Defending Firearms: An INDEX

Thanks to those readers who sent emails of support on my articles dealing with the issue of gun control and the benefit to society that comes from permitting citizens to carry concealed firearms. Since the articles have been popular, I thought I would link to them here (as folks on Wikipedia and some internet [...]

May 31, 2006

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Thanks to those readers who sent emails of support on my articles dealing with the issue of gun control and the benefit to society that comes from permitting citizens to carry concealed firearms. Since the articles have been popular, I thought I would link to them here (as folks on Wikipedia and some internet forums have done):

1) San Francisco bans possession of firearms

2) Why defend the right to own or carry a gun?

3) Defending concealed firearms: Part II

4) UPDATE: Firearms used in self-defence

John Wright

johnwright@libertarianreason.com

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15 Comments

  1. Jeff on May 31, 2006 | Permalink

    Great articles.

  2. Rhonda Gomez on May 31, 2006 | Permalink

    I understand what you are saying but guns do not help they only hinder society. We need to look to a society that does not need any guns to have peace.

  3. Tina Metz on June 1, 2006 | Permalink

    I think guns are like nuclear weapons ……. you hope that the good people have them if anyone is going to ….. that way are all safer. Especially women who are more vunereable. Like John Wright says in these articles, bad guys will have them anyway …… lets make sure they’re not the only ones.

  4. Leonard on June 1, 2006 | Permalink

    I’m not sure that arming everyone is the best way to ensure people’s safety?

  5. John Wright on June 1, 2006 | Permalink

    Hi guys. Thanks for your comments. Leonard – we’re not talking about arming ‘everyone’ here. But allowing responsible citizens to be armed is good for society, the statistics prove it. Rhonda – a society without guns can never exist; it’s like saying you’d like a society without hard, blunt objects. Hard, blunt objects are inevitable and there are plenty of good, beneficial uses for them – guns are no different.

  6. Jon on June 1, 2006 | Permalink

    John –

    Pleased to see you opened up comments.

    I’m unsure where I stand on this issue, but am glad I live in the UK not in the USA (in relation to gun culture at least). Would be interested to hear your view on the rates of gun crime in countries that prohibit private firearms.

    To expand on your response to Leonard – if it was as clearcut as that then yes, innocents should be able to arm themselves against aggressors. But there is no operable system that doesn’t (inevitably?) lead to a greater proliferation of guns in the ‘wrong’ hands.

    To badly paraphrase the late great Bill Hicks – try doing a drive-by strangling and see how far you get. That gun was ‘legal’ at some point.

    And finally – what are the good, benficial uses for guns? Agreed, if there are guns in the wrong hands then there are uses for them in the ‘good’ hands, but guns do not have a universally good application outside hunting etc (and as far as I know mag 45’s aren;t in use there).

  7. Eric C. on June 1, 2006 | Permalink

    Jon I do not agree with you. This link http://www.guardian.co.uk/gun/0,2759,178412,00.html is the Guardian newspaper’s report on firearm crime in the Uk. Aren’t guns supposed to be illegal? You asked about crime rates in countries which prohibit private firearms – gun crime in the Uk is high, because people can’t defend thesmselves! And there are a good few beneficial uses for guns – plinking, hunting, competion pistol shooting is an Olypmic sport! Not to mention self-defense which is why they were invented.

  8. John Wright on June 1, 2006 | Permalink

    Eric- Yes, shooting can be a lot of fun in itself, but as you suggest it isn’t the principal reason to demand the rights to own firearms. My wife, family and friends enjoy recreational shooting here in the desert, but – make no mistake about it – the reason I have my pistol is to kill a perpetrator before he can kill or inflict physical harm on me or my family. In this sense I regard my firearm in much the same way as I do a car airbag or a smoke detector… it is peace of mind for the event of an emergency.

  9. Norm on June 3, 2006 | Permalink

    Interesting discussion. I think for those of us that are more liberal, we equate guns with bad people and therefore wrong acts. But I think your articles are important as they show different.

  10. Matt LaPorte on June 3, 2006 | Permalink

    Wow, your arguments are very well hashed out, and every bit of it based on clearly evident and logical principles.

  11. Matt LaPorte on June 3, 2006 | Permalink

    See this article against Handgun Control Inc. which makes several good points also http://www.urbin.net/EWW/polyticks/RKBA/hci-doc.html

  12. Jeff on June 4, 2006 | Permalink

    The gun issue is so counter-intuitive that way, you’d think you’d never see guns in a positive way and then you come across someone who actually makes you think about it which few people seem to do. For me that was a girl I worked with several years ago who carried a Keltec 9mm pistol with her in her purse to and from work. One night her pistol saved her life when a guy tried to mug her walking through town. Since then, I’ve thought about it totally differently. What is the alternative, just get beaten within an inch of your life? So liberated and sophisticated an attitude.

  13. Anonymous on June 15, 2006 | Permalink

    Only a right-wing nut like you would believe that the American gun culture is a GOOD thing. Everyone else knows you are a nut.

  14. A on October 3, 2006 | Permalink

    Anonymous, is there a reason why you are anonymous with a frivolous, backhanded, idiotic comment like that?

  15. poop on December 11, 2007 | Permalink

    butt face!!!

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