These Are MY Guns: In Support of the Second Amendment and Firearm Rights

By Robert Jordan L

Completely updated, in 2021, with the most current compiled information, These Are MY Guns is written in support of the Second Amendment, firearm rights, and our right to bear arms. It is a definitive and in-depth examination of the Anti-Gun and Gun Control Movement's claims and tactics, and the facts and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sun and Sea Publishing
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9780996162364

Robert Jordan L

A native of Flint, Michigan, Author Robert Jordan is an Architect by profession as well as a Photographer. Having no formal training as a writer, Robert was driven to write his first book, "These Are My Guns", a book in defense of Second Amendment rights, by what he sees as the continual misleading of our our Citizenship with the goal or eroding our core Constitutional Rights.

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2021 Foreword

I am a gun Owner and ardent Second Amendment rights Advocate.

Robert L. Jordan

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

When I originally wrote this book, we had a decidedly anti-second amendment President, Obama, who out of one side of his mouth declared that he supported the second amendment but out of the other, frequently attacked firearm rights in speeches and called for more regulation.  Now, as I undertake to update this book to the most current fully compiled data available, that being 2018, we find ourselves with a new President Biden, Obama’s Vice President, who has made clear throughout his campaign that he intends to get the guns.  Worse, his party has control of the House of Representatives and holds a tie in the Senate, with his Vice President, Kamala Harris, casting the tie-breaking vote.  Though, that point may be moot as he has also made clear that he intends to bypass Congress completely and begin his assault (no pun intended) via the use of executive orders.  Can there be any doubt that he will attempt to fulfill his campaign promises and attack our right to keep and bear arms?

Just as in 2015, when this book was first published, their non-fact-based platform will rely on false or manipulated information, scare tactics, and the moral argument that firearms are simply evil and should be wiped from the face of the planet. While many of them are protected by firearms on a daily basis, they simply do not believe that the huddled masses should be entitled to protect themselves from evil with the best tool for doing so.  We are simply unable to handle this great and terrible thing and actually put ourselves, and others, in far more danger with this beast than not protecting ourselves at all.  Don’t worry, they say, we will protect you; we will take care of you.  You don’t even need to protect yourself in the first place.  And all of this at a time when the Government has taken unprecedented steps to abridge our freedoms, under the guise of keeping us safe from a virus. 

Our Constitution and  Bill of Rights were created for the sole purpose of preventing a tyrannical government, by laying power solely in the hands of The People.  Today, our Government has seized far more control than it is allowed and has done so under the guise of two major events.  The first is a virus, from which the Government claims it can protect us.  Using this noble purpose as a shield, Governmental entities, down to unelected local bureaucrats, have passed emergency order restricting our freedoms, including telling us how many people we may have in our own homes.  They have done this with both the encouragement and approval from a large segment of our Citizenry, who have voiced their support for these actions but who seem to be ignorant of the long-term damage this will bring to our society.  It is frequently noted that once a right has been given away, it is difficult, if not impossible, to get it back; and once a politician is given a power, they certainly don’t give it back easily, if at all.  The second is a political game being waged by one party against the other, and its rogue President.  With the help of their mainstream media and big-tech partners, this party weaponized virtually every part of the government against the other party and, by extension, every supporter of that party.  As of time of writing of this Foreword, this is manifesting itself in the form of extreme censorship of anyone who supports the opposing party; and this censorship has not only the support but the encouragement of elected officials who are sworn to protect and defend the Constitution.  Instead, they have abdicated their responsibilities, but will pay no price as their core constituents will continue to vote them into office.

Can there be any question as to the need to be prepared to exercise one’s inherent right to self-defense and to  keep and bear arms?  Apparently, many Americans agree, as the FBI reports that 40 million firearms were sold in 2020 (vs. 13.9 million in 2019);  more than in any single year since they started tracking.

Most of the above events had not happened when I decided to update this book, but the 2020 Presidential Campaign was well underway and many (most?) of the Democratic Candidates, were devoting at least some part of their platforms to getting the guns.  So, I decided to undertake a complete update of all of the data in this book, and publish a second edition, with the purpose of illustrating the more things change, the more they stay the same, with regard to actual firearm related facts and data.

Not an easy task.  In compiling data for the original book, I relied almost solely on Governmentally provided data from the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Justice, for reasons discussed shortly.  In re-writing this book, I became painfully (re)aware of how dis-functional and broken our Government is.  Trying to do an apples to apples update of some pieces of data, became quite impossible.  If the Bureau of Justice Statistics had a pamphlet labeled Annual Crime Update 2011 (hypothetical name), they simply stopped issuing that in 2013 and had no equivalent in 2018.  The CDC’s non-fatal firearm numbers have been determined, a few years ago, to be so poor as to be nearly useless.  The CDC no longer issues its, well organized, detailed, and easy to search Mortality tables.  Now it is the WISQARS online database for external causes, such as firearms and stabbing, and WONDER for diseases and the like.  And try searching WONDER if you are not well versed in the scientific names of certain diseases; challenging to say the least.  If the FBI gave a 2011 statistic titled Firearm Self-Protective Behaviors (actual name), that has simply disappeared in 2018.  Mass Shooting?  Nope, Active Shooter Incidents.  Also, other organizations which were cited in the first edition, had similar issues.  The Brady campaign apparently no longer issues it’s State Scorecards, ranking each State on their firearms laws, for instance.

The bottom line is that, as I did in the first edition, I made an honest and completely transparent effort to rely on and publish fact based, non-partisan, unassailable data.  And, I used this data to look at the issue from many angles, not just one narrow talking point.  Where 2018 data was not available, I either removed that reference, or left the 2011 data for reference.  Where I did this, I clearly noted the data as such.  If data was not available in the same form, such as with different naming and combinations for diseases in WONDER, I used the newer form and simply re-labeled it as such.

While this may be questionable to some, I feel that it is both justified and appropriate, based on the fact that, overall, the end result from the first edition is still the same.  Percentages and ratios have moved little and still support the original premise of the book;  that being that Firearms, statistically, are not the extreme public health crisis that the Anti-Gun Movement, Politicians, Main-Stream Media, and some Public Health Officials claim they are.  The reason that they are able to get this over on a large chunk of the America Public is ignorance.  I do not say this with malice, though it does bother me quite a bit.  I use the term ignorance in the context of people seeming to know very little about their constitutional rights, our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and how our system is supposed to operate for The People, not against.  The Government works for us, not the other way around.  I also use the term in the context of people, today, having the Twitter mentality"; quickly scan the headline and move on.  We must educate ourselves.  If a Politician, or the media, says something, verify it for yourself.  I did just that and it led to this book.  Freedom, as they say, is not free.  It takes work and  without that work, The People will lose their freedom.

I thank you for purchasing this book.  I hope you enjoy it and are enlightened by it, and I encourage you to speak out and defend your constitutional rights.  All of them.

Robert L. Jordan

The rifle itself has no moral stature since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.

― Jeff Cooper, Art of the Rifle

2015 Preface

I am a gun Owner and ardent Second Amendment rights Advocate.

Robert L. Jordan

I am not a professor.  Nor am I an industry expert, statistician, scientist, government expert, or any type of credentialed somebody.  I am an informed American citizen and average Joe.  I pay attention to what is going on in the news, from many sources, and I make it a point to know, and understand, my rights as an American citizen.  The very same rights that so many of us take for granted, that most never bother to actually know and understand what they are and what they represent.  While by no means a constitutional expert, I have read our founding documents, and usually carry a copy with me.  I do my best to understand and honor both the content and intention of these documents.

I am also a gun owner an ardent Second Amendment rights advocate.

Also, my name really is Robert Jordan.  I make a point of this because it was a very difficult decision as to whether or not I should use a pen name. It seems that when an issue is as emotional as this one, and one side tends to rely more on emotional arguments than factual, there is also a tendency to vilify anyone with an opposing platform, and to attack that person –  sometimes quite literally.  The last thing I need is people picketing my house or threatening me and mine, and my first priority is my safety and that of those around me.  Ultimately, I decided to be me, for a number of reasons.  First, I don't want to bow to pressure to not be me.  Who are they to intimidate me, if only in my own mind, to hide my identity?  Second, I truly hope this book takes off, and perhaps leads to me advocating more for the cause.  In this case, of course, I need to be me.  Third, I did not want there to be any hint of malfeasance, or any questions as to the true identity of the author of this work, which might be used for political purposes, twisting, spinning, or the like.  Fourth, while I am a bit concerned, I am in a pretty good position to defend myself, if you take my meaning.

Finally, I also initially hesitated to use my real name because I do not want to alienate my friends, some of which have the opposite view that I do.  This is not a fantasy novel or humorous book on the perils of fatherhood.  This is a deadly serious non-fiction work about our fundamental rights as American citizens, and how our exercise of those rights draws others to us hold accountable for the actions of criminals. This is a topic that stirs strong counter responses.  Many people I know don't believe in owning firearms, but do not begrudge me that right.  Others actively oppose firearm ownership.  So, like many topics, sometimes it is best to just let it lie.  Well, cat's out of the bag now. At the end of the day, you have to be proud of who you are, and you have to stand up for it.  So, the die is cast.

I felt compelled to write this book in order contradict the numerous false, misleading, and disingenuous arguments put forth, and given so much media traction, by the anti-gun/anti-second amendment faction.  For instance:

The United States has by far the highest per capita firearm death rate of all developed countries.¹

Clearly, this statement has an impact, as do the myriad of variations associated with it.  It is very dramatic, and the anti-gun side frequently uses these types of statements.  However, lacking any context or other supporting data, this type of statement is completely meaningless, and is used only for the purposes of creating fear and rallying support to abolish guns completely.  Anyone that bothers to do even the smallest amount of independent research will find that the facts are these:  According to the Centers For Disease Control (we will discuss later in this book why the CDC's statistics are quoted): in 2018, the latest year for which final numbers have been tallied, there were 39,740 firearm-related deaths in the United States.²  In 2018, the population of the United States was nearly 327,167,434.3  There were just shy of 40,000 firearm-related deaths within a population of nearly over 327,000,000.  For reference, in 2018, there were 41,285 motor-vehicle/transport-related deaths.⁴ This paints a drastically different picture from the highest gun deaths in the developed world scenario. 

Further, we have not even begun to dissect that number with regards to type.  For instance, 61.5% were suicides.⁵ We also know that only 13,958 were homicides,6 and many of these were gang on gang, drug deal related, and concentrated in a handful of major urban areas.  This represents a crime problem, not a gun problem.  The average citizen, or law enforcement officer, has little to fear when it comes to guns.  Despite the dramatic twisting of data for the anti-gun agenda, including the addition of suicidal data into the numbers, it is clear that the facts and hard data simply do not support their anti-gun arguments.  While I do not hope to sway many anti-gunners to the other side, I feel that these points need to be made. 

I have seen many of the items that I discuss in various articles; however, I personally have not seen all in one comprehensive document.  Nor are many regularly discussed in the media, which seems to be mostly complicit in pushing the dramatic anti-gun headlines for ratings purposes.  Many of these points I do not see discussed, even in pro-gun outlets.  Unfortunately, a story about nothing happening just does not sell.  After all, could you ever dream of hearing this on the nightly news:

We now go to the field for breaking news.  Thanks, John, we have just confirmed that today 150,000,000 law-abiding gun owners committed no crimes.  Back to you in the studio.

It doesn't quite have the same flair as:

We have just learned that an assault weapon toting madman has massacred 15 babies in a Small-Town America day-care center.

Does it?

I am simply tired of a moral minority trying to push their version of morality on me, as so many try to do on a daily basis, over a range of issues.  The facts do not bear out any rational argument against firearms, so it can only be based on other reasons, such as moral ones.  There is no other choice.  It is a simple thing.  If you don't like the television show, turn the channel.  If you don't want to own a gun, then don't buy one, but stop trying to take away my right to own one.  The only person that I am going to injure or kill is the bad guy that attacks me; or the one that attacks you, by the way.  The odds of you being shot and killed, or shot and injured, are extremely low in this country. Even if the bad guy did not have a gun, that does not mean he will not use another means to kill if he really wants to.  So, keep your hands off my rights.

Introduction

If I can change only one person's mind...........................

Robert L. Jordan

In this book, you will find arguments in support of the Second Amendment and of the private ownership of firearms.  Many of these individual arguments appear in various sources, such as blogs, news articles, focused one-topic studies, and the like. However, I personally have not seen all of them together in one place and presented in a (mostly) non-political manner.  Many of the items that I present, some of which seem so obvious to me and so damning to the anti-gun factions, I have never seen or heard discussed at all and I find this very troubling. I approach the writing of this book from the viewpoint of an average American citizen, as opposed to a political commentator, conservative activist, or lobbyist, because that is what I am. I support my positions with references from commonly available sources. These sources include the Oxford dictionary, currently published news articles and books on the subject, and readily available government statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In some ways, I do call upon simple logic and common sense; however, as these things are often in the eye of the beholder, I always try to back it up with concrete historical comparisons or hard factual data.  The gun control advocates often refer to common sense, yet they then follow up with arguments that contradict this notion and are in no way supported by commonly available data, information, facts, or historical precedent.

It was very difficult writing this book as I am not a professional author and the nature of both the issue and the anti-gun arguments made it very difficult to decide how to approach the structure of the book.  Should I keep to a simple just the facts, ma'am style? Should I try to inject a little humor into a subject that is most certainly not humorous?  How do I organize the information in order to address the common anti-gun arguments and still have some kind of logical flow, as opposed to a Pulp Fiction style of individual topics that somehow go together?  Above all, I knew that I should avoid, whenever possible, the type of dramatic hyperbole that is continually used by both the anti- and pro-gun sides, which is not helpful to anyone, and simply does not prove a point.  I went through several re-writes, over a two- year period, before settling on this (mostly) just the facts version; which is, hopefully, punctuated with enough sarcasm, humor, and interest to keep you reading.

You will find that some information is repeated in several sections.  This is unavoidable, as many topics overlap. Quite frankly, much of the truly factual information bears repeating over and over again, as it is all too often completely ignored and/or bastardized by the anti-gunners.

I begin this book by examining the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment, and the Supreme Court.  I did this with the goal of illustrating that our founding documents were written from the perspective of controlling government and maximizing and guaranteeing individual rights and, further, that the basis for our Constitution was a belief that the rights set forth were not being granted by the document, rather, that these rights, including the right to bear arms for preservation of self, were pre-existing for time immemorial, and that the document merely reinforced that the People reserved these rights, and no government may give them or take them away. I support many of the arguments with verifiable quotes from historical sources.  There is no Confucius say a Sig in the hand is worth two dead bad guys in the bush, or other ridiculous hyperbole, just verifiable facts from  unimpeachable sources.  I also back up these arguments with documented Supreme Court of The United States (SCOTUS) case examples.

I continue the discussion with a detailed analysis on the actual, true, and real numbers, as provided by the CDC.  These statistics, specifically on firearm deaths, are generally accepted as being much more accurate than other numbers. This is because the CDC's information is taken directly from death certificates, which must be filed for every death in this country, whereas the other information, such as from the DOJ, is collected from voluntary law enforcement reporting.  I use the numbers from 2018, as this was the most current year for which final numbers had been published at the time of updating the book.  As anyone who pays attention knows, crime in general, and firearm crime specifically, have decreased steadily since the 1990s, and remained fairly level over the past few years; therefore, the 2018 statistics are still representative.  I break the numbers, on both fatalities and non-fatal injuries, down in a variety of ways, and discuss how and if these numbers would actually change significantly if firearms were more highly restricted and/or banned outright.  No matter how you slice and dice it, these numbers show, very clearly to any objective mind, that there is no gun crisis. Firearm death and injury affect mere fractions of percentages of Americans, and the dramatic school and mass shootings, even in the words of the governmental agencies tasked with reducing gun violence, occur exceedingly rarely.

Now, at this point, I feel that any other arguments should be moot.  The Constitution clearly favors individual rights (which are recognized to have long preceded governments), and it favors the right to keep and bear arms for purposes that are not in any way linked to government service.  The hard statistics, compiled by a non-partisan, authoritative, government entities, show that the imaginary gun crisis is exactly that – imaginary. Additionally, the statistics show that there is simply no factual statistical data that supports the anti-gun movement.  Nevertheless, and because I set out to write a book, not an essay or pamphlet, I proceed with additional supporting arguments.

First, I look at the anti-gun tactics, which run the gamut from flat out lies to what I call the emotional argument.  When all else fails, appeal to emotion.  If you can't fight with facts, fight with tears and fear.  This group of arguments includes the ever popular If it saves only one child, the Don't you feel responsible for people's deaths because you support firearms? and the fear-mongering theory that all gun supporters are bloodthirsty Grim Reapers and because of which, you should live in constant terror.  I expose the dangers, and falsehood, of this paradigm and illustrate the path down which these arguments have led us.

Next, I examine the common sense approach that anti-gunners espouse, illustrating why these proposed and enacted laws do not protect citizens from criminals and why, therefore, individuals need to be able to defend themselves against criminals.  We also discuss how laws and common sense steps have no effect whatsoever on crime, because criminals, by definition, do not follow laws.  Therefore, any laws that place further restrictions upon firearm ownership, only affect law-abiding citizens and do nothing to reduce firearm crime, or crime in general.

I then move on to examine the object itself, and why it is more beneficial to society than harmful. I will discuss comparatives, including other legal objects that are used to kill and injure and right of self-defense, both one individual against another and the People against the Government, as this is a key topic that deserves discussion.  As I have already stated, the Framers of our Constitution are on record as advocating for both and recognizing that both are rights that people have reserved since human beings have existed.  I also examine how the gun control side frequently, and willfully, mischaracterizes firearms and places the blame in the wrong place for gun deaths and injuries, i.e., on the object, rather than on the user.

Next, I expose the sad, and obvious, truth about mainstream news media complicity in the anti-gun movement.  True journalism, it seems, is nearly dead, and the vast majority of mainstream news outlets are provably and verifiably anti-gun.  While they may not have a published policy to this end, a simple examination of their story lines, by independent organizations such as PEW Research, shows a true anti-gun slant.  Additionally, it shows a twisted penchant for riding sensational firearm-related news stories, such as the rare mass shooting, for all they are worth in order to sow fear and present a false impression that these events happen regularly.

Finally, I examine the 2013 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report whose purpose, as mandated by the White House, was to set up a framework to solve a non-existent problem, i.e. the gun public health crisis.  The report itself continually uses terms such as rare, uncommon, and inconclusive, yet also continually uses terms such as sheer magnitude and public health problem.  Well, which is it?  It cannot be both. We already know the answer, which is provided to us by the IOM's parent organization, the CDC, and the DOJ.

In my arguments, and as you will often see in pro-Second Amendment arguments, you will see many comparisons between firearms and motor vehicles; there is good reason for this.  Firearms, inarguably, can be used to kill or injure multiple people in a short amount of time.  This, of course, would be due to a criminal using the firearm in an illegal and criminal manner.  Nonetheless, it can be done.  There are few other objects both capable of this and available to the general public.  Motor vehicles are one such example.  Further, firearms and motor vehicles are involved in very similar number of deaths each year, with 39,740 for firearms vs. 41,285 for motor vehicle/ transport1 in 2018.  Given these figures, it is completely appropriate to use motor vehicle operation as a comparison for firearm use.  I would also add that while firearms also accounted for approximately 470,000 non-fatal injuries, including both unintentional and violent, in 20182 motor vehicle/transport crashes accounted for 3,414,292 million3  non-fatal injuries. 

The most frequently heard counter argument to this is that motor vehicles serve the greater public good, whereas firearms have only one purpose, which is to kill.  It is surely true that when you get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle to go to the grocery store, your goal is to get there without getting into an accident, and without injuring or killing someone, or yourself.  On the other hand, if you draw down on something with your firearm, your intent is, most likely, to kill it.  At least, it should be, as you should never point a firearm at anyone or anything