Hillary Clinton calls for renewed assault weapons ban: they're a 'weapon of war'

[Igel]

28. A lot of people would disagree with your restrictive, narrow framing of the issue.

There's no reason to learn algebra, unless you're going to go on to learn and use calculus.

There. Now perhaps 10% of the high school body will need to be involved in any math beyond fractions.

There's no reason to learn to play an instrument or sing, unless you're going to be professional--and even then, many professional musicians have no formal training.

Bam. No need to have more than some training in music in schools.

Except there are other reasons to learn algebra or music. My first statement, "there's no reason to learn algebra (music) unless ..." is invalid. It's an assertion that is assumed to be true without proof or evidence, in hopes that nobody will disagree with the linguistic manipulation involved. It's a time honored advertising practice. Lakoff has taken it over as some sort of virtuous population-manipulating technique that he's called "framing." It's bad when they do it, it's good when we do it.

Similarly, "there's no reason to be carrying a weapon at all, unless ..." is a flawed premise. My brother hauls a fair arsenal with him every Sunday to the range. He's a master target shooter, won state championship a few years and goes to regional and national championships. And, yes, he has an AK-15. It's his fun practice.

I even had a roommate who'd lug weapons with him on a routine basis in his car. He was a salesman, often went to neighboring towns and bergs, and during hunting season he'd carry guns in his trunk. He seldom had to go on hunting trips becaused he'd bag his deer on the way home from work. He'd do the same thing with shotguns during bird-hunting season and with fishing poles during salmon or trout seasons.

Of course, there were hunting trips if he didn't bag a deer or his birds, and friends would go on hunting trips, too. Day trips and weekends. And, yes, most of the time they'd have semi-automatics. More convenient. And a more secure kill.

Especially since this was Oregon and one of the items in the news fairly regularly was when some pot growers would hack out a spot in the forest for raising their harvest. A hunter or hiker or camper would run across it and that would end badly. So the state warned hunters and hikers to stay on the path, with a more subdued warning to stay alert and if you're in certain parts of the forest to be armed. Just in case.

A different roommate carried a gun because he was a bit paranoid. Had a CWP. He drove an armored truck. He often biked to work. He figured there was an elevated risk of his being apprehended by thieves, either going to work or after entering security codes at work. Or, perhaps, at home. So he had a decent arsenal. He was especially antsy after an armored truck robbery was reported in the news. Yes, he was a bit paranoid, but in some ways it was merited.