The Extreme Gun-Enthusiasts have their arguments ready to persuade the majority of us that our beliefs in  our constitution, our understanding of history, and our sense of decency is wrong. Their arguments are based in fear; they are full of half-truths and illogical assumptions. They are well crafted so that many of us may feel that they just might be true.

The Progressive Cynic, a blog that I admire and follow, has written two  articles refuting their 15 main arguments against the State’s and the Natural gun-control options. (You may see the Icon-link on the right of this blog–the one with the White Mask over Thomas Jefferson–or is it Alexander Hamilton?) The articles, which are well research and logical, look deeply into each argument. He also uses Political Cartoons to enhance his point of view.  If you are interested in knowing more about the constitution, American’s characteristics, and historical facts, or want to have correct information to discuss and defend the New York State’s SAFE ACT or Obama’s Gun Violence Proposals, I would suggest you visit The Progressive Cynic’s blog.

The topics the Progressive Cynic refutes are listed below. Topics 1-7 were discussed in his first article.  Topics from #8 to #15 were discussed in his second article. Our Congressman, Rep. Tom Reed tends to use argument #5, “Instead of attacking guns, what we really need is to register the mentally ill” when he discussed “his believes” in press releases and at his Town Hall Meetings.

1.   “The 2nd Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms, thus gun control measures are unconstitutional.”

2.   “Guns are a right in our country so that we can rise up against a tyrannical government.”

3.   “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” or “ Limiting guns will only lead to violent people simply using other methods of killing large numbers of people”

4. “Violence isn’t due to guns; it is due to culture and violence in the media/entertainment industry.”

5. “Instead of attacking guns, what we really need is to register the mentally ill”

6. “If everybody were armed, we would all be safer”

7. “Gun laws don’t work because they make it so only criminals have guns.

8.   “Mass shootings only happen in places where there are no guns allowed.”

9. “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.”

10. “There are already over 20,000 gun regulations on the books and they don’t work.”

11. “Cities with gun control laws on the books sometimes have high levels of gun violence and this shows that gun control doesn’t work.”

12. “Countries like Israel and Switzerland have high levels of gun ownership, but low levels of gun crime, so guns aren’t the real problem”“Since car accidents kill more people every year then guns, why don’t we ban cars?”
    

13. “Since car accidents kill more people every year then guns, why don’t we ban cars?”

14. “Gun control was imposed by dictators like Hitler and Stalin, thus it is, by definition, bad and something that puts us on a path towards becoming an autocratic regime.”

15. “Guns are part of our national heritage and restricting them is an attack on our cultural identity.”