The Second Amendment is Dead, Long Live the Right to Bear Arms

Perhaps the best way to guarantee the posterity of the natural right to bear arms is to prevent governments from having any authority over that right.

http://zerogov.com/?p=2928

Irrational Arguments and Fearmongering

Anyone believing that gun bans will reduce violent crime is either ignorant of the nature of criminals, or supporting them.

I am neither conservative nor liberal, and it is an intentionally divisive effort to try to force people to choose one side or the other on a debate like this, especially when the facts do not lend themselves to the idea that gun control promotes public safety.

Unfortunately, one side of this debate tends to rely on an emotional argument as a result. "Think of the children" is a common argument in the debate, hoping that few will take a contrary position that makes them appear to oppose things that would make children safer. Gun control, anti-rights proponents tend to rely on irrational arguments and fearmongering, rather than statistical analysis of violence or the actual effects of firearms regulations.

I am a bit of a nerd, looking more into the science and statistics of an issue before making a strong case either way. I would love to live in a world where the prohibition of a thing made society safer, but this is the real world, and we only have to look at alcohol, drugs, assault, and violence to see that despite numerous attempts to get rid of society's problems through law, most people tend to ignore bad laws, and criminals by nature ignore them as well. The difference is that criminals intend to do harm or violate the natural rights of others, and laws are entirely ineffective at changing the nature of criminals. Thornton's book on the subject helps to dispel the idea that prohibition can have more positive benefits than negative costs.

Worse yet, a complex, convoluted, and contradictory network of laws and regulations tends to snag nonviolent people who do not seek to violate the rights of others, criminalizing the acts of those who are obviously not criminals. Most people can name a law or regulation they have recently broken and not feel bad about it, for a victimless crime is not a crime. 
 

JPFO Neil Smith: Jim Crow Rides Again

Oleg Volk on the racist origins of gun control:

"… their real goal isn't disarming the criminals but disarming everyone they view as potential political opposition. Some segments of gun control are aimed at producing a local electoral majority, the prime example being the Colorado bills that would cause enough pro-gun people to move out of the state to ensure a long-term Democrat majority. Others are aimed at disarming the "most probably enemy" population groups, and both political parties are guilty of that to some extent, though the Democratic party does it far more."

http://jpfo.org/alerts2013/alert20130404.htm

The ignorance of gun control

This is the failure of gun control laws: the idea that criminals will act against their nature, lay down arms, and stop being criminals simply because some act is illegal. Not only is this idea ignorant, it is also dangerous, because the same proponents of this sort of failed public policy also believe that disarming those who would defend themselves against criminals are the same as those criminals. Unfortunately, as with economics, those that tend to be the most vocal are also the most ignorant, but at least the hoplophobes are in the minority.

As Arms Trade Treaty nears vote at UN, critics in US see a 'gun grab' [feedly]

http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/usa/~3/m5dYKd7CG5M/As-Arms-Trade-Treaty-nears-vote-at-UN-critics-in-US-see-a-gun-grab

Another gun grab through external means? Would the American people stand for such undermining of sovereignty?

Georgia town considers mandatory gun ownership

On one hand, high rates of firearms ownership does result in reduced crime rates, but on the other I believe that property ownership of all kinds should be entirely voluntary. In the gun rights community, I would think that this would be more obvious...

http://rt.com/usa/nelson-georgia-gun-law-006

Ruger Charger Mod

I've wanted to do a custom Ruger Charger (2210) for a while. It shares most of its functional parts with the venerable 10/22 rifle, and accepts most of the same upgrades. I've wanted to take a wooden rifle stock and chop it down to fit the Charger's 10" barrel. The result is an interesting creature, between a pistol and a rifle such as this example. Cutting the buttstock down to a minimalist pistol grip would give it a unique character unlike many others. Steer clear of optics and use the rotary magazines and it will hardly be out of place a century earlier.