WMDS>.22 Caliber

Not a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

Is a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

Not a WMD

Is a WMD

     Now this little rant isn't about gun control or the 2nd Amendment or even what types of guns, if any, should be allowed in the hands of the American people.  No, my dear readers (All four of you), this rant is all about one of my favorite subjects, Semantics.  As an author, my very business is the proper (Okay sometimes improper) use of words and how they pertain to the world around us.  We define our world with words and many people often use words to distort our ideas and views.
     Recently I have seen more and more people describing guns as weapons of mass destruction.  This bothers me because it comes across as an effort to put pistols, rifles and shotguns on the same level as an Atomic Bomb, Hydrogen Bomb, Nerve gas etc.  This amounts to an attempt by some forces to make people as terrified of a S&W .22 caliber handgun as they might be of some terrorist detonating a nuke in NYC.
     Guns can be dangerous.  In the wrong hands, they can be tools of terror.  (Course keep in mind that some of the 911 Terrorists used box cutters so in the wrong hands anything can be a tool of terror)  In the wrong hands, a gun can kill a lot of people.  However a gun cannot destroy a building or devastate an entire city.
     Guns are weapons who's express purpose is to make lots of holes in things and kill them.  Of course they are still used in positive ways to this day to put food on the table and defend those who cannot defend themselves.  The same cannot be said of WMDs.
     Like I said in the beginning, this isn't an argument about gun safety or gun control.  It is about semantics and the burgeoning propaganda war that is developing on both sides to try and sway people's opinions.   Yes I said the P word because that is what it is boiling down to.  Fanatics on both sides of the issue are using everything they can to paint the other side as evil incarnate instead of just sticking to truth and facts.
    Proponents are trying to paint their opposition as Anti-American anytime suggestions are made the MIGHT limit access to Fully Automatic Laser Guided Mouse Seeking Missiles.  The other side paints their opposition as Crazed Redneck (well some truth to that part at least) Assault Weapon Carriers who have massive stockpiles of the aforesaid FALGMSMs and are intent on rebelling against the government.  And it is all simply propaganda (Well okay 99% is propaganda.)
     A wise man (forget who) once said, "The day we start accepting lies over truth is when true freedom shall fail."  I am open to any debate on any subject as long as actual facts are being used.  I am proud to say that there are actually a lot of facts being tossed around in the current debate.  i am ashamed to say that most of the facts are being drowned out by the lies.  Come on, people!  Ignore the lies, do your own research and for God's sake learn to think for yourself!

End of Rant