Nutty Gun Nuts

While I'm not into guns at all, I've never really had anything against them.  And while I do think there should be fewer guns out there, I don't necessarily see them as inherently unsafe things.  Thus said, pro-gun people really can get a bit silly when defending their hobby.

Here's James Wallace of the Gun Owners Action League, defending the use of guns by children:

"But this is so rare; if you look at other activities kids are involved in, shooting sports at the ranges is probably the safest activity kids can get involved in," he said.

Ok, I see where he's going with this, but...the safest activity for kids?  Who is he trying to bullshit with this one?  Just off the top of my head, I can think of TONS of activities that are safer than shooting guns.  For example, not shooting guns.  And not being around other people who are shooting guns.  Shooting guns in a video game would seem safer.  As would playing non-shooting video games.  Tennis seems rather safe.  As does table tennis.  And of course, book reading is still very, very safe.  And sure, while I can think of activities that are probably more dangerous than shooting at ranges (car surfing, for example), it's quite silly to pretend as if shooting guns is the safest thing a kid could do.

And while I'm at it, what's with this Gun Owners Action League?  Are guns not exciting enough, so they have to add "action" to their name?  Are they perhaps a group of crime fighters?  And while their members may have a long storied tradition of being very serious people with a well-earned reputation for seriousness, I can't help but think that their name is reminiscent of something a group of kids might come up with.  Like the He-Man Woman Hater's Club or something (Full Disclosure: Me and my younger brothers once formed our own chapter of the He-Man Woman Haters Club for about two weeks when I was eight.)

Oh, and in an article with the headline "Gun clubs tout safety record after boy's Uzi death," would it really be too much for the reporter to actually report on the safety record of gun clubs?  There's only one reference to any safety record in the entire piece, which was the reporter repeating Wallace's assertion that they have a "near perfect safety record."  Not that I'm doubting that necessarily, but I really don't see what's so hard about including a few actual facts in a news article.