“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” So sayeth the progressive standard bearer, Barack Obama in the run up to his first presidential election. Words which were brushed aside by the gun control-happy left. So it’s no wonder that rawstory.com saw fit to lampoon GOA jefe Larry Pratt for his religious take on gun control. Condescending gits. Still, now that time has passed, are American gun owners bitter clingers, now more than ever?
I’m bitter. But why shouldn’t I be? Every day my government pursues new ways to deny me my God-given rights, the labor of my own two hands, and punishes every attempt to innovate.
I do find it interesting that he is doing his review in a school gym……. Not sure how the authorities would have responded to a reports of a very realistic looking gun in a school gym. Irresponsible gun owner of the day comes to mind.
My kid loved it. He loves Legos.
Clinger? Definitely, yes. I have worked well over half my life and feel I have earned everything I have been blessed to have.
Bitter? Not so much. Not yet. Try the serenity prayer and ‘listen’ to the words. Not religious? Then don’t say the word God.
Some stuff, we, as individuals, have zero control over. So, improvise, adapt and overcome.
The “cling” word is an ad-hominem. Ad-hominems are used by people when they are losing an argument.
Bitter no. Tired yes. It’s tough being a producer with so many mouths in the nest wanting worms.
Clinger, I didn’t know the president like Star Trek?
The current president basically said any gun owners that don’t support ‘common sense’ gun control regulations are the same as child murderers in his post Newtown stump speeches and failed gun control in the senate temper tantrum. I’ll say it as politely as I can, F*CK Him and everyone that thinks like him.
I’m a gainfully employed, happy atheist. So does this mean I can’t have a gun now? I’m confused.
I don’t know about bitter, but I’d same some “People of the Gun” treat their guns as a totem.
Quote from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem
“A totem is a being, object, or symbol representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe, reminding them of their ancestry (or mythic past). In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem. Normally this belief is accompanied by a totemic myth.”
I’d say that fits pretty accurately.
In other words, Guns are an object of religious worship for some in this country, and the Right to Bear Arms is the Dogma of religious worship for some in this country. Some, not all Guns Owners.
Most gun owners I know are not bitter.
They support the RKBA because the have an overflowing amount of faith and trust in their fellow man/woman.
Guns can be used for good or evil and the positive educated optimist believes that most Americans will use their ar15 shotgun only for good.
Romans 12:9 says to, “abhor what is evil; [b]cling[/b] to what is good.” It’s good advice, regardless of your belief system. As for bitterness, no one can make you bitter but yourself.
Do I cling to my Bible and my guns – you f*cking betchya.
Janis Joplin : Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
Moderately bitter, pro separation of church and state, definitely clinging to my guns because A: they’re potentially useful tools and B: they’re mine.
No no no. Make the local officials PERSONALLY responsible for the fines. What gets their attention is not fining the city or town, that isn’t their money. When it’s their own money going out the door, they walk softly.
I’m bitterer and clingier than ever.
The fact that even the police use the term ‘assault weapon’ shows how little NYC-ers know about firearms.
I think what the story is conveying is that most of the people who have been arrested were already breaking NY law prior to the SAFE act. (i.e. owning illegal weapons like sawed offs and unregistered handguns) But when the safe act passed it made those crimes felonies so now the police are actually arresting them instead of citing them for a misdemeanor.
Now this doesn’t fix the fact that the laws before SAFE were crappy for NY gun owners and SAFE only made them worse. But I think it skews the facts a little in that the mojority of people who this article is referencing were already in violation of pre-Safe act law, the punishment for it just got worse under the SAFE act. Either way the whole slate of laws there in NY sucks.
“I support the Second Amendment. Period. No buts.”
Completely contradicted by your entire article. Disingenuous.
“Simple is good and easy for average people to understand.”
Thanks for writing down to the unwashed masses.
Ouch. Guess Hera gets the big fat zero stars… did you try contacting them? No response?
There are many problems with ranking states.
1. Do you actually know the laws of the states? Guns and Ammo had a list, and I know at least three states they got fairly wrong on important points. Not a knock on them so much as the fact that the laws vary wildly and can be hard to figure out (California has notoriously byzantine laws, but on self-defense is very clear and short, whereas Texas’s self defense law is far more complicated [as written], yet many gun laws clearer)
2. We might say that 14 states (and DC) require some sort of certification or permit to buy a handgun (several for any gun). But a handgun safety certificate in California, cannot be compared to a pistol permit in New York (which is far more draconian) or to a certificate in Michigan (which applies to only private sales). So even when they are the same, they are not.
3. And what is the priority in ranking? Brady loves California. Yet from my perspective, there are worse states. But then again, what am I looking at? Am I look at what is possible to own? California has the stupid roster and a stupid AWB. Or am I looking at CCW? Or merely the generic ability to buy and own a gun (in which case much better than several states), or the self-defense laws? Do I rank these equally?
I almost think it might be better to have several rankings, by category.
1. General self-defense laws
2. Restrictions/regulation/hoops to ownership (considered generically)
3. Restriction on types/models/features
4. Possibility of NFA
5. Carry laws
6. Other (meaning laws that can inconvenience or get gun owners to trouble. E.g. NJ’s transportation law allows you to transport only to specific designations, whereas in California there is no such requirement, you can keep a gun in your car without any permit, but it must be locked up [for handguns not longuns]. Yet in other states, NM or Wyoming, you can have it not locked)
I mean, ideally a state would be good in every respect. But if there are bad laws, bad laws in one area might not matter as much. I would love an SBR and a silencer, but that is very low on my list. If I were to move to another state, I would weigh that less than say carry laws or really any other aspect. But someone else might weight more.
So, assuming that Wyoming or Alaska or Arizona is not an option for everyone, I do think it is important that, when weighing “gun freedom” into a decision of where to live that you consider what impact the laws will have on your activities, which can vary depending on the person.
If you read the comments…I am the first person that commented. On the sheer stupidity and horrible journalism of this story. The broadcast version was no better.
“I still don’t get it, we could get our meat from the butcher shop and be home in time for supper instead of freezing our bollocks off out in the rain!”
-Not Much Has Changed since 1913
1. At some point in her life someone thought “I’ll get that bitch a floppy hat. Bitches love floppy hats.” and they. were. right!
2. She is hammered.
3. Usually I *tsk tsk* at how quick some of you are to jump on the media, but I’ll be damned if she didn’t just really call hollow points “exploding bullets” with a straight(ish) face.
4. And no one stopped her.
5. This was on (a) Fox (news affiliate). Where is your God now?
Good story, and I’m glad you’re on your way.
I firmly believe that firearms familiarization should be taught before you graduate high school. It doesn’t have to be a permit level course, just enough to understand the basic concepts of what guns can, and more importantly, cannot do, e.g. guns do not “go off” absent outside influence and bullets do not “explode.” The vast majority of fear and uncertainty about guns among the general population is borne of ignorance, and the only cure for ignorance is education.
So The Rifleman is having his lever gun confiscated. For shame.
I’m considering an extra Ruger 10/22 takedown with a small SHTF kit and about 500 rounds. An AR or 12 gauge would also be excellent. I’m not a fan of the Kel Tecs since the prices on ARs has dropped considerably. I’ve currently got a 12 gauge Benelli Super Sport in mine, but that’s because I have to reorganize to fit everything back in my safes.
And I’m more than a little jealous that you got KJW to pose in front of your ride. That’s some big pimpin’ spendin’ G’s right there.