What Do Flat Earthers and Gun Control Advocates Have in Common?

[Valin]

Pajamas Media:

Frank J. Fleming
7/21/10



They say there are still people who believe the earth is flat. Despite all the evidence, despite the logic of the earth being a sphere, despite the pictures from space, despite the fact you can fly over the poles — there are some people who still cling to their silly, completely disproved notion of a flat earth. It’s like for some completely unfathomable reason they made the choice to be stupid and will not be moved from that position. It seemed like an urban legend to me — that there were some people out there perhaps pretending to believe in a flat earth, only as a gag — until I saw there were some people with just as stupid and illogical beliefs who I know aren’t part of a hoax: the few people left in the U.S. who still support increasing gun control.

Yes, they are a dwindling few and have been for some time, but they are still out there, and it’s completely inexplicable. And we’re not just talking weirdos on some obscure board on the internet; these are actual public officeholders working on laws. And they are completely unmovable by even the most basic logic and facts.

When states first started passing right-to-carry laws, the gun control people warned of a return to the Wild West where people would shoot each other at the drop of the hat and criminals would become more violent in retaliation. Now, decades later, there are shall-issue laws in at least forty states, where anyone who is not a felon can carry a handgun. Crime has gone down. None of the gun control proponents’ wild-eyed fantasies have come true. The rare outbreak of random violence — the shooting spree — happens almost exclusively in “gun-free” zones. So what are the arguments of pro-gun control people now when there is a proposal to relax gun laws? They use the exact same arguments they used twenty-five years ago as if nothing has changed!

(Snip)