goodguns2

Good Guns and Murderous Media

The true history of firearms in American history and culture, and the real cause of "gun violence" in our streets and schools.

Oh, no, not another one, you think, shaking your head at the evening news. Another school shooting. Or workplace massacre. The media milks it for all it's worth. Then of course come the calls for gun control. Some politician or spokesman for Hand Gun Control inc. is repeating the party line. It's only common sense. There are so many guns out there. "High capacity" guns that can be fired rapidly without frequent reloading. And they are so easy to get. It's a recipe for "gun violence". Whenever people and guns mix, there will be crime and violence, right? Wrong. None of the talking heads on T.V. are old enough to know exactly how wrong they really are. The death knell of gun control's main premise lies in the indisputable facts of our nation's history.

In the 1894 Sears Roebuck catalogue, over 80 different types of firearms were offered for sale. Sears boasted this was only a portion of their guns available for purchase. They stated they manufactured 400 firearms a day. That's 146,000 a year. They were only one of many competitors who offered similar merchandise. They further boasted that they "ship guns anywhere to anyone". No Brady bill. No waiting periods. No background checks. No problem:

The murder rate (from all types of weapons, not just guns) for New York City in 1894, with no restrictions on firearms purchases whatsoever, was 37% lower than the gun homicide rate in New York City in 1994, when owning practically any kind of firearm was illegal.

Think about it.This historical fact utterly destroys the entire premise of gun control: that the mere presence of guns in our society causes violence.

Well then, if the high rate of "gun violence" isn't the result of "the easy availability of guns" and the great "proliferation of guns" on the street and in homes, then it must be because of the "easy availability" of high capacity, rapidly firing firearms. They are simply more lethal than that which used to be available. Too lethal to be allowed into civilian hands.

In 1894, 100 years ago, anyone could order from Sears Roebuck two six-shot revolvers and a Henry lever action rifle that when fully loaded held 16 rounds of .44 caliber bullets. Way past today's 10 round limit. All for under 25 dollars. This would give them 28 shots almost as fast they could pull the trigger, without reloading. One advertisement of the time boasted a firing rate of "2 shots a second!" for a popular lever action repeater. One study conducted by a gun writer several years ago compared the rate of aimed fire between one of the popular semiauto versions of the AK-47 and one of the vintage style lever action repeaters. His conclusion was that there was little significant difference. In fact, these lever guns, the first "repeaters" were available far earlier. The Henry was first manufactured in 1850. Some Civil War soldiers on the Union side spent their own money to buy them. The Confederates cursed them as that "damn Yankee gun you load on Sunday and shoot all week". Samuel Colt received his first patent for a six shot revolver in 1836. 164 years ago. That's almost 7 generations of Americans. It would have been easy for anyone in all that time to carry out some terrible workplace or school yard massacre.

But no one did. Even though working conditions in the late 1800's were often atrocious. No unions. 10 and 12 hour days under dangerous and painful conditions. The industrial revolution sometimes even found children working 10 hour days in sweatshops. There was no welfare, Prozac or group therapy. How did people get by? Why didn't they snap and commit mass killings? All that was needed was an order blank for Sears Roebuck. Or a walk down to the local general store.

In the schools of the day, there was no sensitivity training or guidance counselors. Standard school marm discipline consisted of oak rods and hickory switches liberally applied to bottoms and knuckles.

These atrocious conditions must have caused an epidemic of "low self-esteem" and attendant crime and violence, right?

Type of guns available in 1850: 16 shot repeating rifles and shotguns, both slide and lever. 6 shot revolvers. Guns and holsters made especially for concealed carry, such as derringers and minature revolvers.

"Gun control" laws in 1850: None

Number of workplace massacres in 1850: 0

Number of school massacres in 1850: 0

Let's jump 70 years into the future, to 1920. 70 years and three generations later. The horrors of the first World War have shocked the world. By the 1890's the first semiauto pistols were being patented and produced. In 1900 Colt came out with their .38 automatic with a detachable steel magazine. In 1911 came the famous Colt .45 semiautomatic pistol. It's detachable magazine held eight .45 caliber slugs. It could be reloaded in a matter of seconds. A dozen other similar semiauto pistols had also been designed, built and offered for sale around the world. These guns were identical in function to the ones supposedly responsible for today's epidemic of violence.

Types of firearms available in 1920: Semiautomatic pistols and rifles with detachable steel box magazines. 6 shot double-action revolvers, high capacity lever action rifles, bolt action rifles with integral box magazines, quickly reloaded with stripper clips. Guns and holsters made especially for concealed carry, such as derringers and minature revolvers. ('Saturday night specials')

"Gun control" laws in 1920: None

Number of workplace massacres in 1920: 0

Number of school massacres in 1920: 0

Well, how about 1950? Another World War has come and gone. Surplus military weapons are freely available to a generation brutalized by war and economic depression. The semiautomatic M-1 Garand, with it's 8 shot magazine, utilized the 30-06 cartridge, several times more potent than an AK-47. The semiautomatic M-1 carbine came with 30 round detachable magazines. These were the the military "assault" weapons which brought Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan to their knees. In addition to the proven Colt 1911 pistol, other pistols like the Model 1935 Browning Hi-Power, with it's 14 shot detachable magazine were freely available. In America, anyone, including teenagers, could buy them at the neighborhood store, or through the mail. Ammunition was cheap and plentiful.

Types of firearms available in 1950: Military surplus semiautomatic rifles with detachable steel magazines. Semiautomatic pistols and rifles with detachable steel magazines. 6 shot double-action revolvers, high capacity lever and slide action rifles, bolt action rifles with integral box magazines, quickly reloaded with stripper clips. Guns and holsters made especially for concealed carry, such as derringers and minature revolvers.

"Gun control" laws in 1950: None

Number of workplace massacres in 1950: 0

Number of school massacres in 1950: 0

In fact, despite strict discipline, a report from the 1940's listed some of the biggest problems reported by teachers as being truancy, talking back, and chewing gum.

How about the 1960's? During that time, almost every high school in New York City had a rifle club. On any given day, there were thousands of kids, 13 years old and up, getting onto subways and busses with their target rifles to go to school.

In more rural areas it was common for boys to bring their hunting rifles to school with them. They would be leaned against a wall, or stacked in the coat room. After the bell rung, they would be collected by their owners so the could hunt on the walk home. Surely some of them wanted to kill their classmates and teachers, right? Why didn't they? For an urban generation raised on media propaganda about the mere presence of guns causing violence, these historical truths are stunning. But they are true. Ask any middle aged man from a rural part of the country and most likely you will get more of the same stories.

The historical evidence is overwhelming. American society was once so sane, mature and responsible that despite the complete lack of restrictions on the availability of powerful firearms for over 150 years, almost 7 generations, crime was much lower than it was today, and mass killings in the workplace were unheard of. The idea of children committing carefully planned mass murder against other children in their classrooms was utterly unthinkable. To have even suggested such a thing might one day happen, repeatedly, would be to invite ridicule or accusations of having a sick mind. Remember West Side Story? Why did these supposed brutal gang members of their day use switchblades when semiautomatic military rifles and pistols were readily available? No, the American tradition of firearms ownership is not to blame for the current horrors of violence in our schools and workplaces. What has happened? In the 1960's, a new and powerful force was taking shape in America. It was not some new type of firearm. It's effect has been so subtle and insidious that only now, 40 years since it's entry into American cultural life, are it's terrible effects reaching full flower. America is learning the hard way that what you sow, that also shall you reap.

This force has taken the very worst of human nature, fear, violence, greed, selfishness, loveless, irresponsible sex, then magnified it, amplified it, glorified it, then pumped it back into the minds and hearts of every American, now matter how young or old. Not a foreign invasion, this destructive force is strictly homegrown and found in every living room: the "entertainment" industry. Hollywood. T.V., movies, video games, the mass media. "We're only giving people what they want", the millionaire studio moguls whine. This is the same rational used by some other universally reviled exploiters: drug dealers. Yet somehow it is accepted when it comes from the lips of some of the most powerful persons in America, hiding their exploitation behind the guise of "entertainment". Entertainment? Murder, violence, hate, mayhem, criminality, rape, evil, war...this is entertainment? Cartoon characters meant for tots can engage in incredible levels of violence, that if imitated in real life would instantly maim or kill. Remember the 13 year old found guilty of murder for imitating TV wrestling moves on a 5 year old? America must learn that hate, violence and murder is not acceptable as entertainment. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. Who's child will be next to die in a movie inspired school house slaughter? Communications technology has given us incredible power. Will we use it to corrupt and destroy or to build and improve our national character? The average kid watches 10,000 murders a year on TV. Is this the best we can do? Is this how we "enrich" our lives? How we spend our spare time?

So it is clear that the "easy availability of firearms" causing violence is a myth. Sane, mature cultures handle private ownership of firearms without difficulty, as ours had for hundreds of years. The true cause is a growing national insanity. For those who would banish guns anyway, consider this: in maximum security prisons, inmates still manage to make weapons and kill each other at a far greater rate than in the general population. In mental hospitals, even pens and pencils are banned, because they can be used as weapons to kill and maim. If we don't have the courage and wisdom to deal with the real issues creating violence in our society, will this be what it comes to? "America the Locked Ward?" While the media moguls waste precious time and energy attacking traditional gun groups like the NRA, when the six o'clock news finishes demonizing them into nonexistence with propaganda and lies, we will find ourselves still surrounded by killers and crazies. After we ban steak knives and and then pencils from the grocery store, we will be clubbing each other to death in the streets with sticks and stones, or running over each other with our SUVs. Eventually we will run out of things to ban and we will have to straight jacket the entire country. We will have to look ourselves in the face. We can sit in the recreation room, take our medication and cry for our nation. The choice will be ours.

To find out more about the mass media's role in the corruption of American traditions and culture, and the subsequent increase in violence, click here:

Lies and murder in the U.S. media

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