The Kevin Miner Gun Challenge!

In 1980, San Diego Padres shortstop Ozzie Smith set the all-time assists record for a shortstop at 621, and won the first of 13 consecutive Gold Glove Awards.

He also hit .230, with zero home runs and .313 On Base Percentage. The following baseball season, Smith's appearance at the plate was even more dismal, logging a .222 batting average and zero home runs, with an on base percentage of .294.  To put it in non-baseball terms: pathetic. Due to animosity between Ozzie Smith's agent, Ed Gottlieb, and the San Diego Padres management, Smith found himself a St. Louis Cardinal at the start of the 1982 season.

I guarantee you nobody is taking this guy's gun away!!

At spring training, Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog saw Smith's potential as a hitter and offered the young player a deal.

"Every time you hit a fly ball," said Herzog to Smith, "you owe me a buck. Every time you hit a ground ball, I owe you a buck."

The plan worked beautifully. Smith accepted the deal, stopped trying to hit home runs, and earned $300 over the course of the 1982 season. His batting average improved to respectability, and Smith finished his career with a respectable 2,460 hits. As a Padre, Ozzie Smith's batting average was a lowly .231 As a Cardinal, Smith hit .272.

I offer a similar proposal to any law-abiding gun owner. For every day that a government official doesn't take your gun away, you owe me a buck. For every day that a government official does take your gun away, I will give you $10,000. Per gun. And yes, I am completely serious.

Why do I make this offer? Because quite frankly, less than three months after 20 mothers and fathers had their children taken away from them by a madman, a predictable group of sourpusses have sulked and complained that they are the real victims here.

Spare me. That is just wrong for so many reasons. You, a victim? Why? Because in the future, a 17 year-old with a documented history of mental illness and a criminal record might not be allowed to purchase a Tec-9, a 9 mm High Point Carbine Rifle, and two shotguns at a gun show? It's happened before. The buyer's name was Eric Harris.

So happy I could flip!

We have automotive safety laws in the country. To obtain a car, one must first take lessons from a certified instructor, pass a test, and obtain a licence. After buying a car, one must register the car and pay insurance on it, because even though cars can be useful, these cars can also be quite dangerous if not handled properly. In fact, cars themselves must meet certain safety standards from the manufacturer if they are to be sold to the general public.

Substitute the word "car" with "gun," and guess what? You're not a "victim." No one is going to take your car away and leave you defenseless against a "bad guy with a car." You will survive. You will not be, nor are you now, a victim.

But people who get shot and killed are victims. Sometimes these victims had a gun, sometimes they didn't. But the perpetrator had a gun that, all too often, was legally purchased. So take me up on this challenge. Eventually, you will learn that nobody is out to "take your gun away."

Or better yet, stop complaining.

Speak up against ignorance and misconception.

Freedom doesn't come from the barrel of a gun. It stems from a mutual agreement among people.

The next time your Congressman, Senator, State Representative, or any elected official says otherwise,

Call them on it!

There is a difference between a “loophole,” a technical term that derives its name from the narrow slits in castle towers of the Middle Ages, and a giant gaping hole in legislation that allows roughly half of all gun sales to be conducted without a background check.

"Good guys with guns" did not deter John Hinckley

Call them on it!

There is a difference between a legitimate, gun safety organization that advocates for all owners of such weapons to use them responsibly, and an organization that calls for guns in the hands of virtually everyone, anyplace, anywhere. The percentage of Americans who believe that all gun sales should be subject to a background check is the same across party lines. With little margin, nearly 90 percent of Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters support universal background checks. Oh, and among NRA members, it's nearly 90 percent, too! Can the same be said by NRA leadership?

Call them on it!

Even Antonin Scalia does not believe that the Second Amendment should serve as anything more than an adjunct to law enforcement. If you raise your gun at a police officer, a U.S. Marshall, or any other “Jack-booted thug,” no one is going to pry a gun from your cold, dead hands. Instead, your corpse will still be warm when the forensics team arrives on the scene.

Call them on it!

If Ford makes a faulty car, the purchaser of said car can sue the manufacturer for selling shoddy product. If Cerberus Capital Management manufacturers a faulty gun, the purchaser of said gun has no legal recourse against the manufacturer. Why?

Call them on it!

Trying to overthrow one's government, against the will of the majority, through violent means does not make one a person into a patriot. It makes him a terrorist.

Call them on it!

Elected officials should be able to make decisions based on the consensus of a majority, not out fear of assassination. People should have the right to go to work, or school, or any public place without having to worry about guns or bombs going off.

Call them on it!

Inanimate objects, be they guns, swords, or toasters are not human beings, and thus, not entitled to “rights.” Only people are entitled to human rights. It is self-evident.

Call them on it!

Every time Wayne LaPierre opens his mouth at a press conference or on TV news, he turns himself into a strawman. LaPierre figuratively puts his own fallacious logic in the cross, and invites anybody with good reason to figuratively shoot him down.

Yes, figuratively. Only someone with a severe case of schizophrenia would take such rhetoric literally. And how do you stop a schizophrenic from going on a shooting spree? Is it with concealed carry permits, powerful handguns, and hollow-point bullets?

No, no, and no. The correct answer is thirty milligrams of Thorazine, give or take.

Call them on it!

Tanks, fighter jets, and nuclear missiles are all prohibited from civilian use. Yet these are all “arms.” Why are they restricted, or to put it differently, “infringed?” Because they don't belong to you if you are not in a militia!

The list is endless. There is much more to be said. This conversation must go on. And go on it shall. This time, we as a people, as a nation, must not let a small band of dangerous extremists and trade industry lobbyists enable the next mass murderer. We are capable of being better people. We can do this. But only if we speak.