GUN FEAR A MENTAL CONDITION

The 214-year-old American right to keep and bear arms does not protect some sort of collective, or assembled militias, or armed forces, or a right of the states. Those newly minted arguments are now off the table, wiped out, dead. RKBA is a right you and I have as individuals. I've gotten the link a dozen times already, you may have too, and if not, here it is: http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm

However, since the bulk of resistance to the American right to arms has its roots in a medical condition, no amount of history, legal analysis, precedent, logic or argument will resolve the issue.

People who are terrified of and hate guns -- hoplophobes -- don't care about anything rational, and we waste our time on such arguments. They want guns to go away. They don't trust guns. They don't trust people who have guns, and especially people who like guns. The only exception is "official" people with guns, meaning, they're from the government, a source of relief. I know, I know, that's irrational. But that's the nature of the disease, and it will not be fixed by DOJ reports.

The more intelligent of the hoplophobes may give up their you-have-no-rights argument due to the DOJ report, but it won't stop them one bit. They will seize on anything else, because hoplophobia is an irrational fear. Conveniently, the language of the report itself says that the limits of this individual right have not been clearly defined. To a hoplophobe, that means your right to arms can be legally limited to a single gun, with a single round, that does not operate, and is locked away, with government holding the key. And even that leaves them nervous.

We don't need more arguments or some DOJ paper that finds what we already know and have exercised for two centuries. Oh, I guess the intellectuals on our side will make some use of it, and it may have some positive effects in some courts. What we really need is research and medical-treatment programs for the poor, unfortunate people who are terrified of guns, won't go near guns, who would not defend themselves or their families if they had to, and who, very plainly, hate guns.

It must be confronted vigorously, righteously, and in a forthright manner. Logic and law do not confront hate, or help lessen it. We must learn not to tolerate gun hate, anywhere we find it. Hoplophobic behavior in government, schools, and all facets of public life must be recognized for what it is, exposed, and rooted out or treated. Seemingly utopian pacifists are free to profess their love of a weapon-free world, but they must start by disarming the evil, criminal and tyrannical. Disarming the general public is a vent for their twisted fear and hatred, a grotesque affront to freedom, and unacceptable.

Guns save lives. Guns stop crime. Guns are why America is still free. The history of freedom is inextricably tied to the development of weapons (an interesting study, by the way, if you have the time to examine it). Good people need guns. Efforts to end that are immoral and unjust, and when done by government, is a direct failure to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution." That's a violation of the oath of office, which should lead to removal from office and possibly even criminal charges. The people we elect or hire for public service should be screened for latent or overt gun hatred, and disqualified if such hatred is found, before it can do any more harm to our nation and its values.

It is well past the time when the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the catalog of recognized mental infirmities, includes "hoplophobia," in all its forms, and serious medical research is conducted to identify and treat this pernicious condition that threatens us all. The doctors among you should begin raising this issue. If you're not a doctor but have one or two, ask them about it.

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CHICAGO IRRATIONALITY RESISTED

Illinois hunters and gun dealers are trying to shoot down a flurry of gun-control proposals they say rose from fear in the streets of Chicago, far from the downstate prairies and woods where guns are appreciated for sport. They see no room for compromise on Chicago-led efforts to ban assault weapons and .50-caliber rifles and ammunition, and they oppose proposals to require background checks for gun-show purchases and to limit gun buyers to one handgun per month. "The problem is once you start banning things, where does it end?" said Dan Brookman, a retired police officer who owns a gun dealership in Pana, midway between Springfield and Effingham. "Banning is nothing but censorship. Once they're done with the Second Amendment, they could move on to the First."

Chicago officials say they understand the sensitivity of gun measures in Illinois and have carefully tailored their proposals over the years to minimize the impact on hunters. A bill to require statewide licensing of gun dealers, for example, would apply only to handguns, not rifles or shotguns. "We're very conscious of the upstate-downstate views on guns," said John Dunn, Chicago's deputy director of governmental affairs. But gun dealers and advocates say the proposals this year illustrate just how little politicians know about guns. Banning .50-caliber ammunition, for example, would affect guns used for deer hunting, not just the high-powered rifles that gun control advocates are targeting, said Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, a group affiliated with the NRA.....

There is an age-old divide between Chicago and the rest of the state that often focuses on who gets the biggest slice of state money for roads and other projects, but when it comes to guns, the differences are polarizing. "In rural areas, guns are much more of a way of life-- part of a tradition, a part of growing up that creates bonds between parents and their children. In urban areas, guns are seen as a threat or a way to protect yourself," said Robert Bradley, an Illinois State University political science professor. Many downstate hunters worry that any attempt to restrict gun rights, even if it seems innocuous, will open the door to even tighter restrictions.

In the Illinois Legislature, gun votes tend to split along urban-rural lines rather than political party. The governor, meanwhile, is caught between cultures. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Chicago Democrat, has praised Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's gun-control efforts, but he has been criticized by gun-control advocates for doing nothing to prevent their bills from being rejected by committees this year while proposals to let Illinoisans carry concealed handguns have advanced. At the same time, downstate gun advocates believe Blagojevich favors Chicago and gun control. "They say they're pro-gun when they run and once they're elected they change," said Corey Partridge, who owns a gun and hunting shop in Harrisburg, at the edge of the Shawnee National Forest....

Gun supporters say if lawmakers really want to deter crime they should allow concealed carry. "Why should the criminals have all the guns? They're carrying them and the rest of us aren't allowed to," said Betty Richardson of Springfield, a 64-year-old retiree who took up target shooting two years ago for self-defense. Ron Barrington, owner of a Peoria gun shop, agrees, saying criminals will "think twice when they don't know who's armed and who isn't."

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Wyoming: No charges in shooting death: "No charges will be filed in the shooting death of a Montana man at a campground last weekend after an investigation determined the shooting was likely 'justifiable,' according to the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department. Larry P. Thomas, 44, of Roundup, Mont., was found dead Sunday afternoon from a single gunshot wound near the Five Springs Campground, Sheriff Dave Mattis said. 'All the information we have now' indicates Thomas was shot while he was assaulting a man, Mattis said. That man and another man were detained in the Big Horn County Jail while police investigated. 'We're not saying that the homicide was entirely justifiable, but we're saying no charges will be filed,' Mattis said. "All the information we have now" indicates Thomas was shot while he was assaulting a man, Mattis said. That man and another man were detained in the Big Horn County Jail while police investigated. "We're not saying that the homicide was entirely justifiable, but we're saying no charges will be filed," Mattis said.... When the two men left in their vehicle, Thomas rammed them from behind with his pickup "for some unknown reason" and off the roadway, according to a sheriff's office news release. Thomas then attacked the driver of the first vehicle and began slamming his head against rocks. The passenger of the first vehicle grabbed his rifle, warned Thomas to stop and shot him after he continued to beat the other man's head into the rocks, according to the sheriff's office."