God, Guns, and American Pick-Up Trucks
Originally published on Youthradio.org, the premier source for youth generated news throughout the globe.
By: Youth Radio
When I read that a car salesman in Butler, MO was giving out free AK-47's to customers who purchase one of his pick-up trucks, a bulb illuminated in my head, and I knew that the world was coming to an end. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but hypothetically, if there were a handbook titled 101 Ways to Destroy Humanity and Ultimately the World, I'm sure giving out vouchers for semi-automatic AK-47's with the purchase of some huge gas guzzling truck would make the cut.
There is no reason that Osama Bin Laden's favorite gun should be passed around in America anymore than it already is. Does anybody honestly think that when our founding fathers created the Second Amendment they envisioned American citizens walking around with Soviet designed guns? They never could have imagined the psychotic horror that people would create in the future, some of it based on their law. Quit using the second amendment as a defense for modern stupidity.
Aside from being one of the funniest interviews I have ever seen, CNN's interview with car dealer Mark Muller is also one of the scariest. I live in Oakland, California, which in most people's eyes, is considered the definition of an "inner city" city, and this old rural hillbilly makes the town (Oakland) seem way safer, and not to mention sane, then his multi-acre farmland. I mean their actual slogan is "God, Guns, Guts, and American Pick-Up Trucks." Now if that isn't the most offensive, hypocritical, and out right demented slogan I have ever seen, then I am blind.
**Pay attention to Mark Muller's comments on Jesus around the 4:40 mark.
*Correction: this post originally stated that the car dealership is giving away the Russian made AK-47 machine gun, when in fact they're giving away vouchers recommending purchases of American made semi-automatic AK-47's.
Also On Youth Radio:
Youth Radio/Youth Media International (YMI) is youth-driven converged media production company that delivers the best youth news, culture and undiscovered talent to a cross section of audiences. To read more youth news from around the globe and explore high quality audio and video features, visit Youthradio.org
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
God, Guns & Guts made America great. Let's keep all three!
I don't have the right to kill people that I don't like.
I don't have the right to threaten people with violence.
I don't have the right to damage other peoples property.
I don't have the right to break the law;
But I have the right to buy a gun in case I want to ?!!!
No you have the right to own a gun for self defense. Learn the difference.
yes....
Buy a boat and get an "AK-47":
http://www
Seems like the idea is spreading.
What people call an AK-47 can vary quite a bit. Some people even mistakenly call an SKS an AK-47 despite the SKS pre-dating the AK. Most of the remainder refer to rifles derived from the AK-47 like the MAK-90.
These firearms fire a relatively lackluster, low power/medium caliber cartridge, the 7.62x39 mm from 1945. It is roughly the equivilent of the US .30-30 Winchester from 1895. This 7.62x39 cartridge is a mediocre performer on deer, suitible for smaller specimens at about 100 meter range. As such, it makes a handy "brush gun" cartridge for hunting varmints to deer sized animals. Recoil is not bad due to the low muzzle velocities, making it a decent choice for new shooters or the recoil sensitive shooter. This has led to such rifles being popular "ranch rifles".
Power wise, this firearm/cartridge is completely outclassed by most modern hunting rifles with common deer hunting cartridges like the .300 Win Mag and 7mm Rem Mag being several times as powerful and projecting power about 7 times as far; however, such cartridges have substantially higher recoil.
The variants of the AK-47 are basically the modern, poor man's lever action carbine and are suitible for recreational shooting, hunting, and defense.
As the author of this post, I am also the first to admit that for certain individuals, guns are a necessary part of survival. In fact, I own a gun myself for my personal protection. So, while I wish that guns and violence were not a part of our everyday existence, I am not ignorant to the fact that they are.
The truth is, unless some of the people writing responses have served in our military (in which case I salute you), I have probably been witness to, and survived more gun violence than all of the people on this comment stream put together. I have lost friends, had my own car filled with bullets, and witnessed random shootings more times than I can count. I know firsthand the sadness and evil guns and the people behind them create.
Weapons like the AK-47 are very popular in urban communities and the damage they can do is real. I’ve addressed many of your comments individually below, and I welcome more discussion, even from gun lovers who don't understand the pain guns bring. And to those who see no irony in connecting God to AK-47’s, I challenge you to add a sword to any picture of Jesus you might have hanging around your house, because like Mark Muller said, Jesus would have had one.
Me, I'll choose to keep Jesus and God close to my heart, and away from guns and guts.
Mr Muller is referring to Luke 22:35-36
Having served for 26 years, I can understand the pain of loss and the fear of further loss. But the gun is not your enemy! It is a tool in exactly the same way as a hammer or a drill is a tool. You should be railing against the people who misuse them. If you live in one of those dangerous urban areas, get out! In America, it really is that simple. Anyone can get away and start over, but we become complacent and comfortable in any situation.
You have my sympathy, but never my agreement on this issue.
Semper fi
The problem is you are not looking at the good guns can do. A gun in the right hands is just as important as keeping them out of wrong hands. Take a look at these real stories that happen on a regular basis. The people who saved their lives and loved one's with guns are just as real as you:
http://www
But more importantly, the main problem is that most of what you wrote in your post is simply wrong. Civilian AK-47's are semi-automatic rifles, not machine guns. And their use in crime, as with all rifles, is very rare.
Millions of people legally own semi-auto AK-47's without harming anyone. To say that legal ownership of them is evidence the world is coming to an end or is "modern stupidity" is absurdly pretentious and ignorant. to say the least.
Whatever pain and suffering you have experienced doesn't give you the right to spread propaganda and misinformation. And it certainly doesn't give you a good reason to bash an honest businessman like Mark Muller, who is doing nothing but allowing people to legally get a lawful product after passing all the required background checks with the purchase of a vehicle. Only an anti-gun fanatic would have a problem with that.
End the drug war and the economic distortions it creates.
Violence spiked during the prohibition era and dropped when Prohibition ended. Do the same with modern Prohibition.
Perhaps one more time, and the moderator will consent to let this one in.
This article underscores the decrepit state of American Education, and let me tell you how:
1. The author illustrates his total lack of understanding of the differences between semi-auto and select-fire rifles, as well has his lack of knowledge of what constitutes a "machine gun".
2. The author illustrates either his total lack of understanding of the auto dealer's intent, or he is deliberately misrepresenting it. Either way, it is deplorable. The dealer is not giving away rifles!
3. The author displays an astonishing lack of knowledge about our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, U.S. history, and world history.
But then again, maybe he's happy this way?!
Semper fi
If we had an enlightened, highly educated electorate, how would we get a Constituti
Think skeeter !!
SKRITCH!!!!!!!
By the way, it was William, the Zipper that got that whole Halliburton 'no-bid' thing going! Learn your facts!
Old SF MJT
(Martin)
Frankly, most of our Presidents would not have been elected, Democrat and Republican. Further, most people would not want to be President or any other elected official. Your insults to Bush, not my first choice for any political office, are silly and beneath someone who thinks for themself.
Semper fi
By the way, Toonadude, can you name for me any war in history, ANY WAR, that was not a war of "Choice"?? Careful, remember to check the dictionary definition of choice!!
Semper fi
Considering that cars kill people at a higher rate than firearms, the truck should scare you more than the rifle. Especially with the way people drive these days. Never have I gone to the range and seen someone handling a rifle, talking on a cellphone, and trying to drink a latte at the same time. After all, it's common sense that when you're handing something dangerous, you should have as few distractions as possible. Yet this bit of common sense misses the yokels when they hop behind the wheel of their 5500lb Bland Cruiser.
Another important thing to remember is what Mark pointed out in the interview:
Felons can't buy guns, but they are free to buy cars.
The gun control lobby insists that our gun requirements are "lax", yet if the same standards for gun ownership applied car ownership, the number of car accident deaths would plummet. People with multiple DUI convictions or over a dozen of traffic violation tickets are still on the road, while a single felony conviction or misdomeanor conviction for domestic violence will ban you from owning guns for life.
I'm not saying that felons should not be allowed to buy cars, but the notion that gun buying requirements are "lax" is clearly proven false when compared to the standards of other potentially dangerous products.
Orlando,
"Does anybody honestly think that when our founding fathers created the Second Amendment they envisioned American citizens walking around with Soviet Union created machine guns? They never could have imagined the psychotic horror that people would create in the future, some of it based on their law. Quit using the second amendment as a defense for modern stupidity. "
Could the Founding Fathers have forseen: Typewriters, teletypes, computers, telephones, cell phones, radio, TV, satellites, home printers, high-speed photoetched printers, the Internet, PDAs, WiFi, pagers, twitter, texting, etc?
If I gave one of the FF a muzzle loading flintlock and told them to write down the parameters for improvement, what do you think they might come up with? Remember, they had already witnessed a major technological breakthrough in the form of rifling and seen its effects. I'd bet a year's pay that they would come up with the following parameters: Accuracy, Range, Power, Rate of fire.
Orlando,
"this old rural hillbilly makes the town (Oakland) seem way safer, and not to mention sane, then his multi-acre farmland."
Stereotype much?
"I mean their actual slogan is "God, Guns, Guts, and American Pick-Up Trucks." Now if that isn't the most offensive, hypercritical, and out right demented slogan I have ever seen, then I am blind. "
How is it offensive? Or demented?
Do you mean hypercritical ( meticulously or excessively critical ) or hypocritical ( a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not ; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion ). Please explain how you came up with that.
"Aside from being one of the funniest interviews I have ever seen, CNN's interview with car dealer Mark Muller is also one of the scariest."
I agree. It's funny how Mark makes the CNN interviewer look like such a fool and scary that a journalist can be so ignorant and incompetent. I mean listen to this quote:
Interviewer: "I understand evil in the world but I'm just questioning the, the, the, um, like a semi-assault weapon to protect yourself"
Sheesh, someone needs to go back to English class
"I mean their actual slogan is "God, Guns, Guts, and American Pick-Up Trucks." Now if that isn't the most offensive, hypercritical, and out right demented slogan I have ever seen, then I am blind."
Looking for a discount seeing eye-dog? I could recommend some good places.
"When I read that a car salesman in Butler, MO was giving out free AK-47's to customers who purchase one of his pick-up trucks, a bulb illuminated in my head, and I knew that the world was coming to an end."
Oh no! A guy is enabling law abiding citizens who pass background checks to get semi-automatic rifles that are almost never used in crime when they buy a vehicle! The horror, the horror! Everybody head for the hills.....
Seriously, you gotta love the irony. This is coming from the side that routinely accuses gun rights advocates of being "paranoid".
"Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but hypothetically, if there were a handbook titled 101 Ways to Destroy Humanity and Ultimately the World, I'm sure giving out AK-47 machine guns with the purchase of some huge gas guzzling truck would make the cut."
I gotta wonder, do the anti-gun fanatics ever get tired of lying? Maybe they do it so much that it's starting to become second nature.
The Ak-47's on the civilian market that people get from this dealer are semi-automatic rifles, not machine guns. They are no better or worse then any other rifle out there.
"I gotta wonder, do the anti-gun fanatics ever get tired of lying?"
I rather suspect that Orlando is mistaken, not lying. Probably not a lot of 19 year olds from "the definition of an "inner city" city" actually know what a machine gun is and is not.
Orlando Campbell,
" I'm sure giving out AK-47 machine guns "
THESE ARE NOT MACHINE GUNS!
First of all, what you actually get is a cash voucher to be used at a local firearms dealer.
Second, if you use thevoucher towards the purchase of a firearm, you have to go through all the normal background checks and forms.
Third, the AK-47s you can buy at such dealers are semi-auto only firearms. 1 trigger pull = 1 bang. Machine guns are full-auto. 1 trigger pull = bang, bang, bang, ....
Ignorance is difficult to overcome, Odin... espescially when some groups like to encourage ignorance in order to advance their agenda.
Your comment brings to mind the type of people who came out of the woodwork when McCain announced Palin as his running mate. The woman who said she could not vote for Obama because he was a...a.... (McCain holding breath - reaching for microphone) .... an Aaaayyrab (McCain exhaling).
Yup, yup ...... you are spot on there legalbeagle ...... some groups do rely on ignorance to advance their agenda.
"Second, if you use thevoucher towards the purchase of a firearm, you have to go through all the normal background checks and forms."
It is ignorant to believe that just because someone has a background check when they purchase an AK, that they are some kind of angel with a semi-automatic weapon strapped to their wing.
First of all, not all criminals get caught; second, the high demand for these types of weapons can easily make a legally purchased gun end up in the wrong hands. Many of the guns that end up in Mexico's drug wars are legally purchased American weapons smuggled over the border - http://lat
I have corrected my post to reflect that the AK's the car dealer is advocating are semi-auto, but that doesn't change my point. I know firsthand the sadness and evil that guns and the people behind them create, even the 1 trigger pull = 1 bang kind.
"It is ignorant to believe that just because someone has a background check when they purchase an AK, that they are some kind of angel with a semi-automatic weapon strapped to their wing. "
Well, we can assume that they have no past history of felonies or domestic violence convictions, no restraining orders, etc. As to what the future holds, well, that is the future and we do not limit people's rights based on stuff they have not yet done.
"Many of the guns that end up in Mexico's drug wars are legally purchased American weapons smuggled over the border - http://lat
Stats which are debatable depending on how they are stated. What we know is that approximately 17% of all the firearms recovered in Mexico are successfully traced to the US.
"I know firsthand the sadness and evil that guns and the people behind them create, even the 1 trigger pull = 1 bang kind."
Guns create nothing and are neither good nor evil.
As a retired military combat vet, arms instructor, hunter, competitive shooter, certified armorer, and current law enforcement officer, I am extremely familiar with firearms and how they are used/misused.
Not all criminals get caught, you are exactly correct. But, if they have a record, or if their names correspond to someone else with a record, the background check is NOT concluded so that the authorities may do a further check.
While you address the "sadness and evil that guns...cre
Semper fi
It's a great marketing tool that appeals to a wide audience in rural and suburban America, that's all.
Nothing to get panic-struck about.
So, what's inherently wrong with this? We have inalienable rights in this country. Incidentally, an AK47 (or AR15 Colt knockoff for that matter,) semiautomatic rifle is great fun to shoot. Don't knock it until you try it. And yes, plenty of us prefer our pickups to little clown cars.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
