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 P1280907

If you’ve never heard of wonkette.com, I envy your existence. And if you want to check it out, don’t do it sober. It’s the stomping ground for the antithesis of all that is TTAG, the substitution of emotion for logic, of gossip in place of fact, and a place where all gun owners are terrible people. They ran a piece recently about the NRA’s suit against the provision of the 1968 GCA that bars those under 21 from buying a handgun through a dealer and, well, I’ll just give you an excerpt . . .

Good Christ it is really getting hard for us to come up with snappy ways to write about the NRA. What do you do with an organization so consistently terrible and deliberately tone-deaf? There’s just no hyperbole left, people! So we’ve really got no clever way to tell you that the NRA is pretty much one step away from demanding that the law mandate that babies are given a gun the very second they exit the womb.

[…]

So the youth of America can get a handgun from a private sale. The youth of American can get a shotgun from a dealer. But, tragedy of tragedies, the youth of America cannot get a handgun from a dealer. What is this world coming to when college students have to go TWO WHOLE DIFFERENT PLACES to get a gun? America needs a new MLK, a new Abraham Lincoln, a new George Washington, to lead us out of the dark days of semi-inconvenient gun buying, and the NRA is here to take us to the mountaintop.

This being Wonkette, their knee-jerk reaction to anything the NRA says or does is to immediately assume the opposite position. If the NRA said the sky was blue, I’m pretty sure they’d throw up a post within minutes claiming that it’s actually pink. It’s a state of mind, one of instant vilification without any thought whatsoever on the matter, something that’s inherent in most gun control advocates and leads to some interesting conclusions. Like the idea of civilian disarmament being for the benefit of all mankind.

Then there’s the derision and condescension with which they view all gun owners . . .

Greetings Wonkeristas, and welcome back to our occasional tour through the dissipated, sand-blasted desert hellscape that is the hive mind of the all-guns-all-the-time Second Amendment fetishists. We would visit more often but this is a terrible place and everyone who lives in it is terrible. Let us talk about one of the terrible ideas for which these terrible people advocate and then sneer at it, as is our wont.

And of course, since they’re conditioned to think that the NRA and all those in favor of firearms ownership are, by definition, evil, they completely forget to consider that perhaps the NRA has a point. For example, states where you need a permit to purchase a handgun, like California, New York and New Jersey, and where the transfer is required to go through an FFL. Or states that are cracking down on the “gun show loophole” and requiring sales to involve a trip to the gun dealer. In those cases, there’s no way to legally purchase a handgun if you’re under 21.

Instead, Wonkette opposes the NRA’s attempt to let all adults – including 18- to 20-year olds – purchase handguns from a gun dealer. Which means that the world they are advocating is one in which the only way a teenager can get their hands on a gun is one that doesn’t involve a background check. Therefore, Wonkette is against background checks for teenagers purchasing guns.

It’s fun to use the logic (or lack thereof) of gun control advocates against them, isn’t it?

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79 COMMENTS

    • We do gossip a bit here. We do get emotional about attempts to take away our “natural, civil and constitutionally protected” right to keep and bear arms. But as near as I can see we do it from the viewpoint of intelligence and logic, not knee-jerk emotionalism and philosophical blinders that prevent any possible consideration of an opposing point of view as being valid.

      Go troll somewhere else, you’ll get no satisfaction here.

  1. So an 18 year old can join the military and carry a full auto and in some cases a handgun, with the intent or even just the knowledge they will/may kill someone. But God forbid an 18 year old back home have a semi auto and hope to never use it to protect themself or family.

    By the way when I saw Wonkette, I was hoping for a naughty lady candy maker surrounded by little people

    • The term “anti-gun” is actually a bit of a simplification. Those people actually love guns as long as they’re carried by government employees and pointed at people the government doesn’t like. It’s only peasants with guns they object to.

      • There were very few times that I was walking guard that I was given ammo and had live rounds in my weapon. Other than in a war zone, you didn’t get to carry loaded weapons. I bet most of you didn’t know that the shooting at Fort Hood happened in a gun free Zone. Where was the M.P.’s during this shooting? Are they allowed ammo on Post? I know the have it at the Gates, but I wonder if they are allowed to carry loaded weapons on the rest of the Fort.

        • MPs are not much of a presence on the bases I’ve been to lately. They have been replaced by civilian Federal Police Officers. IIRC, that was the category of LEO which halted the “workplace violence” at Ft. Hood.

        • I’m pretty sure most TTAG readers know that military bases are “gun free zones.” They don’t call them the Armed Intelligentsia for nothing.

    • I have a nephew who was appointed an LEO at age 18. He was issued his sidearm by the township, and could carry it with him into a bar if his duty required him to go there.

      Of course, he was too young to go to that bar and have a beer if he was off-duty.
      I see no consistency in this contradictory set of legal viewpoints on 18 year olds.

      • Clearly you’re not thinking hard enough of the children.

        The liberals love this as a gender issue. Many women are just naturally predisposed to dislike firearms, handguns in particular and this sentiment goes a long way back through history. I don’t want to say women in general are stupid or willfully ignorant, but there is no shortage of women who are when it comes to this issue and the liberals know it. Men hop on the liberal band wagon most often for the express purpose of pleasing and/or bedding liberal women who are the product of an intricate and well funded Marxist indoctrination scheme that we call “College.”

        The NRA tries to appeal to women, but the women they put forward are the kinds of women that catty liberals love to hate. When it comes to 2A rights it is really a struggle of virtuous, chivalrous people against the base element of society that believes in accepting general tyranny in the name of cohesion and safety. Essentially liberals are breeding drones that have been indoctrinated to accept a gradually encroaching new world state, convinced that this will improve the lives of everyone, in particular their offspring who are poised to become privileged technocrats under the new order.

  2. Here’s a nice “pinnacle of stupidity” for Wonkette then: Guess what results you get for an 18-year old on an FBI background check? “All clear!” Juvenile records don’t carry over. You’d have to have a pretty heinous law-breaking thuglet to get something on your record that early. (Yes, I know there are exceptions, but for the most part, states don’t report juvenile crimes to the federal level for background check purposes).

    • At the state level (at least in CT) juvenile records are part of your background check for pistol permit. In some states you may never make it to a background check

    • NJ asks right on the form about your juvenile record before the state does the background check for your FID

        • Your point is still quite valid. Lowering the age would have absolutely zero impact on crime, but it defies the gun banner logic of “If we can only save one child, it is worth it.”

          They would argue perhaps that an 18 year old is more likely to act as a straw purchaser… is he really more likely than a 21 year old? Hmm, I think not. The problem they have is that it is a direct challenge to their narrative of youth being snuffed out by inherently evil, inanimate objects. They refuse to accept that young people can enjoy shooting, that it is part of American culture and can be a healthy part of any young person’s life regardless of their origin.

  3. I’ve always understood that everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but in the internet age it seems like too many people believe they’re also entitled to their own facts as well. One fact I’m willing to claim is that I damn sure won’t be killing any fraction of my life visiting Wonkette.

  4. Wow. They are to the NRA and 2A as are many right-wingers to the notion of climate change. While it might not take all types to make a world, we would appear to have them anyway.

    Ugh! Yuck! Bleah!

    I’ve oft stated that the day one stops learning is the day they start dying. Today, I’ve just learned that I’m a terrible member of a hive-mind and that eastern Kansas [my humble demesne] is a desert.

    <sarcasm>
    Thanks, Wonkette…
    </sarcasm>

  5. I am a firm believer if you are a law abiding Citizen, you should be able to carry. If a Woman wants an abortion, let her get one that’s done in a doctors office and not in a back room some where. Those who oppose abortions, should not get one, and they shouldn’t interfere with a woman who does. Same way with guns, these who wish to have them and carry them legally, should be able to do so, with out being hassled by those who do not. I have always been against the so called Blue Laws that were put into effect by different Religious Organizations. Where you could only buy on Sunday, things that were a necessity.

    • It’s exactly the way I feel…thats why when you discuss “gun control” with someone I always use “pro choice” for those of us that choose to decide to arm ourselves and “anti-choice” for those that think the government should decide for us. It actually works great…because the majority of those who are for more gun regulation think that women should be able to decide for themselves. Bring it to their level. Now if only our politicians could start thinking this way….especially those to the far right. I always lose them when they start bringing religion or beliefs into the conversation.

      • That can be a useful arguement, until you realize that babies have absolutely no choice or freedom in an abortion. The women chooses to have sex, and there are a whole lot of responsible ways to prevent pregnancy other than abortion. Pregnancy is a consequence of a very specific action, and responsible people treat that decision making process accordingly.

        Babies, if given the choice, choose to survive. In fact, they have good survivability past 5 months if given proper medical care. So the “freedom of choice” of the mother can eliminate every subsequent freedom and choice a baby could ever have. The baby is truly helpless and has no self defense option, and they can certainly feel pain. Everyone here talking about self defense was once a baby inside a womb.

    • Abortion? On a gun rights page? Can we please stick to the topic? This could go off the rails in a hurry.

      I am pro-gun because I am pro-defense of myself, my family, and the innocent. There is no-one more innocent that an unborn child. The violent, bloody slaughter of millions of innocent babies who are massacred because of peoples selfish choices make for a spirited discussion. This just isn’t the place to have that discussion.

      • That’s happened about a half dozen times in the past few weeks. It seems like there’s a couple commenters who have very strong opinions (in either direction) and whose entire worldview seems to be influenced by those opinions, so they keep drawing the discussions in that direction whenever there’s an opportunity. It’s starting to get old.

      • Mainly I was making a comparison. Just because you like to go to church twice a week, you shouldn’t try to pass a law saying I have to also. I don’t believe you will ever be pregnant with an unwanted child and want an abortion. I am with Edgar Cayce on this one, a fetus doesn’t have a soul until two weeks before, or two weeks after its born. Plus these souls pick which fetus they want. Does it sound like I believe in reincarnation? Plus are you committing a murder of a human being, if the fetus doesn’t have a soul. I thought that the soul part is what separated us from animals.

        • See, you are baiting us into an abortion argument on a gun rights page. You state some weird belief about how it’s OK to murder the innocent and then I reply in an indignant manner.

          You see how this works? I love debating religion and philosophy but let’s stay on topic for this page.

        • What I am saying to all those people out there that don’t want guns in their homes, don’t have any, but don’t interfere with my right to have a gun in my house. You have a bunch of Bloomberg’s out there that think their way is the only way.

  6. I guess these people do not understand of the concept of a free citizen. A person who is responsible for themselves is able to fully exercise their natural rights. Rights that are only removed by due process for heinous abuses or crimes. That would be for instance: murder, rape, theft etc. Citizens are to be treated equally and should be able to fully exercise the rights protected by the constitution. It boils down to trusting others to do no harm to others and live and let live yourself. This does not mean that everyone is trustworthy, that is why we still carry weapons. I guess that would be too hard of a concept to understand for a wonky wonkette follower.

  7. Folks, Wonkette was put on the map because the founder Ana Marie Cox couldn’t stop writing about butt-sex.

    So take Wonkette for what it is.

    • So this lady went to her doctor and asked if anal sex was safe, her boyfriend wanted to try it.
      The doctor told her, “be careful, Use plent of lubricant, if it causes pain, stop, and by all means, MAKE SURE YOU DON”T GET PREGNANT!”
      “I can got pregnant from anal sex,” asked the bewildered young lady?
      “Yes,” said the doctor, “Where do yo uthink liberals come from?”

      • So… “liberals” are a byproduct of “conservatives” buggering one another?

        Thanks for clearing that up.

    • Yup. And that was the high point.

      Pretty much no one pays much attention to wonkette now, except the Kos Kids, Huff-poseurs and other slumming wannabe literati of the left who style themselves as “edgy” whilst wallowing in the sleaze there.

  8. “There’s just no hyperbole left”…”the NRA is pretty much one step away from demanding that the law mandate that babies are given a gun the very second they exit the womb.”
    I’ve never seen self-contradiction so absolute and so swift before.

      • It sounds similar to the old but civilized English custom in the gentry wherein the father bought (‘laid down’) for his newborn son a pipe of fine port, and presented it to him when he reached maturity. THAT would be a gift!

        So, what gun do we issue at birth, and is there a program to upgrade the guns at certain intervals? Do we give the baby a .22 Beretta Minx, or a Walther PPK? When the child reaches five, what then? A .32ACP? Or maybe a .22 single-shot rifle? Do we give the lad or ladette a .223 at age ten? A .300WSM at 16? I’m rather liking this idea!

  9. Thanks Nick its one of those horrible places I had forgotten about until I opened the link and saw that logo

  10. Wonkette is still running?

    I thought that place imploded when they attacked Trig Palin for having Down’s and claiming he was the incestuous product of Todd and Bristol.

    Every major advertiser pulled out; they had to go begging to keep the lights on.

    If they’re actually still operating, you can safely ignore them.

  11. I am not quite sure that the CA Handgun Safety Certificate is quite comparable to the permits required in NY and NJ. The CA one is a minor inconvenience. Takes a few minutes, requires no trip to a government office, the FFL gives it to you. Heck if it were not for the superfluous $25 fee I would have no issue with the basic gist of the HSC, though perhaps rather than a certificate and a (incredibly easy) test, just the basic “hey you are buying a gun, he is how to safely handle it” schitck. Doesn’t hurt to have that.

    But that said, the only way an 18 year old can have a handgun in California is the same route that is the only (normal) way of not having a background check. A gift, from a grandparent or parent (orn I suppose the parent/grandparent could sell it, same difference). Seems that liberals would like to leave a lawful avenue that involved a background check

  12. I am old enough to remember that you could buy a rifle , shotgun, or pistol or ammo from most any news stand men’s magazines to buy a pistol you had to state you were 21 and had no crime record ,,, best yet it came to your front door by railway express , no ups or Fed ex then… and better yet was almost no crime in the 50’s or early 60’s ….was lots great war surplus at rock bottom prices, that started a whole new market of your shooters as it was CHEAP, but who do you think was against it… ALL the big gun makers Colt, Winchester, Remington, S&W, they wanted the gun control act of 68…

  13. So a “wonkette” is actually a beyotch with a low IQ? And now they have their own magazine. Wow, it must have a readership of, y’know, like, uh, billions or something.

  14. “This being Wonkette, their knee-jerk reaction to anything the NRA says or does is to immediately assume the opposite position.”

    Any time I hear a position from a liberal source, I automatically assume my position is most likely the opposite of it. It’s not *always* going to be the case, but most likely.

  15. Wonkette started out pointing out and making fun of Washington DC scandals. Couldn’t stand them for more than a week or so. Not interested in them or anything they have to say now.

  16. Well, color me stupid. I’ve never heard of it till now.
    Is a wonkette a female wonka?

    I like listening to really ignorant people spout off on subjects they obviously don’t know a thing about. It makes me giggle.

  17. If it’s bought through an FFL a NICS takes place. Is Wonkette against background checks for handguns sold to minors? 147% of Americans support background checks!

    • Squiggles; I like that. While I speak a very small amount of Arabic, I cannot read it. Squiggles I can read.

      Thanks for the chuckle, sir.

    • I do, but you’d probably just shine them in cops’ eyes while yelling “I’m not touching you!” and “I know mah raghts!” and I’m not going to support that sort of behavior.

  18. It doesn’t surprise me that most of the people here don’t read Wonkette. It has been my experience with this site that the vast majority of readers only deal with websites that confirm their pre-existing opinions.

    In spite of the “echo-chamber”, there are still a few people here who are not only aware of the outside world, but even have well-thought-out opinions that they are able to add to the comments section without the use of sneering, hate-filled derision.

    In fact, I would say that insult-free debate is nearly 10% here. In Wonkette, of course, it is about 90%, but that is just because most of the comments are jokes, and have nothing really to do with the original topic.

    If I were reading just for the jokes, I would read nothing but Wonkette. If I were itching for a good debate about the issues, I would prefer TTAG.

    At Wonkette, I have to put up with juvenile jokes about the sexualization of gun culture. At TTAG, of course, that I have to put up with arrogant half-wits who quote long-disproven talking points off Fox News and RedState. Both are the price we pay for free speech.

  19. I thought I would go give it a gander on the google-box. So they had this article on global warming and Rep King. I read ’til I thought I was going to pass out and then came up with this observation right before going face first into the keyboard and luckily striking the “X” in the upper right hand corner: They all claimed that science supported their position but not one scientific fact was stated….hmmm. Mainly it was how people who disagreed with their unproven viewpoint were stupid and some turned to violence as an answer….again, hmmm. To which I say “ok…..say when”. I for one, am personally getting tired of dealing with threats so get with it.

    • Todd, Wonkette does not have to repeat a scientific fact for it to be a scientific fact. In the last ten years, the scientific community has gone from about 50% agreement to about 97% agreement on the subject of the subject of man-made global warming.

      Economics is mach harder, since economists hardly ever agree, and even when they do, they are just as likely to be wrong. But still, there are some economic theories that have been completely disproven by simple observation: If tax cuts for rich people created jobs, for example, we would be drowning in jobs.

      Similarly, if Steve King were not receiving thousands of dollars from “Americans for Prosperity”, he wouldn’t be saying absurd things like “maybe more carbon dioxide in the air is a good thing.”

      Seriously, though, King is so far out past the right wing that even Boehner, Cantor, and Goodlatte have asked him, in public, to grow up. There is a difference between leadership and extremism.

      While extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, Goldwater also said that “moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Anyone who is willing to casually dismiss truth and fairness is no fan of justice.

      • I am sorry to say that you must have your head some place where the sun doesn’t shine. If you ask any scientist who is receiving grant money or working of some company that does, he’s going to say that man is causing Global Warming. There are a few other scientists that have their head in the same place you do, than man is the biggest cause of global warming. The weather here on Earth, runs in cycles. When I was in high school, the scientists had all of us worried that we were headed for a new Ice Age. Pull you head out an look at who is going to get rich off this Global Warming. This is where the Carbon Tax Credits come into affect. From what I understand if you manufacture something, and you pollute the atmosphere, you have to buy carbon credits. From who, I am not sure, but I think the Federal, State and local Governments will be the sellers. One thing I am sure of, is if you have more credits than you need, you can sell them to some one who does need them. But you can’t sell them direct, you have to go through an exchange, like CCX in Chicago. Two of the investors are Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett. Why do you think Obama is pushing this carbon tax thing so hard. These exchange company’s get a cut of the sale. There is no telling what they are going to charge. This whole global warming is just a ploy to make the rich, richer, an make the poor poorer. Because this carbon tax thing is going to raise the prices of every thing. Except our wages if you are luck enough to have a job. That volcano in Iceland a few years ago, put more pollutants in the atmosphere than mankind did in the last 100 years.

    • Todd, Wonkette does not have to repeat a scientific fact for it to be a scientific fact. In the last ten years, the scientific community has gone from about 50% agreement to about 97% agreement on the subject of the subject of man-made global warming.

      Economics is much harder, since economists hardly ever agree, and even when they do, they are just as likely to be wrong. But still, there are some economic theories that have been completely disproven by simple observation: If tax cuts for rich people created jobs, for example, we would be drowning in jobs.

      Similarly, if Steve King were not receiving thousands of dollars from “Americans for Prosperity”, he wouldn’t be saying absurd things like “maybe more carbon dioxide in the air is a good thing.”

      Seriously, though, King is so far out past the right wing that even Boehner, Cantor, and Goodlatte have asked him, in public, to grow up. There is a difference between leadership and extremism.

      While extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, Goldwater also said that “moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Anyone who is willing to casually dismiss truth and fairness is no fan of justice.

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