Second Amendment Scoreboard

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65. Let me ask you a question. ...

Imagine for a minute that you are a gun owner. You have in your home a small collection of firearms. Included are two pistols that might be considered an assault weapons and also an AR-15. You also have several "high capacity" magazines for each weapon although they are the standard size for your weapons but do hold more then 10 rounds.

You often listen to right wing programs and firmly believe that your government is planning to ban and confiscate all civilian owned firearms and the ban on the sale and manufacture of assault weapons is just the first step.

You hear a knock on your door and when you open it you find a stranger who states he/she is conducting a survey. You agree to be interviewed. Among the questions she asks is, "Are you a gun owner or are their firearms in your home owned by another individual?"

How do you answer? Do you say, "Yup, I proudly own firearms and in fact have an AR-15 and two Glock pistols in my collection."

I'll bet not. You just say, "Nope, no guns in my home. I wouldn't allow one here as they are very dangerous and likely to kill someone."

Let me assure you that many gun owners would refuse to answer the survey question truthfully. I know a good number of gun owners and I know how they think.

Unlike my fictional character, I have no fear that the government plans to ban and confiscate all civilian owned firearms in my lifetime. That's simply right wing propaganda and I am not a right winger but instead a liberal Democratic gun owner. Still, I would refuse to admit to any stranger conducting a survey either at my door or on the phone that I own firearms. Why should I? It's simply none of their damn business.

I realize that many gun control advocates love to point out that fewer gun owners own more guns. Unfortunately the survey they base this belief on is questionable at the best.

Gun-safety class attendance surges
By Jessica Tully and Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
Updated 8/7/2012

A growing number of people — many of them women — are acquiring guns for self-protection, says Don Kates, a retired professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law who has studied the issue of gun control extensively.

Kates says increased interest from women is a significant factor. "Women used to be told that owning a gun is a man's thing," Kates says. "That is not the case anymore because women are being told that they should be able to defend themselves."

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To accommodate the increased number of students attending gun classes, the National Rifle Association has certified 5,000 additional instructors since April 2011, adding to the almost 150,000 instructors already working.

Greg Block, a law enforcement instructor for city, county, state and federal agencies, says he has noticed a "dramatic" increase in class attendance since 2008. He says he now instructs about 100 individuals per month.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-08-06/gun-safety-classes-attendance/56832968/1