Penn Argues Gun Control on Wendy Williams

For those who don’t know me well let me just say this. I love Penn and Teller. I love their magic, I love their TV shows and I love their commentary on current events on society. I’m a liberal Democrat, I think that gay marriage should be legal, I don’t think we should spill our blood for oil, I think we need alternative fuel sources and get rid of gasoline, and I think a lot of corporations are evil mother fuckers. But I’m not for gun control, so I think that throws people off. “Wait, you can’t be a democrat! You’re not for gun control!” To that I say, “Go fuck yourself.”

I used to be for gun control after I watched “Bowling for Columbine” with a friend while in high school. I thought it made so much sense at the time, but I was just young, stupid, and idealistic. Sure, it would be great if guns just suddenly disappeared and world peace commenced, but I’m a realist and I know that is not going to happen. When I started to get older I started to realize that maybe, just maybe Michael Moore was wrong. So I watched “Bowling for Columbine” again and after the movie and I walked away with a completely different view on gun control.

I think Michael Moore makes some good points and I don’t believe the entire movie and its content should be thrown out. It’s like the movie “Zeitgeist”, it has some good information in it, but don’t just follow the whole movie and what it says, pick and choose what you think is best, rather than taking the whole thing as truth.

I do the same with Penn and Tellers show, “Bullshit”. It’s a great show and it has great arguments and information. I sometimes agree with everything they say in any one of their episodes, but there are some episodes that I think are bullshit and some things they say which I don’t agree with. They even say in their show to not take what they say as the absolute truth, that they are just two assholes who have a research team and want to rant about subjects they think are crazy. So do the thinking yourself, don’t let them do it.

I came across this Youtube.com video last night that has Penn on the Wendy Williams Show debating gun control. The video starts off with Penn saying that most people who have guns don’t use them. This is true, but mere facts don’t stop these ladies at all. They continue to say that the old saying “if you have a gun you better know how to use it” translates to “if you have a gun you use it all the time.” The argument that if you have a gun you’re going to use it holds no water.

My favorite line from Penn is at the beginning when he says, “most people are overwhelmingly good.” And I believe that, because if it weren’t true then what type of society would we be living in today? Most likely one that is not very friendly. It would be a society where you would really be afraid of absolutely everything.

The idea that there are 320 million people in America and 310 million guns does not translate to “almost everyone owns a gun.” The numbers don’t work out that way, we all know that, and we shouldn’t say stupid things like that.

Then the argument about violent movies and video games came up. These women actually believe that violent video games and movies encourage or inspire kids to commit school shootings. This bullshit is so far out of left field, there is no proof to back up the claim that violent games and media create killers.

Penn brought up a great point about this too. He says you can’t blame Shakespeare’s work for the violence that happens in the real world. For hundreds of years people have been trying to blame things in art for the violent crimes that are committed. Shakespeare’s work has suicide and murder and is shows the darker side of human nature and a beautiful side as well. He makes the comparison to art and says these violent video games are forms of art, and you can’t blame art for making people go crazy and wanting to kill people, it just doesn’t happen.

Penn got real upset by the middle of the debate when of the women said that Adam Lanza was border line aspergers and that he was inundated with violence from games like Call of Duty and decided to just go on a rampage. Penn stopped her and said that we shouldn’t be attacking people with aspergers and that they are not violent people and video games certainly don’t make them any more violent than people who don’t have aspergers.

But of course they still pushed the issue that violent video games make kids crazy by arguing that Adam Lanza’s favorite video game was Call of Duty. Penn immediately lays the smack down on them by simply stating that many peaceful people play Call of Duty.

“Call of Duty is the most popular game there is. Everyone’s playing it so of course bad people are gonna play it too. To try to blame Shakespeare and the violence in Shakespeare and the violence in art for violence that happens in the real world is something that’s been tried for years and is always wrong. People must take responsibility. We must stop blaming society and start blaming the perpetrator. Call of Duty is something young people like and enjoy and it’s a game and most of those people aren’t violent, most of the people are good and we have to stop disliking our children. We attacked comic books we attacked monster movies, now we’re attacking video games. Love our children, take care of our children and let them play.”

Wendy goes on to say that Jamie Fox says that there can be no doubt that violence in movies and video games has an effect on our children, to which case Penn replies, “Well Jamie Fox is wrong.” And besides, who the fuck cares about what Jamie Fox has to say? Has he done any research? No, it’s just a good thing to say on a TV show because he is a celebrity; therefore he CAN’T be wrong, right? Fucking morons.

“Blame the killers, not the artists,” Penn cries during the show after the incredibly stupid comments made by Wendy Williams about violence in movies and games. “Why are you blaming artists for something that bad people did? Shakespeare is not a bad person, he wrote beautiful stuff. It has suicide, it has murder, and it tells us something about our hearts and people who watch Shakespeare don’t kill, and Call of Duty is art, it is not some sort of propaganda thing.”

I think Penn is right on the money with this one. We have to stop blaming our society, our artists, our film makers, our video game designers, and start loving our children, taking care of them, make sure to listen to them and not blame the artists for the crimes committed by a bad person.

We act as thought the mere existence of guns and violent content in our society is the main cause for mental illness or aggressive behavior when they are not. The people who committed the crimes, regardless of whether or not they are mentally ill or narcissistic, or psychotic, or none of the above should be the ones who we blame, not society!

I think Penn did a great job, but unfortunately the shrews on the Wendy Williams show would barely let him speak and he had to speak over them many times to get his valid points across.

I think if Wendy Williams wants to blame video games for violent behavior then she should blame her show for making people agree with her stupid comments because she has an applause light that flashes every time she makes her point. During the entire video the audience claps for both Penn’s comments and Wendy’s comments, but how can that be when Penn and Wendy are on two opposite sides of the argument? If the audience confused, or are they just being inundated with an applause light that makes them clap when stupid comments are made? I think if she can make the argument that video games make kids aggressive then I can make the argument that she show makes people stupid and forces people to agree with her because she can flash a light which triggers human beings to agree with bullshit comments.

In the end you could tell Penn was upset with the idea that people who have aspergers syndrome can become violent by playing video games, simply because they have issues with what is socially acceptable or not. He ended the video by interrupting Wendy as she was about to go to commercial break by saying, “Aspergers syndrome people don’t become violent, there’s no evidence of that. They’re friends of mine, I love them.”

All I can say is, you rock Penn, and I love you for trying to set these women straight, even though they tried to shut you down multiple times. It is time to stop blaming guns and society and start blaming the perpetrators and stop ignoring our children. 

Why Gun Control Doesn't Work

The gun control debate in our country is in full swing as Democrats and Republicans use the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for their own political purposes. Diane Feinstein has already proposed a bill which will ban certain “firearm characteristics” such as semi-automatics, certain rifles, and even some hand guns. The purpose of which is to try to lower the amount of violent gun crimes. 

Of course this has the right-wingers up in arms, who believe that in order to stop events like Sandy Hook from happening again we need to place armed guards in our schools to protect our children.

Both sides are showing their claws on this one, with Republicans claiming that Democrats are attacking the constitution and the Second Amendment. Whereas Democrats are saying that those guns are killing people and they must be regulated more heavily.

Both sides are on TV as well, debating whether or not armed guards are the answer or gun bans. This is sort of interesting seeing as how the fiscal cliff is looming over our heads like a soggy diaper full of economic slavery and the media is focused on gun control, so my guess is Sandy Hook happened at just the right time so politicians can distract us from the real issues at hand.

I don’t think armed guards are the answer, nor do I think gun control is the answer. But with this new proposal being made I just have to get up and say something about this. As Americans we really need to focus on the real issues at hand, and whereas this issue of school shootings is a real thing that needs focus we must never forget what else is going on in our country.

So buckle up people, because I’m going to smash the gun control argument and talk about the violent over throw of the United States government, Reno style.

First off, let’s talk about the Second Amendment and the right to bare arms. There seems to be a lot of confusion over this amendment, both sides claiming that it actually means this or actually means that. But why is it we can’t understand this amendment? It’s all over one little comma. Let’s take a look at 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.”

OK, a militia to protect the state…so a military, that makes sense. And let’s see here…the right of the people to bare arms shall not be infringed. Seems to be pretty straight forward to me, but the debate that gun control proponents try to use lies within that little comma that’s separating the militia part from the people part, saying it’s just a slight…pause…to catch your breath. Let’s read the amendment one more time.

“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.”

You see it’s not the right of the militia to keep and bare arms that shall not be infringed; it’s the right of the people. That’s the PEOPLE as opposed to the MILITIA, two completely separate things which are clearly worded in this amendment. That’s really all there is to the Second Amendment. There aren’t many words at all, just very specific ones.

And why would the Founding Fathers put this in the Bill of Rights? Because the PEOPLE just got done fighting a war, for two years, against a tyrannical state MILITIA that tried to disarm them and make them submit. They knew that the time would come again for the America people to rise against the government, and they wanted the PEOPLE to be prepared for the next revolution by arming themselves. This idea is still very real today, as we are Americans and it is our duty as Americans to pick up our guns and revolt against the government when it’s not doing what we want it to...but unfortunately it’s a duty we have seemed to forgotten. A democracy can only be a true democracy when the PEOPLE have the power to overthrow their rulers and their MILITIA when it’s needed.

Funny, these gun control proponents can’t seem to point out any other places where these hack framers fucked up the wording.

All gun control really does is take the gun out of the law abiding citizens hand and put it into the criminal’s hands. Criminals, who have no regard for the law, will go out and buy these illegal weapons for the specific intent of committing a crime and hurting someone. A law abiding citizen, someone who does have respect for the laws, would not be buying these weapons to commit crimes or hurt people on purpose. So why are we taking the guns out of the good guys hands, essentially disarming the law abiding public?

A lot of people make the argument that there are millions of guns and that everyone has to have a gun because there are so many of them. So if that’s the case then why don’t we see these types of events all the time in the news? No, not everyone owns a gun, but a lot of people do, and if guns make people crazy and do bad things then why haven’t we wiped ourselves off the face of the planet yet? It’s because most people are good hearted folks and they don’t want to break the law or hurt anyone else.

Many pro-gun control folks say it’s because we don’t need these types of weapons, as if we may never have to rise up against a despotic government ever again. Many want guns completely banned, so no one can legally own a gun, believing that true law abiding citizens don’t arm themselves, they call the police. But disarming the public and allowing only the police and military to have firearms is a terrible idea. Think about it, who are you going to call against the police? Better yet how can you rise against your despotic government when the military has all of the power? You can’t, and that’s why we have the Second Amendment.

Let’s talk about school shootings…again. One of the ideas is that gun control will help prevent future school shootings from ever happening, but this can’t be further from the truth. Take Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for example. According to gun control proponents the shooting at Columbine high school could have never happened. Colorado had an assault weapons ban law on the books, a law that was meant to prevent bad people from getting a hold of powerful firearms and using them to commit crimes. Harris and Klebold both had illegal high powered assault weapons that used to commit their terrible act, killing a dozen and injuring more than twenty.

Crazy People 1 : Gun Control 0

The very idea that banning guns or limiting guns or any of that bullshit is to stop violent crimes from occurring, but when a crazy person wants to do something crazy he will find a way to do it, and no law will be able to stop him. Even if you were to outlaw guns completely they are still a very easy weapon to make, and if I can’t find one on the black market then I’m sure my pro-gun buddy who owns the metal shop could fashion one for me. Then I’ll go right up to you with it and shoot you in the face and you’re the only one who has paid the price.

Crazy People 2 : Gun Control 0

The fact is that these people have already broken gun control laws that were already in place. Gun Control laws with the specific intent to prevent these kinds of violent crimes from happening. That worked well, didn’t it? The odds of getting killed in a school shooting are 1/3,000,000. Holy shit, you have a better chance of being stuck by lightening for Christ’s sake!

Let’s talk about armed guards now. I don’t think we need them, because the whole idea of us having to place armed guards in our schools to protect our kids against gun violence when the odds are 1/3,000,000 is just alarmist bullshit. Your kids are just as safe in school today as they were before Columbine happened and before school shootings became a media hit.

But I do think that more states should allow conceal and carry laws so that the average citizen can own and carry their gun (hidden on their body) in public. I think this will in fact make violent crime rates go down, because you won’t know who’s packing.

Little experiment I got from Penn & Teller’s Bullshit show about gun control; let’s say every woman in the United States is issued a gun. They can do whatever they want with it, leave it at home, take it shopping with them, sell it, or give it away. Let’s say that only 50% of woman decide to keep their gun with them, are you really still going to risk mugging or raping a woman when you know there is a 50% chance that she’s got a gun?

So no we don’t need armed guards, we just need more people who are gun enthusiasts, and good law abiding people who have conceal and carry permits. It’s our duty to protect each other, and how can we do that when we aren’t armed and the criminals are?

I have to say that with these new gun control proposals I’m not really sure what the right to bare arms means any more. “You have the right to bare arms, but only the ones that we say you can have.” That does not sound like freedom to me at all. That sounds like the government telling me once again that I have the freedom to do something only if they like it. Is it right to allow the government to mandate that shit? Isn’t that kind of like the government telling you who you can or can’t marry, or forcing you to immunize your kids?

This is the exact reason the Second Amendment exists, to stop the government doing exactly this type of thing.

Think rationally folks, we don’t need armed guards in our schools, we don’t need more bullshit gun control laws, we just need more guns in the right hands, because when we make gun control laws we take guns out of the right hands and put them into the wrong hands. We can’t count on the government or the police or the military to get things done right, we can only count on ourselves.

The government says it is trying to make us safer by limiting our rights, and the scary part is that we are letting them. We allow email spying, wire tapping, freedom of speech violations, unlawful detentions, all kinds of crazy shit. Those were rights that people died fighting for so that we can have them and we’re just going to give them all away? We need to get back on the right track now.