Let me tell y'all what I've learned from this whole thing about Jim Webb's aide with the pistol in his bag: The vast majority of vocal conservatives who claim to be Second Amendment advocates are just blowing smoke. Whether they've convinced themselves that they are sincere, I couldn't tell you.
I have spent the last year working tirelessly as an advocate for Second Amendment rights within the Democratic party. I have changed a lot of hearts and minds and have been thrilled to find that there is a huge percentage of liberals and Democrats who never really liked excessive gun control in the first place. After talking with probably hundreds of people both online and off I have found that people's attitudes towards the Second Amendment have more to do with where they live than anything else. Suburban and urban voters who have no positive experiences with firearms are more likely to oppose the Second Amendment while rural voters who have positive experience with firearms are more likely to support it. It's not about whether you're a Republican or Democrat.
So why is it that the gun rights advocates on the left have been so silent? We have had no voice and no leaders. The dominant advocacy group is the NRA which until very recently has allowed it's self to become little more than another financial arm of the Republican party. Nearly every piece of literature, every event and every publication having to do with the NRA has been slanted towards the Republican party and seems almost deliberately designed to make liberals feel unwelcome. I guess that works well enough for milking more donations out of the existing base of Republican members. But what is the NRA really for? Making money or protecting the Second Amendment while being a resource for all American recreational shooters?
I hear 2nd Amendment advocates talk a lot about 'freeloaders.' Freeloaders are supposedly the millions and millions of Americans who own firearms but do not provide support to the NRA. Well guess what, geniuses; maybe if you'd stop giving the finger on a daily basis to half of the American population, maybe you wouldn't have this problem where you've maxed out your possible membership?
What's it gonna be, folks? Is this whole 2nd Amendment thing just about hustling Republican votes and donations? Or do you actually give a rat's ass about the Constitution of the United States of America? Make up your damn minds already because probably the greatest moment yet to actually fix some of the most retarded gun laws in America is about to pass you by.
A single-party strategy for 2nd Amendment rights is not a strategy for victory. It is a strategy for deferred defeat. Because when you make gun-owners rights into a partisan issue, you guarantee that every election becomes a coin toss for the future of freedom. One step forward and two steps back. Do you really think that it is possible to maintain single-party rule indefinitely? Victory will only come through an inclusive 2nd Amendment movement which encompasses both the political right and the left. So that no matter who is in power we will have advocates working for us.
I suppose that there are some who are happy with this situation. Nothing gets those checks to roll in like a big, new gun bill that starts to gather steam, eh? Wayne LaPierre never looks happier than when he is angrily staring out from the full-color glossy brochure in my mailbox, apparantly giddy at the thought of the new Democratic Congress bringing back the assault weapons ban. We are in danger! Write your checks! And the NRA sends the money to Republican candidates, who joyfully bask in the windfall that threats to our rights bring.
Why would any of these people ever want the problem to actually go away?
We've just watched the Democrats take back the United States Senate in large part through the victories of pro-gun Democrats like Jim Webb and John Tester. Together with guys like Harry Reid (A+ rated by the NRA) we have the opportunity to get pro-gun bills to a vote and to get them passed with a bi-partisan mandate. Here we are. Democrats got new pro-gun Senators elected and we chose an A+ rated pro-gun advocate for our majority leader. This is the moment we've spent years waiting for.
Yet what do I see from my brothers-in-arms on the right? They spit on the hand that we offer them. They seek every opportunity, every disingenuous slur to weaken the very leaders that I just busted my ass to send in to fight for their cause. These people like to talk a big game about fighting for the Second Amendment but when you get right down to it, they just want to fight. It's all a big partisan game to them. Party first, Constitution second. I'm not going to sit here and toss out the names of fellow bloggers and columnists to embarrass them. You know who you are.
This isn't your issue any more. You don't get to claim to be Second Amendment advocates any more because you're not. You're Republican party advocates who just enjoy the fight of 'us against them.' Well, some of us actually do give a damn about our country and about our Constitution. Go find something else. Transportation or some crap like that - I don't really care what you find. Because there is no room in this fight for people who are trying to take what I'm fighting for to use it for their own selfish purposes.
14 comments:
I've been reading what some of the most ardent second amendment supporters in the Virginia blogosphere have to say about this and they are 100% hypocritical on this so far. It would be more dramatic for me to pretend to be surprised, but I'm not. They're not really supporters of gun rights, they're knee-jerk anti-Democratic, totally morally adrift.
You've opened the door as widely as you can, Jack. I hope the others will walk through it.
As long as both sides stay so firmly ensconced in their positions and both sides of issues such as abortion and gun-control are making so much money, you've got your work cut out for you.
Any form of a compromise is seen as having rights incrementally stripped away.
Stick to your guns!
You write
"Jim Webb's aide with the pistol in his bag"
You forgot the words unregistered and loaded. You also forget that carrying a concealed hand gun is a no no in DC. As far as swaying people to be pro carry, breaking the law is not the answer. Keeping a loaded gun in a bag is a major safety issue. The issues here are safety rules were broken and we are lucky no one was hurt. Forgetting or ignorance is no excuse. Where does it stop Jackson? Should "I forgot" be a global excuse for being caught with a gun in DC on Capital Hill or anywhere else they are not permitted?
I see things different than you and apparently I see safety practices very differently. Breaking laws will not help change laws or minds.
Storing and carrying loaded guns in bags leads to accidents and arrests. NRA rule #3 ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use. In a bag is not ready to use my friend. More rules...
Store guns so they are not accessible to unauthorized persons.
Many factors must be considered when deciding where and how to store guns. A person's particular situation will be a major part of the consideration. Dozens of gun storage devices, as well as locking devices that attach directly to the gun, are available. However, mechanical locking devices, like the mechanical safeties built into guns, can fail and should not be used as a substitute for safe gun handling and the observance of all gun safety rules.
You asked before what Webb did wrong. We now have conflicting stories. Staffer said Webb gave him the gun, Webb says he did not. We know what the staffers crimes were. If Webb did give him the gun then he showed negligence. Why? Because the man he gave it to was arrested for breaking the law with the gun.
And the point flies right past Kilo. Shocker.
~
Good post, Jackson. I'm pretty much your stereotypical liberal featured in GOP fundraising emails, and even *I* own a firearm. And support the right of non-crazy/safety-trained others to do the same.
Jackson:
I was born in 1965, and my entire life has been spent politically aware, but not engaged in party politics..
I know one thing about the party you obviously Love so dearly. It's leaders are virulently anti gun... Now I will give you certain individuals who stand out, including Webb, who recently converted for his own political convenience... he hates Bush, and is more populist in economic issues.
If the Democrat Party got together as a whole to decide the issue of the Second Amendment, you know for a fact that you would be in the minority.. by a lot!
Every day 'Your' party looks for a new way to be 'offended', looks for a new way to 'stick it' to the Conservatives on a technicality, or contrived issue parroted by the MSM...
Flushing of Korans (didn't happen), Confedate Flags (paint all Southerners as racists, is it so?), Marine shoots terrorist playing dead in a Mosque (no concern for our troops lives in the field, just looking to embarrass the military), Murtha, Kerry depicting our Servicemen as cold blooded killers, scaring the women and Children in the Night..
Clinton admin fires 90+ political appointee attorneys, Bush Admin. fires 6... biggest story of the world!
Clinton and Janet Reno murder women and Children in Waco Tx... Yawn goes the MSM, its the Militia's fault! Says the Clinton Administration....
Remember they first went after Koresh for documentation on a gun, then turned the issue into 'abusing the children'.... So they kill them... Yawwnnn goes the MSM...
Don't patronize us Conservatives on how we should rally to Jim Webb's aid, when he clearly was involved in breaking a DC Gun Law, which anyone, and everyone knows about...
Don't think you can 'brow beat' us to defend some one 'part and parcel' to the a Party that is not looking out for the long term geo strategic political interests of this nation.. and yes Jim Webb is Their Leader (of convenience)
Oh, you say, this is all politics.... Get for real, we have been eating 'Your' Parties poltics of character assasination, and twisting of the truth long enough!
You and Waldo have plenty of quotes 'railing' on Jack Reid, when he 'unintentionally' discharged a firearm in our VA Capital....
and you have the nerve to call us hypocrits? Where were you two to defend his right to carry? You only mocked him.... and sought all the political advantage you could over the incident!
I laugh at your outrage, as you dig your holes deeper....
Single party? What in the hell are you talking about? Rick Boucher, Ward Armstrong and Roscoe Reynolds all receive an A rating from the NRA, as did Virgil Goode before he switched parties.
I could find many more Democrats who receive that same A rating, but I don't have the time to go searching. I'll just use the three that are here in my own location.
Wow, you're just seven kinds of "stupid", aren't you, Spanky? Instead of wasting time (for both of us) going through that on a point by point basis, I'll summarize it like this - being a whiny little victim isn't a successful strategy for the long term. Good lucky, though.
~
I'd trust NRA ratings the way I'd trust a Baathist Party Voters Guide.
I've got to step in and defend Spank a little here. I believe that his devotion to the issue is sincere.
What I think that Spank and others are failing to grasp here is my basic point about approaching the issue of gun-owners rights from the perspective of the issue rather than the party.
I'm not saying that everyone should always forget that they are members of each respective political party and hold hands and sing kumbayah. What I am saying is that when we address this issue, if it is really and truly so important to us, we should have a cease-fire. Make the issue into a diplomatic zone amidst a sea of partisan warfare.
This is a major issue that we agree on and we really have the opportunity to do something about it. When we write gun-related posts, we should praise Democrat and Republican alike. When members of my opposition do something that I think is right, I compliment them without turning it into a backhanded insult at the same time.
This is what real issue advocacy is about. One seperates the issue out from the usual lines of partisan allegiance. Spank is a Republican and I am a Democrat. But when we talk about Second Amendment rights we should just be a couple of gun-rights advocates.
Spanky may well sincerely be interested in gun ownership. But you wouldn't know it from that fantasy-laden screed right there. All that's missing is the Hillary Shot Vince Foster With a Desert Eagle line.
Jackson, if the NRA were run by someone like you, I'd pay some attention to it. But since it seems to be primarily a vehicle for nuts like LaPierre (and Spanky), it's worse than irrelevant to me - it's a serious stumbling block in the way of the sort of political arena I'd like to see in this country.
And while I don't think there are any serious threats to 2nd Amendment rights out there, I do agree that there's certainly some advances that could be made in perception. Guns don't equal crime or bloodsport. They're not inherently unsafe. But an organization that goes apeshit when you talk about background checks at gun shows isn't the organization to make that case.
This isn't to say that I don't think that there aren't issue-based alliances to be built. Heck, I'm thrilled that Bob Barr is joining with the ACLU in taking on the Patriot Act. And I think Bob Barr's one of the most morally repugnant politicians to emerge from Georgia in a long time (and that's saying something). I don't doubt his genuine commitment to the issue, and he doesn't spent 98% of the rest of his time undermining all of the other positions I work for (probably more like 60% . . . ). The NRA? It isn't *actually* defending anything, and is doing a whole lot of damage in the process.
MB,
Like it or not, the NRA is the premier organization for gun owners in the United States. Various efforts to create competing organizations over the years have been attempted and failed.
Also bear in mind that the NRA does a lot of great stuff aside from political activism. They invented the whole concept of hunter education. They have created and publicized gun safety standards. They set standards for public and private ranges and run summer camps and sponsor shooting matches.
There's a lot of good to salvage here. I don't think that we gun owners on the left can just ignore them and hope they go away. If we fight them then we're only making this partisan divide worse. I believe that the only answer is for us to join the NRA in droves and make sure that they know we are there. Show up at the meetings, write letters, advocate for endorsements of pro-second amendment Demcratic party candidates. I bet that you feel less likely to attack the Republican party if you are at a barbeque with a couple of Republicans who don't seem to have any problem with you. Wheras if it was all Democrats, you'd feel free to let loose. The same goes here. That's how we change the culture.
In other words, change the NRA into something that really works.
The basic thrust of my theory about what is wrong with the way that things currently are and the rationale for changing it is all stuff that NRA activists can understand. The truth of it is self-evident. Most of the rank and file within the NRA, including their paid field organizers, really want to do good. We can change their minds about partisanship within the organization and eventually this will bubble up to the top.
The whole thing is a pain in the ass but I really think it's the only way.
Well, I guess we've learned the stance of some so-called "pro-gun" Republicans in Virginia: guns don't kill people, guns in bags kill people.
Jackson:
MB is emblematic of the Dem Party. He/She isn't interested in debating point for point, because the party is all about the 'smear', and character assasination, and fully amplified by an all too willing MSM.
Look, maybe I should put it this way... how many Pubs have oft said, if this had been a Pub's aide carrying in that weapon.. we'd have a firestorm in the press.
Jim Webb is having a Clinton moment... All Clinton had to do was say "hey, I porked the chick".. The American public would have excused him, knowing Hillary would have a piece of his a$$.
Jim Webb was supposed to be some kind of new politician... hah!
Jackson, you really strike me more as a Libertarian than a Dem... and that is a good thing.
We support the same issue in 2A, but we are way apart on the candidates, and their styles.... Webb craps on Reagan, Webb leaves Pubs, Webb craps on fellow Marine... who's next? (he's ya'lls baby now)
Jackson, I do understand the size and works of the NRA (in fact, my first DNR hunter safety card came through an NRA class). But that's a fish that's absolutely rotten at the head, and I'm not sure I want to spend a decade or two funding it before we see even the slightest change. Further, I think we have an example in the anti-immigrant crowd's failure to take over the Sierra Club from the inside. If those folks - who I'd say are motivated more than most (putting it kindly, there) - can't pull it off, I'm not sure that reasonable gun owners are really going to get anywhere with the NRA board.
But I'd like to be wrong.
~
Debate *what* point by point, Spanky? You have to say something substantive, first. Or are you really so far gone that you think someone with half an ounce of sense is going to engage you on Clinton and Reno murdering kids? You can't argue with people in their own fantasy worlds. Well, I guess you can, but it's just a waste of time for everyone involved.
I suppose you do have a point about me being emblematic of the Democratic Party. I probably disagree with Jackson on some gun control measures, but I'd actually like to suss those out with him, and expect I'd learn a few things in the process. I think there's plenty of room for both of us, and during our disagreements, I don't think you'll hear nearly the whining and wailing and lying that seem to be your rhetorical mainstays.
Oh, and since you seem to need the reminder - the American public *did* forgive Clinton. It's only nutjobs like you that are still obsessed.
Jackson,
I'm with you - if Wayne wants my money and membership, he'll have to stick to the issues:
Sticking up for New Orleans gun owners - GOOD
Rubbing elbows with James Dobson and the christian right - BAD
I'll support the first, but not the second.
Post a Comment