A couple of weeks ago advice columnist Ask Amy told a father to throw his gun-owning adult daughter out of the house. In giving this shitty advice, she made some some serious gun-ignorant statements including saying that hollow point bullets explode and are illegal. After getting fact-checked into a coma, she has issued a retraction, but somehow made things worse. According to Ask Amy, hollow points no longer explode but now gun ownership is not a constitutionally guaranteed right.
Here’s a dumb thing Ask Amy told a father who was nervous because his live-at-home daughter had purchased a .40-caliber handgun and had it loaded with hollow point rounds:
According to my research, possessing hollow point bullets is illegal in 11 states; is it legal in your state to own this sort of exploding ammunition?
Upon further reflection, and a mountain of shit, Ask Amy has done some more research:
Dear Readers: I recently ran a question from “Dumbfounded Father” in my column. This man had a 24-year-old daughter who was living with him. She had recently disclosed that she possessed a .40 caliber semi-automatic weapon, with hollow point bullets. This father did not want to have guns in his home.
In my response, I incorrectly stated that hollow point bullets “explode.” I stated that this ammunition is illegal in 11 states.
I take responsibility for this error and apologize to readers who were misinformed, confused or furious about it.
I reached out to Eric Delbert, a second-generation law enforcement officer and owner (with his father) of LEPD firearms range and training facility in Columbus, Ohio, who patiently described the characteristics of hollow point bullets. They do not explode. They expand. This ammunition seems to be only partially banned in one state (New Jersey). He also pointed out that the .40 caliber semi-automatic is extremely popular, and — in his opinion — an appropriate choice for this young woman.
So far so good, but Ask Amy hates her some guns and she continued this correction with a rant against legal gun ownership:
Many angry readers also suggested that my ignorance of firearms and ammunition disqualifies me from commenting on gun ownership or gun violence.
Obviously, I disagree. I don’t have to know the intricacies of a car engine to advocate for commonsense driving and licensing laws.
Not if you don’t know what the pedals are for or what that round thing coming out of the dashboard does.
I was also accused of having a “bias” against guns. A gun is an inanimate object. I don’t hold a particular bias against these objects.
Now wait for it…
I definitely have a bias against the people who use guns to terrorize and kill one another. I also have a bias against the gun lobby that gaslights Americans into believing that gun ownership is not only a right, but also — these days — a necessity, as many readers have suggested.
“Gaslighting” is basically shaming someone into believing something that is true is actually false. Ask Amy is saying that the NRA is trying make people falsely believe that gun ownership is a right, or more accurately, she’s claiming that owning a gun is not a right protected by the US Constitution. She’s going to need another fact-check on this. I suggest she Google the 2nd Amendment and DC v. Heller.
It’s possible that Ask Amy doesn’t understand what “gaslighting” means, but she’s pretty adamant in her opposition to people owning guns, so probably not.
Additionally, the disrespect, anger, violent language and threats contained in many of the responses to this Q and A are, frankly, a great argument for stricter gun control.
Just because people corrected her ignorance of guns and ammunition, everyone should be excluded from owning a gun? Somebody’s full of themselves (and shit).
We will check back in a couple of weeks when Ask Amy issues another correction after she finds out that gun ownership is a right. I’m sure she’ll make some kind of other crazy statement like “guns eat children and cause global warming” and Def-Con News will be ready with another bold fact-check that the liberal media won’t touch.
