Opinion
Fayetteville, AR – -(AmmoLand.com)- I was raised hearing over and over the message that at some point in the not too distant future, people who wish to engage in economic activity will be required to receive the Mark-of-the-Beast. It’s been well over three decades since I believed this, but I do have to express some gratitude for an early introduction to the concept of totalitarianism and to the value of basic rights, be it the religion a person chooses that goes against the majority or the many other expressions of individuality that our nation protects in varying degrees.
And then along comes a petition that I ran across recently that reminds me that some people read books about dystopian futures and think, “that’s a good idea.”
An anonymous person has started a petition on the site, SumOfUs, related to the ability to buy guns and ammunition with credit cards. This petition, which comes with a content warning that the subject of gun violence will be discussed—akin to a peanut warning on a jar of peanuts—calls on credit card companies to freeze accounts that engage in “excessive, erratic gun and ammo purchases” and report them to law enforcement. The belief of the petition’s author is that such purchases indicate preparation to commit a mass shooting.
In my adventures in gun buying, I acquired a Short Magazine Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk.I several years ago and hurried off to the range. I was so pleased with it—including turning a deck of cards that had been left on the table into confetti—that I went back to the gun shop to get another copy of the same model, this one with a decent sporterizing addition of a scope on a rail.
Fortunately, my bank didn’t regard the purchase of two rifles and associated ammunition to be a case of erratic spending. Of course, the Smelly comes with a (currently) California-approved ten-round magazine.
If I had the tools and the time, I’d be tempted to work up a thirty rounder, even though the rimmed .303 cartridge would make that a challenge. But share with me for a moment the nerdy joy of hanging a banana magazine from a Lee Enfield and trying a Mad Minute.
Ignorance Or Contempt
The petition here once again illustrates either the ignorance or the contempt that gun control advocates have for those of us who own and shoot firearms. The logistics of a trip to the range could very well set off alarms among people who get twitchy about ordinary people being armed, since going through a couple hundred rounds is completely normal. And people who participate in competitions will regard that ammo quantity as “so cute”.
This petition isn’t precise about what excessive or erratic purchases might be, but even with carefully defined terms, the call for credit card companies to limit the exercise of a right is a bad idea. Without a clear distinction between preparations for a mass shooting and purchases for legal activities, this approach would result in so many false positives, drawing resources away from sound investigations.
There are good ways to anticipate a mass shooter’s plans. Would-be killers often show a building pattern of threats and violence. Those are much better indicators to use, and unlike buying ammunition in bulk, a person who beats a domestic partner or says he’s going to kill someone has committed an actual crime.
Attacking the ability to participate in economic activity sets a bad precedent. We all have things that we think is bad for society, but when said activity is not categorically wrong, we’d do well to wander away from Revelation to a different passage: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
About Greg Camp
Greg Camp has taught English composition and literature since 1998 and is the author of six books, including a western, The Willing Spirit, and Each One, Teach One, with Ranjit Singh on gun politics in America. His books can be found on Amazon. He tweets @gregcampnc.
fu & your excessive & erratic, d-suckers
Nah, you’re giving way to much credit to clowns who are buying rights through permitting processes. Any clown purchasing a right through permits and registrations is beyond repair. Clowns won’t ever figure out that only privileges can be purchased. If you buy enough ammo to be delivered the fed will even deliver just to get a visual. Can’t miss em, they’ll be real sketchy and nervous as if they’re in danger with wild ideas running through their mind thinking the buyer is going to blast them when he’s just buying ammo. Heck, even the word gun around here gets back… Read more »
Apparently, banking and credit card business is not your private business anymore. Where does to “elite” come off being able to access any of that information? Many that pretend to be elite don’t have two nickles to rub together,they just look successful. Another freedom lost and the number of freedoms we have are getting less and less. The time for watering the tree is getting closer but could be avoided if the progressives would just mind their own business and drop the politically correct b.s. Growing up is not taught in any progressive classroom, as adults they act like 3d… Read more »
These so-called popularly supported common sense solutions all come out of the Jim Crow playbook. Progressives have resorted to that playbook in order to “nudge” or outright coerce behavior they believe to be appropriate without regard to enumerated rights, natural rights or specific intent. Judging people criminals or potential criminals because they choose to exercise a right is absurd. But that does not stop progressives and other forms of authoritarians from attempting to do so. Jim Crow laws and Jim Crow logic is directed at the vilified classes of the day. Post Reconstruction it was black, Hispanic, indigenous and Asian… Read more »
I think we all know what these gun grabbing socialists pretending to be democrats want don’t we? Anyone who knows the history of the twentieth century and how bloody that was not even counting the wars knows their goal. It is positive and complete control over everyone. They knew they would remain in power and have an American dictatorship. That is the reason they have been so upset about the Trump election in 16. They thought they were nearing their goal with hillary after eight years of Obama setting it up. However, could they have succeeded? Consider a few things.… Read more »
If you don’t like having your receipt checked on the way out of Costco then don’t shop there. If you can’t buy gas on a credit card because it’s against that banks policy then why have that card? If it says in your rental lease agreement “no guns allowed” then why live there? Quick, run crying to your gun group (your mommy) that is making a nice living keeping you under the corporate tyranny of anti 2A gun control and demand they do something. That they save you bootlickers from having your rights infringed. Run into the fire not away… Read more »
How about having credit card companies dispatch police on large or repetitive alcohol purchases.
Since alcohol is involved in the majority of violent interactions, it might prevent injuries.
Don’t do anything until “they” determine whether it is right or wrong.
That sure looked like the gun counter at the Cabela’s in Hammond, IN.
A Libtard’s attempt to restrict, remove or catalogue the lawful purchase or sale of firearms and associated ammunition does not need to pass the smell test of rationality. For them, no assault on freedom is out of bounds. When only “authorized” Government representatives (Police State) and those of the privileged class (them) are the only ones armed, then they’ll be satisfied. Sheeple are so much easier to control.
I was watching “The Highwaymen” on Netflix the other night. Kevin Costner (playing a retired Texas Ranger) gets called back to kill Bonnie and Clyde who are killing cops all throughout the central-Southern US in the 1930’s. He walks into a local gun store in Texas. Asks to see about 20 weapons, including a fully auto BAR, a fully auto Thompson, another long machine gun, several shotguns and pistols. The owner and a younger kid scramble and lay out all the guns on a couple of display cases. Costner walks past all of them and goes to a case with… Read more »