Piers Morgan: "Why would any American need an AR?"

A couple weeks ago, CNN's Piers Morgan made headlines when he started his anti-gun rampage.  Since then, he has asked many famous people on his talk show exactly why any American would need such a gun as an AR-15.  I would like to give my reasons as to why they should not be banned.

1.  Great home defense weapon.  Many, if not all, of you know that one of the biggest focuses in my life is the defense of my family and those around me.  The absolute worst thing that could happen to me is to know that harm came to others when I could have stopped it.  The AR platform is extremely versatile and easily customized.  This makes for a great home defense weapon because ANYONE can shoot it.  Our VP Joe Biden recently said to his wife “You don’t need an AR-15—it’s harder to aim, it’s harder to use, and in fact you don’t need 30 rounds to protect yourself... if you feel threatened, go get the double barrel shotgun, run out to the balcony and fire two shots.”  A shotgun is a good home defense weapon.  You aim in the general direction and tiny metal balls fly out in a scattered pattern.  The problem though, how many women feel confident and comfortable shooting a 12 gauge shotgun? I know some guys that aren't man enough to shoot a 12 gauge.  The recoil can be seriously painful for some people, especially smaller framed women.  The military originally adopted the M16 (full automatic version of the AR-15) because it was light, easy to aim, low recoil, and anyone could easily fire it!  Can you describe a 12 gauge shotgun in the same way?  I don't think so.  The other problem with Uncle Joe's logic, it is illegal in many states to randomly fire ammunition into the air.  In fact, it's a felony in the state of Arizona.  Did our vice president just advise his wife to commit a felony?

2.  Ammunition is (was) cheap.  Most AR-15s fire the .223 Remington or 5.56 Nato round.  For all intensive purposes, they're practically the same round.  This round is used extensively in the military and thus is very cheap and widely available.  Before I advise anyone to keep a loaded weapon next to their bed for protection, they must become extremely familiar with said weapon and practice regularly.  Practicing regularly is much easier with cheap ammunition.  That's why I carry the 9mm, I can actually afford to practice with it.  

3.  Combining 1 and 2, anyone can easily train with it in order to prepare for worst case scenarios.  The same can be said about .22 rifles.  They are also cheap to buy and shoot, but the .223 just has that much more power behind it to make it effective.  Plus the AR just looks scary.  One of my favorite features on many ARs is the collapsible stock.  This means that I, with my long arms, can comfortably shoot it.  At the same time, my 9 year old nephew can also shoot it.  The more everyone shoots it, the better prepared everyone will be.

4.  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

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government"

-- Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good"

-- George Washington

"One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offense to keep arms."

-- Constitutional scholar Joseph Story, 1840

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

I love this one:

"As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives [only] moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant companion to your walks."

-- Thomas Jefferson, writing to his teenaged nephew.

"Taking my gun away because I might shoot someone is like cutting my tongue out because I might yell `Fire!' in a crowded theater."

-- Peter Venetoklis

...Virtually never are murderers the ordinary, law-abiding people against whom gun bans are aimed. Almost without exception, murderers are extreme aberrants with lifelong histories of crime, substance abuse, psychopathology, mental retardation and/or irrational violence against those around them, as well as other hazardous behavior, e.g., automobile and gun accidents."

-- Don B. Kates, writing on statistical patterns in gun crime

"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom."

-- John F. Kennedy

"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ... and include all men capable of bearing arms."

-- Senator Richard Henry Lee, 1788, on "militia" in the 2nd Amendment

"...quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est." [...a sword never kills anybody; it's a tool in the killer's hand.]

-- (Lucius Annaeus) Seneca "the Younger" (ca. 4 BC-65 AD)

False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. 

-- Cesare Beccaria, as quoted by Thomas Jefferson's Commonplace book

No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave.

-- "Political Disquisitions", a British republican tract of 1774-1775

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the Atmosphere.

-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Abigail Adams, 1787

& what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that his people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.

-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Col. William S. Smith, 1787

"To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them."

-- George Mason, speech of June 14, 1788

Need I say more?  A lot of quotes from our founding fathers talking about the American citizens maintaining the right to bear arms, not for hunting or sport, but in defense of our country from our own government.  If they expect us to be able to properly control our government, they expect us to have the weapons capable of doing it.  Single shot .22s simply will not suffice.