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WISE UP!
Give us 5 Minutes, and we'll Wise You Up

Past issues July 2006
"The only way anyone gets this gun away from me is by prying it from my cold, dead hands."
                     Charlelon Heston, President of the National Rifle Association

Shoot your mouth off 

More than 11,000 people every year are shot to death in the US, and another 15,000 commit suicide by gunshot.  More Americans die of (non-military) gunshot wounds than the rest of the world combined.  According to studies, you're way more likely to be shot with your own gun than to shoot a criminal with it.  On a per-use basis, guns are much more lethal than cars or the most dangerous industrial machinery, yet guns are much more loosely controlled.

Sounds scary, but Wise Up!  Don't let people play with your emotions.  Gun deaths are tragic, but did you know that 10,000 more people die in auto accidents every year in the US?  And that tobacco-related deaths account for 400,000 more people than guns?

It's time to face a basic reality about gun control in the US:  Americans want to own guns, and majority rules.  According to the US ATF bureau, there are over 220 million guns in use in the US, owned by 80 million Americans.  That's roughly equivalent to automobile ownership.  Even if you could pass tough gun control, it would be nearly unenforcible.

On the other side, did you know that the Supreme Court already ruled (US vs Miller, 1939) that the second amendment applies only to guns used in militias, and they ruled that the constitution does not specifically protect an individual's right to own guns for private purposes?

Our friends in the NRA have never accepted this, and support some seriously nutty things:

  • Did you know that anybody, including a known terrorist, can buy assault weapons today?  These are the AK-47s and Uzis that can't be used for target practice or game hunting:  their only purpose is to kill people (usually blacks or policemen).  You can thank the NRA for that, as they argue that any restriction on the second amendment must be stopped.  

  • Did you know that the NRA is fighting for your right to have guns in the workplace?  The NRA is trying to outlaw "gun free work zones," so we can all worry about coworkers going berserk because they can't smoke a cigarette in the office... even though they can have guns there.

Find out more...

  • You Debate: Provides some interesting arguments and data, pro and con

  • The NRA:  National Rifle Association has over 3.5 million members

  • StopThe NRA:  The loyal opposition


What did we get wrong?

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