The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current, March 31, 2018, Page 10A, Image 10

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    10 A
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2018
Special series
from 9A
When the demonstrator stated that
nobody needs “semi-automatic
machine guns,” they conflated two
types of guns, semi-automatic and
machine.
A machine gun is a firearm that
only fires in full-automatic mode,
meaning it continuously fires with a
single pull of the trigger, and stops
only when the trigger is released.
A semi-automatic gun is one
which fires a single shot with every
pull, but the bullets are automatically
reloaded between shots. This is dif-
ferent from single-shot guns, which
requires the user to either cock the
gun between shots, such as revolvers,
or hand-feed ammunition between
shots, like bolt-action rifles.
The distinction is important for a
number of reasons.
Since the passage of the Firearm
Owners Protection Act in 1986, the
manufacturing and selling of
machine guns became illegal, though
ownership or selling these guns made
before the ban are still allowed. Most
of the machine guns still in existence
are cost prohibitive though, with
price tags in the tens of thousands of
dollars.
Pre-1986 machine guns are still
transferable between individuals.
Dealers are able to buy newly manu-
factured machine guns, but are not
allowed to sell them to the general
public.
When a gun reformer states they
want machine guns banned, they are
talking about policy that was decided
decades earlier.
More regularly, gun reformers
refer to semi-automatic guns when
they speak of gun control. However,
most of the guns sold in America,
from handguns to rifles, are semi-
automatic.
In 2013, more than four million
pistols (semi-automatic) were sold in
America, while less than one million
revolvers (single shot) were sold,
according to the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Creating a blanket ban on all semi-
automatic weapons would essentially
ban 3/4 of all handguns and rifles in
America.
To differentiate, gun reformers
often lean on the term “assault
weapon” to describe weapons to con- lapsible or folding stock, which
If people had to choose one specif-
trol, but even that term is fraught allows the weapon to be shortened ic reason for gun ownership, protec-
with problems.
and perhaps concealed? Does the gun tion drops to 48 percent and hunting
The term “assault weapon” has have a muzzle brake, which helps down to 32 percent, per a 2013 Pew
been used in various capacities decrease recoil?
report.
throughout the decades. A January
These types of arguments are con-
But the guns people use for protec-
2013 New York Times article laid out sidered crucial to those in the gun tion differs.
the problems surrounding the term.
debate, particularly for guns rights
A 2014 Baylor Religion Survey
“Assault weapon” was first used to advocates. Because of the nebulous found that handguns were the pre-
describe a military
ferred weapon at
weapon,
the
37.5 percent. Long
Sturmgewher, pro- “The most destructive, divisive response when dealing guns, like the AR-15,
duced
by
the with Second Amendment advocates is the notion that drop to 27 percent,
Germans in World
we aren’t on your side of the issue because we ‘don’t with 58 percent
War II. That weapon
reporting long gun
was capable of both care’ about the tragedy and loss of life.”
use as recreational
— Author Meredith Dake-O’Connor only, and 9 percent
semiautomatic and
fully automatic fire.
in an article for The Federalist as collector’s items.
By 1984, as manu-
In this light, AR-
facturers began to
15s are typically
sell firearms modeled after new mili- nature of the term, different states used for hunting and target practice,
tary rifles, advertisers like Guns & have come up with different laws something that most of the March for
Ammo promoted a book called based upon their own interpretation Our Lives demonstrators listed as
“Assault Firearms,” which it said of the phrase. For example, suitable reasons to own a gun.
was “full of the hottest hardware California bans magazines that hold
It should also be noted that the
available today.”
more than 10 bullets.
“AR” in AR-15 does not stand for
But since then, the term has
Many gun rights advocates con- “assault rifle,” which is an oft-stated
become mostly a political phrase.
tend that by simply saying “assault claim. Instead, it stands for ArmaLite
Generally, gun reform advocates weapons” should be banned; gun Rifle 15. It was originally manufac-
refer to “assault weapons” as reformers are ignoring the complexi- tured for military use as an automat-
firearms like those used in recent ty of the issue.
ic weapon, but in 1959 the trademark
mass shooting like the Pulse
The March for Our Lives demon- was sold to Colt’s Manufacturing
Nightclub in Florida and the Las strator suggested that long guns like Company. In 1964, Colt began sell-
Vegas shooting earlier this year. The AR-15s are not made to shoot accu- ing the rifle in a semi-automatic
focus is on semi-automatic rifles rately, inferring that the only reason form. Then in 1977, the patent ran
with detachable magazines and “mil- to own a long gun would be to indis- out and the gun proliferated the mar-
itary” features like pistol grips, flash criminately shoot at multiple targets. ket, fast becoming one of the most
suppressors and collapsible or fold- The statement is false, as most mod- popular guns in America.
ing stocks, as the NY Times article els have a Minute of Angle (MOA) of
It is important to point out that the
stated.
one or two.
gun has been sold publicly for 54
But gun rights advocates argue
MOA refers to the capability a years, but is only now being used in
that the term should only apply to firearm has to consistently deliver a mass shootings, which have occurred
weapons that have fully automatic grouping of shots at a particular dis- in America since before the
capabilities, as defined in the WWII tance. A one-MOA gun can be accu- Constitution was signed. To single
era. Because fully automatic rate within 1 inch when shooting the AR-15 out as the main reason for
weapons were essentially banned in from 100 yards away. At 200 yards, deadly mass shootings would be a
1986, the discussion on further ban- it’s 2 inches, 300 yards, 3 inches, etc. misnomer, as it has existed for
ning assault weapons is moot.
Many long guns like the AR-15 have decades as an uncontroversial gun
They also contend that there is MOA ratings that make the accuracy for hunting and target shooting.
very little difference between any even better.
Handguns make up the vast major-
sporting firearm and assault
The targeting accuracy of a long ity of gun violence in the United
weapons, which is true.
gun like the AR-15 is important to States. In 2016, 7,105 handguns were
The general consensus for those understand how they are typically tied to homicides, compared to 374
who use the term is that an “assault used in the general population.
with rifles and 262 with shotguns.
weapon” is a semiautomatic weapon
A 2017 survey by the Pew
When the March for Our Lives
that has detachable magazines, Research Center studied why people demonstrators were asked if they
allowing them to fire 10 to 100 own guns. Asking what the “major” believed handguns should be banned,
rounds with a single magazine. But reason was for gun ownership, 67 most stated no.
this definition covers a wide variety percent said for protection, 38 per-
“They’re okay,” one demonstrator
of guns, including handguns.
cent for hunting, 30 percent for sport said. “They’re okay in the hands of
After that, it becomes a question of shooting, 13 percent for collecting people that know how to use them or
“cosmetics.” Does a gun have a col- and eight percent for work.
keep them secure.”
When a gun reformer infers that
guns like the AR-15 are only used to
kill mass amounts of people, it can
have the effect of completely disre-
garding the culture of those who own
guns, painting gun owners as uncar-
ing. This in turn makes it difficult for
both sides of the issue to debate guns
in good faith.
In an October 2017 article in The
Federalist written by Meredith Dake-
O’Connor, a gun rights advocate
spoke about the pain of the miscon-
ceptions regarding how they are
viewed in the debate:
“The most destructive, divisive
response when dealing with Second
Amendment advocates is the notion
that we aren’t on your side of the
issue because we ‘don’t care’ about
the tragedy and loss of life. Two
years ago, at Christmas I had a fami-
ly member, exasperated that I wasn’t
agreeing about gun control, snarl, ‘It
appears that if your [step] daughter
was killed because of gun violence
you wouldn’t even care!’ … The
obvious implication is that we are
unmoved by the loss of life.”
Dake-O’Connor wrote that the
debate often “dehumanizes” Second
Amendment advocates, even those
who empathize with the pain over the
loss of life.
“As hard as it may be to imagine, a
person can watch this, ache, hurt and
be profoundly affected by these
events and not change his or her
position on the Second Amendment,”
she wrote.
If both sides view each other as
monsters, will a constructive discus-
sion on the issue ever be had? And if
the discussion cannot be had, will
meaningful and lasting solutions to
issues of mass shootings ever be
accomplished?
In different times, it’s possible that
this debate could be better served
without the specter of mass shoot-
ings. As it stands, however, mass
shootings are where the debate cur-
rently is.
The question is whether there are
misconceptions about mass shoot-
ings as well.
In part two of this series, the
Siuslaw News will examine another
component of the ongoing debate on
guns: mental health.
Screening Presented by: Siuslaw News & KCST & KCFM Coast Radio
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Two Showings @ City Lights Cinema
12:30pm • 6:00pm
FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Tickets are FREE*
Admission tickets are required
and available starting
March 26 th at:
• Siuslaw News 148 Maple St.
• City Lights Cinema 1920 HWY 101
Representatives will be
available for a Q&A after
each showing.
*Only 230 tickets available,
fi rst come, fi rst served,
Limit 2 per person.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN
WASTED!
The Story of Food Waste