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Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner
New York Times ^ | January 27, 2013 | JUSTIN CRONIN

Posted on 01/28/2013 8:57:25 AM PST by Second Amendment First

I AM a New England liberal, born and bred. I have lived most of my life in the Northeast — Boston, New York and Philadelphia — and my politics are devoutly Democratic.

*

I am also a Texas resident and a gun owner.

*

My relationship to firearms might have ended there, if not for a coincidence of weather. Everybody remembers Hurricane Katrina; fewer recall Hurricane Rita, an even more intense storm that headed straight for Houston less than a month later. My wife and I arranged to stay at a friend’s house in Austin, packed up the kids and dog, and headed out of town — or tried to. As many as 3.7 million people had the same idea, making Rita one of the largest evacuations in history, with predictable results.

By 2 in the morning, after six hours on the road, we had made it all of 50 miles. The scene was like a snapshot from the Apocalypse: crowds milling restlessly, gas stations and mini-marts picked clean and heaped with trash, families sleeping by the side of the road. The situation had the hopped-up feel of barely bottled chaos. After Katrina, nobody had any illusions that help was on its way. It also occurred to me that there were probably a lot of guns out there — this was Texas, after all. Here I was with two tiny children, a couple of thousand dollars in cash, a late-model S.U.V. with half a tank of gas and not so much as a heavy book to throw.

*

IT didn’t happen overnight, but before too long my Northeastern liberal sensibilities, while intact on other issues, had shifted on the question of gun ownership.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; guncontrol; secondamendment
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Typical liberal comments about NRA, et al, but I'll take allies where ever they are on the right to self defense.
1 posted on 01/28/2013 8:57:35 AM PST by Second Amendment First
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To: Second Amendment First

“heavy weaponry like the AR-15”
Huh? I call this another leftie piece of creative writing. Pretending to be a “reasonable” gun owner who is ready to compromise and trust to the altruistic government to do the right thing is just stupid.


2 posted on 01/28/2013 9:10:24 AM PST by zagger
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To: Second Amendment First
"But I won’t deny the seductive psychological power that firearms possess."

I knew from reading this part and the whole naval gaving aspect of guns that this guy was a liberal. Only a liberal could think of guns in this fashion. To the rest of us, a gun is a tool like a shovel or a pick.

"but also heavy weaponry like the AR-15 and its military analogue, the M-16, were widely used"

More ignorance from the left. An M-16 is now heavy weaponry? Really? This idiot has obviously never shot a crew served weapon before. What would he think an Mk-19 is? A tank?
3 posted on 01/28/2013 9:14:56 AM PST by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: Second Amendment First
At least this liberal “got it”. The 2nd Amendment ain't about duck hunting. It's about protecting yourself from those hunting you, including out of control government.
4 posted on 01/28/2013 9:15:57 AM PST by MasterGunner01
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To: Second Amendment First

>> “Let me be clear: my personal armory notwithstanding, I think guns are woefully under-regulated.”

Go back to New England where you belong, big government liberal. We don’t need your kind down here.


5 posted on 01/28/2013 9:17:26 AM PST by Nervous Tick (Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
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To: Second Amendment First
The AR-15 is a fascinating weapon, and, frankly, a gas to shoot. So is a tank, and I don’t need to own a tank.

Still clueless as to the purpose of the 2nd Amendment. After all, tyranny only happens to the other guy, right? It could never happen here.

6 posted on 01/28/2013 9:19:33 AM PST by LucianOfSamasota (Tanstaafl - its not just for breakfast anymore...)
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To: zagger
“heavy weaponry like the AR-15”

Every time I pick up a .223 and compare it to a 30.06 I just go "HUH?" I understand the military theory behind the smaller round, but boy, the weight and size of that .06 sure is comforting. The .223 bullets themselves remind me of large grains of rice.

7 posted on 01/28/2013 9:21:08 AM PST by Hardastarboard (The Liberal ruling class hates me. The feeling is mutual.)
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To: Second Amendment First

>> I’ll take allies where ever they are

That weak-sister attitude will get us to “compromise” regulation.

i.e. “You can have a gun as long as it’s a 6-shot wheelgun or a 7 round automatic handgun or a 3-round pump shotgun but that’s the limit... and you have to register them”.

That’s what this piece of crap liberal wants.

Is that acceptable to you?

It’s not acceptable to me.

I am NOT this SOB’s “ally”, and he damn sure isn’t mine. He can go screw himself. Better yet he can go back to where he came from.

NO MORE GUN RESTRICTIONS! PERIOD!


8 posted on 01/28/2013 9:23:44 AM PST by Nervous Tick (Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
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To: Second Amendment First
There's an old saying, "if you lie down with dogs, expect to get up with fleas."

I reject the overriding idea that one can be liberal, and pro 2nd amendment.

Furthermore, democratic is not a political ideology.

There is much that does not compute.

9 posted on 01/28/2013 9:24:33 AM PST by exnavy (Fish or cut bait ...Got ammo, Godspeed!)
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To: MasterGunner01
It also strikes me that this lib is still a mere babe in the woods when it comes to guns. The AR-15 is hardly “heavy weaponry”. The .223 Remington is a nice varmint cartridge, but it really comes up short as “heavy weaponry”. When someone says “heavy weaponry” to me, I think: crew served weapon and not some AR-15/M16/M4 clone.

You want “heavy weaponry”? Get a main battle rifle (MBR) in a REAL caliber like .30-06 Springfield, 7.62 NATO, 7.62x54R, .303 British, 7.92x57 Mauser, or 7.5 Swiss. Then, move up to .50 caliber Browning.

10 posted on 01/28/2013 9:26:49 AM PST by MasterGunner01
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To: MasterGunner01
At least this liberal “got it”. The 2nd Amendment ain't about duck hunting. It's about protecting yourself from those hunting you, including out of control government.

But he's still an 0bamavoter. How he keeps his head from exploding due to cognitive dissonance, I cannot say.

11 posted on 01/28/2013 9:27:33 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Nervous Tick

Indeed.

We know their game. We need to stop pussyfootin’ around arguing with libs on their “surface” arguments.

You folks want confiscation, stop lying and saying you don’t. We say NO. End of discussion.


12 posted on 01/28/2013 9:29:00 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Second Amendment First

Another liberal who thinks the second amendment is to allow him to protect his family from the criminal elements of society. Guess what, buddy? The sole purpose of the second amendment is to allow you to protect your family from the biggest, badest thing on the planet. Namely, a central convinced to their core, they know what is best for you and will do whatever they have to do to make sure you SUBMIT to their dictates.

The second amendment allows the American people to ORDER the federal government to back down or else.


13 posted on 01/28/2013 9:29:24 AM PST by cgchief
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To: MasterGunner01
MasterGunner01 said: At least this liberal “got it”.

Well, not exactly.

He still lives in the fantasy world of the left, thinking that some guns are "good" and some guns are "bad".

He changed his mind about being armed when he found himself in a situation where law-enforcement were nowhere to be found.

To make the next step, he needs to experience the hurricane NOT missing his home, so that he appreciates that there may be mobs of unruly people that have to be kept away from HIS home, what's left of it, HIS supplies, and HIS family.

Only then will he realize that the appropriateness of any given firearm is situational. If he wants to pretend that he will never face half-a-dozen armed bad guys at one time, then he might eventually suffer for his lack of imagination.

If he actually "got it", he would be realizing that the Second Amendment means what it says and that NOBODY should have a say in which arms he keeps and bears.

14 posted on 01/28/2013 9:29:36 AM PST by William Tell
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To: Second Amendment First

The “Rita response” is what the dems were hoping for when they created all the hype with Katrina.

IIRC it was October 5, 2005 just a few weeks after Rita and Katrina when the idiot of a mayor of NYC, Bloomberg, called a press conference and announced there was a terrorist attack planned for NYC.

Because of the fear of another “Rita response” created by Katrina only this time in NYC, Bush had asked the idiot mayor not to release info which was classified info which had been leaked to him.

Idiot mayor did it anyway.

Lucky for the people of NYC they didn’t take the bait and fall into the trap set by the dems and go into the mass panic “Rita response” the dems were hoping for.


15 posted on 01/28/2013 9:29:50 AM PST by IMR 4350
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To: MasterGunner01

>> At least this liberal “got it”... It’s about protecting yourself from those hunting you, including out of control government.

Not really. He hints about the “protecting yourself” part, but it’s pretty clear he means criminals. He hasn’t wrapped his fuzzy little liberal head around the “out of control government” part.


16 posted on 01/28/2013 9:30:55 AM PST by Nervous Tick (Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
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To: Nervous Tick

It’s a religious thing.

If he admits that the government could possibly be malevolent, he is giving up on his own elitism (that he is superior to others).


17 posted on 01/28/2013 9:32:57 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Nervous Tick

The first step toward self defense is the biggest step away from government dependency. I hope in time he will gradually take a few more logical steps, along with his daughter.

As far as my being a weak-sister, LOL, those who know me would scoff at my compromising my position on second amendment issues.

The author says: calling gun owners “a bunch of inbred rednecks” doesn’t do much to advance rational discussion.
I say calling all liberals bed-wetting hoplophobes doesn’t help either.


18 posted on 01/28/2013 9:34:26 AM PST by Second Amendment First ("Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not..." - Thomas Jefferson.)
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To: Nervous Tick

>> At least this liberal “got it”... It’s about protecting yourself from those hunting you, including out of control government.

Not really. He hints about the “protecting yourself” part, but it’s pretty clear he means criminals. He hasn’t wrapped his fuzzy little liberal head around the “out of control government” part.

A liberal is someone who doesn’t realise there are two types of criminals, regular criminals and governemnt criminals.


19 posted on 01/28/2013 9:38:59 AM PST by GraceG
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To: Second Amendment First

>> I hope in time he will gradually take a few more logical steps, along with his daughter.

When you’re dealing with big-government liberals, “hoping” they’ll come down with a serious case of logic is a pretty stupid strategy.

How clearly does he have to lay out his real views before you get it? He thinks guns are “woefully underregulated”. HIS words — not mine.

How far do you intend to let him and his REAL allies get towards depriving us of our constitutional rights, while we wait patiently for him to dawdle on down his personal path of enlightenment?


20 posted on 01/28/2013 9:41:22 AM PST by Nervous Tick (Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
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