… to kill a lot of people. Thankfully the parents didn’t figure junior had just taken up gardening.
Month: April 2008
Religious Wars
Christ no doubt wanted people to have great passion about their faith, but I don’t think this is what he had in mind.
The Importance of Being “Out”
Eugene Volokh discusses “preference falsifiction” in regards to gun ownership. I think it highlights the importance of making sure people know you’re a gun owner. I don’t think you must, or even should, wear it on your sleeve, but hiding and pretending we’re doing something wrong because some people don’t approve of it will kill our rights in the long run. If people know other normal people who are gun owners, they will be less likely themselves to support taking them away from whatever people they might imagine engaging in the practice. As long as people don’t know they know someone who shoots, hunts, or keeps a firearm for self-protection, that leaves a blank canvas on which the anti-gun groups and media can paint whatever they wish.
Non-Profit Organization
Bitter describes the various types of non-profits, which is relevant in understanding exactly how NRA (and our opponents, for that matter) are put together.
Image is Everything
Some are arguing that McCain’s voting record, which is more conservative than many people realize, won’t matter, since independents tend to view him as a moderate.
His conservatism could be a problem for Mr. McCain — particularly if this November’s contest is as close as recent presidential elections, which were decided by independent-minded voters in the center of the political spectrum.
But he might avoid this problem to the extent people know him as an independent-minded politician. And many do view him that way.
“People see him as a centrist. They don’t see him as a conservative,” said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
“In fact, they put him pretty close to themselves, in terms of ideology, and put President Bush way to the right of themselves,” Mr. Kohut said.
Except I think McCain is a centrist, conservative voting record aside. Much like the current Commander-in-Chief, he’s antagonized enough parts of the Republican coalition that conservatives don’t much like him. He’ll earn my vote in November, because, well, look at my other choices. Plus, I think McCain is a sight better than the current occupant of the oval office, and I managed to close my eyes and think of England in 2004. I can do it again.
Obama Funds Gun Control
Looks like Obama’s roosters are coming home to roost a day before the Pennsylvania primaries:
Obama’s eight years on the board of the Joyce Foundation, which paid him more than $70,000 in directors fees, do not in any way conflict with his campaign-trail support for the rights of gun owners, Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Obama’s presidential campaign, asserted in a statement issued to Politico this week.
LaBolt stressed that the foundation, which has assets of about $935 million, doesn’t take “detailed policy positions,†but rather uses its grants to “fuel a dialogue about how to address public policy issues like reducing gun violence.â€
Oh, you mean this type of dialog? Not a good thing to be associated with in a pro-gun blue state.
Not Bully on Gun Rights
Sorry to see this coming from a professor at my alma mater:
Michael Nutter is a hero for standing up to these bullies. We fully support his actions and continue working to stanch the flow of handguns into Philadelphia. What possible argument can be made against limiting the purchase of a handgun to one per month? The NRA’s “slippery slope” is slippery indeed – with the blood of fallen Philadelphians.
Yeah, because criminals who don’t have any problem committing aggrevated assault and murder will obey a one-gun-per-month law.
We’re Not Stupid
Via Thirdpower, Pennsylvania gun owners don’t trust either of those two. Josh Sugarmann drags out the old canard that us knuckle draggers won’t vote for Democrats regardless:
What’s more, it generates criticism from the left. “You have both Obama and Clinton going out of their way to appeal to a cross-section of gun owners who are never going to vote for them,” bemoans Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center.
That’s especially not true in Pennsylvania, where a significant part of the gun vote are union members, who would vote Democrat if it weren’t for the gun issue.
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Bitter points to a Wall Street Journal article that says gun owners are actually not very bitter. In fact, they are happier than average.
Remembrance Events
In remembrance events across the country, groups of at least 32 people lay silently on the ground (following the example of Abby Spangler, founder of ProtestEasyGuns.com), rang bells, read names, or said prayers to remember the victims and to demonstrate their outrage at weak gun laws in America. Virginia Tech family members and survivors like the Samaha family, the Read family, the Goddard family, the Habtu family, the Pohle family, and others were an integral part of these events.
Remembrance events? Pardon me, but isn’t remembering a tragedy like Virginia Tech by having 32 people lying down and pretending to be dead kind of — stop me if I’m crazy here — tasteless?
It was not a remembrance event, it was a political protest. They are called “lie-ins” which is a variation of the 60s protest called “sit-ins.” These were political statements, not solemn acts of reflection. I won’t get on The Brady Campaign about using the Virginia Tech tragedy as an example of why we need stronger gun laws. Both sides use events, and sometimes tragedies, to advocate our positions. It’s how debate on a topic moves forward.
But I’ll fault them for using the tragedy to fundraise, for such a macabre and tasteless displays of “remembrance” as the “lie-in,” and for generally tying the entire remembrance theme in with their political issues.
I think Virginia Tech deserved the anniversary to be an actual day of remembrance and reflection, not a day of political statements. We have 364 other days of the year to argue the politics.