Republicans Getting Soft

Anyone still want to argue we aren’t in grave danger? The GOP can be counted on not to be counted on. I will join Glenn Reynolds call: we must be heard from.

UPDATE: From Glenn’s post, from one of his readers: “I have heard some talk that passage of new gun control would be a good thing for the Republicans, as it would lead to a repeat of the 1994 midterm elections. I am of the mind that it will only cause more voters that should rightly be in the GOP column to disengage.”

That’s exactly what’s happened to gun voters in New Jersey. They’ve just given up, because neither party will do anything for them. They are largely not a factor in politics in New Jersey. Does the GOP nationally just want to surrender a huge voting bloc? Personally, if the GOP throws us under the bus. I’m done with the issue. At that point it’s got to be a third party.

First Attack: Illinois

An assault weapons ban could come to Illinois as early as Wednesday:

Illinois Anti-Gun Legislators That YOU Voted Out of Office to Use Their Last Remaining Days in Legislature Exploiting Lame Duck Session and Holiday Break To Impose a Draconian Gun Ban.

Contact info here. We have to beat them back, everywhere.

Teachers Learning to Shoot

I was previously of the opinion that there wouldn’t be very many teachers interested in training with firearms, but apparently that may not be the case. And it’s not just Utah, apparently either. This is good news. The cultural indicators are very good for us, but remember that this President has a particular talent for ramming unpopular legislation down the throats of Americans who don’t want it. And why should he be wary? He got re-elected.

It’s the Culture

Robb speaks Truth about culture being very important, and we’re ahead of the game than we were in 1994 on that front. But one has to understand the dynamic here. What a cultural fight involves is essentially the people who care about and follow an issue getting their message out there in an attempt to influence people who are only peripherally involved.

There are plenty of Americans who believe you should be forced to give up your rifles and magazines. They are out there. Most of them aren’t very committed to it, which is why they’ve traditionally struggled politically. They might say that if asked, but they don’t give much thought to it, don’t vote on it, and don’t typically act on it. What puts us in danger now is that if these people were motivated to act, there are a lot of them. Many of them are types that let the perfect become the enemy of good. They don’t vote because they can’t stand the choices, and don’t write lawmakers because they either don’t think it matters, or just hate the whole process.

Most of us are very committed to our position, and will vote on it, and do what we have to. But that’s not everyone in the gun community is political. In fact an uncomfortably large number are not. When I say political, I don’t mean they read gun blogs, or get involved in activism. I mean that they even vote. You’d be surprised by how many people are into shooting, buy guns, and care about the issue, but don’t vote and don’t write lawmakers. If we had all those people in the fight, we’d have nothing to worry about. But we don’t. All we can do is try to reach them. That’s largely what we need to do in the short term. In the long term, we still need to influence opinion makers, especially on the right.

We are going to be in for some tough times. If Obama seriously puts the full weight of the White House behind gun control, it will be difficult to stop it. Obama would love to see the right arguing amongst itself about who needs to get thrown under the bus. This whole thing is meant to stress the center-right coalition to the breaking point. That’s what the second term is going to be about.

Anger Issues

I have to agree with Professor Reynolds. The fact that guys like this are out there and taken seriously is a big reason I own firearms.

What is being proposed here, seriously, in a mainstream newspaper, is the kind of thing our founders put the Second Amendment in place so we could protect ourselves from. It’s astonishing that such an article would even make it into a serious newspaper, and be printed. It’s an outrage. Note that it’s a Gannett Newspaper too, the same people who are outing every gun owner in New York. Like I said, this is war. I get that a lot of people who have Comcast don’t have a choice, and I’m sympathetic to that. I’d bite the bullet and pay Comcast if that’s all the choice I had for Internet. But I’ve gone without a paper for my adult life, and don’t find I’m any less informed. If you’re subscribed to a Gannett paper, cancel it. Call their advertisers and harass them too. Starve the beast!

Speaking Different Languages

It’s very true, I think, that there isn’t much common ground to be had between opponents of RKBA and its proponents, but this?

A short drive away, at the New Pittsburgh Courier newspaper, editor and publisher Rod Doss pondered how to tell gun enthusiasts about his belief that assault weapons should be banned.

“I don’t know that they would hear me,” Doss finally said. “Their culture is totally different. They’ve grown up around guns. It’s part of their life and their lifestyle. It’s second nature. Hunting, shooting, it’s the love of guns.”

You know, our culture is not really “totally different.” Other than the fact that I blog and shoot for fun, I’m a pretty typical suburban dweller. The only difference is that I am familiar and comfortable with guns. And why shouldn’t I be? I don’t intend to murder anyone with them.

Wilson, a Roanoke College political science professor, would like gun control advocates to know: “Gun owners are not idiots. Gun owners are not in favor of gun violence. Gun owners are in many ways like them, and would genuinely like to see gun violence reduced. Obviously they have a different solution. But they’re people too, just with different perspectives.”

“And what I would want gun owners to know is, the large majority of people in favor of gun control don’t really want to take all of your guns.”

I also get annoyed with this idea that we shouldn’t worry our pretty little heads until confiscation is seriously proposed, as if no policy short of confiscation is anything to worry about. If you don’t confiscate my rifles, but still charge me a $200 dollar fine, and let’s not mince words here, it’s a fine, for owning them, and demand I register them, and demand anyone I sell to also pay the same fine, then screw you. It’s not confiscation, but is it not an infringement?

I appreciate this article from Eugene Volokh, comparing the people who suggest we (we being gun owners, and RKBA) have to “do something,” to someone who would ask adult responsible drinkers why they don’t do something about the social problems caused by alcohol. The reason we speak different languages is because we do not see ourselves as potential murderers. I think a big problem is that a lot of people do, and that’s their problem, not ours.