As the People of the Gun emerge from the winter of our discontent, it’s time to take a look at the big picture. Only six months ago, I foolishly thought the gun rights war had nearly been won except for a few mopping up actions. Our movement had been on a twenty-year roll. The anti-gun lobby was virtually given up for dead by pundits who lamented the apparent triumph of those crazy Second Amendment supporters. But what a difference one election can make. Emboldened by the re-election of Mr. Obama and the fact that they had two years to work before the 2014 mid-terms, on the heels of Newtown the anti-gun forces launched an attack that can be compared to the Ardennes counter-offensive of December, 1944 . . .
The Old Media, the Democratic Party and the not-quite-dead gun control orgs knew there might never be a better opportunity to strike back, punish their hated enemies and perhaps turn the tide of the war. Like the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge, they threw everything they had into the fight. The issue was in doubt for a while, but for the most part, the forces of freedom have blunted the attack and I believe the long term trend toward freedom will reassert itself.
The snarling media lynch mob that attempted to bully America’s gun owners into extinction within minutes of the Sandy Hook shooting has, for the most part, turned its focus back to the usual celebrity scandals and baby bumps. The gun laws that were rushed through the New York State Assembly in the dark of night have being exposed to daylight and are facing court challenges. Congressional hearings are revealing the ignorance and self-righteous pandering behind proposed federal gun laws. With the fog of war lifting, it’s now possible to see the three big losers of this battle.
Loser number one is the mainstream media. Close observers knew that most journalists lean to the left side of the political spectrum, but the hate-spewing, anti-NRA rants and ignorant, truth-twisting screeds came as a shock to many low-information Americans. Demonization of the enemy was taken to levels not seen since the anti-German and –Japanese propaganda films of WW2. Hatred became an acceptable emotion for lefty anti-gunners to spew at every opportunity. The last shreds of dignity and legitimacy once claimed by the broadcast networks and the remaining major newspapers were cast aside . This will hasten the demise of the old media and push us even faster into the age of distributed Internet news sources.
Loser number two is the anti-gun movement which was on a long, slow decline after gun control became a losing issue at the polls. Life support was provided by handouts from the billionaire nannies, Bloomberg and Soros, who love their armed guards, but hate the idea of guns in the hands of the unwashed masses.
So caught up in the mob frenzy, some gun control advocates actually let some of their true motives slip from their lips and keyboards. Their desire for complete gun bans, mass confiscation and other extremist plans have been made public, much of it caught on video, in tweets or posted on their blogs. Sheer hatred for gun owners was on full public display. Although they will still try to portray themselves as presenting reasonable and sensible policies, too many people now know what they’re really working toward.
As New York Governor Cuomo can attest, anti-gun laws can only be passed in an emotional rush, before people have had time to think. This battle has now gone on too long and too much thinking has occurred. Those thoughts won’t quickly be forgotten and the movement will soon find that the concept of gun control has taken a big public opinion hit.
Loser number three is, most importantly, the Democratic Party. Several years ago, the party conciously decided to downplay gun control in order to attract voters in swing states and districts. This strategy, which worked very well, has now been completely abandoned demolished.
The President leapfrogged around the country in an unprecedented effort to tack left and create support for all manner of unenforceable, feel-good gun control schemes. Democrats in Congress floated gun control proposals that only a true gun hater could love. State governments are working through a tidal wave of Democrat-proposed, counterproductive, anti-gun bills – most of which have no hope of being enacted. In states with Democrat-controlled legislatures, some laws have passed and more will probably do so.
Americans remember the promises made before the presidential election. Obama will never come for your guns, we were told. Democrats respect the Second Amendment, they assured. After the election, they virtually slapped us in the face saying, we lied, suckers, what are you going to do about it? The Democratic Party is now irrevocably branded as the party of gun control and the hapless Republicans probably can’t believe their own good fortune. This will provide a clear angle of attack in the 2014 elections and that’s when we must launch our own all out offensive against gun-grabbing legislators.
The culture war over gun rights will not end in our lifetimes, so we need to plan for the long term. Demographic changes mean pro-RKBAers must reach out to groups who don’t have a tradition of gun ownership. The US Supreme Court will be the most critical battleground and we know that Democratic presidents always appoint anti-gun justices. Like it our not, our fortunes are tied to the Republican party. Will they get their act together by 2016 and take control of the White House before any more justices retire or die? We can’t count on it.
Dr. Michael S. Brown has commented on gun issues for two decades and is a member of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership
> Even After All This, We’re Still Winning
Um, no.
Even if the anti-gun movement is stopped right now, we’ve lost a lot.
Living in the Colorado Socialist Republic (CSR), I don’t see things getting any better.
It’s like telling the people of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and East Germany in 1945 that they’ve been liberated from the Nazis, while overlooking the Soviet troops occupying their countries.
I’ve always been liberal…but I’ve never been anti-gun. Then again, I grew up with them. I bet the vast majority of people who are anti-gun simply have little or no experience with them. Unfortunately, gun control has become so polarized and politicized (like so many other issues), that its impossible to have even a rudimentary discussion about it in mainstream media, whether its msnbc, npr, or fox news.
Michael, great article right up until you mention Republicans.
Lindsey Graham and John McCain support “reasonable” gun control laws. There are others, those two are just the most prominent that I can think of. There are also Republicans in the House that support “reasonable” gun control measures. My own representative, Kevin McCarthy, is one of them.
The GOP is not to be trusted with anything right now, as they’ve gone “Not quite as Statist as the other guy.”
Losing more slowly is still losing.
No disagreement that our allies are unreliable, but the Republicans stand more for gun rights than against. Time to primary out some folks. McCain has demonstrated he is more interested in the status quo than liberty. Sad, I remembered when he was a hell of a politician, but that was well over a decade ago.
+100. No such thing as Democrats and Republicans. One coin, two sides. REPUBLICRATS. WE NEED A NEW PARTY.
@William Burke Third party? Not likely. BUT, with what’s happening in the Republican party as of late…there may be liberty on the horizon.
Ironically, the Mainstream Media would not be among your losers if they had not become so accustomed to not being held to any standards. They were so unhinged and blatantly biased that it worked against them. Proof they live in a bubble or they may have bothered to moderate their comments somewhat so as not to alienate the part of the country that was up for grabs.
You can see the defeat. I read an article today that still supported magazine capacity limits, but the argument was weak and glossed over. Instead the focus was on background checks and straw purchases. I chuckled a little to myself. I remember when this started. It is amazing how much ground has been given.
Gun grabbers fight on, hoping to catch us complacent. The time for vigilance has not passed but I am looking forward to not having to wonder everyday whether or not our rights will be taken away. Sadly, we took some losses in New York, Colorado, and other areas. It will take some time to undo the damage of the opportunistic anti-gun lobby.
the “doctors for responsible gun ownership” link at the bottom does not work.
Declaration of victory is impossible, but we can make gains and prevent losses and push the darkness away until the next generation or the next incident. What we have learned, though, is that compromise is never possible. Gun control freaks will not budge in their desires, nor will they employ reason.
Writing to our elected representatives is one thing we have to do. Another, and even more important, is spreading the word about guns to those who haven’t heard or have heard the wrong message.
The leftists/liberals/progressives will most likely win in the longrun, because they control the education system from K-college. In the meantime, the love, the importance of God, country, and family will continue to be reduced. Also their increasing control of he legal/judicial system and the interpretation of, ruling on laws and cases placed before them. “Gun Control” is merely one facet of their long term plan to change the US.
Right. Except for a thing called HOME SCHOOLING. It’s FAR OUT, baby!!
I was an anti-gun liberal… I blame Obama… Actually grew up in NYC and am a pediatrician… you won’t get worse than that. Moved to a western conservative area and stayed anti-gun for almost 2 years, then had a stalker, bought a gun for protection… went out shooting… and never turned back. I realized many truth’s during those first few months shooting. Hitting something is harder than Hollywood makes it. Objects don’t do anything without the person and intent behind them. Crusading liberals, in the interest of doing good, do the worst harm. And if the zombies come… I am prepared.
Wowee… Shotgun Joe really IS as stupid as most people pegged him for. He can’t form a cogent sentence that makes any sense.
And Barocky, he seems to be looking a bit more stressed out than usual. Maybe it was the Israel trip and the unbreakable vehicle that broke down….
If they ignore the 2nd A, why would anyone expect them to respect any other part of the constitution or other law?
This just in: FIRE NOT BURN.
“Governor Cuomo and his cronies argued that the judicial branch has no jurisdiction and cannot interfere with the Legislative and Executive branches.” TRANSLATION: ” We don’t want checks and balances interfering with our agenda, we prefer our dictatorship, you are all just subjects!”
Im so glad to see the courts stand up for unconstitutional actions, and I hope cuomo is festering in his own embarrassment right now. This was a win for the good guys!
Ed says;
“I fear the CO republicans will offer up such a dumb candidate they will scare off the libertarian vote, the CO Dems will chalk up another victory, and learn that 2a infringement has no real side-effects.
What we all must remember, not only the people in Colorado, is that if we simply vote for the Republican in order to oust the Democrat, then we will end up with a regime that will give us another rights destroying “Patriot Act” or yet another President that thinks he has the right to start “preemptive wars.” Brothers, we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bath water here. While we should be fervent in our opposition to ANY encroachment on the 2nd Amendment, we should, at the same time, be guarding our other rights guaranteed in the Constitution just as jealously! Let’s not forget the 1st Amendment, 4th Amendment, 5th Amendment, 9th and 10 Amendment abuses we’ve suffered just in the last 12 years alone!
Could not agree more. Watching the legislators in CO it was apparent they respect my 2A rights way more then the CO dems. But the Republicans performed poorly in elections because often their candidates were against other rights. Colorado has a lot of independent voters who just want the gov to leave them alone!
Get rid of the f^cking Democrats first. Once our 2A rights are secure, get rid of the f^cking Republicans who think other rights are fair game. Sounds like a plan?
Maybe I am reading this wrong, but here is what I read.
I do not believe that Cuomo is saying “the executive branch and the legislative branch can simply cut out the judicial branch out of expediency”
What they are saying is the “judicial” branch cannot define what is or is not an emergency.
They are trying the same BS in CT where we have something called E-CERT. Emergency Certification which basically does the same thing they did in NY.
I am not sure the courts can define what an emergency is which what I believe they are trying to do here.
It will be interesting to here what they both have to say. On one hand, if there is no definition, what is to stop them from declaring every law an emergency. On the other hand, should the unelected judges decide what is or is not an emergency.
I am not lawyer, just playing along but interesting.
I agree with your analysis, but not sure I agree with the conclusion. A real responsibility of the courts is to interpret the law and constitution in situations where they are not entirely clear.
Pulling ridiculous anecdotes from “Fightin Joe” is alarmingly similar to taking life lessons from the tooth fairy. The poor simple twot is beside himself when confronted by facts.
Robert I was thinking this last week. We need to run a simulation with 10 round heck load seven rounds, why not. I think we already know the answer don’t we.
My ex-wife found out about the bowling team. Be advised.
I got yer permit right here
good ole tail gunner joe. I will give up my hi capacity clips and be fine with a 10 round clip, but I am keeping my High capacity magazines you dummy.
My brother gave me a Smith & Wesson .38 special Model 67-1 and I notice that although this is a double-action revolver, the hammer will not lock into position when pulled back. I can pull the trigger and the revolver seems to work properly. Is there a problem with the hammer or trigger mechanism?
Safety glasses on the hat? Well unless I guess the hat has eye holes where you are looking out. But interesting sight concept.
What’s the problem with shooting someone that is lunging at you?
while i always like members of the media shown actually testing guns, her trigger control control needs help. Yes, i know she said its unloaded. Still, don’t wave it around like that with you finger there.
Very true, NY’er, and I devoutly hope so too.
Anyway, this isn’t a violation of mere Legislative procedures but a violation of the State Constitution to a basic right. There have been many attempts over the years to control this abuse and this may finally succeed. After all, this is not a device to protect the governor or the legislature but the PEOPLE and if the courts can’t uphold the people’s rights, who can?
I was recently summoned to the home of a family member, by them and their neighbors. Walked into an ‘intervention’ type setting :/. Well, as it turns out the coyotes that roam the gold course their houses border, had begun to take interest in their lil dogs. Fyi this is just outside cook county, Illinois. They had all expressed anti-gun sentiments to me before, and yet they wanted me to go out at sunrise and just kill all the coyotes ‘because I was in the army’ LOL.. I tried to explain how that they would have probably be the ones calling 911 on me if it wasn’t their dogs at risk.. And how the sound of rifle fire carrys, especially over a golf course. They didn’t get it… I took care of it anyway, with a .22 marlin I had to borrow from a friend. Probably not the most humane way, but these people treat their dogs like family, and I enjoy my freedom.
“I’m not going to lay down and play dead”. BITCH could have fooled me, as she looks plenty dead.
I have the 5″, railed TacOps. It has been flawless through 2k rounds, including over 300 Ranger t-series loaded +p. Fit and finish on this gun is great, slide to frame fit has zero play, barrel lockup is perfect. My trigger pull is nice, and breaks right at 4 lbs.
The only alterations I’ve made is swapping out the stock grips (they felt too plastic-y) for a pair of VZ Carbon “Slants”. The front strap checkering isn’t that bad. It provides great purchase, especially if you are sweating. Unless you have delicate skin, it shouldn’t bother you. It feels about the same as the checkering on my buddy’s TRP, and Nighthawk.
I carry mine in a VMII from Milt Sparks, it conceals under a t-shirt, and with a good belt, the weight of the all steel gun isn’t an issue.
At the $900 I paid for my pistol, with four mags, I think it is about the best deal out there on a 1911. Especially when you consider it is made in the US. Even some of Springfield’s guns are imports. The only negative I’ve heard concerning it is the external extractor, and aside from the fact it isn’t a Browning designed part, haven’t heard a good reason why it’s a bad thing. Just about every one of my guns from Glock to HK to Springfield to Sig have an external extractor, and they like this 1911 seem to work just fine.
FOAD Obama!!! I’m sick of these civilian disarmament schemes being touted from atop the graves of dead children. It’s disgusting. Makes want to vomit.