Gunning for the middle ground in firearms debate

star ledger ^ | August 22, 2009

[Coleus]

There are two universes of American gun culture. In one universe, the Second Amendment is a stanchion of protected American freedoms, as sacred as free speech. In this universe, when the right to bear arms dies, so does a free America. In another universe, guns make blood run in our city streets. They kill and maim criminals and innocent alike, make good people prisoners in their own homes.

Last week in New Jersey, it wasn't hard to visit both universes. At the Riverdale Pistol Club Range in Passaic County, instructors from the National Rifle Association were teaching first-timers how to safely fire handguns during a stringent all-day seminar. In this universe, the power of the gun is feared, but mastered for protection.

At the Betty Shabazz housing project in Newark, residents were angry over the shootings of a neighbor and her adult granddaughter, both caught in the crossfire of a turf war. Here, the power of the gun is not mastered. In this universe, the gun is no instrument of protection; it is a cause for fear.

Fear. It drives people to get guns in both universes. Statistics -- from FBI background checks to gunmaker profits -- show enormous leaps in gun permit applications and purchases over the last year. "People are telling us, "I better buy before I can't,' " said Paul Raynolds, an NRA instructor, who was at Riverdale to teach a mixed crowd of men and women, from teenagers with their parents to near octogenarians.

"Many people feel the current administration is anti-firearm, and the government wants to regulate firearms to a greater degree." he said. "Last year, we did one class every six weeks up here. Now we're doing them every two, and we can't keep up."

[SuperLuminal]

"Middle ground"!!??

This article's title clearly demonstrates the absolute idiocy of the nitwit who conjured it up!