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In reply to the discussion: Customer shoots bank robber in Warren [View all]branford
(4,462 posts)No one, including the dreaded boogeyman NRA, is arguing that a firearm will always protect you from harm, no matter who you are and regardless of situation. The NRA (which only represents about 5 out of 80-100+ gun owners) similarly does not support "unrestricted firearms possession and use," including backing the limitation of possession against violent felons, the mentally ill, etc., and they were instrumental in passing the NICS system.
A firearm provides a choice and opportunity, that MAY protect you or other innocents, and that you hopefully can employ under dangerous and appropriate circumstances. Possession of a gun is hardly infallible; nothing is.
The fact that police are occasionally, and tragically, killed by armed assailants, whether with their own firearm or another, is not particularly pertinent. First, because it is such a relatively rare occurrence, and second, you refuse to compare it to the number of times police use their firearms to protect their lives of themselves and others, often without firing a shot (a subject discussed FAR more often on DU than your focus). In fact, successful law enforcement use of firearms for their and the public's safety is actually an argument in favor of civil gun ownership.
Let's look at the obvious and pertinent example from the OP. An armed bank robber (and convicted murderer) aimed a gun at a patron after he received the money from the teller and instead of making a expeditious exist. There were no other patrons in the bank at the time. By the standards of even the most restrictive self-defense jurisdictions, as the citizen lawfully owned and carried the gun, this was legally justifiable self-defense. What other mean or tools would you suggest that the citizen could have employed to save his life with any practical chance of success, other than hoping and praying the robber might not take his life? Would your recommendation change if the citizen was not a young, strong, and athletic man, or if there were more than one bank robber, and highly common occurrence?
You then switch from denying the obvious defensive utility and use of firearms to blaming the NRA because Americans, and their elected representative, largely will not adopt your gun controlposition. Blaming someone else, no less a group that represents a very small fraction of American gun owners, for gun control's innumerable failures, is sad and laughable. In a free country, groups of all position have the right to lobby for their position, and it does not matter if they're the NRA, WWF or Planned Parenthood. You need to win a battle of ideas, the law will not silence your opponents or erase our country's history and culture.
The suggestion that the NRA's purported wealth explains their success is also ludicrous. Most of the figures are freely available, and the NRA has and spends far less money than most believe. Their power lies in great (and enviable) grassroots organization and communication, and more importantly, always getting out the vote of their members and many others.
Moreover, gun control has their own pet billionaires, significant numbers of politicians, media personalities, and celebrities dedicated to their cause, numerous gun "safety" organizations, and have no compunction of attempting moral blackmail to get their way, including waiving pictures of dead children in support if laws that would unquestionably not have made any difference in Sandy Hook (e.g., universal background check legislation was entirely opportunistic as Lanza's mother easily passed all required background checks, and he only procured the firearms by killing his mother and stealing the guns). For instance, in the recent Colorado recall elections, Bloomberg and his allies outspent the recall proponents by 6 to 1, and still lost disastrously.
It's time to accept the fact the gun control advocacy is very well funded, has more than ample media and other access and opportunity, and is highly organized and motivated, yet not only cannot change the minds of many Americans, but polls from Gallup, Pew and other indicate support for gun rights and against restriction is steadily increasing (all while crime has been decreasing for decades).