
(Miniature) toy guns and the very-much-imaginary “pulse rifle”
The Daily Kos actually prints a story by one Jim Anton,”Guns, Goons and Georgia”: a screed from a man who is terrified of toy guns, imaginary guns and camera tripods. Ban camera tripods, because they could frighten someone? Really?
The Daily Caller’s Dan Cannon (no kidding) reports on the report.
First off, besides the content of the article (which we’ll get to), I can almost write an entire article on the image that was included with the post. The image is of a bunch of toy model guns, including a “Pulse Rifle,” you know a completely science fiction based firearm that doesn’t exist, even a little bit. The image is accompanied by a caption that reads “These guns can be purchased anywhere in Georgia and carried into a church, bar, school or library.” Sigh. Besides the fact that the guns are toys and/or non-existent, the quote is just wrong. The part of HB 826 that addressed school carry was only for licensed teachers (there was a separate bill that seemed to allow school carry, but it will likely have to be clarified in court) and churches have to specifically opt-in to allow carry.
Here’s the bit about scary tripods from Mr. Jim Anton:
I was determined not to let the obscenity of Guns Everywhere ruin my day. I would enjoy hiking with my grandchildren no matter what. So at 5:30 a.m., when my energy was high, and the air was particularly crisp and the forest full of song, I picked up the children.
We were hiking for about half an hour when I noticed a strange man coming towards us. What was that he was carrying? Was it a rifle of some kind? It looked unmistakably like a gun – a rifle or a shotgun.
But this was conservation land – in Massachusetts not Georgia! Even if he had a gun, I had no reason to worry… or did I? If he had a gun, it probably wasn’t loaded, and he was on his way to a target range. Through a conservation area???
When he got close enough, I realized that he wasn’t carrying a gun but a tripod in a carrying case. He was a nature photographer. He took pictures of living things instead of killing them. I thanked my lucky stars that I lived in a place where I could go for a very long walk with two small children, and not ever see a single person with a gun.
And if you still aren’t persuaded about the vileness of gun owners, Anton adds this clincher:
I went home and did some research. According to the latest U.S. census, Georgia has one of the highest poverty rates in America. It is in the bottom quartile when it comes to graduating students from high school, and is very low in achievement in higher education. It is also in the worst quartile when it comes to cigarette use, obesity and teen pregnancy.