NRA is a force for destruction [Barf Alert]

Scripps News ^ | 3/1/07 | DAN K. THOMASSON

[kiriath_jearim]

The nation's police chiefs have a serious problem. Their troops are being out-gunned, and to correct the situation taxpayers must increase law-enforcement budgets substantially or find some way to ban the circulation of weapons and ammunition meant for the battlefield _ mainly, semiautomatic assault rifles and armor-piercing bullets.

Because the latter alternative is not politically practical, the cost of law enforcement can be expected to rise considerably. And where citizens are unwilling to spend the money to equip their guardians with weapons and armor now readily available to criminals, the threat to themselves and those they hire to protect them is likely to increase proportionately. It's just that simple.

No matter how much evidence is supplied to back up their arguments and how loudly the associations that support them yell, the chiefs' chances of winning out against the insanity of the nation's gun culture are slim to none. Actually, make that none. The Maryland legislature currently is considering a bill to ban the semiautomatic rifles, and the opposition has been loud and persistent.

If you doubt this, the victories by the forces of destruction over those of common sense and responsibility are too numerous to count. This is a land where the right to traffic in firearms, no matter how dangerous to law and order, is protected by constitutional language designed for a militia carrying muskets and enforced by a self-appointed virulent lobby called the National Rifle Association. It purports to represent the nation's sports shooters, but in reality is the arm of the manufacturers and importers who profit handsomely from the carnage.

That's rough language, but to emphasize just how unforgiving are those who subscribe to the NRA's opposition to any restraints no matter the threat to the public welfare, one should consider the case of Jim Zumbo.

Until a few days ago, Zumbo was a revered figure in hunting circles, probably the best-known sports rifleman in America. Hunting and non-hunting enthusiasts alike avidly watched his television shows and read his columns about big-game treks and the wonders of the outdoors. Then Zumbo foolishly ventured the opinion that semiautomatic assault weapons really had no place in hunting. Moreover, he committed the sin (unforgivable in the eyes of the NRA and its members) of linking these weapons with the "T" word.

Now nearly everyone knows that, since 9/11, to mention that word (it stands for "terrorist," if you are from Mars) in a crowded room or anywhere else is to cause near panic and bring instant and severe punishment to the offender. That, of course, is just what happened to the former icon of shooters. His career was as shattered as though hit by a hail of bullets fired from an AK47. Within a relatively few hours, his column was canceled and his cable TV show eliminated. All this occurred despite a profuse apology from an obviously desperate Zumbo.

Would it be out of place here to suggest that this swift and unrelenting attack by the NRA on one of its own proves conclusively that Zumbo was right in suggesting that terrorism is not unknown to the gun lobby? After all, the NRA has been terrorizing its political opponents for decades, winning battle after battle by playing on the paranoia of its followers. As a result, the lobby has managed to foster a national armory of privately owned firearms that exceeds some 300 million, enough for every man, woman and child in America.

That is why the increasingly frantic efforts of law enforcers to win some sort of reasonable control over the kinds of weapons they face on the street are pretty much futile. Politicians want to be re-elected. To do something responsible like banning the weapons preferred by the Taliban and al Qaeda and other lawless groups who when they aren't pointing them at civilians or U.S. troops are shooting them in the air, isn't the way to stay in office.

Certainly Congress has pretty much given up, refusing to renew an expired law that banished military assault rifles. The outcry that protects the legitimate gun owner also protects the criminals, leaving federal and local agencies undermanned and unsupported in their efforts to find ways to keep them out of the hands of bad guys. So the bill now being argued in the Maryland legislature to ban the assault weapons at the behest of law enforcement probably doesn't have a prayer.

In the meantime, the intrepid hunter who wants to blast away at animals from bears to (as Zumbo complained) prairie dogs can do so with impunity. How sporting!

[Sender]

Wow, there are anti-gun rants and then there are angry lunatic rants. This is the ugly face of the left.

[sergeantdave]

"It's a good thing that some politicians have a fear of the populace. The real dark days will come when they no longer fear us at all."

That day has arrived. We didn't see any 2nd amendment resistance when the New Orleans Nazis went door to door confiscating weapons.

[Sender]

I agree, the MSM is coordinating anti-gun hysteria pieces with the introduction of gun bills. If they could, they would arrange a school shooting.

[M203M4]

And another thing...restricting gun sales to stop crime....hmmm, from which popular current nominee have we heard that from? "Freedom is about giving up freedom to the authorities" (paraphrase)

[1L]

MP5s are mostly 9mm rounds, though some are chambered for the .40 and a small set for the 10mm. The M4 uses the same round as the M16 (and AR-15, Mini-14, etc.), the .223. This is a rifle round, and ask any LEO and he'll tell you he would much rather take a rifle to a gunfight!

I like the MP5 and it has its uses, but the M4 offers a little more flexibility.

[S.O.S121.500]

Time to run this back up the ol' flag pole:
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a38153a96748f.htm

[S.O.S121.500]

Time to run this back up the ol' flag pole:
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a38153a96748f.htm

[Domandred]

Notice how these cowards never publish their email.

Look what I found on another unrelated article:

"Dan K. Thomasson is former editor of Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is thomassond@shns.com or www.shns.com"

[Oztrich Boy]

The nation's police chiefs have a serious problem. Their troops are being out-gunned,

Well if they weren't so careless about securing their machine guns, the other bad guys wouldn't find it so easy to equalize firepower

Machine gun, SWAT weapons stolen from deputy's car (Orange County Nov 06)

Submachine gun stolen from cop's truck (Jefferson County Feb 07)

[Marine Inspector]

And where citizens are unwilling to spend the money to equip their guardians

I'm my own guardian and I'm the only one that I need to equip.

[RetiredNavy]

I have always found it interesting that people who want to control others (mainly the Democrat part in this country) ascribe to others their own strategies and mean spirited retoric. As an example, in this article the scribe calls out the NRA as against police officers when they are the national leader is police training and support.

Unfortunately, there are many in this country who refuse to think things through, or investigate, for themselves. They much prefer to have someone tell them what to do.