It’s a Dark Road Robyn Wants to Travel
Robb Allen points out that our friend Robyn Ringler is twisting up logic like tornado through a trailer park:
Twelve babies have died in America so far this year by [heat stroke] in a parent’s car. Distraction, inattention, the simple fact of being human can result in the most tragic, devastating consequences.
We can all say this would never happen to us, but how do we know?
Just like there is no such thing as a parent who will never be negligent and never make a mistake, there is no such thing as a responsible gun owner who will never make a mistake.
Given the number of gun owning households in the United States, and the relatively low number of children who are dying in gun accidents, I think it’s safe to say that most gun owners don’t, in fact, make that sort of mistakes, just as most parents will never forget their kid in the car, and have it die of heat stroke.
Careless people will sometimes make careless mistakes. If you go down the path of taking away anything that people could be careless with, that could possibly hurt their children, then pretty soon you no longer live in a free society. Everyone will have their lives controlled so they no longer are free to make errors.
Robyn has come to this conclusion because she believes there is no good in having people possessing firearms. I strongly disagree with her on that. This is a classic example of trying to shift the debate into the realm of emotions, without serious consideration as to the consequences of following a certain line of thinking. Every can be guilty of it sometimes, but it is the stock and trade of the gun control movement.
UPDATE: Linoge in the comment says she’s participating in some good old fashioned reasoned discourse by deleting comments from pro-gun folks.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Robyn Ringler is a busybody with too much time on her hands. I’m sure her personal world is perfect, and that she has no issues that require her own attention, but she needs to mind her own damn business. Simple as that. I’ve grown weary of these people.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Yes, confiscate all cars immediately. It’s for the children!!!
August 16th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I have always loved how the actions of stupid, careless people are somehow extrapolated to equal the actions of all people, and therefor all people must be “helped” with their stupidity and carelessness.
Sure, some people are morons. It’s God’s way of keeping the population down.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Did the incident with the suffocated baby actually happen? I didn’t see a citation on it. It sounds more like the moral examples the nuns used to throw at us to prove a point, and that works in both directions, pro as well as con.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Yes, children die from being left in cars in hot weather. One woman lost two recently in Milwaukee despite leaving the windows slightly open.
No need to ban cars, just ban infant car seats.
August 16th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
It’s a fact that not everybody is fit to be a parent. I propose that we ban procreation.
August 16th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
No, they don’t want to ban procreation. They just want to license and register it after mandatory parenting classes and regular inspection of your home for safety. All following governmental approval after you’ve shown a “need” for it.
August 16th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
I conducted the following semi-scientific tests on my family.
I own snarkhot cars.
I built a 30k gallon swimming pool at my last home.
I have always had firearms.
I took my son to school everyday, up to high school, mostly by motorcycle.
No one ever got hurt. Just cause some other people get hurt will never sway me I need to be regulated.
August 16th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Well, so much for the surprisingly large comment I left on the post… it was deleted between its posting this morning and now.
It seems as though the “reasoned discourse” bug is contagious.
August 16th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Linoge… post it here
August 16th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
“…she believes there is no good in having people possessing firearms. I strongly disagree with her on that.”
Sorry, but you can’t disagree. You can only point out the fact that she is wrong. You don’t have the option of agreeing or disagreeing with facts– you either know them or you don’t. Or, you are either lying or you are telling the truth.
Opinions are for things like your favorite flavor of ice cream, or the women you find attractive. Facts are not subject to personal preference. Nor is the Constitution for that matter, so long as it is still in force– it doesn’t matter that some people feel your rights should be violated, your rights are still your rights. Too bad for those who hate your rights. They can leave the country, pound their heads into a wall, jump off a cliff, or start their own socialist community in Guyana.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Wish I had saved it, Sebastian. I was actually kind of proud of it… Oh well. (And I use IE, so no cache luck for me.)
August 16th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
… though I reconstructed it as best I could (with slightly more colorful verbage, granted), here: http://www.wallsofthecity.net/2007/08/if_at_first_you_do_not_succeed.html
(Honestly, I was not nearly that abrasive or confrontational in my first comment, in the slightest bit. Kind of hard to say that, given the language in my post, but her deleting my comment… irked me, slightly.)