The Pink Rifle

A couple of years ago now I was taking an Abnormal Psychology class, and the instructor asked us to do a paragraph on why legislating that all firearms be pink would reduce crime. I responded at greater length than required, and with citations, which I don’t think he was expecting… I don’t recall putting this out in public before, and as I’d promised someone a link, here it is. 

girl with pink rifle
Mad Mike’s daughter

Pink rifles certainly exist. My daughter envies a friend’s daughter’s pink AR 15… the girls are both 14 and marksmen in their own right, and neither would ever shoot a person except in self-defense. This young lady is the daughter of Michael Z. Williamson, a gunsmith and author, and a personal friend. I asked him this morning if I could use it in my paper, as it was what came immediately to mind when I read your question. That being said, gun violence is far more prevalent with handguns than rifles, no matter what their color. The Sandy Hook killings were carried out with two handguns, not an assault rifle as was originally reported. The killer there left his rifle in the car.

Mass murders aren’t about the weapon, they are about the minds of those who carry them out. A recent mass stabbing in China, suicide bombers, flying airplanes into buildings, there are so many ways to kill people in our world. Out of the over 6 million members of the NRA, possibly a third of them own an “assault” weapon. There may be as many as 100 million gun-owning households in the US. That is a lot of guns… and vanishingly few of them are used in crimes. According to the FBI, only 323 rifles were used in crimes in 2011 (FBI, Homicide Data Table 8, 2011). There is no distinction made here for “assault” rifles. The media perception of what makes an assault rifle is so often erroneous that it cannot be relied on for data.

Would criminals really be deterred from using a pink gun? Why wouldn’t they just repaint or strip it back to black, wood, and metal? After all, they are going to be breaking the law. Even if a ridiculous regulation existed to enforce gun color, lawbreakers are going to ignore that. An intent to kill or injure is not going to change based on a color. Again, the FBI homicide data table indicates that you are twice as likely to be killed with hand or feet as you are to be shot with a rifle (FBI, Homicide Data Table 8, 2011).

Unless you predicate that a black rifle is an assertion of masculinity, by men who actually care about pink/blue, then changing the color in ineffective. The colors of modern weapons are dictated primarily by their primary manufacturers for the military and police. Men and women who served and handled these weapons understand the dark, matte finishes make the weapons more unobtrusive. They aren’t designed to look bad-ass, they are simply functional.

“With just a single exception, the attack in Tucson last year, every public shooting in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed since at least 1950 has occurred in a place where citizens are not allowed to carry their own firearms. Had some citizens been armed, they might have been able to stop the killings before the police got to the scene. In the Newtown attack, it took police 20 minutes to arrive at the school after the first calls for help.” (Wall Street Journal, John Lott, Jan. 2013)

Mass shootings have happened 32 times in the last 30 years (Citizen’s Crime Commission, N.D.). Gun violence is peaking in the cities and nations that have banned certain types of firearms. Gun control is not the answer. Coloring the weapons available is silly, and unnecessary. What is needed is better treatment for the mentally ill, and less repercussions for those who do reveal that they are having mental problems, so they feel safer seeking treatment.

As for why people own weapons, even and especially assault rifles, you need only understand the need for self-defense by reading Warren v. District of Columbia (http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-dc-circuit/1061352.html) where the conclusion drawn by the court is that the police have no duty to protect the public. Even in rural areas, where the police feel more obligation to citizens, they may be unable to respond in a timely fashion. As a mother, I’d be pleased as punch to own a pink assault rifle and never need it to defend my family.

I have a number of friends who offered their expertise in pulling together this information, including Mike Williamson, and a dear friend who was in the Army CID for 20 years before becoming a crime scene tech for the last ten years. I can also highly recommend this article, written by an acquaintance and one of my favorite authors, Larry Correia, if you want to truly understand the stance on gun control taken by a professional in the industry http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/an-opinion-on-gun-control/.

 


Comments

31 responses to “The Pink Rifle”

  1. Pink is fine. I draw the line at Hello Kitty, however.

    1. Hello Kitty with a machine guy sounds iconic

      1. I know that’s a typo, but now I want to draw it… pop culture/steampunk! LOL

        1. Anyone who wants to get rid of Hello Kitty firearms, can PM me so that I would help them feel better about themselves. I would take any donations, regardless of brand or caliber.

          1. LOL! There is that… but I doubt they ever made the moisin nagant with Hello Kitty accessories, and that’s on my wishlist.

            1. If they did, Erin Palette would own it.

            2. I have been summoned! I see that SPQR has chosen me as the form of the Destroyer.

              Pink.. why not? It’s not really my preferred color, but if it makes purists go apoplectic, I’m all for it.

              Hello Kitty, not so much. But if I can find a way to put My Little Pony decals on a rifle that won’t wear off or be damaged by gun cleaning materials, you can bet I’ll do it!

    2.  Avatar
      Anonymous

      I WANT a Hello Kitty rifle and a Hello Kitty motorcycle helmet.

      1. Y’all are nuts, you know that? LOL

  2. I want to get a pink AR for my daughter to grow into.

    Of course, I keep joking to my son that I’m going to get him one as well…but that’s just my evil streak talking. 🙂

  3. “With just a single exception, the attack in Tucson last year, every public shooting in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed since at least 1950 has occurred in a place where citizens are not allowed to carry their own firearms. Had some citizens been armed, they might have been able to stop the killings before the police got to the scene. In the Newtown attack, it took police 20 minutes to arrive at the school after the first calls for help.”

    If folks were to collect the attempted mass shootings, there’d be an awful lot where the murderers died after meeting an armed civilian, never mind the police showing up.

    I don’t know why, but they tend to kill themselves when they meet armed resistance.

    1. piotr1600 Avatar
      piotr1600

      From my readings on the subject, the general consensus seems to be that the introduction of a perceived (whether actual or not) clear lethal threat to themselves generally ‘breaks’ their fantasy.

      Other than that? They are mentally quite damaged people, whose actual “reasoning” and drives to carry out these acts may literally be incomprehensible to the rest of us.

  4. Enjoyed the article Cedar. I see the professor’s assumption that women and girls don’t shoot because of–??? (whatever is politically correct in the ???) when the opposite is true. One of the fastest markets for weapons are women. I know women in our area who are taking concealed carry classes so that they can carry their guns in special purses. One of my woman friends carries a pistol on a belt. One of my husband’s co-workers (female) had to show her gun when she was being told by a couple of members of a bike gang that she shouldn’t call the police. So yea, give me a pink gun or a colored gun… it wouldn’t shame me or my husband at all.

    1. When I was shopping for pistols earlier this year I was eyeing the pink and purple grips. Had the one I wanted come with the lime green grips, though, I would have been sold!

      1. I would go for blue grips, but yea–

        1. I didn’t see blue. I like blues and greens more than pinks and purples.

          1. Look at the New Models on the left:
            http://www.kahr.com/

  5. I want Mad Mike’s Steampunk AK. It shoots straight and looks great.

  6. On the subject of Pink, “Hello Kitty” gear…My friend Steve Nakamura – Chief Nakamura – made this get up.
    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=561595363966089&set=a.237714926354136.53584.100003468903119&type=3&theater

  7. Wyldkat Avatar
    Wyldkat

    Great job. I hope you got a good grade.

    Personally, I tend to slip in a line about laying part of the blame at the feet of the media. If they didn’t insist on hyper focusing on these events, and the ‘messages’ left, making the shooter into a household name, maybe some of these wastes of carbon wouldn’t be so inclined to try. But that is just my very bias opinion. 😉

    1. Oh, I agree. The school shootings get a lot of press, which makes others who share that insanity see to gain their own notoreity. It’s simply a form of seeking attention, and the tool they use to get what they want is the media, not the guns. The media gives them everything they want, and then shoves the blame off onto the guns, rather than the person who committed the crime, and themselves, who gave that person what they wanted when they threw their lethal tantrum.

  8. Synova Avatar
    Synova

    Personally, I think pink guns look too much like toys. Part of me is all “Ooooo… sweet!” and the other part thinks that looking like a “real gun” is an important safety feature.

    As for the question… if all guns were required to be pink, Home Depot has spray paint. It’s a SILLY question.

  9. As far as your case law reference? Which I didn’t bother to look at yet. Hell Cedar, The 7th Circuit came to that conclusion a shade over 30yrs ago. One of the opinions from that case, Bowers Vs DeVito…states and I quote [and as often as I quote it to anti gun, foaming at the mouth idiots, I should have it memorized by now]
    “there is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen. It’s is monstrous if the state fails to protect it’s residents against such predators but it does not violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, or, we suppose any other provision of The Constitution. The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties; it tells the state to let the people alone; it does not require the federal government nor the state to provide services. even so elementary a service as maintaining law and order”

    And THAT boys and girls is why no one outside of a convicted criminals, and some of the truly mentally unstable should have their 2nd amendment rights infringed upon

  10. Brad Templeton Avatar
    Brad Templeton

    I am going to get in sooooo much trouble for this, but the Sandy Hook killings were in fact done with the Bushmaster. (RELAX guys. I’m on your side. RELAX.)
    Some erroneous media reports said the rifles were all in the car. Subsequent reports issued by the state police reveal Lanza brought handguns and a rifle inside. I could do a LMGTFY link I guess but here is the main report:
    http://www.ct.gov/csao/lib/csao/Sandy_Hook_Final_Report.pdf
    There are photos available as well, some redacted:
    http://cspsandyhookreport.ct.gov/

    Buried in the photos are pics inside the school of AR-15 mags.
    I know. It could all be fake. Those mags could have been planted. Could could could could could. Take it for what you will: Lanza used a rifle, a type of firearm which is still responsible for the fewest number of deaths in the US every year. The main point still stands. It’s just not useful to repeat media misinformation.

    1. I am not upset. I wrote this about a week or so after Newtown, and was drawing on reports from a friend in law enforcement, not the media. However, given what the fog of war is, it doesn’t surprise me to find that time and evidence led to a clearer picture.

  11. Richard Cartwright Avatar
    Richard Cartwright

    Good call out on the Bushmaster. Like Cedar was saying she was working with the information she had. That is the sort of thing that libprogs love to seize on and whine “Well that minor fact is wrong. ..so the other 99%; of the sport on article is INVALID!”

  12. I want a Hello Kitty Ma Deuce so bad. Just think of all the cute mayhem you could cause with that thing.

    1. speaking of pink..I get a rash of crap for telling people my dream pool table has hot pink felt with the Aerosmith Wings logo sprawled from end to end on it. I also get a rash of crap for saying one of my dream cars is a hot pink Hemi Cuda. 😛

    2. Erin Palette Avatar
      Erin Palette

      Oh my, yes. Anything .50 caliber needs to be done in glittery, sparkly pink and adorned with tassels and pictures of cute cartoon animals, just because of the cognitive dissonance it will cause.