Tom Arnold doesn’t side with those on the far-left, who want to ban all guns, or the far-right, who think any gun laws are in direct violation of their Second Amendment rights. He’s between the polarizing sides, or as he explained back in 2013, “I think there’s a middle ground, in my opinion.”
You might be thinking: why do I care what the guy from Big Bully and The Stupids thinks about guns? It’s a fair question, but Arnold has a unique perspective. He’s a proud “gun owner and a supporter of the Second Amendment,” someone who “grew up with a healthy respect for guns and large, angry animals,” but he’s also seen what happens without restrictions.
In an essay for the Hollywood Reporter, Arnold wrote about his 24-year-old nephew, Spencer, who “was kicked out of the Army after attempting suicide. He was diagnosed as chronically depressed and unsafe around weapons. Yet he was able to get a concealed weapon permit from the state of Iowa and buy five guns.” One night, after “a little disagreement” with a woman he had been seeing, Spencer — who Arnold writes “joined a crazy, racist, neo-Nazi gun group” on Facebook — used one of his guns to shoot himself in the head.
I took all my feelings, and I reached out to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. I wanted to honor my nephew and the other vets and people with mental illness who can legally purchase guns. I want to protect them and my 3-year-old boy and 7-month-old girl when they grow up and I’m not here. Spencer having five loaded guns next to his bed every night is like me sleeping next to a dresser made out of chocolate cake and filled with cocaine. I will probably be totally cool forever, unless someone says something that kinda hurts my feelings and … f*ck it. (Via)
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which mandates a “waiting period before the purchase of a handgun, and for the establishment of a national instant criminal background check system to be contacted by firearms dealers before the transfer of any firearm,” was passed in 1993. A lot’s changed since 1993, so Arnold met with the Brady Campaign, who “had the very bill I wanted before Congress, as well as a bill fixing the gun show loophole,” he writes. The updated bill prohibits the sale of firearms to domestic abusers, violent felons, anyone on a terrorist watch list, or the mentally ill until they’re properly treated. Arnold doesn’t sound hopeful.
I wish I could wave a wand and make Congress fearless. Then they wouldn’t kowtow to the NRA so easily. Same for a lot of my fellow Americans. The NRA has convinced people that a home with a gun is safer than one without a gun. That is a lie. Not even close, and the odds are about 8-to-1 that if someone does get hurt with that gun, it’s not going to be a bad guy. It’s going to be the owner or a friend or family member. The NRA has all the politicians scared and doesn’t “let” Congress research gun violence anymore, but fortunately scientists do it anyway, and these are the facts. (Via)
Arnold fears anyone who sees firearms as “living, breathing things” and a “gift to Americans directly from God himself.” These people think having their guns taken away is equivalent to taking away their right to exist. “I own guns, he concludes, “but I am very, very careful because they are very, very dangerous.”
Don’t be dumber than a Stupid.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)