By Peter Burrows – 10/29/19 - elburropete@msn.com - silvercityburro.com
In Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, Alice and Humpty Dumpty have the following exchange:
“When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
'The question is,' said Alice, whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.”
I always think of good old Humpty whenever I hear a Democrat talk about taking “assault rifles” off the street. Beto O’Rourke, for example, was bursting with self-righteous fervor when he recently said, "Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47."
Well, AR-15s and AK 47s are indeed assault rifles, which are defined as weapons that can be set for automatic or semiautomatic fire. In the automatic mode, such guns are essentially machine guns, which have been illegal to own since the Tommy Gun was outlawed in the 1930s.
Consequently, there are no AR 15s or AK 47s for Beto to take. The rifles he would like to confiscate are semiautomatic rifles that LOOK LIKE AR 15s and AK 47s. Functionally, such rifles are no different from any semiautomatic rifle, many of which are used for hunting.
No matter. An “assault rifle” is what Beto and the Humpty Dumpty Democrats choose it to mean. And since there is apparently no Republican with the knowledge, or perhaps the courage, to condemn the Democrats’ ignorance with the same fervor that Beto displays that ignorance, I guess the Democrats have also determined who is master.
The real tragedy of this “assault weapon” side-show is that it detracts from discussing some things that would actually reduce mass shootings. For example, laws that designate certain properties, such as schools, to be gun-free zones have proven to be counterproductive, as anybody with common sense would have guessed. More importantly, schools where teachers are armed have had NO shootings, mass or otherwise.
I’ll bet a burrito that Beto favors gun-free zones and opposes arming teachers. That would be in keeping with someone who wants to confiscate assault rifles that don’t exist. I'm sure he doesn't care. "Assault" is a useful Humpty Dumpty word for the gun control crusade, as is "crisis" for the climate change crusade.
In part Two, we'll look at what I think is the most outrageous perversion of language and truth now in vogue, more outrageous than "Islam is peace." Hint: It has to do with gender identity