Because what we really need to make guns safer, and shooters (spree, gang, whomever) less able to kill, are gun silencers.
Really.
'This Silencer Awareness Campaign is today’s gun lobby in a bottle. The coordinated effort brings together the whole family: manufacturers, dealers, the gun press, rightwing lawmakers at every level of government, and the NRA. Each are doing their part to chip away at federal gun regulation in the name of profits and ideology. Together, they plan to strip the longstanding regulatory regime around silencers, and reintroduce them to the gun-buying public as wholesome, children-friendly accessories, as harmless as car mufflers.'
The goal, of course, is protecting children's hearing. Because we can't have pistol-packing teachers blowing away maniacs in school rooms without due consideration of how it might affect the hearing of the tots. And, of course, it's a key way to make sure kids can go to the shooting range — or hunting, or simply plinking away at tin cans — without suffering from the ravage of gun-related tinnitus.
'“Billions of dollars are spent every year in our healthcare system for hearing loss conditions, such as shooting-related tinnitus,” explained the NRA. It was a very important point that had long been overlooked in the gun control debate; because if there is a single pressing gun safety issue in America today, it is the hearing, comfort and convenience of recreational shooters who find orange earplugs unsightly. The NRA is also extremely concerned about the fright children may receive from shooting or standing near the reports of high-caliber weapons. These jolts could have a lasting and detrimental developmental impact, possibly imbuing America’s impressionable and tender young brains with the notion that guns are loud, dangerous things. The NRA firmly believes that American freedom is best served by giving 9mm gunfire the feel and sound of a toy cap gun. As the NRA’s Lacey Biles put it during last April’s Dallas Silencer Shoot, silencers are good for “getting younger folks involved [in guns]. They’re less afraid of the loud bang.”'
Yes. Don't be afraid of the loud bang, kids. Slip on a silencer and learn the joys of shooting at things. But quietly.
Embedded Link
Silencers: The NRA’s latest big lie
Silencers could give the next Adam Lanza even more time to kill — but to the NRA, they protect kids’ hearing
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Huh. And here I thought a gun silencer was to help the killer/assassin be more effective by not warning his next target. I didn't realize the manufacturers were doing it to protect bystanders' hearing. Silly me. Now I know. Thanks Smith & Wesson, you really do care!
The article goes at length into the origin of the modern silencer (yes, pretty much as you suggest, +Scott Jacobs) and how now the NRA thinks it's totally unfair that the poor device has been so tainted by movies and TV as the tool of assassins and hit men.
What. The. Hell?
Yeah. I think the suggestion in the article that a move for the repeal of the fully automatic weapons ban (or, rather, heavy registration and control of those weapons) is not only possible, but quite likely. "When machine guns are outlawed, only outlaws have machine guns. And kids just love machine guns!"
Ah. So those large magazines are obviously to avoid repetitive stress injuries from constantly swapping out small magazines. Thanks, gun manufacturers, for your concern over our health!