Friends:
I for one fully support Zumbo's right to his opinion.It is his absolute right and he should suffer no personal or legal injury for his position. Never the less, we are all accountable for what we say. As for the opinion he has espoused? I just believe it is not only wrong, incorrect,and wrongheaded , but basically illogical. I think he has a flawed understanding of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and, even worse, completely misunderstands human nature when it comes to politicians with an anti-gun agenda.
In classical western ( read "Christian" ) philosophy, objects are not moral, or immoral, they merely "are". It is men who are actors, and men commit "good" or "evil" acts. Only men have morality. It is therefore illogical and anthropomorphic to ascribe to arms ( inanimate objects)a moral coloration. Is a 30 round firearm " evil", but a 10 round firearm " good", or is it merely less evil? Does that make a two-barrel gun "more good"? My carry gun contains 9 rounds. Would it be "more good" if I only carried 7 rounds? If I use my nasty 30 round black rifle to defend my family against a home invasion does that make it " more good" or "less evil"? Would I be "more moral" or more justified if I had used my Ithaca NID for the same pupose, and just reloaded a lot?
Questions such as these, and the logical responses to them demonstrate the silliness of the false " good gun" versus "bad gun" dichotomy.
The false dichotomy "good-gun vs. bad-gun" is a game played by the gun banners, and played well. The intent is to seperate gun owners into small competing tribes, each of which may be defeated in turn. The accomodationists fall right into the hands of our opponents.
As for the use of an AR as a sporting arm? The AR types are now the most common type used for high power rifle competition in this country, not to mention "practical" and "service" rifle competition. In my part of Texas, I see a lot of them on gunracks of pickup trucks, where they do service as " ranch rifles". I know a few coyote hunters who swear by them as well. I cannot believe that Zumbo is not aware of this, but perhaps he is not. Maybe he needs to get out more.
Regards
GKT
