Random thought of the day

It appears to me there may be a problem with the meanings of words in the gun control debate.

Many anti-gun people want to “ban assault weapons” or “ban high capacity magazines”. I think what they really want to do is abolish them. I think when they hear and say “ban” they believe, at some level, that a ban will quickly result in abolishment. I’m not convinced they have distinguished the two in their minds.

“Ban” and “abolish” are very different things. As difficult as it is to get a controversial law through the legislature and signed into law that is child’s play compared to abolishing something so easily made, popular with millions of people, and with tens or hundreds of millions of them in existence.

Most recreational drugs are banned but we haven’t come close to abolishing them.

Most political jurisdictions in this country have banned prostitution. I’m certain the worlds oldest profession is a still viable career option for someone with the proper physical attributes.

Many beverages containing alcohol were banned during the first part of the last century. People were smart enough to realize banning it didn’t abolish it, it never would, and the ban was repealed.

A ban on certain types of guns or gun accessories with no hope of approaching abolishment is pointless as a potential solution.

Perhaps when someone suggests a ban we should ask them if they really mean abolish. It might help them realize the difference and the difficulties.

Share

3 thoughts on “Random thought of the day

  1. “That’s all well and good” will come the reply “but we can’t just sit back and do nothing”.

    I don’t think you’re grasping the fact that you are dealing with a hypnotic state. Did you see the guy who put his shoes on backwards? He was criticizing everyone else for being stubborn, saying that if they’d quit being so stubborn they would all realize that wearing shoes with the toes pointing outward was more comfortable.

    You’re trying to reason with that guy. You’re just being stubborn, and since lives depend on it, your stubbornness cannot be tolerated forever.

  2. When they say “ban” they don’t mean “abolish”, they mean “wave a magic wand and make them all disappear and make everyone forget how to make them”. It will be very difficult to bring people who think this way back to reality.

  3. I first read about Peterson Syndrome here, and would have thought you’d recognize this situation as an example of it.

Comments are closed.