Here in the Deep South, college football matters. It matters a lot. We wear our allegiances on our sleeves and they're passed down to our children. I'm a University of Georgia fan and have been since I was a twinkle in my daddy's eye.

So, as a result of that, I've never been a fan of former Florida Gator Coach Steve Spurrier. Why? Because he'd beat us on the regular, that's why. He was very good at what he did, which is good because he stunk up the NFL during his time there--Spurrier was famously the quarterback of the 0-16 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Yet I never really hated the guy. He had a job to do and frankly, it was only sports. They might matter down here, but we don't need it to survive or anything.

Had he just kept it to football, I'd probably not even think about him again.

Unfortunately, he didn't, and he illustrated beautifully how success in one avenue doesn't suggest expertise in literally anything else. He did so by pushing gun control.

However, Steve Spurrier is known for sharing exactly what he thinks, and that's precisely what he did on his Inside The Huddle show he hosted yesterday on one of the most divisive issues in America.  

Fully aware that his opinion will have plenty of critics, Spurrier brought up the issue of AR-15 availability by referring to the school shooting at Appalachee HS (GA) that took the lives of four individuals. He specifically mentioned the school's defensive coordinator Ricky Aspinwall who lost his life that day, and the head ball coach clearly felt compelled to share some thoughts on the current state of guns in America.

In short, he's among the growing number of people who are tired of hearing and reading about people's thoughts and prayers after yet another school shooting.

"Everybody says hearts and prayers go out, but why in the world - in America - are you eligible to go into a gun store and buy an AR-15 rifle!?"

"They should just have a sign: 'If you need a gun for mass school shootings, here is your AR-15. We will give you a discount.'"

"Why don't they just put that sign up there? That's the only thing they're used for. You don't need them for self defense and yet we sit here and say 'blah, blah, blah.'"

"We are messed up in America to allow sick people to have these guns, and it ain't going to stop until they get all of these guns out of the way. You can carry a six-shooter, protect yourself, which we are all for. But these AR-15s are for mass shootings in the schools and we sit here and allow it to happen in America. Makes me sick."

Oh, so we "get" to carry a "six-shooter" like a cowboy from the Old West, but we're relegated to just the weapons that a washed-up football coach thinks we should have?

Well how freaking gracious of you, Steve. Say, do I have limits on other rights unless you personally approve of how I use them? Can I criticize the government or worship as I please if you disagree?

The Second Amendment says our right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. That means we shouldn't have to ask anyone what kind of arms we're permitted to have and which are just too dangerous for us regular folks to have.

But herein lies a bit of truth that Spurrier has unwittingly revealed. He only thinks we should have revolvers for self-defense. Semi-automatics are the most popular type of firearm for both pistols and rifles--I honestly don't know about shotguns, but they're up there--and Spurrier doesn't acknowledge semi-auto handguns at all.

See, what we've been seeing more and more is that anti-gunners like Spurrier aren't content to just get the AR-15s. They listened when we told them that banning the platform doesn't fundamentally mean all that much because there are other guns that are functionally identical.

Now, they want to ban semi-automatics entirely.

However, the courts have ruled since Heller that you can't ban guns that are "in common use." While I disagree with that characterization--there's nothing in the text of the Second Amendment that suggests there are arms that can and should be restricted--that's the framework the courts use. Semi-automatics are incredibly popular among gun owners, with most gun owners having one or more of them. 

That means you can't ban semi-autos and survive a legal challenge even without the Bruen decision.

Spurrier was a pretty good football coach when he was at Florida. He wasn't so good in most other places he went afterward, but at the University of Florida, he was the man.

If he's hoping for a new career as a political commentator, then he should probably stick to football.