This morning I sat down and watched the NBA-Everytown gun ads again. They really get a message across. And it’s a very simple message; if a gun gets into the wrong hands, someone’s going to get hurt. And of course it’s not just the message, but the messengers. I mean, is anyone going to accuse Carmelo Anthony of being a shill for Mike Bloomberg when his salary tops $22 million a year?
On the other hand, sooner or later I’m expecting to see the NRA’s Number One shill, the so-called Colion Noir, prancing around with his AR-15 on a basketball court in Dallas, telling all those folks who pretend to be his camp followers about the value of their 2nd-Amendment rights. In fact, his latest attempt to promote Mossberg, FN and the other gun companies who sponsor his amateurish digital nonsense has him lecturing four African-American brothers who, like eeny-meeny-miny-moe, sit around mouthing various nothings while Colion explains the dangers of gun control because “as soon as they get their hands on the plastic stuff, they’ll be after the wooden stuff next.”
It might come as something of a surprise to Colion or whatever his name is that for forty-nine years before the 2008 Heller decision, which extended 2nd Amendment protections to private ownership of guns, the only thing that the 2nd Amendment actually protected were guns kept at home by Americans who used them for what we call the ‘common defense;’ i.e., service in military units like the National Guard. And do you know how many guns all those liberals confiscated from law-abiding Americans between United States v. Miller in 1939 and District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008? None. Not one.
This is one of the two biggest falsehoods that the NRA and gun-loving sycophants like Colion Noir repeat all the time. And Colion is allegedly a lawyer so he knows that what he is saying just isn’t true. The other big falsehood which Colion also repeats again and again is that without access to guns we would all be the victims of violent crime. The last time I checked, there were on average 250 justifiable homicides each year and between 2007 and 2011 less than 1% of all violent crimes resulted in someone protecting themselves with a gun. Occasional anecdotes aside, the chances that a card-carrying member of the NRA would find himself in a situation where he needed to protect himself with a gun are about the same as that individual walking out of his home and being run over by a rhinoceros. Walking around with a gun to protect yourself may sound good, may feel good, may provide Colion with some footage for one of his video rants, but it’s got nothing to do with the reality of guns.
I’m going to say something that’s probably going to get me into hot water with my gun-nut friends but I really don’t care. I happen to think that this whole notion of guns as being necessary for self-protection is a case of arrested development and nothing else. If, according to the Police Foundation, cops on the job aren’t adequately trained to deliver lethal force, then how in the world can all these CCW civilians believe they have the training and experience to defend themselves with a gun? Has Colion Noir ever used a gun in self-defense? Of course not.
Colion gives the whole thing away when he talks about “taking back the narrative for a new generation of gun enthusiasts.” Want to listen to the new narrative? Listen to NBA star Carmelo Anthony when he introduces a national PSA on gun violence with, “the gun should never be an option.” Now who is the next generation going to listen to? Colion Noir who says that guns are the most important option for self defense? Or Carmelo Anthony who doesn’t have to get your attention by proving anything at all?