3 thoughts on “Band-Aids & Guns”

  1. From the column:

    “At no other time in American history has the anti-gun movement felt so emboldened and powerful as they do right now.”

    A minor quibble: Yes, there was another time. 1968, after MLK and RFK were assassinated. And, they were successful. They had been gearing up since before JFK was assassinated in 1963, and JFK’s murder set the stage. They were ready when 1968 gave them their opportunities.

    1. When I look at what the GCA of ’68 did, plus all the follow on state laws in the ’70s, I suspect you’re right (I’m younger than you, got my start when I read about early ATF atrocities in “enforcing” it). It’s a major theme of Unintended Consequences, to show what things were like before and after.

      1. As I recall, Unintended Consequences has a page or two reproducing typical ads from “Ye Olde Hunter” in the pre-’68 period. Those ads would tear your heart out today, how easy it was to buy such a wide range of goodies from the comfort of your own home. And yes, I remember it well, because I was almost 23, and a year out of the Army, in 1968. My dad and I had bought more then one toy by mailorder in our time.

        The most important point about GCA ’68, from my viewpoint, was that not a single damn thing improved for anyone’s quality of life as a result of that legislation. But for gun hobbyists who had known the better days, our quality of life got worse. And every piece of “reasonable” gun control that has come along since has shared those characteristics.

        I often reflect on how, when you could buy a .38 S&W Enfield through the mail for $13.88, urban kids were making “zip-guns” out of car radio antennas; but now with all of those reasonable laws in place, and no way to order something cheap through the mail, they are often better armed than I am, with guns worth hundreds of dollars. Funny how all the outcomes to legislation were ass-backward from what they said would result.

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