Posted on 05/13/2003 8:17:58 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Leftists loathe National Rifle Association and everyone associated with it. They loathe NRA leaders Wayne LaPierre and former president Charlton Heston. They hate the thousands of political leaders who support the NRA, the four million NRA members, the tens of millions of American gun owners, and the tens of millions of Americans who support our Second Amendment rights (all of whom really should belong to the NRA). They hate us all.
And with good reason. The NRA and its members and supporters fight for everything leftists fight against. Who are those vindictive leftist folks? Among them are the leftist judiciary, media, Hollywood celebrities, and gun control groups and their supporters.
They especially hate the NRA's support for a strong Constitution and the sacred intent of our Founders. They fancy a "living" Constitution reinterpreted monthly by loony judges in California. The leftist Ninth Circuit Court recently ruled that the Second Amendment now gives only state militias, not individual Americans, a right to bear arms. That ruling not only conflicts with the policy of Attorney General John Ashcroft, it even runs counter to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled just weeks before that the Second Amendment does confer on individuals a constitutional right "to privately possess and bear their own firearms."
The issue now goes to the U. S. Supreme Court. USA Today noted that the court hasn't reviewed a Second Amendment case in 70 years. "If the Supreme Court were so inclined, it could easily render a strong individual-rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. There is a mountain of impressive scholarship supporting that view, some of it produced by mainstream and even liberal constitutional law theorists."
Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman, in a review of John Lott's excellent book, More Guns, less Crime, wrote: "This sophisticated analysis yields a well established conclusion that supports the wisdom of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution rather than of those who would limit the right of law-abiding citizens to own and carry guns."
Gun grabbers would have it otherwise. New Jersey recently became the first state to pass a futuristic "smart gun" law that will require new handguns to contain mechanisms that permit only their owners to fire them. "The law will not go into effect immediately because the technology is still under development and it could be years before it becomes a reality," Associated Press reports. "The owner would have his grip programmed at a gun shop or police range by practice-firing the weapon. A microchip in the weapon would remember the grip and determine in an instant whether the authorized user was holding the weapon. If not, the gun would not fire."
The Leftist State of Maryland has also imposed a new gun law on its citizens. The Baltimore Sun reports: "Starting today [January 1st], gun buyers and dealers in Maryland will face a restriction not shared by their counterparts anywhere else in the country: a ban on the sale of newly made handguns that lack internal safety locks."
The NRA has successfully contested another of the gun controllers' main weapon against private gun ownership: a government registry of every gun in America, with a dossier of who owns it, where they live, and any other personal data the gun grabbers deem useful for their agendas. The purpose isn't to fight crime. (Do they really think the criminals will register their guns or the "hot" guns floating around our streets?) When the inevitable gun confiscation order goes out, they want a record so the authorities can efficiently round up the guns of law-abiding citizens.
It happened in Great Britain and Australia, where confiscation followed registration. The crime rate in both countries headed skyward and is far higher than that of the United States. According to the International Crime Victimization Survey, Australia, England, and Wales top the list with more than one in four citizens being a victim of crime. The U. S. isn't even in the top ten.
Canada banned many handguns years ago. The 1995 Canadian Firearms Act launched a registration of the guns of law-abiding citizens. (Who else would comply? Criminals aren't noted for their adherence to the law.) Canada's crime rate now ranks fifth in the ICVS.
I lived in the Philippines when President Marcos seized power as dictator. Among his first orders was for citizens to turn in their guns. America will be next. As columnist Paul Craig Roberts notes: "The people most dangerous to the public are not on the FBI's 'Most Wanted List.' Far more dangerous to our safety than criminals are gun-control extremists like Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sarah Brady of Handgun Control. These are the people who will leave us defenseless as they abrogate the Constitution and destroy respect for law, while promising an end to 'gun violence.'"
The NRA has been successful in promoting concealed-carry laws. John Lott noted during an interview: "Murder rates decline when either more women or more men carry concealed handguns, but a gun represents a much larger change in a woman's ability to defend herself than it does for a man. An additional woman carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for women by about 3 to 4 times more than an additional man carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for men." That's true gender equity.
Leftists hate the NRA leadership and its members and supporters for protecting our Second Amendment rights. Leftists especially hate the NRA's hard-working leaders. Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president, even took time to review my novel (The Evil Ones) for its Second-Amendment issues.
Yes, the NRA has made some enemies, but those enemies are leftists more concerned with their agendas than they are our safety or Constitutional rights. I'll stick with the NRA and its members every time.
indexing
Oh, that's right.....IT ONLY GOES ONE WAY!
If the Jews were armed in Germany in the 1930's.... If the Polish were armed....
England is in big danger as well as trouble now (by muggings and home invasion). The country is full of Muslims that want to take over the country by armed force if necessary and you now have an unarmed citizenry...
I would not want to be them.
| This? | Or this? |
 |
 |
...the NRA can continue to fight gun control far better than the other groups.
As much as I admire the NRA, I believe that they have capitulated far too often. Whenever the NRA says, "Now this is a gun law we can live with," another victory is won by the anti-gun nuts. For example, the NRA helped negotiate the Calif. gun law SB 52 which reauires every handgun owner to obtain a Handgun Safety Certificate.
When it comes to the uncompromising defense of the right to keep and bear arms, the NRA needs to take a tip from Emeril and "kick it up a notch."
We don't???
In the proverbial sense...will do.
Did you see the early versions of that bill? It was going to require about three trips to the police department, a live-fire test, and a pile of fees, but Ed Worley, the NRA lobbyist in Sacramento, worked to get it watered down to nothing much more than what was already in place.
Fact of the Matter is there is a record in the Feds. hands with all necessary information on it. The FFL Paperwork that you must fill out when purchasing a new or used gun thru a FFL Licensed dealer is readily available for their inspection. How else do you think they tracked down all the owners of .223 rifles in Maryland during the Malvo shootings last summer? Did you hear the NRA complaining aobut that? Any lawsuits filed because Federal Agents showed up at peoples homes or called them asking to inspect firearms they legally own? Hell no.
For 35 dollars or so, you can fill out a form with a serial number on it amd make of gun, send it to the ATF and they will do a search of forms that were sent in from Dealers that have gone out of business. And those FFL Licensed dealers still in business MUST allow the ATF to inspect those records at anytime.
Something the NRA doesn't seem to mind one bit. They like to whine about it during their yearly donation shake down. Without the political grand standing and their mass mailing getting the gun owners all riled up and beleiving the NRA is actually going to fight for something they wouldn't be able to host, whine and dine politicians, or built Multi Million Dollar HQ all while selling out our 2nd Amendment rights.
I send them my Life Membership fees, but no more. When they start fighting for MY rights I will resume donations. Until then it goes to the GOA.
(/rant)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.