Guns, Guns, Guns

From my cold, dead hands

The line, “From my cold dead hands” comes from a speech Charlton Heston gave at the 2000 convention of the National Rifle Association. At the time, gun control was a huge issue in the U.S., especially after the Columbine High School massacre. A lot of politicians and activists were pushing hard for stricter gun laws.

Heston had become president of the NRA in 1998, and he was a spokesperson for gun rights. He was gun(g) ho!

During the speech, Heston held up a rifle and said…

“So, as we set out this year to defeat the divisive forces that would take freedom away, I want to say these fighting words… from my cold, dead hands.”

This seems to be the sentiment a lot of Americans feel. When I wrote a post about Rihanna getting her house shot up by an AR-15 I mistakenly wrote that the AR-15 was an automatic weapon instead of a semi-automatic weapon and boy did I hear it from the gun crowd. If you’re going to weigh in on America’s gun debate, you’d better get your ducks in a row or whatever the expression. Here is the post…

I did think the AR-15 was similar to the AK-47, but I was wrong. One guy called me a nitwit. Others used more harsh adjectives. That’s ok though.

I acknowledged I was mistaken but that the larger point I was trying to make was that we have a mental illness problem in this country.

Joe Rogan summed it up well…

“This country has a mental health problem disguised as a gun problem and a tyranny problem disguised as a security problem.”

Meaning the root cause of gun violence is often untreated mental illness. There is also the whole discussion of drugs, particularly SSRI’s in school shootings. That topic needs its own, separate post.

Also when governments push for stricter more intense security, like more surveillance, restrictions, or gun control, they say it’s to “keep people safe.” Remember the Patriot Act after 9/11?

I stand by my comment about AK-47s. I don’t know why citizens would need this type of firearm.

As an aside, I find it interesting that AK-47 and all types of guns, are used in almost every Hollywood film. I thought Hollywood was pro-gun control. You could’ve fooled me.

Several celebrities have been very vocal about gun control while also starring in films that feature heavy gun violence. George Clooney publicly supports stronger gun control laws and has criticized gun culture in the U.S. Critics often highlight that “From Dusk Till Dawn” alone contains dozens of gunfight scenes.

Matt Damon is also vocal about gun control. Interesting because he is best known internationally for playing the gun-toting spy in the The Bourne Identity series.

Then there’s Mark Ruffalo who is probably the most outspoken about left-wing politics. He’s a very strong supporter of gun-control legislation and very vocal and active on social media. He never shuts up! He is so far left he makes Bernie Sanders sound like a FOX news contributor.

Meanwhile, he has appeared in many films that feature guns, guns and more guns like Collateral, Now You See Me, Now You See Me 2, Shutter Island, The Avengers and its umpteen sequels.

I’ve seen boys buying toy guns inspired by the Avengers movie.

Joe Rogan again…

Isn't it f***ing wild that Hollywood, in general, is very anti-gun, but they promote guns more than any other media on the planet?" Joe Rogan asked. "All their best movies, whether it's The Gray Man, or whether you're watching The Terminal List or Mission Impossible. It's all — 'guns save the day.' Guns kill aliens, guns kill werewolves, guns kill everyone. Everyone bad gets killed by guns."

The hypocrisy is astounding. Hollywood doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge how its content could be a trigger for gun violence. Doesn’t fit the narrative.

I just got back from Europe. A lot of them think we are absolutely insane with our guns. I get it. It’s not a part of the European culture. It is a part of ours.

I was talking to my friend who lives in London about the Second Amendment. Ironically it is because of the British that we included it in our Bill of Rights…

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted in 1791 as part of the United States Bill of Rights. The basic idea behind it came from the experiences of the American colonists under British rule.

Many of the founders had just fought the American Revolutionary War against King George III. They believed a heavily armed population could serve as a check against government tyranny.

The thinking was that if a government ever became oppressive, citizens would not be completely powerless.

Also at that time, in the late 1700s, most of the country was frontier and people had to defend their homes from criminals and dangerous animals.

In a perfect world, there would be no need for guns. What about taking them away you ask? Look no further than Australia to see what happens when you remove guns from a population.

After the Port Arthur massacre, Australia passed sweeping gun restrictions under the National Firearms Agreement. Semi-automatic rifles and shotguns were banned for most civilians, and the government launched a mandatory buyback of hundreds of thousands of firearms.

On paper, it looked decisive. Politicians congratulated themselves. The media declared it a success.

Not so fast. Now there is a sizable “black market” of unregistered guns. It kind of reminds me of Prohibition and we all know how that turned out.

That said, there are more guns in this country than there are people in the United States— 400 million guns; 330 million people. That’s wild.

I’m not advocating taking everyone’s guns away. Not at all. I do think the law should be more stringent when it comes to background checks. And I don’t think civilians need weapons like the AK-47.

Several school shootings have involved AK-style rifles, though often they were semi-automatic civilian versions (AK-47–type rifles) rather than true military automatic AK-47s. True fully automatic AK-47s are already heavily restricted in the U.S. under the National Firearms Act, so almost all crimes involving “AK-47s” actually involve semi-automatic civilian variants.

Ok so that’s confusing but I think good. I just wanted to make sure I got it right:)

I’m one of the few people in Austin who do not own a gun. I thought about getting one and I am 100% OK with people having one. In fact I think it is a deterrent to burglaries.

I was watching this 60 Minutes piece years ago and in it they interviewed these guys in prison for burglaries. They said the 2 things that deterred them from breaking into someone’s home were an American flag out front and a Beware of Dog sign. Makes sense. I went with the latter because I have dogs and let’s just say no one would want to enter uninvited.

When my daughter went to an all girls camp here in Texas, I was looking through the photos and there was one of the girls at a shooting range. It was so startling to me. It seemed so unnatural.

But that’s just the culture in Texas. Not just Texas but in a lot of states. Not so in Europe.

In many European countries, civilians can legally own firearms. Hunters and sport shooters in places like Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and France all own guns.

But the purpose of those guns is completely different.

In Europe, firearms are generally treated like specialized equipment—something you use for hunting deer, target shooting at a club, or managing wildlife. To get one, you typically need a license, training, background checks, and a clear reason for owning it.

So in Europe, guns are used for sport and tradition like hunting and going to a shooting range. In America, it’s about more about self-defense and our culture.

Here are some interesting stats—

In Europe, most killings are not committed with guns. Knives and other sharp objects are actually the most common weapon in many countries. Across European studies, roughly 70–80% of homicides involve weapons other than firearms (knives, blunt objects, strangulation, etc.). Total homicides (EU): ~3,930 per year

In the United States, about 46,700 people die from gun-related injuries each year based on the most recent complete data (2023) from the CDC.

That’s a massive difference. Huge.

But here’s the statistic that really surprised me.

In both the Europe and the United States, suicides, not murders, account for the majority of gun deaths.

In the U.S., roughly 27,000 of the 46,700 annual gun deaths are suicides.

Across Europe, there are about 47,000–49,000 suicide deaths per year, making it one of the largest categories of violent death there as well.

You’d never know that watching the news. As the saying goes: if it bleeds, it leads.

Mass shootings are what dominate the headlines, but statistically they make up only a small fraction of murders. Most homicides are single-victim incidents like domestic disputes, robberies, gangs, or arguments that escalate.

As an aside, in France, juries spend time examining the whole person. It’s called examen de la personnalité. They hear from families, teachers, employers, therapists etc. They take into account childhood trauma, mental illness, addictions, work history, family support, remorse, and the likelihood of reoffending.

It’s the opposite of a one-size-fits-all approach to sentencing.

I actually think they have something right there.

Back to the larger point.

No one is ever going to take guns away from Americans. The idea is unrealistic. Guns are deeply embedded in our culture—and the black market alone would be astronomical.

But there are still things we could do like better background checks, safer storage laws, and better mental-health care.

It may sound like a cliché, but it’s true: guns don’t kill people—people kill people.

In a perfect world, guns wouldn’t exist. But this isn’t a perfect world and the toothpaste is out of the tube.

Which is why the phrase “if you see something, say something” matters. Speak up! It could make all the difference.

That’s all for now. Much Love, Sabrina ❤️

PS I used Encyclopedia Britannica’s AI for many of my stats. It seems to be less biased than the others.