Gun Riddance and Five NRA Talking Points
The First Talking Point. “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.”
Donald Trump’s version. “It’s not the gun that pulls the trigger. It’s the person.”
And here’s what you can say.
“It is a person that pulls the trigger, but what kind of person? It’s a person who can get a gun without a background check.”
(Polls show that about 90% of Americans want universal background checks.)
“It’s a person who can get a semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun, and kill 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School.”
“It’s a person who hates Jews and is able to get an AR-15 and kill 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue.”
“It’s a teen gunman who is able to get an AR-15 and kill 17 students and staff at Parkland High.”
The Second Talking Point
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
What you can say.
“A hater of Mexicans with an AK-47 killed 22 Walmart shoppers in El Paso.
It was all over in 32 seconds. Could a good guy with a gun have stopped that? C’mon. Walmart had a truckload of guns.”
The Third Talking Point
“It’s mental illness.”
What you can say.
“Every developed nation has mental illness but they don’t have recurring mass shootings….because guns are hard to get.”
“Are mass killers legally insane? Certainly not all of them. The legal definition of insanity is whether the perpetrator could distinguish right from wrong when the crime was committed.”
“Only in America is it easier to get an AR-15 or an AK-47 than a driver’s license.”
(Switzerland has lots of guns but has very strict rules about who can get one.)
The Fourth Talking Point
“It’s Video Games”. This is a really absurd talking point.
What you can say.
“Every developed nation has violent video games but they don’t have recurring mass shootings…because
because guns are hard to get.”
The Fifth Talking Point
“Gun regulation violates the Second Amendment.”
Here’s what the Second Amendment actually says.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
And here’s what you can say.
“Gun regulation is in the very wording of the Second Amendment. It’s a ‘well-regulated’militia.”
“Do you think our founders intended that people could wander around willy-nilly bearing military assault weapons?”
Of course not.
And that’s what our highest courts have held until recently.
“The National Firearms Act Of 1934 specifically regulated machine guns…’any gun that could fire repeatedly without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.’”
The notion that every American has the right to carry that kind of gun is anything but Constitutional.
We don’t need foreign terrorists to kill us. We do the killing ourselves. Approximately 100 every day. Every single day. About 40,000 every year.
Gene Griessman is an internationally known keynote speaker, actor, and communication strategist. His book “TheWords Lincoln Lived By” is in its 23rd printing and “Time Tactics of Very Successful People” is in its 43rd printing. His training video “Lincoln on Communication” is owned by thousands of corporations, libraries, and government organizations. He has spoken at conventions and annual meetings all over the world. To learn more about his presentations, call 404-435-2225. Learn more at Atlanta Speakers Bureau or at his website. His latest book “Lincoln and Obama” has just been released by Audible.