Thanks to Caleb for having me on his show “Extreme Gun Activism” (I feel like I need to buy a helmet and knee pads). Kurt says:
Ironically, the vituperative howls of indignation from the “pragmaticsâ€â€“the calls to silence us less “polite†gun rights advocates (good luck with that, by the way) are what kept this issue on the front burner, and provoked us to dig in our heels. It’s “gun rights advocates†volunteering to shoot us, who make us all the more determined.
Invectives were definitely flying from both sides in what is, obviously, a highly emotionally charged topic. My initial reaction to the letter was emotional as well. But I am not looking for a new enemy to fight. I don’t really consider Kurt, David, or even Mike an “enemy.”  I have strong disagreements with them on methods, but in the end, I recognize we have common goals, and common foes.
As much as I’d like to say we should all just be able to get along, the fact is, we won’t always. We will have disagreements, and we will air disagreements, and invectives will fly. As I said last night in the show, one of the advantages the anti-gun folks have over us is solid control of their message. Because they have no substantive grass roots, they get to have these arguments behind closed doors where only people like Mary McFate get to hear them. Because we are a grass roots movement, we don’t get that luxury, so arguments over tactics and messaging happen out in the open where everyone can see it.
But you know what? I wouldn’t trade our grassroots for what the anti-gun folks have. I think people on both sides of the gun rights debate need to step back, and realize these squabbles are going to happen, and they shouldn’t be taken too personally. As much as it might seem, no one really expects the other side to just shut up and go away, and I’m not sure our movement would be better off if people did. I’ve heard more than a few people ask “Can’t we all just get along?” To which, I’m afraid, the answer is no. But I’m not sure that’s necessarily a bad thing.
As long as we don’t end up shooting each other, I have no problem with not getting along with all factions of the gun rights groups.
We must all hang together, or surely we will all get raided by the BATFE separately!
I listened to most of the show live last night, but hard a hard time hearing Kurt. I laughed out loud when Mike V. was the first caller (just because of the irony).
My personal opinion is that we need ALL types of us pro-gun people to secure our liberties. We need tactful diplomats like Sebastian & Ahab to help spread our message to the masses, as well as the gung-ho warriors like Kurt and Mike V. to lead the charge and “scare the white people.” As long as we’re scaring the ones that NEED scaring (such as Sen. McCarthy, perhaps?).
I love that our movement is so open and honest that we can discuss this stuff out in the open, while the Brady bunch & (anti)GunGuys blogs are closed to comments. The truth sets us free, while the opposition hides behind closed doors for their discussions. (Three cheers for Mary McFate!)
…Keep up the good work, all….
…Orygunner…
We don’t need to “all get along” on supporting the NRA or the GOA or whomever. The thing is, both the more extreme folks and the more moderate folks can agree on attacking those who would deny us our rights. The only real beef I have with the “extremists” is that they focus as much, if not more, energy on attacking moderates. I understand their differences with us are not always something we can look past, but even though our methods are different, the goal is identical.