Hey, you idjits, the culture's already like that!

Mr. Codrea in today's Gun Rights Examiner column (if you don't read him every day, you really oughta) discusses a Bay Area newspaper's advocacy of an AWB renewal:

No, the ban would not have prevented this massacre and will not absolutely prevent others like it in the future. But it will over time reduce the ready availability of some extremely dangerous weapons. More important, it will begin to change the culture from one of glorifying the possession of a military-style arsenal to one of responsible gun ownership.

Hey, you assholes, the culture's ALREADY one of responsible gun ownership! Some 50 million to 80 million people in this country versus about 12,000 murders committed with guns each year is just one thing that testifies to that...and another would be the fact that you never see that sort of thing (shootings like the one that happened in Oakland) at shooting ranges or gun stores. Speaking of gun stores, I am reminded of an old urban legend that circulated via email a few years back, which was actually based on a true story...

The following mind-boggling attempt at a crime spree in Washington appeared to be the robber's first (and last), due to his lack of a previous record of violence, and his terminally stupid choices:
1. His target was H&J Leather & Firearms, a gun shop specializing in handguns.
2. The shop was full of customers - firearms customers.
3. To enter the shop, the robber had to step around a marked police car parked at the front door.
4. A uniformed officer was standing at the counter, having coffee before work.
Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up, and fired a few wild shots from a .22 target pistol. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, the police officer with a 9mm Glock 17, the clerk with a .50 Desert Eagle, assisted by several customers who also drew their guns, several of whom also fired.
The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons.
No one else was hurt in the exchange of fire.

(The clerk, who fired the fatal shot in the real-life account, actually had some sort of 10mm. Sweet. ;-))
Back on the topic though, it really burns my tail when I see these people trying to conflate feral vermin like Lovelle Mixon with all the semiautomatic rifle owners who don't go on rampages. And as for "glorifying the possession of a military-style arsenal," again, as a member of that gun culture these creatures defame, I haven't seen it...but if we're going to take an honest look at what they're saying, we may only conclude that ultimately they want everything banned but single-shot .22s, as just about anything big enough to be used for self-defense will have some sort of military utility, as has been pointed out before. Not that many in the mainstream media are really interested in an honest look at anything gun-related, I know, but it's still aggravating as all hell to see things like this.