Does anybody really need to own a Chia Pet?
By Brian Schoeneman | Wednesday, January 19th, 2011 | PolicyI own a harpoon. It’s hanging in my basement. I also own a 1880-90s bayonet that would fit a British Lee-Enfield rifle. It’s sitting on a bookshelf, also in my basement. Why do I own these things? Well, I’m a maritime guy, so I like having maritime objects on display in the house. I’ve got a ship’s bell and a boatswain whistle, too. The bayonet I bought at a charity auction, and it comes from a time period I spent a lot of time studying in college. I have absolutely no reason to own either – they’re just curiosities that I enjoy having in my office downstairs.
Now, if someone came into my house and told me I shouldn’t be allowed to own a harpoon or a bayonet because I have no earthly reason to ever need either of those objects, I would probably laugh it off and then remind myself to never invite them over again. Whose business is it of anyone’s but mine what things I buy and have laying around the house? I think most people would agree with me that someone doing that would be pretty darn rude. In America, we enjoy the freedom to buy things with the money we earn regardless of whether we need them or not – if that weren’t the case, you’d never see another Shamwow or Chia Pet sold. There’s nothing wrong with buying things you don’t really have a use for.
Except, of course, if that thing happens to be a gun or a piece of gun related hardware.
I read an article today in the LA Times that sarcastically makes the argument that no one needs to own a high capacity magazine, so there’s no reason why anyone should be able to buy one. The author goes on to lament the idea of open carry, saying “if we need a conversation about whether it’s OK for someone to show up at the local diner with a six-shooter, we’ve lost our marbles. Is it 1823? Do we live in Tumbleweed?”
I get the feeling that if I asked this author if he really needed to own a 70 inch flat screen TV when he can watch TV just as well on a 21 inch one, he’d think I was a jerk. Or if I proposed to him that we pass a law banning people from showing off their boxers by wearing sagging pants, I would be considered some kind of kook.
But because we’re talking about guns, asking those kinds of rude questions is okay. I own a Beretta M9, the standard service pistol the Armed Forces use. I have three high capacity (which the left is defining as any magazine that holds more than 10 rounds) magazines, each capable of holding 15 rounds. Why do I own those? Because I want to. And they came with the gun when I bought it. I don’t need to justify my owning those three magazines any more than I need to justify owning a harpoon or a bayonet. All three can kill if the person wielding them decides to do so.
Most gun owners own more than one gun. Why? Because different guns are different and they do different things. But what business is that of anyone’s but mine and my wife’s? If I can afford it, why should it matter what I buy legally with my own money? Because what I’m buying has the potential to harm someone else? Because some LA Times writer can’t understand why anybody would want to buy them?
The last time I checked, one of the greatest freedoms we enjoy as Americans is the freedom to buy whatever we can afford. You want to go out and spend $5,000 on a cheeseburger, go for it. You don’t have to justify what you buy to anyone else.
Likewise, you don’t have to justify what you wear out in public to anyone, either. You want to wear white after labor day? Go for it. You want to wear your Star Trek costume to sit on a jury? More power to you. You don’t have to justify yourself to someone else. So why is it okay to question the sanity of folks who want to exercise their second amendment rights in public? Because it makes someone uncomfortable?
The high capacity magazine Jared Lee Loughner used in Tuscon did not kill those people. He did. Someone wearing their gun on their hip while they are out in public shouldn’t scare anybody. Those of us in DC are surrounded by people with guns constantly. Just today, I walked across the Capitol and saw a Capitol Police Officer carrying a fully automatic M4 rifle. If I can handle seeing police walking around as heavily armed as our Marines in Afghanistan, a guy carrying a 1911 at Denny’s isn’t going to bother me.
If it bothers you, that’s fine. I’m tolerant of those who have a different culture than I have. Some people don’t like guns, they didn’t grow up around them, they’ve never shot one, and they only view them as evil instruments of death. I can understand that. But what I can’t understand is why anyone thinks it’s okay to legislate that viewpoint on the rest of us.
If someone wants to own a high capacity magazine, that’s their business. So long as they are using it for a lawful purpose – and the overwhelmingly vast majority of owners do so – there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. Same with folks who want to open carry, or those of us who own harpoons and bayonets as conversation starters.
Instead of focusing on what people spend their money buying, we should be directing our energies to the legitimate problems highlighted by tragedies like Virginia Tech and Tuscon – people with mental health issues should not be buying guns legally. It is imperative that the Brady background checks we all undergo weed those folks out. There’s a breakdown in the system there and that’s where we need to be focusing on our energy. Not on telling our fellow citizens what they do and don’t need to own.
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About the author
A veteran political professional, long-time Republican party activist and attorney Brian W. Schoeneman has been offering his opinions at Bearing Drift since 2010. He serves on the Board of Virginia Line Media, LLC, which operates Bearing Drift and spends his days representing the U.S. Merchant Marine in Washington, D.C. He hails from Fairfax County, Virginia, where he lives with his wife and son.
Comments
7 Responses to "Does anybody really need to own a Chia Pet?"
So you think you have the right to own what ever firearm you want. Is there no limit to what firearm I could own? Could I own an RPG legally? The 2nd amendment says a well armed Militia. Is it all right to buy explosives that would make me a very well armed Militiaman. If the 2nd amendment meant only the right to bear arms to defend one’s self why did the FOUNDING FATHERS use the word militia?
I can normally read and understand points made on bearingdrift, even though I often disagree. This argument is foolish and completely misses the point. What makes this nation great has little to do with buying whatever we please to buy, and the difference in lethal potential between a 70″ big screen and a high capacity magazine is significant.
I grew up around guns, I probably fired my first shot before I was five years old. I am not afraid of guns and I fully support the ownership of firearms. But there is a limit, and it is important to understand the difference in regulating the deadly force a person can own and in limiting the amount of entertainment a person can own.
The high capacity magazine did not kill anybody in the Tucson tragedy, this is true. But Jared Loughner was stopped and lives were saved when he had to reload. If he had a lower capacity magazine, how many lives would have been saved?
I appreciate disagreement and logical argument. I respect those who have a different viewpoint, especially when rationally backed. This argument is weak and I am disappointed. Perhaps you should try inserting certain rights you do not want others to practice freely into your argument and see how much you disagree with it then.
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A friend of mine who is currently on a diet craze told me that chia seeds mixed with water is a great appetite suppressant. I highly doubt this is mentioned in the instruction manual, however. Obviously the fact that some people, like my friend, misuse chia seeds is yet another argument for tighter regulation of the chia industry. Similarly, just because some people misuse guns–think of the ratio of gun-owners to crimes committed with a gun–doesn’t mean we should regulate guns everytime a misuse occurs, tragic though the misuse may be.
Mr Schoeneman
I was hoping that you would respond to my comment about unlimited gun ownership and expose the stupidy of unlimited gun ownership. I guess this is a closed forum.
Louis, I apologize for not having a chance to respond to your comment until now. Real life intervened and I’ve been quite busy. I think both you and Isaac are missing my point. I am not advocating that we go back to the old days where you could buy a machine gun at the hardware store. My point is not that people should be able to buy anything they want. My point is that when you are talking about legal items – like high capacity magazines – people shouldn’t have to justify wanting them or owning them to anyone.
RPGs are not legal. I’m not saying they should be. High capacity magazines are legal. And if you want to argue that they shouldn’t be, the burden should be on you to demonstrate why the millions of law abiding gun owners like myself shouldn’t own them – I shouldn’t be forced to justify why I do, any more than someone with an SUV should be forced to justify why they made that choice instead of buying a Yugo.
Isaac, I understand your point about Loughner reloading, but we can’t make assumptions about what would have happened if he didn’t have a high capacity magazine. Sure, we can say he may not have killed as many people, but we could also so that he might have brought two guns instead of one. Or used a rifle. Or carried out his plan some other way. There’s no way to be sure. But the fact is, there are millions of law abiding gun owners who have never used a high capacity magazine to murder half a dozen people. There is no reason to limit their freedom to purchase something they want because someone has misused said item, as Jason noted.
I’m sorry you found the article to be substandard – I would email J.R. and demand a refund.
Isaac, do you know how many babies die needlessly drowning in 5 gallon buckets? Why do you need a 5 gallon bucket when 2 three gallon buckets would give you more paint or chemical agents etc etc than 1 five gallon? If it saves the life of one child isn’t it worth it? And those damn cfl bulbs loaded with mercury that don’t last as long as claimed and will be broken as other bulbs. Only – cfl bulb breakage will contaminate your house with mercury. This might be the new” lead paint”. Why do you need cfl bulbs when you can use incandescent? If it saves just one child from being permanently damaged, wouldn’t it be worth it? Ban the CFL!
Louis, you shoud own whatever firearm you want. 100 for all I care. Let’s not pretend that you haven’t already heard the refutation for your “militia” arguement. The smoke screen argument used to confuse the context of what was meant by militia, is so old.
Btw, an RPG is not a firearm. If it makes you feel better, no I don’t think that nuclear missle in Brian’s backyard is legal or constitutionally protected.
@ Brian S., there are uses for shamwows – cleaning! Chia Pets absorb carbon and express oxygen. You are a well known chia pet hater and you don’t care about your carbon foot print. Don’t you care about polar bears? You better not carry that harpoon concealed unless you have a permit either. Besides, they hurt the self-esteems of some Americans. Your bayonet is perfectly ok to have.
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