Back in June, I wrote a satirical piece about how to write an anti-gun editorial, which was intended to be funny. I always find it somewhat depressing and yet slightly humorous when I find an article that follows the script quite exactly, like this article in the Guardian.
With the ominous title of “Guns take the place of pride in American family values”, the article is basically an homage to all the foolish, misguided arguments that gun control people toss around, with a healthy dose of how eeeeeeeeevil the NRA is. For example, they take some potshots at the recent book “Armed America”, which consisted of pictures of gun owners from all walks of life.
To look at the photographs in Kyle Cassidy’s book Armed America is to glimpse a surreal world. Or at least it seems that way to many non-Americans. Cassidy spent two years taking portrait shots of gun owners and their weapons across the US. The result is a disturbing tableau of happy families, often with pets and toddlers, posing with pistols, assault rifles and the sort of heavy machine-guns usually associated with a warzone.
I particularly enjoyed how they subtly imply that all Americans are crazy lunatics with full-automatic weapons behind every door – I don’t suppose it’s worth mentioning that no one in “Armed America” had a “heavy machine gun” of any type. Of course, I would probably die of a heart attack of the Guardian printed something factually correct about gun owners.
The editorial basically amounts to two things: 1) A hit piece on gun owners, and 2) an article that wallows in its own smug self-satisfaction. I suppose if you enjoy reading an article that stands as a shining example of European arrogance and condescension towards the American way of life, you could go read it.
Thank God for the VPC constant stream of junk science. If reporters had to rely on credable data, imagine how hard anti-gun articles like this would really tough to write!
Thank goodness the UK has no gun crime!
It was the U.S. military that eventually forced the various tribes to sign treaties and onto reservations, but settlers still fought them at various points. I don’t think anyone supporting the RKBA claims that settlers/militia/whatever “defeated” the Native Americans, just that there was a a system in place to defend themselves in case of attack.
(There were times, however, when settlers were more aggressive and slaughtered native tribesmen.)
I think this journalist read that Michael Bellesiles book.
I like the way they have condescended to us in WWI and WWII and all through the Cold War to serve as their New Centurions and keep their asses free of enslavement. I believe the next time they honor us with such American sacrifice to save them we should just say “No, but thanks for asking.”