
Fortunately, for your convenience, AWR Hawkins has the explanation to give your anti-gunner friends who agree with Murphy’s nonsensical tweet. Hawkins writes,
Consider three of the most egregious aspects of Murphy’s claims:
1. “No one needs an AR-15 to hunt” — This 180 degrees from ATF Deputy Director Ronald Turk’s emphasis that AR-15s have become a standard platform for hunting. On January 20, 2017, the Washington Post published a “White Paper” wherein Turk wrote, “The use of AR-15s, AK-style, and similar rifles now commonly referred to as ‘modern sporting rifles’ has increased exponentially in sport shooting. These firearm types are now standard for hunting activities. ATF could re-examine its 20-year-old study to bring it up to date with the sport shooting landscape of today, which is vastly different than it was years ago.”
2. Murphy suggests “semiautomatic rifles” are not needed for home defense — On May 28, 2017, Breitbart News reported that an Oklahoma homeowner’s son was home alone and outnumbered 3-to-1 by home invaders. He was able to level the playing field by retrieving an AR-15, which he used to kill all three invaders in self-defense. On August 19, 2018, Breitbart News reported that two Glen St. Mary, Florida, residents turned the tide on seven home invasion suspects by opening fire with an AR-15 and a 9mm handgun. One of the invaders was killed and the others fled–or crawled away–amid shots fired in self-defense.
3. Murphy says mass shooters “need” semiautomatic rifles to carry out their heinous acts — In reality, mass shooters just need a gun free zone. Such a zone gives them the benefit of time wherein they can use any kind of gun they want to take innocent lives at their pace. The Virgnia Tech gunman (April 16, 2007) killed 32 using only handguns. He had the benefit of knowing that none of his victims could shoot back.
It doesn’t take a genius to understand that Murphy is wrong about gun control, but it does take someone with intellectual honesty and the courage to stand up to emotional basket cases who screech for gun control without understanding that guns are never the issue.
Sadly, at the time of this writing, it doesn’t appear that Murphy has either the intellectual honesty or the courage to do the right thing on this subject.