My 2008 Election Coverage

In case you haven’t been able to tell yet, Snowflakes in Hell will have more emphasis on the elections in 2008 than have previously.  There is nothing of greater consequence to gun owners than elections.  They decide what can and can’t be accomplished, and ultimately decide whether we have our rights protected, or spat upon.

Via Dr. Helen I found an excellent article by Jonah Goldberg I think you all should read.

Huckabee, who once promised to “take back this nation for Christ,” has masterfully blended right-wing identity politics with feel-your-pain populism. “There’s a great need in this country,” Huckabee explained, “to elect someone who reminds them of the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them off.”

He’s largely right — and shame on us for it. I’ve never met an employer who likes cutting jobs. Yet the assumption behind Hucka-Edwardsism is that if we only had a president who understands — feels! — the pain of losing a job, people wouldn’t lose their jobs.

Huckabee is the Jesus loving version of Bill Clinton, which is part of why I find the viability of his candidacy more than a little creepy.  He’s striking chords with a very influential part of the Republican base, who I am beginning to conclude cares far less about the principles of limited government than they do about electing themselves a former preacher.

The Republican coalition was beginning to show strain when we nominated George W. Bush.  The events of 9/11 temporarily clouded our differences, but with America being eight years removed from the events of that day, and with Iraq looking like it’s settling down, I think the fissures within the Republican coalition are starting to appear again.

I believe 2008 may end up deciding whether that coalition is salvageable, or is irrevocably broken.  I fear the consequences of a broken coalition will be progressive Democratic rule for another couple of decades, and I don’t think our country, as we know it, and as our aspirations wish it to be, will survive that.

Classical Values also has some excellent commentary on Jonah’s article as well.  Go check out it out.

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The Menacing In-Line Muzzle Loader

Tom King points out that some people are trying to make distinctions between antique and antique replicas, and modern, in-line muzzle loaders.

I am not surprised they are using these tactics, since it’s worked for them before. See, the modern inline muzzle loader looks, well, modern. It looks like a modern rifle, so it must, by default, be a modern rifle, which is more deadly and powerful. The antique and antique replicas look like old guns, and, of course, must be less powerful and deadly. A hunter that presumes that he doesn’t have a dog in the “assault weapons” fight is sadly mistaken. What’s going on in New York right now is a prime example of that.

They are basically taking a page from the Josh Sugarman playbook.

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Booze, Drugs, and Guns

SayUncle talks about the pants shitting hysterics the Brady Campaign is using against carry on college campuses.  The Brady’s are experts at framing debate.  Their rhetoric automatically makes people think of rowdy drunken frat boys shooting guns into the air.

When I was in college, I was too busy studying, and working to pay for it all, to have much time for the whole binge drinking scene.  In fact, I probably drink more now than I did in college.   The problem with the Brady rhetoric is that drunken college kids are too busy, well, drinking, to have time and money to spend on a side arm, and all the training that’s required to get a license to carry one.

I didn’t get a carry license until I was in my mid twenties, because in my early twenties I didn’t have the money for it, or the time to become and stay skilled.  I think the Brady’s are fooling the public about the kind of person who chooses to get a license to carry a gun.  If a 21 or older person in college has the time, money, and dedication to go through what we all did to get a carry license, he’s ot the kind of person I’m worried about having a firearm on campus.

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It’s the Wheelbarrows Full of Cash

Sailorcurt offers me some criticism in the comments:

Sebastian, I have a lot of respect for you. You seem to be a very reasonable, wise, and responsible person…but I fail to understand your seemingly vested interest in supporting the NRA no matter what.

I do it because we need a national gun rights movement, and the NRA is the only organization out there that represents that.  SAF, JPFO, and even GOA sometimes can have their uses, but if we had to rely on those organizations we’d be finished.  I support the NRA even when they make mistakes because I want to win this.  For me, and for future generations.

But I’m also not supporting this situation.  I’ve said repeatedly I disagree with the NRA’s priorities in Georgia.  I have told them the same.  But my perspective is one of a concealed carry license holder.  An important thing to remember is that people who carry guns are a minority among gun owners.  Reforming carry laws may be a priority to you and me, but there is a lot of support for the “Parking Lot” initiative among gun owners in general, especially gun owners who hunt and shoot recreationally after work.   Should NRA abandon those interests in favor of ours?  Would the people who support the Parking Lot initiative as their priority also be justified in their anger at NRA for abandoning them?

Maybe I’m wrong for not being more outraged by this.  If you think that’s the case don’t be shy in the comments.  But I think we need to distinguish between making some interests of gun owners a priority over others, and throwing other groups of gun owners under the bus for the sake of others.  Carry reform is not dead in Georgia because of this.  If NRA had agreed to, say, add more restrictions on concealed carry to get their parking lot bill, my level of anger would be a a lot higher.   That’s the kind of thing we can’t do.

GeorgiaCarry.org is pissed because their legislation, which seemed likely to pass, got killed when NRA attached their Parking Lot provision to it.  I don’t blame GCO for being pissed about it.  They represent a certain constituency, and NRA decided another one was more important.  Was this a smart thing for NRA to do?  From my point of view, no.   But my point of view isn’t the only one that matters.

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Now That’s Drunk!

It’s amazing that this woman wasn’t dead.  Apparently Oregon is the state for Extreme Drunk Driving:

Comer is pictured below in a 2006 mug shot snapped after a prior drunk driving arrest. In that case, her BAC was recorded in the relatively minor .3 range. In November, another Oregon woman, Meagan Harper, was nabbed for drunk driving with an extreme BAC. In her case, Harper’s BAC was measured at .55. Comer’s .72 edges out what TSG has previously identified as the highest BAC we’ve ever seen. That fallen record (.69) was held by Willard Ashley III, an Indiana man who was busted in October 2003. (3 pages)

Wow.

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