THE QATSPY® GOLFER’S Inside-the-Leather Sport Page
By Charles W. Boatright
My Sports Page usually focuses on golf, sports, and fitness, but there is a topic that crosses from sports and the outdoors into the realm of Freedom and Liberty, and that is the 2nd Amendment.
Historical Facts of the 2nd Amendment
The Second Amendment- A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
The Revolutionary War would not have been fought and won if it weren’t for an armed citizenry called Minutemen. They used the very same rifle and musket for defense and for food that they used to fight an oppressive government. This was the same government that had Star Chambers to carry out the government’s justice.
The Second Amendment, as the founding Fathers were all too aware of, was not just for sporting and self-defense, but to protect against an oppressive and over- reaching government.
The Debate over the Confiscation of Weapons Proposed by 2020 Candidates and the 18th Amendment
As an amateur historian, I would like to bring to some Candidates’ attention that confiscation has been tried and failed miserably in the recent past in the United States History. The very law that meant to improve lives of the citizenry gave birth to one of our biggest crime waves since the Wild West was settled.
How many people remember reading in their history class in high school about the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution? It was referred to as Prohibition. The 18th Amendment made it illegal to manufacture, transport, sell, and distribute alcohol, other than for medical purposes.
After the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was ratified by two-thirds of the States on January 16, 1919, Prohibition gave birth to the moonshine industry, boot legging, and organized crime that this country has never seen. Even some political families profited from Prohibition with the creation of a black market they established to bring in liquor from Canada and Mexico.
When you hear politicians talk about confiscation of our firearms, they don’t have the best interest of our country in mind. They even state that they want law- abiding citizens to turn in their assault weapons. Do you see the irony in the term law-abiding citizens; law-abiding citizens don’t commit crime or mass murder. As a matter of fact, what they, the 2020 candidates, are proposing will put weapons in the hands of the criminal and take away your ability of defending yourself and your property. Prohibition proved that.
The Assault Weapons Argument
These same 2020 Presidential Candidates are just referring to assault weapons and weapons meant for the battle field, Right. For debate purposes, let’s look at just two (2) weapons that these candidates keep referring to in their debates. The AR-15 and the AK-47, both of which are semi-automatic. NOTE: Without a special license, gun owners can only purchase semi-automatic weapons legally. AR-15 is a popular hunting rifle that I would like to bring to the attention of these Presidential Candidates.
This ONE fact seemed to have escaped the vast knowledge of these candidates awareness of how these firearms are used.
Now let’s compare the AR-15 (.223) and AK-47 (7.62 X 39mm) rifles with another popular hunting rifle, the Remington Model 750 Woodmaster, which is also semi-automatic and has a capacity of 4 rounds. This rifle can be purchased to fire the .243, .270, .308, 30-06, and .35 Whelen. Comparing these three rifles, they have the same semi-automatic platforms that are gas-operated as the AR-15 and AK-47. The only real difference in the Model 750 Remington and both the AR-15 and the AK-47 rifles is the capacity.
Reviewing the Most Popular Battlefield Rifle
Now these candidates (Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris) state that they want to remove ONLY battlefield-type weapons off the market. Now the only weapon that gun owners can legally purchase without a special license is a semi-automatic rifle. One of the most popular battlefield weapons ever made was the Springfield M-1 Garand Rifle.
Both President Eisenhower, then Supreme Allied Commander, and General George S. Patton stated that the M-1 Garand Rifle was a significant factor in the U.S. Military in winning World War II. The M-1 Garand rifle is a 30-06 caliber semi-automatic, gas operated, with 8-round capacity. Compare that to the Remington Model 750 Woodmaster. The only difference again is capacity, 8-rounds with the M-1 Garand to the 4-rounds of the Model 750 Remington.
If I’m defending myself and my home, I want as many rounds as it takes to accomplish the job. Some of the experts in the media seem to think that one-to-three rounds is all you need to defend yourself or your home. They’ve never been in a firefight, or it has been a long time since they’ve been on a gun range taking target practice trying to hit a mobile target. Or they never been in a firefight or on a target range.
So we highlighted the only significant difference in what these candidates are calling battlefield weapons and hunting rifles is the capacity of these rifles. So it is not the type of rifle that is the issue with these candidates, these rifles (The Model 750 Remington, AR-15, and AK-47) has the same operational platforms, semi-automatic, gas operated. Just for argument’s sake, one of my favorite rifles is the Ruger Mini-30 (7.62 x 39). This is the same round that the AK-47 fires.
So if the AR-15 and the AK-47 rifles have the same platforms of semi-automatics, gas operated, except for the capacity of the magazine that can hold 5 to 15 rounds, the real issue comes down to the fact that these candidates just want to take away the Second Amendment to the Constitution and create the same issues that came with Prohibition. Prohibition created one of the most unsafe and unsecured era of American History.