Armed and Safe started the ball rolling.
Then I got into it here.
At which point, everybody's favorite "3-percenter" Mike Vanderboegh weighed in.
The recipients of Brother Mike' pointed wisdom have responded, and Mindful Musings has posted them, along with Mike's intertwined responses to:
Reporter Howard Witt
and
Professor Ben Agger
Go and read both. I'll still be here.
Thing is, part of the good professor's explanation is his quote has been taken out of context. His complete views have not been explained.
Poor guy just can't get fairly represented in the media...Ben Agger said he’s concerned, though, about what is prompting fear in gun owners.
"What is the underlying motivation . . . to buy assault weapons?" asked Agger, a sociology and humanities professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who wrote There Is a Gunman on Campus: Tragedy and Terror at Virginia Tech. "Part of me worries this is an expression of the need for people who disagree with Obama to arm themselves because they entertain the thought that there could be armed conflict or possibly race war."
But in fairness, it's not just racism being cited. There's also a "crisis in masculinity" egged on by "a lot of pro-gun sites that present guns as necessary tokens of hypermasculinity and allow people to buy weapons and ammunition." There's bemoaning about "respond[ing] to violence with violence," and "the fact that in many states there are laws being debated about letting students and teachers carry concealed weapons on campus testifies to the power of the NRA and right-wing gun groups. Rather, we need serious discussions of what causes school shoot
Poor guy just can't get fairly represented in the media...Ben Agger said he’s concerned, though, about what is prompting fear in gun owners.
"What is the underlying motivation . . . to buy assault weapons?" asked Agger, a sociology and humanities professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who wrote There Is a Gunman on Campus: Tragedy and Terror at Virginia Tech. "Part of me worries this is an expression of the need for people who disagree with Obama to arm themselves because they entertain the thought that there could be armed conflict or possibly race war."
But in fairness, it's not just racism being cited. There's also a "crisis in masculinity" egged on by "a lot of pro-gun sites that present guns as necessary tokens of hypermasculinity and allow people to buy weapons and ammunition." There's bemoaning about "respond[ing] to violence with violence," and "the fact that in many states there are laws being debated about letting students and teachers carry concealed weapons on campus testifies to the power of the NRA and right-wing gun groups. Rather, we need serious discussions of what causes school shootings and how to deal with potential problems, rather than unleashing an army of would-be Rambos and vigilantes."
Guess who the editor of this "academic journal" is? Hint: He said his views on the Second Amendment might surprise me.
Now to be fair, I've posted guest columns on WarOnGuns I don't completely agree with, so I'd invite the good professor to tell us just what those views are, and in detail--except I've been dismissed and ordered never to darken his inbox again.
Pity. I've always so loved surprises.
[Supporting information via Cris C and Scott W]