Truncating History

Gun control advocates have a documented history of shortening quotes to take them completely out of their original context, often turning them from a pro-gun claim into an anti-gun one. Usually when they do, I learn a little something new and add a new cite to my library.

Today was no exception. In a discussion on gun control in the 'Wild West', another troll cutnpasted an article from the now near defunct Gun Guys w/ this:

It was the late 1870s, the height of the mythic Wild West, and W.N. Morphy, editor of the Ford County Globe, pondered the presence of guns on Dodge City streets.

“An honest man attending to his own business doesn’t require the constant companionship of a six-shooter to make him feel easy and safe,” he opined on March 5, 1878, referencing a local ban on concealed guns. Indeed, “there is something rotten with a man’s conscience,” he continued, if he must walk the streets with a weapon.

Pretty straightforward, right? This guy opposed the carrying of firearms. But reader and commenter Odin's Eye located the complete statement:

"Some of the "boys"(1) in direct violation of City ordinances, carry firearms on our streets, without being called to account for the same. They do it in such an open manner, that it don't (sic) seem possible that our City officers are ignorant of this fact.

There must be some reason for it. What is it? Is it because they belong to the "gang"(1), or because they intend to harm none but anti-gang men? An honest man attending to his own business, doesn't require the constant companionship of a six-shooter, to make him feel easy and safe. We think there is something rotten with a man's conscience when he parades the streets with an exposed six-shooter, knowing he is violating the law with impunity, simply because he is a friend of the mashal or policeman." -- Ford County Globe, 5 March 1878, as related in "Why the West Was Wild: A Contemporary Look at the Antics of Some Highly Publicized Kansas Cowtown Personalities ", Nyle H. Miller, 2003, p 297

Well now that changes the whole meaning, doesn't it? He's not opposing the carrying of firearms necessarily but more the Good Old Boy system in place in most corrupt towns and cities during the era of the likes of Boss Tweed.

Why do they feel the need to do this? Because as has been shown over and over, history opposes gun control. They know this so have to try and re-invent it in their own image. Thankfully, in today's electronic age, it's harder for them to spread their bullcrap message w/o being called on it.