Guns, etc.

Michael Moore should have remained focused on the specific issue of renewing the Assault Ban and the introduction of increased guidelines for the purchase of firearms while on the Rachel Maddow show yesterday. I believe it is fair to say that those two initiatives are the best suited to help prevent another incident such as the one in Tucson. For a renewal of the Assault Ban would decrease the availability of high capacity magazines (not to mention semi-automatic assault weapons), which I think many will agree are unnecessary. In addition, an increase in the government scrutiny of potential gun owners would hopefully prevent disturbed and unhinged individuals, such as Jared Lee Loughner, from legally purchasing firearms of any sort.

Moore did well to illustrate these points. I for one particularly enjoyed his example of Canadian gun control measures and wouldn't mind seeing some form of their implementation here. But his move beyond these two issues and into the assertion of inherent racism among American gun owners was ill-advised at best. I can think of no better way to simultaneously undercut the issue at hand and alienate the very group he aims to affect.

Those in favor of renewing the Assault Ban, myself included, would do well to remain calm and refrain from the generalist rhetoric applied by those such as Moore. Only the consensus of moderate gun owners, the very surgeons, suburban homeowners, and businessmen discussed by Moore, will allow the passage of gun legislation in the Republican dominated House. Calling gun owners racist and irrationally afraid will do little to achieve a balance between public safety and 2nd Amendment rights, but it will do much to polarize the issue even more.

-Jim