Home » Blogs » Disarmers Begin to Realize What Obama’s Scandals Mean for Gun Control’s Prospects

Disarmers Begin to Realize What Obama’s Scandals Mean for Gun Control’s Prospects

Dan Zimmerman - comments No comments

Ruh roh. You know it’s getting bad out there when Jon Stewart, one of the premier forgers of what passes for conventional wisdom, starts crumpling paper and screaming MOTHERF****R! Repeatedly. Last week we asked if the burden of handling the cascading scandals the Obama administration is now juggling means they’ll be too busy dodging suddenly pointed inquiries from their former fluffers in the the White House press corps to have Double Barrel Joe Biden flying around recruiting cannon fodder for another crack at gun control legislation. The consensus of the Armed Intelligentsia was, well, mixed. But Stewart doesn’t really sound optimistic . . .

Actually, Jon seems a little wee-wee’d up. Most of it is, of course, just mugging for the camera. And if your patience is short, the discussion of guns in particular starts at about the 4:30 mark in the clip above. But credit where it’s due. Stewy manages to boil down all those snickers and patronizing head-pats delivered by those who loved to ridicule pro-gunners’ fears of enhanced background checks leading to a nation gun registry succinctly into this new reality:

This has, in one seismic moment, shifted the burden of proof from the tin foil behatted to the government.

And that pronouncement apparently pre-dates the latest revelations that it wasn’t just the AP. The DOJ had been rifling through a Fox News reporter’s private emails, too. For months. And tracking his comings and goings. And that’s just what’s come out so far.

So does Stewart’s monologue mean the scales are really falling from MSM members’ eyes? Probably not. Statists have a virtually inexhaustible well of faith in the benevolence and good intentions of big government, decades of experience to the contrary. But in realpolitik terms, this whole mess won’t make the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex’s job any easier. And they know it.

Just ask Joe Manchin, the pride of West Virginny. Ever since Manchin-Toomey went down in flames, he’d been telling anyone who’d listen that rumors of the death of his hard-won compromise were greatly exaggerated. And that he planned to reintroduce it just as soon as possible.

But that was before Benghazi/IRS/AP/Fox. Senator Joe was interviewed on a home state radio show late last week. He’s starting to sound a little less than fully confident.

Isn’t it more understandable, asked host Hoppy Kercheval, that people who fear more government intrusion or influence would now have some of those fears stoked after the revelations in the past week?

“Absolutely – I agree 1,000 percent,” Mr. Manchin said on MetroNews’ “Talkline.” “People are saying, ‘Joe, we read your legislation, it makes all the sense in the world and we’re for that legislation – we’re just afraid government won’t stop there.’”

So…gun control? Doesn’t seem likely. Not on the federal level anyway. Not that vigilance isn’t still warranted. As ever.

0 thoughts on “Disarmers Begin to Realize What Obama’s Scandals Mean for Gun Control’s Prospects”

  1. This is clearly a bad scenario. I think RF’s take home point is that a pistol holding 7 rounds would be insufficient in a situation such as this. A two-round double barrel twelve gauge would still leave multiple opponents, and a 7 round shotgun would not leave room for a single miss. Against 7 attackers, I’d choose an AR with 30 round mags and as many spare mags as I could carry, with a 15 round .40 cal on my hip. Or, the 15 round .40 to fight my way to the AR. At any rate, 7 handgun rounds would likely be thoroughly inadequate, and in a surprise situation you may not have time to reach for extra mags. Hence the NY SAFE Act sucks.

    This is an answer to the question “Why would anyone need more than 7 rounds to defend themselves?”. Because you might have 7 attackers, that’s why.

    Reply
  2. These are great targets for 200-300 yard rifle. I set it up, dial in for the distance, then dial an additional 5″ high and 5.5″ left. Shoot a group while aiming at the center. Dial in 11″ right and shoot another group while aiming at the center. Dial 10″ down and shoot another group then 11″ left and another group. 5″ up and 5.5″ right and shoot the final group all while aiming at the center.

    5 groups one aiming point. Works great.

    -bsd

    Reply
  3. The scandals are going to resolve themselves, one way or another, and the administration is still going to be in place. With all the single-minded resolve they put to killed-multiple-times Obamacare, they will come at civilian disarmament *again*. They have to for their vision of future America.

    Reply
    • Inevitably. 2A rights always have been and will be and endless fight, but they’re worth fighting for.

      Also, I just had a funny mental image:
      “And civilian armament will come back at them.”

      Reply
  4. TO: Dan Zimmerman, et al.
    RE: Heh

    So…gun control? Doesn’t seem likely. Not on the federal level anyway. Not that vigilance isn’t still warranted. As ever. — Dan Zimmerman

    Eternal vigulance is the price of liberty. — Thomas Jefferson

    And….

    A martial nobility and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, and collected into constitutional assemblies form the only balance capable of preserving a free constitution against the enterprise of an aspiring prince. — Gibbon

    As I’ve stated before, often here and elsewhere….

    Our ‘martial nobility’ is found in the officer corps of the US military.

    For the rest of US, WE are the ‘stubborn commons, possessed of arms and tenacious of property’.

    Regards,

    Chuck(le)
    [Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth. — George Washington]

    Reply
  5. The top White House Counsel and ex career military man, Sgt. Schultz who served with distinction unter the famous Col. Klink regime said today “The President, VP, and the AGOTUS Mr. Witholder, knew NOTHING, NOTHING!” about whatever it is that are asking. Oh, and this letter came for you from the IRS”

    Reply
  6. Stewart, the tool, went to the same college I did about 6-7 years after me. I was mortified a few years back when I learned that he was the commencement speaker. . .

    Here’s how he closed:

    “I was in New York on 9-11 when the towers came down. I lived 14 blocks from the twin towers. And when they came down, I thought that the world had ended. And I remember walking around in a daze for weeks. And Mayor Giuliani had said to the city, “You’ve got to get back to normal. We’ve got to show that things can change and get back to what they were.”

    And one day I was coming out of my building, and on my stoop, was a man who was crouched over, and he appeared to be in deep thought. And as I got closer to him I realized, he was playing with himself. And that’s when I thought, “You know what, we’re gonna be OK.”

    So, I take that to mean that if Stewart’s reduced to mentally playing with himself on television, “You know what, we’re gonna be OK.”

    Reply
  7. I think for us citizens getting away from the danger is primary. And barring that going for cover. Saving our asses is what the whole exercise is about.

    Reply
    • Don’t forget that there are often friendlies with us such as children, who can be devilishly difficult to motivate in the best of times.

      Sometimes the best option is to move towards the attacker(s).

      Reply
  8. Sad but true. After the crap all went down I was embedding some Colion noir videos and…well after the ensuing argument I have not spoken to my brother who I was very close with since February. My efforts to reconnect have been ignored.

    Reply
  9. This is the press. This is the press on Ritalin. Any questions?

    P.S. 30 days from now In September when summer is over it will be a brand new thing and we will be back to more civilian disarmament.

    Reply
  10. Art, better do something about that nasty little snarl. Not very becoming for a charming, celebrity politician. Or for a police chief.

    Reply
  11. I am always on the look out for cover etc, in a eating place fast food etc. have your back to a wall, where you can watch whole area, look for doors etc, open area’s look for parked cars, trees, even a ditch to use as cover, check out the people around you is that guy a trouble looking for a place to happen, stopped in your car at red light , keep doors locked and up, look for a way out,think you have no way out if someone wants to car jack, hit the gas and horn and go like all hell , make it a art to be alert at all times. watch out for big groups of people, stay on the out sides, get lost in a bad looking area keep moving , run a red light , drive on a side walk, forget rules the only rule is SAFE!

    Reply
  12. It’s a GLOCK brand GLOCK and it looks like every other GLOCK brand GLOCK I’ve ever seen. Unless you somehow believe, Warehouse 13-style, that this particular GLOCK brand GLOCK is now an artifact, and imbued with Loughner’s evil/crazy. But I don’t believe that. So it’s just a GLOCK.

    Reply
  13. @Robert: If that thing on the left is a mall-ninja folding knife, then this would be an appropriate time to link to TTAK 😉

    Reply
  14. Hmmm… I’ve an E sized plotter and some pics of my ex…

    Didn’t General Patton lose a pistol competition because the target had only 5 holes in a 1″ group and the judges (stupidiously) insisted that he’d missed the entire target with the sixth, rather that admitting the obvious: that one hole’d done double duty?

    Reply
  15. What a bunch of wussies worrying about what other shooters pefer. All you little pretend experts need to get off your high horses, you are a joke.

    Reply
  16. “sadly, there’s going to be another Aurora, there’s going to be another Newtown.”
    Actually there will be another spree killing until target rich environments, known as gun free zones, are eliminated.

    Reply
  17. There are a lot of questions one could ask. We’ll have to wait for answers. But I suspect that the FBI was leaning on this guy, and he couldn’t take it anymore. Veiled accusations, threats of deportation or cooperation, the typical stuff. I am reminded of several incidents in which American citizens of “certain” extraction traveling in the Middle East have been put on the watch list and barred from returning to the US by air, treatment that is promised to cease in exchange for a waiver of the right to counsel and promises of “cooperation.” I recall a Seattle businessman who went to Libya and a student who went to Egypt who received this treatment, resulting in months of effort to get back home. Is this more of same?

    Reply
  18. Why does the FBI consistently underestimate the people they intend to interview?Why does the FBI seem to be ill-equiped to address the folks they intend ot arrest( Miami bank robbers) or do a Ruby Ridge number.Accountants and lawyers.

    Reply
  19. Just so we are clear:

    Federal Gun Zone Law exempts people that are residents of that state and have permits that required a background check, and are otherwise permitted to carry k-12 in state law.

    A quick run down (as of the end of 2012)

    1. Alabama- Permit holders are allowed to carry, concealed, k-12. State law otherwise forbids carry arms on a k-12 public school or school bus (no ban on college campuses).

    2. Alaska- Not allowed generally and against state law. Though oddly the law exempts students (“a preschool, elementary, junior high, or secondary school student”) from the charge of misconduct with a firearm in this case. Carry can happen with explicit permission of the “chief administrative officer” or head of the district.

    3. Arizona- Allowed (though the law is confusingly written). One may have it in the car, provided it is unloaded, and if you leave the car, not visible.

    4. Arkansas- Not allowed and against state law(“Any school, college, community college, or university campus building or event, unless forthe purpose of participating in an authorized firearms-related activity;”

    5. California- Permit holders are allowed to carry in k-12 schools.

    6. Colorado- Not allowed and against state law

    7. Conneticut- Not allowed and against state law

    8. Delaware- Not allowed and against state law

    9. Florida- Not allowed and against state law (even campus carry is banned, except “any college or university facilityunless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college oruniversity and the weapon is a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon or device designed solelyfor defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile”)

    I think you get the picture. 42 states and DC ban it by state law. Hawaii and New Hampshire have no specific law against it, but that makes it likely illegal under Federal law as they don’t expressly allow it either.

    Alabama, Arizona, California, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah are the only 6 days to expressly allow it. Isn’t that something?

    Reply
  20. Berettas releasing the ARX100 any day now,and the IWI Tavors getting great press. Combine those developments with the already stiff AR competition and it equals bad news for Arsenal.Why buy a 5.56 AK when there’s so many interesting alternatives ?

    Reply
    • When the new American Rifleman showed up today it had a picture of the Tavor on the front cover. I told my wife that I found my birthday present for later in the year. She didn’t like the idea very well. I do have 3 AK type weapons already so I am not really in the market for a 5.56 AK. Arsenal does have a lot of competition, but you would think there would still be a big market for AKs.

      Reply
  21. How? How can he fire such a beautiful piece of machinery and not come to love it? Seriously… freaking hoplophobes man.

    Reply

Leave a Comment