Shall Not Be Questioned – Page 342 – The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …

Interview with a Liberal Gun Owner

Over in the Atlantic. I can relate to some of it, but his reasons for carrying a gun are pretty different than mine. But he covers a lot of topics, including open carry:

When you carried your gun into a Whole Foods in Boulder, Colorado, no one reacted. But when you went into a Mexican grocery, everyone was on guard. Why do you think that was?

I honestly think the people in Whole Foods — their eyes saw it and their brain didn’t. They may have thought I was some kind of cop, even though I really don’t look like it. But in the Mexican store, they didn’t know what to expect. In Mexico, no one gets to carry a gun. Which is kind of crazy, given what’s going on down there. That’s a good example — you’ve got innocents being slaughtered down there, but they can’t defend themselves. It’s always the people who live in nice neighborhoods who want gun control.

Read the whole thing. Even people on the other side should be reading it. While there are a few things here I would argue with (I think gun ownership is far more diverse than he postulates) overall I think it’s pretty good, and a genuine attempt to understand the gun culture.

UPDATE: His response to what Democrats should know about gun guys is something I want to talk about a bit:

I think they should know how much self-esteem gun guys derive from their guns, how patriotic they feel. And lawmakers need to stop thinking that the NRA represents gun owners, because only 4 percent of gun owners belong to the NRA. They need to think of gun owners as rational responsible people who genuinely care about gun violence and would like to be helpful.

I don’t really feel like I derive any self-esteem from guns. This is where I think he’s a bit off track. I could sell all my guns tomorrow and lead a perfectly happy life. The reason I get very defensive about this issue is because I don’t like people sticking their noses into my business, and if I’m not doing anything that hurts anyone, it’s my business. My self-esteem is derived from personal autonomy, and freedom to pursue my own happiness. Guns are just a symbol of that. Screw anyone who says they know what’s best for me.

Looking Down on the Little People

It looks like New York has their own Babette Josephs in their Assembly, but his name is Al Stirpe. It’s not just that Stirpe is anti-gun and voted for the SAFE Act, he also gets pissed off when constituents don’t think the same way he does. When they dare think they can petition his government on issues he doesn’t like, well, Stirpe loses all sense of self-control and lets out an F-bomb-laden tirade.

Several people apparently left once he started cursing out his constituents, but the paper interviews people who report hearing the F-bomb dropped between 1-5 times. It was bad enough that one of the local gun groups mailed him a package with a toothbrush and a bar soap to clean out his mouth. While the lawmaker asserts that his constituents were disrespectful to him by not letting him finish answers, I would argue that it’s just part of the job of being a public official to try and politely work around those situations without calling voters in your district various insults.

But Stirpe admits there are problems with the SAFE Act – namely that it didn’t go far enough to disarm his “f—ing” constituents. He said he wanted to see it with a buy-back program for targeted guns so that they could be destroyed because citizens shouldn’t be allowed to possess them at all. He also opposed exemptions that would allow Remington to stay in business because no New York gun maker should be able to make guns that he doesn’t approve of, even if they will be sold in other states.

It’s About Time

The ACLU would seem to be getting concerned about the increasing militarization of our police forces. I’m glad groups on the left are starting to notice what libertarian minded people have been worried about for years.

But personally, I’m OK with the police having cool toys to play with, as long as I can have the same toys myself to play with. If the military has all this surplus they want to get rid of, why not auction it off at bargain basement prices? Why should we reserve tanks to the 1%?

The need argument …

… apparently only applies to us, not government agencies.

War on Women

Via Cam and Company, which now airs from 2-5PM at NRANews.com:

Project Much?

A Florida lawmaker, Audrey Gibson (D), is proposing no one be permitted to buy ammunition unless they can prove they have gone through an anger management course. Somehow I don’t think we’re the ones who need that. How about requiring that before holding public office. Hey, it’s common sense.

Colorado Firemission

Chris has something you can do about the Colorado bills. We’re a vote away from defeating this crap.

The Shape of Things to Come

What the Obama machine is morphine into:

Obama veterans are building a wide network of deep-pocketed groups and consulting firms independent of government, the Democratic Party and traditional liberal groups, a sweeping â€” if not unprecedented â€” effort outside the White House gates aimed at promoting the president’s agenda and shaping his legacy.

From campaign strategists to online gurus and policy hands to press agents, Obama loyalists â€” including many who discovered that a second term yields fewer administration job vacancies â€” are slicing his agenda into smaller parts and launching highly targeted efforts on subjects including health care, job creation and electoral politics.

Obama’s opponents really don’t have an answer to this, and that is the problem. This group will no doubt aim to rob the American people blind, rob future generations blind, in addition to removing fundamental constitutional rights of Americans. The problem on the center-right is that many of the “deep-pocketed groups and consulting firms independent of government,” are more concerned with exploiting our issues to feather their own nests than they are actually fighting for the cause.

Campus Ban Passes Senate Committee

SCCC notes that the Senate Committee in Colorado has advanced the campus carry ban to the floor.

Committee Chairwoman, Senator Angela Giron cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the proposed campus carry ban exclaiming in tears that â€œthe testimony tonight has been very compelling, but I made a promise [to vote yes]!â€

Colorado has allowed licensed concealed carry on college campuses for nearly a decade, but lawmakers in the Centennial State reacting to recent mass shootings last year seek to reverse that provision despite no ill effects, a drop in both overall crime rates generally and sexual assault rates specifically after carry on campus was permitted, and no permitted student ever causing a disruption with a firearm on campus.

Who was it she made that promise to? Joe Biden? Do we run Colorado out of Washington these days? That seems to be the Democrats’ plan. Clayton Cramer has more here.

UPDATE: I guess not too surprising when they have this kind of contempt.

Joe Manchin and Gun Control

He doesn’t want to talk about it. You know, Joe, we don’t have to vote on this stuff. I’m sure Harry Reid would prefer not to as well. Why not just tell the White House to piss off? There was a time, before the 2010 cycle, when no Democrat wanted to be seen with him. It kind of makes you wonder what the Administration is threatening these Dems with if they don’t toe the line.