Bubba

I was taking a casual stroll on the net when I stumbled upon the FAQ over at AK-47.us Some good advice, some less than good advice (imho) but overall not a bad resource. But what piqued my interest was this:

"Some wacko thinks we should teach how to make AK47s full auto

Question:I have been reading your Q@A and notice that you get pissed when someone asks you about full-autos. I really don't understand were this anger is comming from. I know that we all have to obey that law but what happens when the law tells you to turn in all you your AK's and other guns. What will you do then? I don't own a full-auto or have any reason too. But I think that you should chill out and remember who our enemys are (ATF).Thanks

Answer: LOL, we all have opinions like we all have a holes, I guess you really like yours to be heard.

Well, you speak for yourself only buddy. My government hasn't asked me to turn in a gun. I guess if they come for yours you are going to run downstairs and make your AK47 full auto then go shoot at the ATF ?

People like you make the world think American gun owners are all wackos looking to blow the rest of the world away, I got news for you, we are not all like you.

Your logic does not hold up either. Following today’s laws has NOTHING to do with your imaginary law that might one day be enforced.

I’ll dare you to go into as many gun shops as you can. Ask them how to convert your AK47 into a Full Auto, see how many will tell you how to do that. Then promise me you’ll recite your little speech. I bet you don’t have the guts to do that. You only want to type your thoughts to me.

LOL, you are a classic. I'll tell you what, you go build a website, and tell the world how to make a semi-auto AK into a full auto AK that will show me eh?

The rest of the law abiding gun owners can join us here for information on a fun, cheap and interesting legal hobby.

Submitted by: ,
Answered by: Bubba, "

My first thought was that Bubba is an asshat. Then I reflected for a moment. Bubba may indeed be an asshat but that's not what drove his response.

We're a fragmented lot. The Fuddites aren't crazy about the evil black rifle guys. The flintlock folks look down at the in-line muzzleloaders. I'm sure there's beef with IDPA & IPSC. It wouldn't surprise me to find some click of gun owners who dislike the Cowboy Action folks. But here we have what seems an oddity - a black rifle guy being resentful not of just a full auto supporter, but the strongest argument for his particular passion.

There are more full auto related Q&A's but this one was the harshest answer. Why though? I had read that they get 10 or more full auto questions a week & the ATFU has been known to charge folks with "conspiracy to violate federal firearms laws" for simply having a lively discussion about the engineering of full auto parts. But is that it? Simple aggravation?

Let's fisk & see what we find.

"LOL, we all have opinions like we all have a holes, I guess you really like yours to be heard."

Which is why the anonymous commenter asked the question, why Bubba responded & why I'm posting about it.

"Well, you speak for yourself only buddy. My government hasn't asked me to turn in a gun..."

He must not live in Cali, where "assault weapons" (like the Ak-47) were banned unless a registration could be obtained & in some cases confiscated in spite of registration. In fact he can't be from there cause their government is going around asking folks to turn in their unregistered .50 BMG's. He probably isn't in Chicago, NYC, NY state, D.C. or Denver, Co where various bans at least chill if not outright prohibit any ownership of firearms or specific types of firearms. He definitely wasn't in New Orleans after Katrina when Police Chief Compass declared that only the police would have guns then sent his henchmen to make it so. He probably didn't own one of those evil StreetSweepers either, or the u.S. government wasn't his government when they asked everyone to pay a hefty tax on them or turn them in.

I would also suggest looking at not only recent u.S. history but world history & current events. Oppression doesn't happen overnight (most of the time) but it's not so predictable that we can safely say that in 20 years such a thing wouldn't happen here. It only took England 80 years or so to virtually eliminate legal possession of arms. In 20 more years here - maybe even 10 no one can be positive that most guns won't be marked "LEO/Military only".

Also I should point to Dave Kopel's latest work - Gun Bans & Genocide
The Disarming Facts

"...I guess if they come for yours you are going to run downstairs and make your AK47 full auto then go shoot at the ATF ?"

Well, better late than never. :)

But throwing in a few parts minutes before you use a full auto isn't going to do that much good. Contrary to what Hollywood would have us believe using a full auto effectively isn't as easy as it looks & it takes some training. The ideal would be to have a full auto that you've practiced with when the ATFU thugs come a no-knocking at your door. But alas, such is all but illegal here. The freeze on new full auto's in '86 inflated prices to the point where most folks simply cannot afford a legal full auto. Because of that the bastard Hughes (whose amendment froze said supply) succeeded in stunting the martial preparedness of an entire nation. Whether through malice or negligence he should be tried & hung for it.

& lest you think that there's no danger of that I must say I disagree: agents of the state can be a danger even in relatively free periods.

"People like you make the world think American gun owners are all wackos looking to blow the rest of the world away, I got news for you, we are not all like you."

No; people like the anonymous commenter raise some valid points that go to the nature of the 2nd amendment; mainly what to do if confronted with government tyranny. The impression of the wacko that wants to blow the rest of the world away is a projection. Citizens’ acting in a truly martial capacity, especially against their own government, is a scary thought. So instead of confronting it & the issues that would bring it up it's much easier to fall back on the image the MSM has crafted of gun owners. Throw in the group punishment angle & you have what amounts to a very slick psychological/PR trick. Gun owners turn on gun owners who seem too pro-gun.

But no where did I see anything that implied the anonymous commenter wanted to blow anyone away. The most he did was mention that the ATFU is our enemy which is a running theme around these parts. & not without reason.

"Your logic does not hold up either. Following today’s laws has NOTHING to do with your imaginary law that might one day be enforced."

That imaginary law isn't that imaginary. In fact it's pretty much standard worldwide. Only in the u.S. is it not the predominant law & in certain places in the u.S. it is in fact the dominant law.

But no one is saying because we have one gun control law they'll want us to pass an outright ban. It's because the goal of our opponents is an outright ban that some folks are worried about it. & before anyone gets smug I should remind you that Bush would have gladly signed a renewal of the "assault weapons" ban which made AK-47's pricier & harder to have (to some degree). I have no doubts that he'd have went along with a strengthened AWB & who knows what other forms of gun control.

But it is a real possibility. Maybe not this year or next but ten, twenty years down the line it's really not that certain that we'll be any better off than England.

"I’ll dare you to go into as many gun shops as you can. Ask them how to convert your AK47 into a Full Auto, see how many will tell you how to do that. Then promise me you’ll recite your little speech. I bet you don’t have the guts to do that. You only want to type your thoughts to me."

K, I admit it; it's tempting to ask Bubba to give his "full auto's are naughty & that's the law & there will never be really bad gun control laws here" speech to the folks at JPFO or GOA at their next public event. But it'd be non-productive. Well unless double dog dares escalated...

I really truly & completely understand why folks won't talk about full auto things to other folks unless they know they're either gunsmiths or Class III types. The ATFU has been harsh on anyone breathing info about full auto conversions. Wrongly, contrary to 2 constitutional amendments, but they've been harsh nonetheless.

The issue is the derision of those who would argue that full auto's have their place in civilian hands..

"LOL, you are a classic. I'll tell you what, you go build a website, and tell the world how to make a semi-auto AK into a full auto AK that will show me eh?"

If the 1rst amendment was respected, let alone the 2nd then someone could do just that without fear of governmental reprisals. It's sad that jest is made of such a grievous loss of freedom.

"The rest of the law abiding gun owners can join us here for information on a fun, cheap and interesting legal hobby."

well if certain local .gov's acted the same way the ATFU does then that'd mean only the law abiding gun owners from anyplace but Cali, NY, D.C. Chicago, Connecticut, Hawaii, Denver, Co & a few other places since the AK-47 is banned in those locales.

Get the point? Law abiding gun owner is not necessarily something to be proud of, since for example a law abiding gun owner in D.C. is all but an oxymoron (as opposed to the D.C. city council who are simply morons & simple morons to boot). But some folks will come down on a gun owner for not being as politically correct as the next guy. "More law abiding than thou" perhaps?

The laws making it difficult to nigh on impossible for most folks to own a full auto are not good things for this society or the individuals in it. It adds injury to injury to ridicule those who would question the law or even denounce it.

Someone said it before me but if a law passed nationally to require every gun to have a pink bow tied around the muzzle you'd be surprised how much the ribbon market would inflate as well as how derisive gun owners would be of those who didn't rush out & buy a tactical ribbon to show their law abidingness.

Bubba's not being an asshat because he's not explaining which parts to add to make a semi into a full auto. He's being an asshat because of the way he delivers that refusal. But what's worse is that he seems to honestly believe that the current state of laws is just fine (at least in regards to full autos) & that martial use of arms is not to be respected. He sees it solely as a hobby. & granted it can be a legal one but he also doesn't seem to see the dangers that could make that an illegal hobby.

Gun owners are a fragmented lot. Often the fragments are at odds with each other. Some of it can be chalked up to honest differences of opinion. But when the outcome is the harm of all the competing fragments then it's really important we start winning hearts & minds so to speak.

Bubba may be "lost". He could be so ingrained in his views that there's no changing his mind. But we have to try. Not just for Bubba's sake. Personally I could care less if someone who advocated the loss of one gun (or even passively accepted it) lost his favorite hobby gun down the road. But when we lose one we're that much closer to losing them all. & most importantly to me that means I'm one step away from losing mine.

Didn't someone once say something about a mistake that free people only get to make once? That mistake isn't just an insertion of the wrong word at the final drafting of a law. That mistake starts when the people accept infringements & even welcome them. It's often societally accepted prior to becoming law.

That's the danger we face & the harm that Bubba can cause. Not by being rude, but by being complacent & accepting. This is why we should try hard to win folks like Bubba over. Not even so much for his sake or even ours, but for our kids & grandkids who one day may argue with someone that no one really needs a cartridge powered firearm when BB guns work just fine & make for an interesting, legal hobby.

Posted by Publicola at July 25, 2006 04:45 AM | TrackBack