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Charles Barkley and the US Gun Culture

NBA Hall-of-Famer Sir Charles “Chuck” Barkley, along with John McEnroe of tennis fame, joined Bob Costas on his show “Costas Tonight” to discuss Costas’ recent ridiculous and controversial halftime gun lecture. Here’s the video.

I’m not a big fan of Chuck, mostly because I think he has a big mouth and rarely makes much sense, but I do think he said a number of interesting things.

Gun Culture

When Costas asked Barkley about the gun culture in America, Barkley replied by saying he doesn’t think the nation has a “gun culture” but rather a “crime culture” especially “in the black community”. Barkley then went on to say that he “feels safer with a gun” and that he has carried a gun for decades.

Barkley’s comments about having a crime problem in the black community are certainly true statistically speaking, but to say that there isn’t a gun culture in America is a bit ignorant. Of course we have a gun culture in America! Mr. Colion Noir recently addressed this topic, and accurately pointed out that America’s gun culture began at its inception. I completely agree. How did America win its independence from the British Empire? With guns. But is it really a gun culture?

It’s Not About Guns

In my opinion, what Costas and the rest of the anti-gun crowd don’t understand is that it’s not really about guns per se. For example, what if the American Revolution had happened prior to the invention or widespread use of firearms? Well, then the war would have been fought with bows, swords, spears, etc – the weapons of the time. Would we still have a “gun culture” here in America? Absolutely.

Guns were just the weapons of the time (and of course still are to a certain extent). What guns really represent is liberty, freedom from tyranny, the ability to defend yourself and your loved ones. If you have studied history, you know this to be true. You cannot enslave an armed society, so the first thing you must do is to disarm them. This goes for any time period, both before and after the invention of firearms.

This is what Barkley was referring to when he said he felt safer carrying a gun. The gun is a tool that protects his liberty from the criminal that would try to take it away from him. So the next time you hear someone pushing for gun control, realize what they are really trying to do – take away your liberty.

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4 Responses to Charles Barkley and the US Gun Culture

  1. Angelus Han December 6, 2012 at 11:53 am #

    I find it funny that Chris Costas at the end states that he has got to believe more bad would come out of it. Since firearms are a tool and only bad things can happen if the carrier uses the tool, I feel he is taking the issue out of context. IF you believe more bad thing are going to come out of it, you bascially are saying that those 65 players are irresponsible gun owners…thats on them…not the gun. Like I said, Chris Costas labeling of guns as a tool for evil gives him the perception and blinds him from seeing the good that guns has done throughout history. Not only am I speaking through the many wars of our history, but IM talking in perspective to local news, articles and websites that tell the story of thousands if not billions of people that are saved by firearms. You rarely see these aired on national television perhaps, due to public perception of the evil gun but I believe that Chris Costas and McEnroe are giving unfair and biased judegements when it comes to guns.

    • Samuel Ayres December 6, 2012 at 12:30 pm #

      *Bob Costas

      … not Chris Costas.

  2. David December 6, 2012 at 3:26 pm #

    Tell us, O wise Bob, why we HAVE to believe something bad is going to happen?

  3. RICHARDB December 6, 2012 at 4:09 pm #

    Missing from any discussion so far is the facts that violent crime has dropped for over 20 years and now is about where it was in 1960. Yet gun ownership has increased per capita and our nations population has probably doubled. If Costa was correct that the mere possession of a gun is likely to cause violent crime then this trend wouldn’t exist over the last 60 years. Yet it does, so Costa’s opinion is wrong.