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What is with you Yanks and your guns?

By Len Turcotte - Strafford District 4 | Jan 17, 2021

This past week when the NH House gathered in a parking lot at UNH to begin our 2021 session, last term’s speaker Steve Shurtleff attempted to amend our house rules by banning the carrying of arms in the Statehouse and House Chamber. It reminded me of a discussion I had with a Brit a few years back in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

On an extended layover there for work, I had just left the hotel to explore the city for my first time when I passed a pub with music emanating from the doorway. I made my way through the packed room and found a spot at the bar close to where I could see and listen to the trio. When the band had completed their last set, the guitarist/singer/leader of the group “Keith” came to the walkup bar next to me and ordered a pint. I asked if I could show my appreciation for his group’s music and buy him his beer, which he accepted. We spent the next hour or so talking politics. Brexit was on the front burner during this time and I had been making an effort to informally poll Brits each time I was in the UK, which was often. The question the Brits most often asked about was our election at the time, Trump vs. Clinton. It was also at this time that terrorist groups across all of Europe were staging various types of egregious attacks, killing and injuring many. At one point during our discussion, Keith asked me “I’ve always wondered, what is it with you Yanks and your guns?” Having to get in a slight dig with my new British acquaintance, I said “those guns worked out pretty well for us back around the 1776 timeframe, didn’t they?” He smiled, laughed and had to nod in agreement.

But he seriously wanted to know why it was we believed it necessary to carry and own guns, and so I devised a scenario for him. “Next Sunday afternoon, your band is going to be playing out at a pub here in Birmingham. The local Bobbies (police) have intelligence reports that suggest a terrorist plot by a local jihadist sleeper cell may take place next Sunday at some well attended pub. It will probably be an extensive knife or sword attack. So, now have a choice to make: which of the following two venues would you choose to play at next week? The one we are in right now, in which the owner has decided to prohibit the carriage of pistols and declare his pub “gun-free“, or the pub two doors down that not only allows guns in the establishment, but publicly states so on the outside of the entrance door. Keith, which pub would you rather be performing in when that attack takes place?” He thought about it for a short bit and of course, though a bit reluctantly, said “the pub with the guns. I’m starting to get why you Americans won’t give up your guns”. We further discussed how in either scenario, a gun would not guarantee a perfect outcome, but no matter what, those Brits in the pub with weapons would certainly fare much better.

Now, let’s return to former speaker Shurtleff’s attempt at amending House rules last week. During his speech, he invoked the “it’s for the children” clause. That’s when a democrat, the party of abortion, feigns concern for kids in an attempt to gain sympathy for their current bill or cause. Shurtleff stated that on occasion that we have 4th graders in the gallery and how can we possibly keep them safe with House members being armed?

Drawing from the scenario I gave to my new British friend, we can draw a similar analogy that if gunmen were determined to kill as many House Members or 4th graders in the gallery as they could, would not the outcome always be better with some or many individuals being armed? The answer is a definitive yes. Would the knowledge that House members might be armed also act as a deterrent to the would-be-killers? Of course, it would.

To be clear, the effort by democrats to take your arms has never been about “the children”. It’s about illogical, rigid, radical-left ideology. Can minds be changed? Certainly. In this particular case, all it took was a receptive Brit, a simple example and an hour’s time spent talking over a pint.

Len Turcotte represents the Town of Barrington (Strafford District 4) and is Majority Senior Advisor.

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