Brady Trots Out Same Old Stuff for New Gun (blog)

See link above for the original article by/at FreedomSight.

Hey, check out the new Five-Seven semi-auto pistol from FN Herstal (who don't get a link due to their clueless website design). It fires the 5.7x28mm cartridge, which is a .224 caliber projectile. Whether the world needs another Poodleshooter grade cartridge ... well, variety is the spice of life, you know. FN makes various claims about the military applications of this round, including personal armor penetration, which results in predictable wailing and twisting of knickers from the Brady Gun Ban Bunch.

"This handgun is made for soldiers to kill enemy soldiers. The only civilians who would need one are criminals who want to kill cops," Brady said. "In other words, this is a no-brainer. It has no place in civil society. Get rid of it."
To which Robert Heinlein responds,
An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.
And notice, again, the usage of the verb, need. Excuse me, but it isn't for you, Mr. Brady, to define the constraints of need for the rest of us. This is part of being a free people. We get to decide for ourselves what our needs are, and how to satisfy those needs. Not you. Not the government. Not the (far less than) Million Mom March, or Tom Diaz, or any other left-wing policy wonk who lacks an appreciation for the U.S. Constitution, or natural rights. I suggest the the "no-brainer" appelation applies to your line of reasoning, which obviously fails to consider the fundamental issues of the rights of a free people, and the lack of any evidence that gun-control laws have any effect on criminals or crime.
Brady urged the White House and Congressional leaders to act. "President Bush and Congress should urge the gun company to stop selling this gun in America voluntarily, or the President and Congress should take whatever action is necessary to get it out of the American civilian marketplace," Brady said. "Anything else makes no sense. Nobody in America who's not a soldier or a police officer needs to have this handgun."
Well, how about members of the unorganized militia. Yes, the very militia which is comprised of all able-bodied males of age 17 to 44. About which Alexander Hamilton wrote,
This will not only lessen the call for military establishments, but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. — Federalist No. 29
See also 10USC311.

The thing which makes to sense are the continual knee-jerk reactions on the part of the anti-gun bigots, who continue to ignore the rights of free people to defend themselves, and to make their own choices regarding their personal safety, and the equipement required to ensure such. It also makes no sense to continue to pass ineffectual laws, abridging the rights of the people, when history shows such laws have little, if any benefit to society — not that that's a valid test in this case, but the gun-ban crowd continue to parrot it as an argument, and the rest of us are getting damn tired of hearing it.
"This gun is a very dangerous, easily concealable assault pistol," said John Shanks, Law Enforcement Relations director at the Brady Campaign. Shanks, a former police officer from Texas, expressed concern not only for the safety of law enforcement officers, but also innocent bystanders, who may fall victim to these rounds in their community.
Oh please. Assault Pistol. Where'd you come up with that term, Mr. Shanks? We might as well start prepending the term "assault" to anything that can possibly be used as a weapon. For example, I own several assault wood chisels. I also drive an assault automobile.

Labeling something as "very dangerous" is no argument. The world is full of dangerous things — by which I mean things which can cause harm when misused. It's the misuse that's a danger, not the thing by itself. Would you argue that this gun, when carried by a police officer, is "dangerous"? Not likely. What basis, then, to argue that it's somehow transmogrified into something to be feared in the hands of the civilian? And it's just as possible for bystanders to be hit by a car in a farmers market as it is for them to be hit by stray bullets. Neither provides a justification for removing the offending product from the market.

Update: Countertop Chronicles fisks the livin' daylights out of the NYPD and Newsday over their article on the FN Five-Seven. Best quote, in light of the wailing about civilians getting their hands on one of these pistols:
You see, FN has restricted sales of the Five-seveN to military and law enforcement agencies only!!!

What's that you say, Mr. Hutton's story and concerns are utter bogus bullshit? Yep, you heard right.

According to Modern Fireams, the Five-seveN is available from FN for government or law enforcement sales only a point confirmed by FN's own web page.
Suggested Price: (Law Enforcement agencies only- 5.7 x 28 caliber weapons are not available to the general public)
You know, that just chaps my ass. Of course, they're a European company, and over there, civilians are still considered as beings who are beneath the annointed overseers. Not over here, FN, thank you very much (NOT!). Oh wait, we have the same bullshit over here too.