Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force.
If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception.
Reason or force, that’s it.  In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.
When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.
The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a car load of drunken guys with baseball bats.
The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.
There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we’d be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for an armed mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger’s potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat–it has no validity when most of a mugger’s potential marks are armed.
People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that’s the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.
Then there’s the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.
People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don’t constitute lethal force, watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.
The gun is the only weapon that’s as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn’t work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn’t both lethal and easily employable.
When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation… and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.
By Maj. L. Caudill​,​
USMC (Ret.)
So, the greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.

The Biden administration’s new push to regulate highly popular AR-style pistols could net Uncle Sam billions in new tax revenue and rub out a small industry involved in the production of the firearms.

© ATF photo The ATF proposed ruling showed photos of the pistol brace it wants to tax and regulate.

In a newly proposed regulation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, most owners will have to pay a $200 tax per weapon or radically change it or turn the gun in to be destroyed.

And because ATF said it doesn’t expect anyone to give up their guns, the money would roll in if the rule is adopted.

While the agency estimated that there are 3 million to 7 million of the weapons held by Americans, other agencies and media have put the total at potentially 20 million to 40 million guns and regulated parts.

At those levels, the agency’s cash register could collect up to $8 billion in the first year of the new rule if everyone complied.

The 71-page rule signed by Attorney General Merrick Garland would change the classification of the guns popular at ranges and in some hunting circles to a category of “dangerous” weapons and subject to a Al Capone-era rule aimed at ending gangland killings with sawed off shotguns and rifles.

The rule cited just one deadly shooting where an AR pistol was used.

At issue is a stabilizing brace attached to the butt of the pistol meant to make it easier to shoot with one hand. Many are extendable and some owners use the pistols as rifles. That, said ATF, turns the shorter barreled pistols into regulated “short barrel rifles.”

Because the firearms and the braces haven’t been regulated, it is unclear how many have been sold. The National Shooting Sports Foundation told Secrets that the ATF’s estimate of up to 7 million is low. And on his new site The Reload, arms journalist Stephen Gutowski cited a report of up to 40 million guns and braces.

The ATF rule also suggested that there are eight major makers of the braces, and their industry would be put in jeopardy if it is adopted.

Tags: Washington Secrets, Biden Administration, ATF, ATFE, Merrick Garland

Original Author: Paul Bedard

https://twitter.com/i/status/970677607296532481

Two groups in Florida believe voters will back a constitutional amendment banning “assault weapons.” (Photo: Ban Assault Weapons Now Facebook)

Two Florida-based anti-gun groups have joined forces to put a constitutional amendment on the state’s 2020 general election ballot to ban “assault weapons” in the Gunshine State.

The organizations – Americans for Gun Safety Now (AFGSN) and Ban Assault Weapons Now (BAWN) – must gather 766,200 petition signatures from registered Florida voters to place the amendment on Florida’s 2020 ballot. Once on the ballot, a Florida constitutional amendment must gain 60 percent of the vote to become law.

“The assault rifle, and its ability to fire approximately one hundred rounds a minute, can be purchased legally with no proof of training, no background check, and no regulations what so ever,” said Gail Schwartz, BAWNs chair, and the aunt of Alex Schachter who was killed at Parkland. “Our goal is to take military-style firearms off the shelves thus saving the lives of innocent people.”

It’s unclear how many signatures the groups can garner in the next two years. Neither have large followings on social media nor high-profile members in leadership positions. Florida has also been a historically pro-gun state, boasting some of the most relaxed gun laws in the country.

SEE ALSO: Ask an Attorney: Prosecutor, Defense Attorney Discuss Controversial Florida Parking Lot Shooting

Still, the Florida legislature passed a hastily written package of gun control laws in the wake of the Parkland massacre, and the state’s law enforcement agencies haven’t been shy about using the new “red flag” law to confiscate firearms.

The Parkland massacre has also prompted corporations and banks to support anti-gun policies, and these same big-money organizations could choose to throw their weight behind initiatives like this one. Signatures can be bought, and ballot initiatives often depend on which side spends the most money on advertising.

The agenda of these organizations extends far beyond an “assault weapon,” of course. Americans for Gun Safety Now! lists six policies it hopes to push at the national level:

• Eliminate Bump Stocks
• Limit High Capacity Magazines and Armor Piercing Ammo
• Express Support for 2nd Amendment Rights
• Raise the National Limit for all Gun Sales to 21 Years of Age
• Expand Universal Background Checks
• Provide Additional Support for Mental Health Services

SEE ALSO: Federal Gun Registration Bill Introduced By Florida Senator

“In the immediate future – we will be working hard to bring forth a legislative package that we believe can build bipartisan support to make our schools, and entire nation safer,” AFGSN says on their website.

Ban Assault Weapons Now is less diplomatic.

“Again and again we’ve stood witness to innocent lives lost at the hands of madmen armed with military-style assault weapons like the AR-15,” the group says. “Again and again our elected leaders have failed to act on getting these weapons of war out of civilian hands. For our children, for our families, for our loved ones, for our communities, we must act where our politicians have failed to.”