Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Changing Face of Gun Rights Advocacy

The Wall Street Journal published an article about the changing appearance of gun rights advocacy.

They are coming together in smaller, loosely organized groups that recruit on the Internet and find inspiration from the tea party movement.

On Monday, several thousand gun owners plan to mount two protests—a march in Washington and an "open-carry" rally in Mount Vernon, Va.

"More and more the gun-rights movement is moving toward a stand-up-and-shout approach," said Jeff Knox, director of the Firearms Coalition, a for-profit, loose-knit coalition of activists. "There's a lot of general frustration with NRA not taking a hard enough line."


Is this what Sebastian keeps catching the flak over
, opposing the "stand-up-and-shout approach?" I think he's right that these folks do more harm than good to the gun rights movement.

The WSJ article goes on to name a couple on-line movements which are in the forefront of this more aggressive attempt at carrying their message. "Splinter groups" they called them, which I think is apt. These people are fanatics and everyone else sees them as such, including most gun owners.

Many more moderate and reasonable gun advocates suggest the surreptitious approach. The talk of incrementalism and gaining ground gradually. They propose these methods for good reasons. When their ideas are examined out in the open, when the spotlight of reasonable scrutiny is placed upon their ideas, they appear exactly as they are: self-serving nonsense.

The problem is this self-serving nonsense has a big downside. Due to their desperate efforts to not be inconvenienced, guns are flowing like the Mighty Mississippi into the hands of criminals. Plus a small but not insignificant percentage of the lawful gun owners themselves are committing crimes. The overall result is the laughing stock of the entire world. America, which used to be synonymous with freedom and opportunity is now associated with out-of-control gun violence.

It's no wonder the more reasonable and intelligent gun rights advocates think the open carry demonstrations are a mistake. I agree. They will bring attention to a situation that cries out for correction.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

12 comments:

  1. "America, which used to be synonymous with freedom and opportunity..."

    Still is for the time being. But by the time Hopenchange leaves office, there is no telling what will be left.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mikeb says:

    America, which used to be synonymous with freedom and opportunity is now associated with out-of-control gun violence.

    Funny you should mention that, Mikeb, since gun laws in the U.S. have only gotten more oppressive since the time when America was "synonymous with freedom and opportunity."

    Sure, there's more legal concealed carry now than there was in this Golden Age of American Liberty and Opportunity to which you refer, but I would think even you would have to admit that legal concealed carry isn't a statistically significant driving factor in American violence.

    Looks like another big nail in the coffin of the theory that American "gun violence" is due to insufficiently draconian American gun laws.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Zorro, Long time no talk to. Glad to see you're still pitching the old line, like that use of "draconian." I wonder who was the first pro gun writer to use that one. Whoever he was he should be proud of the incredibly prolific dissemination of that 50-cent word in the gun debate.

    The funniest part is it's not true at all. Wherever there are strict laws they're made all but useless by the lack of such laws in neighboring states. Heck, some even consider a simple background check as onerous and infringing, but what good is it if a disqualified person can simply buy what he wants privately without the check?

    So, no, the mish-mash of gun laws we have are not "draconian" at all. You and your friends just keep saying they are as part of your offensive plan.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Again, this rally of domestic terrorists didn't attract thousands--they got about 30.

    And the only reason why Sebastian doesn't like these rallies is because they reveal the gunloons for what they are: ignorant, angry white males.

    --JadeGold

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mikeb, rather than address my point that gun laws are much more restrictive now than they were back when the U.S. was, in your words, "synonymous with freedom and opportunity," you have chosen to quibble about what constitutes "draconian."

    Fine--if that word offends you, there are plenty of others to choose from. "Tyrannical," "heavy-handed," "oppressive," etc.

    The bottom line is that whatever wording you choose, U.S. gun laws are enormously more restrictive now than in the shining past to which you refer.

    By the way, going back to the blog post itself, I notice you used--as you often do--the term "self-serving," as if that were a bad thing. Blame it on the Ayn Rand influence, but I can't help but note that if everyone were "self-serving," everyone would be served. It's when people aren't expected to serve themselves, but are instead expected to serve others (and/or be served by others) that you have A) people unhappy with the service, and B) people resenting the forced servitude.

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Again, this rally of domestic terrorists didn't attract thousands--they got about 30."

    Do you ever get tired of lying or just being wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  7. FWM: I'm never wrong; it's a gift.

    Plus, I was there. The media far outnumbered the domestic terrorists who numbered about 30.

    --JadeGold

    ReplyDelete
  8. 30, huh?

    "hundreds" on the Mall and "75 to 100 at a national park" across the River - http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/04/19/gun-rally.html

    "about 75" - http://www.vancouversun.com/news/owners+protest+Obama+Marxist+agenda/2926317/story.html

    "As many as 2,000 gathered in the shadow of the Washington Monument, and about 50 people at Gravelly Point and Fort Hunt parks in Virginia." - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041904291.html

    "about 75 to 100 people" - http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/breakingnews/gun-activists-rally-in-dc-and-virginia-in-support-of-right-to-bear-arms-91537879.html

    So it seems JadeGold is only off by a factor of 3 to 30. For him, that is not bad.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 30 domestic terrorists. EVen the gunloon bulletin boards are whining about the tepid turnout.

    --JadeGold

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was about to ask JadeGold what acts of terrorism he is accusing the so-called "domestic terrorists" of, and then remembered what a lying pig-fellator he is, and thus how useless such a question would be.

    ReplyDelete
  11. JadeGold: ...they got about 30.

    So only 30 "gunloons" are "domestic terrorists"?

    Imagine if many thousands had shown up:

    JadeGold: See -- I told you that most "gunloons" are "domestic terrorists"!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello,

    Pistols and revolvers were to be regulated as strictly as machine guns, cutting down a rifle or shotgun to circumvent the handgun restrictions by making a concealable weapon was taxed as strictly as a machine gun. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete