Category: Guns

Apparently our opponents think some forms of asking and telling are just fine. Actually, I have no real problems with Ask Day. I’m not against our opponents using social pressure to achieve their policy goals. In a free society, shame is really what should keep people in line, rather than governmental fiats. The real reason the gay rights movement has won is because they removed the shame in it, no matter how badly social conservatives might try to reassert it.

I view this similarly to conservative efforts to shame homosexuality. I am not supportive of such efforts, but I still believe they have a right to do it. Strangely enough, despite my opinions favoring gay marriage and favoring non-discrimination in sexual orientation — when it comes to the military, I’m not quite as much of a cheerleader. The military currently segregates men and women because there’s an understanding that sexual issues can be problematic in a military environment, where intimate living arrangements can be the rule rather than the exception.

That said, I’m not in favor of DADT because the military has demonstrated they can’t help but abuse the policy. I can understand how sexual issues could come into play where intimate living conditions are the norm, but there have been enough cases of the military drumming gays out of the service just for the sake of doing so that I can no longer support this policy.

Apparently our opponents do not wish to take this kind of approach, because when it comes to supporting enumerated constitutional freedoms, they let their own ignorance rule. I have no problems with parents asking other parents about guns in the house, but if in that same sentence they aren’t also asking about swimming pools and dangerous household chemicals, they are being naive in their duties. Statistically all those things kill more kids by accident than firearms do.

Joan Peterson is currently in hysterics over the fact that a man running for Congress in the 8th Congressional District of Arizona, which also happens to be Gabby Gifford’s district, is featuring a picture of his service where he is carrying a rifle:

Says Ms. Peterson:

Why does he need to run an ad with a poster showing himself with an assault weapon and calling himself a “Warrior”? Is this some sort of code to the extreme conservatives and gun rights activists?

I’ve largely grown bored with our favorite Brady Board member, but every once in a while I run across something so completely nuts I just have no choice but to share. I will admit to not getting an updated secret decoder ring from the NRA in some time, but going out on a limb here I am fairly certain there is no code.

What we have before us is a politician who is a United States Marine who served in Iraq. He would like potential voters to know about his service, so he puts pictures up of him soldiering on his campaign material. I know this is a shocking revelation, but soldiering generally involves carrying a rifle. Not only rifles, but real, honest to goodness select-fire full-auto capable assault rifles. Soldiers also, fairly commonly, refer to themselves as “warriors.” I know that’s hard to believe, but trust me, it’s true.

Surely the Brady Campaign is not now embracing the position that we ought to disarm our military? Surely they do not take the position that there is something wrong with Marines being proud of their service, or having to hide their service, because one of the tools they use to protect freedom is a firearm?

I show this only to point out how far outside the mainstream the leadership of the anti-gun movement truly is. Soldiers carrying guns… well, that’s just icky.