The Shifting Semantics of Anti-Gunners

First it was "gun control" and the "National Coalition to Ban Handguns," the latter being a group formed back in 1974 that included religious, nonprofit and — according to an online history of this movement — labor organizations; 30 in all, determined to rid the country of privately owned sidearms.

Then it became "gun safety" because "gun control" was politically toxic. The effort to ban handguns became the "Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence." It was the same group with the same goals but a different name, sort of like Ted Bundy changing his name to Tom Brown and dyeing his hair blond.

Of course there were exceptions to the desired handgun ban. Police, the military and licensed private security guards could have handguns in working condition, but nobody else. There could be, as the online history explains, "licensed pistol clubs where firearms are kept on the premises."
But public attitudes about personal protection began to change, thanks largely to groundbreaking research and education efforts by folks such as David Hardy and the late Don Kates. They had the audacity to challenge the popular notion the Second Amendment applied to a mythical "collective" right of states to form militias. It was nonsense then, and thanks to the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller which specifically says handguns are protected by the Constitution and the right to keep and bear arms applies to individual citizens not affiliated with a militia, it is even more nonsensical now.

Weasel Words

So gun prohibitionists started changing their rhetoric and repackaging their extremist crusade. What was "gun control" has become "gun safety," "gun responsibility" and "gun reform." But, like bags of horse manure relabeled "natural organic fertilizer," the smell remains the same, rubber gloves are still required and you don't walk in it without ruining your shoes.

The worst example of this clever social bigotry is the widespread use of the term "gun violence." .....