Festina Lente Loc: Florida & Missouri

An interesting observation.
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Guns and Our American Culture
Written by John Caile
January 23, 2013

NBC’s Tom Brokaw once opined that he would be nervous about being in an Arizona bar because (horrors!) there might be people with “concealed weapons” around him. I was not surprised, as those on the Left have a history of having an almost pathological fear of guns, except of course, those that are carried by their personal security staff. New York’s Mayor Bloomberg is a perfect example – he surrounds himself with heavily armed bodyguards, but makes sure that the average New Yorker is virtually defenseless.

But when left-wing talk show hosts like Chris Mathews declared that using expressions like “gun” or “lock and load” in political rhetoric was somehow promoting violence, I thought he was joking. Seriously, even a liberal like Mathews should recognize that gun references in American speech have been around since the founding of the country.

Americans regularly pepper their language with all sorts of expressions that have their origins in firearm nomenclature. Perhaps a few comments I have overheard in just the last month will illustrate:

“My daughter has her sights set on law school.”

"We are targeting our competition this year."

“I love the new Mustang 5.0 – that motor is bulletproof! ”

“Important meeting next week; they’re bringing in the big guns from corporate.”

“My proposal to the City Council was shot down.”

“My 16 year old wants a new car. I told him, point blank, the answer was no.”

“Don’t go off half-cocked.” – A reference that came from the operation of single action “cowboy” six-shooters – in the half-cocked position, the gun could not fire. Thus going off “half-cocked” is to act without being properly prepared.

“He has a gun for an arm!” A comment about a quarterback’s ability to “fire a bullet” even though the “linebackers were gunning for him.”

“I sold it all, lock stock and barrel.” – The lock, the stock, and the barrel are the three main parts of any gun. The phrase thus has come to mean “the complete package” or, as some people also say, “the whole shootin’ match.”

“He’s just a flash in the pan.” – Contrary to the recently invented explanation that this expression came from prospectors panning for gold, it actually goes all the way back to Colonial times, and refers to the operation of their flintlock muskets. If the spark from the flint against the steel (which took place in the “pan” on the side of the barrel) did not ignite the main powder charge in the barrel, the pan “flashed” but the gun failed to fire. Thus a “flash in the pan” came to mean someone who initially showed promise, but failed to follow through, or live up to expectations.

“I tell my sales reps to aim high.” – A reference to the arcing trajectory of a bullet. If you seek to achieve your goals you have to aim well beyond where you ultimately want to wind up. Note that virtually every business organization has their monthly, quarterly, and annual (you guesses it) sales targets.

Even the expression, “He’s a dud,” comes from the term used to describe ammunition (whether a bullet, an artillery shell, or a bomb) that failed to fire.

And there are many, many more. But the point is that there is nothing unusual, let alone sinister, about Americans using words and phrases that refer to guns. It is part of our national identity. No one with any knowledge of history would deny that fact, or be surprised that so much of our language has its origins in firearm design and/or function.

In fact, I would assert that America does not merely have a gun culture – America IS a gun culture. Because as much as the pacifists hate to admit it, the reality is that the United States would not even exist today if it weren’t for firearms. Without their muskets, the Colonists would have been utterly helpless against the British Army, at the time the most heavily armed and best-trained military force in the world.

And if Obama and the Democrats succeed in their jihad against private ownership of firearms, they may also succeed in destroying one of the most fundamental aspects of what it means to be an American.

John Caile
January 23, 2013

Robert Graybeal Loc: Myrtle Beach

The Resistance Begins: New York Gun Owners Refuse to Register; “Largest Act of Civil Disobedience in State History”

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/the-resistance-begins-new-york-gun-owners-refuse-to-register-largest-act-of-civil-disobedience-in-state-history_01252013

JoeV Loc: Wisconsin

Pathetic. Just absolutely pathetic.

JoeV Loc: Wisconsin

You misrepresent the issue, I think. The point is not to eliminate private gun control, but to hold gun owners accountable.

If this is indeed one of the most fundamental aspects of what it means to be an American, then I wish them much success.

Frank T Loc: New York, NY

Robert, It's a bit premature to conclude that there is mass resistance and civil disobedience to the registration in New York as that provision isn't in effect until January 2014.
I'm sure there will be some resistance by pro-gun activists but the truth is that most people will obey the new law and register their weapons.
In the meantime, that gives anyone who wishes to challenge the constitutionality of the law a year for the case to be heard in the New York State Court of Appeals or the Federal District Court and I'm sure that the law will be challenged although I personally believe that it is not a violation of the Constitution to regulate the type of weapons that can be owned, as that has already been done on numerous occasions/

wonkytripod Loc: Peterborough UK

All the above sayings are used regularly over here in the UK as well.

Remember its not guns that kill its the human with his finger on the trigger.

I am a multiple gun owner, most I use as part of my job but I have one just because it means a lot to me.

cameraniac Loc: Huntingburg, Indiana

I think that what you are now seeing is just the "flash in the pan". On second thought, maybe not quite yet the flash in the pan.

Bushpilot Loc: Minnesota

This was tried in Canada a few years back. From Wikipedia;The Firearms Act was created by Bill C-68, An Act Respecting Firearms and Other Weapons, which was introduced in 1993, and aimed at the licensing of all gun owners and registration of all firearms. The bill also classified replica firearms as prohibited devices, with those already owned being grandfathered. It was passed by Parliament and given Royal Assent in 1995. The Canadian Firearms Centre was established in 1996 to oversee the administration of its measures.[6]

This was tried in Canada a few years ago.

From Wikipedia;
The registration portion of the Firearms Act was implemented in 1995 and the deadline for gun owners to register their non-restricted firearms was January 1, 2003.[7] Compliance was a dismal failure: Over 70% of all firearms in Canada were never registered.

Maybe an update is in order.

Bushpilot Loc: Minnesota

Sorry for the oddball double post above, don't know how that happened.

erniehatt Loc: Queensland Australia

So why the paranoia on gun registration.

Festina Lente Loc: Florida & Missouri

Good question!

I suspect one answer here in the U.S. -- one that you can relate to -- may lie in Australia's laws enacted since the tragic 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
The government created new laws and then enforced compulsory, compensated surrenders of newly-illegal registered firearms. Previously legal guns became illegal to own overnight.

About 700,000 guns or 30% of all the guns in Australia were physically destroyed by just a swipe of a Prime Minister's pen.

That's just one example.

But Australia does not have a right to bear arms clause in its constitution; the U.S. does.
That changes the American psyche when a constitutionally guaranteed right is threatened.
And since it is under attack by the very government that was elected to protect its citizenry's constitutional rights, millions of legal gun owners may have reason to be a little suspect of their government's recent actions.

That may be paranoia or it may be just healthy skepticism based on history.

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

And conversely, why the paranoia on gun ownership?

OnTheFly Loc: Tennessee

Well said. No need to add to that.

Bruce with a Canon Loc: Islip

Not to put too fine a popint on this, however, th4e CRIMINALS DO NOT ABIDE THE LAW.
The mass killings were perpetrated by NUT BAGS and CRIMINALS.
NOT law abiding citizens.
If you banned guns altogether the CRIMINALS WOULD NOT TURN THEIR IN now would they?
You might just as well BAN CRIMINALS AND CRIME, the resulkts would be the same.

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

It need not be complicated.