Gordon Fink
Member
My e-mailed response:
I recently read Louise Rafkin’s thoughts on learning to use a handgun for the first time. Though I’m glad to see that Ms. Rafkin has taken her first small step toward realizing that firearms are merely tools (that can be abused or misused just like any other tool), I feel the need to comment on a few of the points she made in her column.
First, the ever popular “guns don’t kill people; people kill people†slogan is a little more than just clever “spin.†The slogan is true in a very fundamental sense. Yes, firearms can be used to kill or injure (rightly or wrongly), but a gun can do nothing without a human to fire it. Firearms can be misused, just like kitchen knives, cars, and baseball bats can be misused. It’s the intent of the user that matters. As far as “accidents†go, firearms are not even currently among the top 10 causes of death and injury. (Swimming pools are far more dangerous in this respect.)
I was surprised and startled to read that Ms. Rafkin’s instructor let her look down the barrel of a revolver, as this violates one of the cardinal rules of firearms safety. Then again, I must question the instructor’s competence after reading her fanciful and incorrect explanation of the history behind metal-jacketed ammunition. Fortunately, Ms. Rafkin seems to have escaped unharmed.
I was also bemused by Ms. Rafkin’s description of a semi-automatic pistol as a “more powerful weapon†than a revolver. In general, semi-automatics fire low- to medium-powered handgun ammunition. The higher-powered handgun cartridges are most frequently reserved for sturdier revolvers. Perhaps the black color of the semi-automatic pistol frightened Ms. Rafkin.
I must also address Ms. Rafkin’s “insight†that she could “shoot dead everyone in sight†with her handgun. That thought from her was indeed “creepy†for me to read. (I hope she doesn’t also contemplate running down everyone in sight whenever she gets behind the wheel of a car.) However, if Ms. Rafkin did open fire upon innocents, she could expect to be shot herself by another armed citizen or police officer, and/or she would be subsequently arrested, prosecuted, and sent to prison by the criminal-justice system.
Ms. Rafkin’s final comment deserves mention, as well. After describing her incipient enthusiasm for target shooting to an anti-gun friend, her friend suggests that she “[t]ry darts†instead. Let us remember that darts too started out as weapons and can still be misused to harm innocents, just like a gun … or a pair of scissors … or a hammer …
~G. Fink
I recently read Louise Rafkin’s thoughts on learning to use a handgun for the first time. Though I’m glad to see that Ms. Rafkin has taken her first small step toward realizing that firearms are merely tools (that can be abused or misused just like any other tool), I feel the need to comment on a few of the points she made in her column.
First, the ever popular “guns don’t kill people; people kill people†slogan is a little more than just clever “spin.†The slogan is true in a very fundamental sense. Yes, firearms can be used to kill or injure (rightly or wrongly), but a gun can do nothing without a human to fire it. Firearms can be misused, just like kitchen knives, cars, and baseball bats can be misused. It’s the intent of the user that matters. As far as “accidents†go, firearms are not even currently among the top 10 causes of death and injury. (Swimming pools are far more dangerous in this respect.)
I was surprised and startled to read that Ms. Rafkin’s instructor let her look down the barrel of a revolver, as this violates one of the cardinal rules of firearms safety. Then again, I must question the instructor’s competence after reading her fanciful and incorrect explanation of the history behind metal-jacketed ammunition. Fortunately, Ms. Rafkin seems to have escaped unharmed.
I was also bemused by Ms. Rafkin’s description of a semi-automatic pistol as a “more powerful weapon†than a revolver. In general, semi-automatics fire low- to medium-powered handgun ammunition. The higher-powered handgun cartridges are most frequently reserved for sturdier revolvers. Perhaps the black color of the semi-automatic pistol frightened Ms. Rafkin.
I must also address Ms. Rafkin’s “insight†that she could “shoot dead everyone in sight†with her handgun. That thought from her was indeed “creepy†for me to read. (I hope she doesn’t also contemplate running down everyone in sight whenever she gets behind the wheel of a car.) However, if Ms. Rafkin did open fire upon innocents, she could expect to be shot herself by another armed citizen or police officer, and/or she would be subsequently arrested, prosecuted, and sent to prison by the criminal-justice system.
Ms. Rafkin’s final comment deserves mention, as well. After describing her incipient enthusiasm for target shooting to an anti-gun friend, her friend suggests that she “[t]ry darts†instead. Let us remember that darts too started out as weapons and can still be misused to harm innocents, just like a gun … or a pair of scissors … or a hammer …
~G. Fink