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There is a saying about gun control that every American ought to know and remember – "It's not about 'guns,' it's about 'control.'"

Think of this concept in terms of the phrase "crowd control." It ain't about "crowds," is it? No, not really. It's that control thing.

The powerful elite in this country and abroad love to frame the issue of gun control in terms of actually controlling guns. That would be fine, except guns are like any other potentially dangerous inanimate object – they can't harm you unless someone picks one up and shoots you, the same as a car can't harm you unless you have a wreck or unless somebody tries to run you over.

That's just one of many little "truths" about so-called gun control. And in an e-mail recently, I was sent a number of others that I wanted to pass along to my readers for later use and reference:

• An armed American is a citizen; an unarmed American is a subject.

• A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.

• Smith & Wesson: The original point-and-click interface.

• If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.

• If guns cause accidents, then accidents cause drunk driving.

• Free people do not have to ask permission to be armed.

• The government of a free people is not expected to "grant" such permission.

• If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.

• Here's a news headline you'll never see: "85 Million Gun Owners Killed No One Today"

• Guns only have two enemies – rust and politicians.

• You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.

• "911" – government-sponsored "Dial-A-Prayer"

• Assault is a behavior, not a device.

• Criminals love a disarmed society; it makes their job easier.

• If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.

• Only a government that is afraid of its citizens would try to control them.

• When you remove "the right to keep and bear arms," you create slaves.

And my personal favorite:

• The American Revolution would never have happened if the colonists succumbed to gun control.

There are other little sayings, I'm sure, that you can think of or have heard. But I believe the point is well made in just this small group – without the means to exercise God-given rights, we will lose them.

The right to keep and bear arms is just one of them, but it's actually the most important because within it is the means for a free people to remain free, should our politicians become too authoritarian, too elitist, too distrusting and too scared of "we the people."

I'm not a gun-rights supporter because I want to cause murder and mayhem anymore than I'm an automobile owner because I want to cause a traffic accident.

But the fact is, without the means to defend myself, I place myself and my family at risk. No one – especially a politician – has the right to force me to do that.

The ultimate truth about gun control is that guns have nothing to do with it. The sooner more Americans learn that, the safer we'll all be.

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Richard Poe's "The Seven Myths of Gun Control," the ultimate answer book on Second Amendment rights, is available in WND's online store.