Via Joe Huffman from The View from North Central Idaho (the Boomershoot guy.) It’s a five-parter, starting off with a piece by Abigale Kohn (author of Shooters: Myths and Realities of America’s Gun Cultures), with replies by Don Kates, journalist Wendy Kaminer (who I was unfamiliar with) and Professor Michael Krauss. Then Kohn comments on her commenters. It’s entitled Straight Shooting on Gun Control. The opening essay by Ms. Kohn somewhat echoes my observations from last month in Perhaps the Momentum Really Has Shifted, in that things appear to be going our way for a change, but I think her conclusions drawn from that are erroneous.
Spoiler alert: I agree completely with Don Kates. Wendy Kaminer has a burr under her saddle about the NRA, but I tend to agree with her regarding the NRA’s support for the War on (some) Drugs™ (if not on anything else). I was also unfamiliar with Prof. Krauss, but I like him! Check this quote:
Abigail Kohn clearly has come to a nuanced understanding of gun owners. That would be unremarkable for the majority of Americans who already understand gun owners (because they are, or are closely related to, gun owners). The fact that Kohn finds her understanding noteworthy is an indication of the ignorance that prevails among those who have a negative attitude toward guns, among whom I assume Kohn once counted herself. In that sense, her essay reads much like an article urging people not to fear the Jews because they don’t really drink the blood of Christian babies: Reading it makes one sad that it’s needed, but perhaps it will do some good. So two cheers for this essay.
Yowsa! You tell ’em Professor!
He gets better from there.
I recently read Kohn’s book, and I enjoyed seeing the gun-rights world through the eyes of a former gun-phobe, but Kohn still hasn’t gotten a grip on the realities of guns and gun owners in this country, nor apparently, on the efficacy of “gun control” on crime. But read the piece. It’s very interesting. Thanks, Joe!