Is the NRA still relevant? They couldn’t defeat Barack, so clearly they must be. They point out that sportsmen turned out for McCain at the same rate they turned out for Bush in 2004. Here’s what the politicians need to understand: no gun control. Unless they want us to turn out in 2010 like we did in 1994. There won’t be any Lightworker driving Democrat turnout then.
Category: Guns
It’s Change You Can Believe In
Already on his transition platform:
Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn’t have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.
Pretty much the Brady agenda. Elections have consequences folks. It won’t have a sunset this time.
UPDATE: The old version disappeared for a while. The new version is here.
Last Minute Housekeeping?
Looks like Bush might be fixing the National Park issue for us on the way out the door. Pity it’ll probably get undone by Obama, but hey, elections have consequences.
Gun Nutty Election Night
I don’t care who you are, this is hilarious.
History News Network on the NRA
This is a pretty good article on why the National Rifle Association was founded:
To him, what counted was accuracy: Soldiers needed to learn how to hit their targets with the minimum number of bullets. This wasn’t just about being able to hit a bullseye at 300 yards with a rifle. Such marksmanship went hand-in-hand with other typically American virtues. Good shots required coolness under fire; steely self-discipline; familiarity with such high-tech implements as telescopic sights, windage indicators, and ballistic instruments; a determination to improve themselves by constant training; and independence of thought and action. In Europe, where the ideology of mass-firepower had long held sway, soldiers were still treated as dull, disposable automatons and subjected to fearsome discipline to flog out any remnants of individual initiative. Civil War generals had fallen beneath the European spell; Church wanted to “re-Americanize” warfare.
Yes. This is still a gun blog :)  Read the whole thing.
Bad Day for New York Gun Owners
It was a bad election day for New York gun owners. Tom King says:
I expect to see the following proposed legislation in both houses of state government shortly after the start of the 2009 legislative session Smart Gun, expanded COBIS, Micro Stamping of shell casings, an expanded assault weapons ban, reduction of magazine capacity, mandatory storage/insurance and renewable pistol licenses with very limited concealed carry. It is not a pretty scenario but it is not untenable.
Gun owners in New York State are going to need some help. One thing I would encourage of New York gun rights activists is that it is possible to work within the Democratic Party. We have some very anti-gun urban Democrats in Pennsylvania too, but we also have a lot of pro-gun Democrats, who are good on our issue. Unfortunately, one of them is John Murtha, but on guns, Murtha has been on our side. Sometimes you have to work with the political circumstances political fortunes stick you with.
Common Sense in the Bay State
However, the public and lawmakers should not, on the basis of an extraordinarily rare accident, rush to enact new laws that may not advance gun safety.
Reacting to the tragedy, Rep. Michael Costello, D-Newburyport, declared his intention to file a bill to ban anyone under 21 from firing an automatic weapon. That proposal is absurd on its face: Young men and women, after all, enlist in the nation’s armed forces and use automatic weapons
The rest of it is equally reasonable. I’m glad the Telegraph is above hysterics.
Involvement
David and I might disagree on a lot tactics wise, but he’s absolutely right about this:
We expect politicians to champion our rights, but how many of us make it worth their while to do so on such a hot button issue–one that is radioactive in most urban locales? Yes, true, a principled person does not shrink from hoisting his colors, but most politicians, even the ones who vote our way the majority of the time, view it as but one of many issues. And even though we don’t like to hear this, most constituents do not consider gun rights their major concern.
If that’s to change, we can’t elect someone to do it for us. Representative government doesn’t mean we abdicate our own initiative and go back to sleep.
He’s absolutely right, and gun owners don’t do nearly enough to help out politicians that support them. It’s going to be very rare to get true believers in politics, but we do have some. We even have some in my district here in Bucks County. Yet I would have been happy to have even a dozen dedicated volunteers.
How the Second Amendment Fared
Dave Kopel reports it’s not a disaster, and makes this note about the presidency:
President. Based on past record, certainly a -1. One important difference between our last Democratic President and our next one is the latter has shown himself to be much more self-disciplined. Accordingly, it is possible that he will not waste his political capital on a reckless culture war against gun owners, as President Clinton foolishly did.
So perhaps President Obama will spend his political capital elsewhere, and be a -0.1 President on the gun issue. The approach would be in line with the positive, unifying themes that Obama presented on victory night in Iowa last January, and with his eloquent victory speech tonight.
I don’t know if President Obama will be so temperate. But anyone who fears for the worst can still hope for the best.
We must hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. 2010 will be important for us.
The Brady Spin
The Brady Campaign is already spinning this election as a victory for “sensible gun laws.” ‘Fraid not Brady Campaign. Number one issue cited by Sportsmen this election was the economy. Guns were not even an issue this election. At all. That didn’t help us. In the end, Barack Obama’s tactic of running as far away from gun control as possible was a winning strategy for suppressing the gun vote.