The Goldilocks approach to 'gun control'

Back when I started this blog (almost a year and a half ago--time flies), my inspiration was what I saw as a need to counter the lies and distortions of the citizen disarmament advocates. Specifically, the festering effluvia of a website that calls itself the "Gun Guys." For awhile, I wrote about them all the time, with links to the site. Eventually, though, I decided that the ludicrousness of their "arguments" was so obvious that by going to the trouble to debunk it, I was actually giving it more credence than merited.

Something they put up yesterday, however, has provoked me into breaking my own self-imposed rule of not referring to them (I'm not going to provide a link, though--they've quoted me without linking before, so hell with 'em). I refer to their post yesterday that manages to, within a few paragraphs, condemn both the SwissMiniGun and .50 caliber rifles.

The gun industry in America will no doubt support the argument that the miniature revolver is a novelty item for the wealthy. But most citizens of the United States, we are sure, believe that keeping such a deadly “plaything” out of our country is the right thing to do.

Let's talk about how "deadly" this toy is. It fires a 2.34 mm (or .092 caliber) bullet that weighs .128 grams (or in terms more familiar to American shooters, just under 1.98 grains (.22 rimfire bullets are generally between 30 and 40 grains). The muzzle velocity is about 400 feet per second. This translates to a kinetic energy of about .7 foot pounds. Ralphie Parker's Red Ryder BB Gun fired a BB of almost double the caliber (.177), and nearly three times the weight (about 5.73 grains), although at a lower velocity of around 280 feet per second. That makes for a kinetic energy of very nearly 1 foot pound (about .997, to be more exact). Popular BB guns today, like the Crosman, fire 8.2 grain pellets at 625 feet per second, for a KE of about 7.1 foot pounds, or about ten times that of the Mini Gun. Hell--even AirSoft guns (intended for people to shoot each other for recreation) manage almost that much kinetic energy, while paintball guns generate about fourteen times the Mini Gun's muzzle energy. Basically (and much less verbosely), you have a real problem if you're shot in the eye with one of these things, but to actually kill, it would be a hell of a lot easier to use fists and feet.

To the Gun Guys, though, and as Goldilocks would say, "This gun is too small."

Moving along to Papa Bear's gun:

Let the “SwissMiniGun” stay on the other side of the Atlantic. Then let’s begin keeping .50 caliber sniper rifles out of civilian hands as the next step in enhancing our personal and national security.

Obviously, to the Gun Goldilocks, "This gun is too big."

After that, however, is where the Goldilocks analogy breaks down, because to the Gun Guys, no gun is "just right"--they want to ban all of them.

UPDATE: From a comment by Thirdpower, I learn that I'm not the first to notice the Goldilocks angle.