Control the terminology and you control the conversation.
Saturday Night Special. Junk guns. Assault weapons. Hidden guns. Gun Show Loophole.
Those words and phrases created by the gun ban industry move public opinion in favor of restricting gun ownership. It's smart, and it's effective. They literally make up a word or phrase, attach their own definition to it, and get their pals in the media to parrot it to the point where it becomes a part of the lexicon, and "everyone knows" what it means. Case in point: Most non-gun people you ask would say that an "assault weapon" is a machine gun. That incorrect impression was and is the goal of the bogus term from the beginning.
Now in Washington State, Dave Workman reports, a legislator (almost certainly at the suggestion of a gun-ban lobbyist), when calling for a ban on bump stocks, used the newly-minted term "machine gun loophole." Anyone who has followed the fight on the mythical "gun show loophole" knows this term excites and confuses the public into thinking that someone
who takes advantage of a provision of the law is trying to break the law when that person is complying with the law. The gun-ban industry has successfully brainwashed millions into thinking that that complying with a law (obeying the law) is an attempt to do the opposite.
Definition:
Loophole: 3. a means of escape or evasion; a means or opportunity of evading a rule, law, etc.:
One person's "loophole" is what others see as simply a provision in the law.
The ATF ruled that a bump stock is not a machine gun and does not turn a firearm into a machine gun. That agency is now reviewing that matter, but at this time, buying and using a bump stock is LEGAL, and certainly is not a loophole. But if you want to ban them, the term "loophole" can be very effective.
Take that tact several steps forward, and since we know that the ultimate goal of the gun-ban industry is to ban guns ("If I had been able to get the votes ... turn them all in Mr. and Mrs. America" -- Pelosi), shown by their historic attempts to ban all handguns, ban small handguns, ban semi-auto rifles, ban accurate rifles ("sniper rifles"), and ban any subset they can get away with until they can come back and get more later, I think it's not a stretch to say they think of the Second Amendment as the ultimate Gun Loophole.
The gun-ban lobby and the media (but I repeat myself) hammer this subject every ... single ... day. If you are in a fight, and you stop fighting, or even just slack off, what happens? You lose.
Every ... single ... day. Step one. Stay informed. Also, be careful of your sources. There are a couple of gun-rights groups which are really just money-making machines -- usually done by saying they are the only true no-compromise group. They accomplish little to nothing, but they do divide gun rights supporters.
Visit Keep and Bear Arms a couple of times a week to get the news on gun rights. Listen to Gun Talk Radio and share the podcasts. Subscribe to the Gun Talk YouTube channel and "like" and "follow" us on Facebook and Instagram. Follow me on Twitter, where I'm @guntalk.
Check to make sure your memberships in gun rights groups are current.
And never let a lie go unchallenged. ~ Tom
Tom Gresham
Author, outdoorsman, gun rights activist, and firearms enthusiast for more than five decades, Tom Gresham hosts Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, the first nationally-syndicated radio show about guns and the shooting sports, and is also the producer and co-host of the Guns & Gear, GunVenture and First Person Defender television series.
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