[speaker001:] Well, um, I'm, uh, pretty pro gun control over all. I, uh, I've had a lot of arguments with people about the issue of gun control and, uh, I must say that there are a couple of arguments against, uh, strong gun control which I find very compelling, although most the people who argue gun control with me I find, uh, use sort of canned arguments, you know, sort of the N R A slogan arguments and, um, uh, see I've been very frustrated when I do debate with people about it. Um, I guess on a one, a scale of one of ten I'm probably around a two in terms of fair restricting guns and I have to admit most of that is, uh, strong personal distaste. I don't like the idea of people being able to kill me with very little effort. Um, and, uh, guns are very symbolic of them having that power over me.
[speaker002:] Well, me being from Texas [LAUGHTER],
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I hope you're ready for this.
[speaker001:] Um, uh, I'll give it a try. I've got my Texan stereotypes in place.
[speaker002:] Well, I'm not your stereotypical Texan. I was raised around guns, hunting.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] [Smack] So I don't have a fear of fire arms in any respect.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I resp-, I respect them and what their capabilities are.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And on top of that spending a good portion of my earlier years in the military, as a Green Beret, I definitely respect the power of weaponry.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. It's pretty power isn't it [LAUGHTER]?
[speaker002:] And here in Houston, as well as just about any big city anywhere across this country, and here, here, here you go, here you, this will be border line N R A which I am not a member of.
[speaker001:] Okay. Okay.
[speaker002:] When you, I mean, you've heard the, the slogan, um, if you outlaw guns then only out laws will have guns.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. That applies to anything as well as guns. a gun.
[speaker002:] Well, you, you've got, well, any of the big cities you've got the different rival gangs and they're having their little turf wars over their little drug kingdoms and such,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And they get out their little Mac tens, they get out their little uzis and they're going to fight with them. And it doesn't matter what restrictions you put on that type of weapon or a class three firearm. If they want it they'll get it. I don't care if, if they've got to go down into New Mexico to get it they'll get it and they'll get across the border. Now my position, although, I have absolutely no use for a fully automatic weapon,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] anyway. Since I am a law-abiding citizen and I have never had a felony, if I wanted to buy one, I don't think there should be that big of a restriction on it. If they want to run a background check on me, fine. If they want to put a seven day waiting period, fine, again.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] If they want, want me to present a letter from my county sheriff saying that I've got his permission to have an automatic weapon in his county, that's fine too.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Uh-huh. What I don't gets dangerous in terms of civil liberties because pretty soon it's [LAUGHTER] it wouldn't, you don't want to have someone making a personal trust in that way, I would hope. I mean, because I mean someone the personal sheriff doesn't like doesn't get to have a gun and someone the personal sheriff,
[speaker002:] Well,
[speaker001:] ,
[speaker002:] the only, well, the criteria the sheriff would have to follow has, is this guy a convicted felon? Uh, is he a habitual trouble maker? Are we picking him up every Saturday,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] for a drunk and disorderly and if he had an automatic weapon could he really be raising some problems. You know, just proving that you're a basically a good citizen.
[speaker001:] But if you're not a, if you're not a basically good citizen, you just told me that you're going to get one of those guns anyway.
[speaker002:] If, if they want the firepower they can get it.
[speaker001:] So why hav-,
[speaker002:] because it doesn't matter how restrictive your border control points are they'll get it across the border one way or the other.
[speaker001:] So why have any restrictions at all?
[speaker002:] Uh, okay. Let-, go back to that one to ten scale where one,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] being,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] full gun control,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] ten being none.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] I'd said about an eight.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Well, we can could be,
[speaker002:] I said the restrictions I would like to see on, for anybody, whether it being for handgun, a rifle, a shotgun, I would like to see them go through either, I'd like to see a law enforcement agency, not N R A, but whether it be the, your state police or your county police for you to be able purchase a handgun. You got to go through their course and get certified that you know how to properly handle the weapon, how to safely handle the weapon, how to properly maintain it, the three basics.
[speaker001:] Well, that makes a lot of since to me. I mean, I certainly feel that if, if, we may disagree on when someone should own a fire arm but, uh, I certainly agree that if someone owns a fire arm that have as much responsibility to know how do, use it safely as someone learns how to drive, if not more so.
[speaker002:] Well, the han-, in the hands of the wrong person the car can be just as deadly as the weapon,
[speaker001:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] as a, as a pistol.
[speaker001:] Well, I have a bicycle [LAUGHTER] and that scares me too to tell you the truth [LAUGHTER] because I've been run off the road and all sorts of things. Well, I'm still, I'm still puzzled though, what is the argument, how does the argument work if, uh, if the bad guys are going to have guns anyway. What's the point of putting a restrictio-, basically, the restrictions are just to penalize the good guys because the bad guys are going to get the guns anyway they're not going to take those courses. Is it, uh, is it a way of raising the prices of illegal guns?
[speaker002:] Well there's,
[speaker001:] If it's not going to cut the supply of illegal guns it must going to at least raise the prices does that, uh, mean advantage?
[speaker002:] Uh, not necessarily a price thing. What is happening at least in this state and I expect to see it in other states very soon, legislation been introduced as that, if a citizen of the state, being,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] myself, has not committed a felony and has completed a certified weapons course, I can carry a weapon on me at all times concealed or uncon-, unconcealed.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Okay. You, you're, you're from California, right?
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] L A area?
[speaker001:] Uh, no. Bay area. San Francisco,
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] Bay area.
[speaker002:] Okay. You've been to the city?
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And all these people come around, someone attempts to mug me I would ju-, I would, as it stands now if he pulls a blade on me we're equally matched because I can meet him blade for blade.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Now if this legislation comes through, he pull-, I'm out with my family
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] we've gone shopping, we're fixing to get in the car, this guy comes up, he pulls a blade on me. I can pull a gun on him now. When you're, and when you're looking down the barrel of a hand cannon things change real quick.
[speaker001:] What if you're looking down the barrel of a hand cannon?
[speaker002:] Then it's still equally matched. Having,
[speaker001:] I,
[speaker002:] having spent time in combat I feel,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] I feel it before they'll get the gun on me.
[speaker001:] Well,
[speaker002:] If I'm,
[speaker001:] I'm, I'm sure,
[speaker002:] at the same,
[speaker001:] I'm sure given all,
[speaker002:] time.
[speaker001:] given all your training I'm sure that, you know, you'd, [LAUGHTER] if I walk into a bad neighborhood I'm sure I'd want to walk through with you because I'm sure you have good, you know, fa-, far above the average instinct for how to use guns and how to use them effectively and everything. Um, I'm, quite concerned that if you let everyone hasn't yet used a gun in a, haven't, hasn't yet committed a felony, if you let them all walk around carrying guns in this sort of wild west scenario, you're going to get an awful lot of people shooting guns pretty quickly just given human nature. You're going to start getting a lot of gunfire. It's, it's hard for me to imagine that a, a situation of, you know, take it to a logical extreme, if everyone walking around carrying a guns you're not going to have an increase in gunfire.
[speaker002:] I, actually it's no-, it's more of a police action in itself, the fact that everybody is packing a piece is a deterrence for someone saying, well, I'm going to mug this guy right here but hey, he's carrying just as much firepower as I can. And if they're sca-, if you got to go through a certification course to get where, to where you can carry it in public,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] then this individual also knows this guy's pretty good with it. Now whether this person is made the moral decision whether he can take another human life or not,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] that's another trip,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh
[speaker002:] but.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] In defense of myself, defense of my family or defense of my friends I can blow somebody a way in a heart beat.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Even, even more so when it comes to my, my wife and son.
[speaker001:] Yeah,
[speaker002:] Anybody,
[speaker001:] I know,
[speaker002:] anybody tries to hurt them I won't even blink,
[speaker001:] No. I, I understand that. What if, uh, what if you think someone's trying to hurt them and you make a mistake?
[speaker002:] This, this is where the question of gun control comes in.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Well, uh, that,
[speaker002:] What,
[speaker001:] that was the topic.
[speaker002:] I consider gun control is being able to hit my target with the first shot.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Say a person, uh, uh, get, all of a sudden my combat in me goes up and say I've got the vibes, this guy's fixing to do something, I go ahead and pull my piece.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And I make sure this persons sees it so that he's got now doubt that I will use it on him and I will use it right then.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] If he doesn't back up at that point he deserves what he gets because I have sent the clearest signal you mess with me, you mess with my family, I'm going to dust you. As it stands now I've got to do that with a blade. And the only reason I feel confid-, com-, com-, comfortable doing that is because of the training I've had.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Well as, as someone who would, would possibly be in the role of an independent bystander, I feel more comfortable with people having blades because, uh, you're not going to get [breathing] bullets flying around killing people instantly and, uh,
[speaker002:] Well, if I'm the one doing the shooting I don't miss. That's the kind of training I've had. I mean...