by Eric Peters EricPetersAutos.com
Recently by Eric Peters: Small vs. Big: Some Pros . . . and Cons
Were told theres no legitimate use for an assault rife that is, a rifle that looks menacing because it has a military-style stock or flash suppressor. Even though it functions exactly like a regular hunting rife: One pull of the trigger, one bullet is fired. Maybe it has a higher capacity magazine (more bullets to fire without reloading) than a regular hunting rifle. Thats the extent of the functional differences.
Ok. Lets apply the same logic to cars.
Who really needs a car such as the 2012 Jaguar XFR Im reviewing this week? It looks very menacing and it has a 510 hp supercharged V-8, the equivalent if you follow the logic of the folks who dont like assault rifles of a high-capacity magazine. Arguably, it has at least four cylinders (and 300 hp) too many for any reasonable purpose.
All that power, all that performance capability what legitimate use is there for it?
And yet, Jaguar and other purveyors of high-performing cars are not pilloried as merchants of death. You do not hear much tut-tutting talk about the machinations of the car lobby.
Its an interesting and revelatory psychological disconnect. The elites the Chuck Schumers, the BHOs, the Clintons, et al. love to talk up what they dishonestly like to call gun control (dishonestly, because theyre really talking about controlling people and specifically, other people, not them). Theyll demand prior restraint of not just gun owners but would-be gun owners on the theory that because some one of them might do something harmful with a gun, all of them must be restrained a priori: Restricted by law from owning or possessing a gun, not because of anything they have actually done with the gun but because of something they might might! do with a gun. And not even necessarily them.
It is sufficient that anyone not you, just anyone might do something.
Fine. Why not apply the same reasoning to high-powered cars like the $82,000 Jag thats sitting in my driveway right now. I could hop in and make full use of all 510 supercharged hp, running the car up to its top speed of 170-plus MPH faster than a Prius can get to 70. And even if I dont do that, someone could do that.
Well, what about the children?
Apparently, its ok for them to possibly, just maybe get run down by the supercharged Jag as it blasts through a school zone doing four times the limit (because it can, after all). But its not ok for me to drive the Jag at the speed limit through the same school zone . . . with my high-powered gun along for the ride.
The difference? Gun-controllers tend not to own guns (much less know anything about guns) while they often do own prestigious, high-dollar cars like the Jag and are very much preoccupied with having more in the way of power/capability than their neighbors.
Or you.