Posted on 11/13/2008 4:46:41 PM PST by Neil E. Wright
Last Sunday I gave callers 30 minutes to whine, complain, worry, snivel, posture, and generally go through whatever stages of grief worked for them following the election results putting Senator Obama into the White House. After all, we need time to "process" and "deal with it," don't we? (If you missed the show, you can download it at www.guntalk.libsyn.com)
Are you kidding? Suck it up! I have a plan. Many gun owners are living in a fantasy world, meaning they don't know what's going on, don't know how to put it into perspective, and don't have a clue about what is the most effective course of action.
Note the word "effective." Burying your guns is just plain stupid. It's like volunteering to give your guns to the banners, and they don't even have to take action. Give me a break. What's your plan? Dig them back up when tanks are coming down the street? Yeah, right. Time to quit indulging in fantasies, reach in your pocket for some dollars, and buy a clue.
Defense does not win. Hiding does not win. Only going on the offensive will win. But first, some perspective. I started debating this issue in 1967, but it goes back much farther. I have a copy of an article in "This Week" magazine from 1955 titled "Get Rid of That Gun!" It starts out, "The pistol, unregulated and unchecked, is dangerously out of control. Two thirds of all the homicides committed in the United States now involve firearms." It goes on, but it's the same stuff you read today. That was more than a half-century ago!
Why bring this up? Just to show that this is an ongoing battle. This latest setback isn't the end, but it sure is serious. It does mean that we are faced with certain assault on gun rights, and those attacks are likely to come quickly. We have to launch our own broad-based action to beat back the efforts of those who have detailed plans to 1. ban the sale of the most popular rifles being sold (they call them "assault weapons") and used for hunting, competition and personal protection; 2. remove protections against junk lawsuits against gun makers; 3. close gun shows. Their plans were laid out in the web site the Obama transition team put up only hours after the election. Once I started talking about it on the air, though, they took it down. Now, I'm not claiming they did this because of Gun Talk Radio, but then again . . .
Not to worry. We've found the page they took down...Click Here to view (scroll down to the "Crime and Law Enforcement" section). Go take a look at what they don't want you to know.
ACTION PLAN
So, what do we do? I've always believed that we ultimately win the gun culture war by showing the public that firearms ownership is normal, safe, and that we gun owners are responsible neighbors. That's still my belief, but we don't have time for that right now. This new group of gun banners (Hey, Obama's chief of staff was the gun control point man for Bill Clinton!) are going to move quickly.
How can we fight it? Simple. We scare them. I don't really care if they respect us as long as they fear us. I'm talking about putting those elected folks in fear for their careers. There are enough elected Democrats in Congress that can be defeated if they vote for gun bans to stop this movement.
How do we do that? I can come up with only one way. We have to double, then triple, the membership in the NRA. Please, don't bore me with the "But the NRA sends me too much mail." Look, you're in or you're out. If you are out, you are part of the problem. If you are in, you are part of the solution. Get off your butt and join. Buy memberships for all the members of your family.
WE MAKE IT EASY
Click the "Join NRA" button above and you can join or buy memberships for others. BONUS! We've negotiated a deal for you. The regular price is $35 a year. You can get it for only $25 a year through our link. Also, you can get youth memberships and associate memberships. That last one is important. Other members of your family might be sharing your NRA magazines, and you may not want to duplicate that, so the associate membership is only $10, and the member doesn't get the magazine.
Why is this important? If Chris Cox, head of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, walks into a Congressman's office backed by three million members, it's one thing. When he walks in backed by 10 million, the reception is totally different. This is pure representative politics. You are sending someone to Washington to represent you. It is the heart of the democratic process in the United States. Right now, the message needs to be clear, and it needs to be backed with political muscle. This is hard ball. It's a knife fight in a phone booth. To lose is to die. We lose our gun rights if the gun banners succeed in the coming battle.
That message we must deliver is, "If you vote for a gun ban, or these other measures, we will send you back home at the next election." Period. We did it in 1994, and regained control of Congress after a 40-year reign by the Democrats, and it was because of their votes for Clinton's gun ban. They need to know we will do it again.
You've heard me say this before. If you are not an NRA member, you are sitting in the wagon, and the rest of us are having to pull your load. We need the help. We need for you to spend the cost of a single box of steel shot magnum loads and join. Then we need you to get your friends to join, or to sign them up.
My new rule. I require everyone I introduce to shooting to join the NRA on the spot. That's right. Hand me twenty-five bucks and I'll go online at www.guntalk.com and sign them up. Anytime someone mentions to me that he or she is a gun owner, I ask if they are an NRA member. If they are not, I embarrass them (if necessary), or do whatever is needed to get them to join.
I'll have more action items for you later, but this is important. This must happen immediately. Sure, you are buying guns, ammo, magazines, etc. So, invest a few bucks to make sure you can keep them!
Do it today.
And...stand by for more incoming.
Tom Gresham
For many years, I refused to join the NRA because for too many years, starting with NFA 1934, through the GCA in 1968, the NRA "compromised" with the gun grabbers at the expense of the shooting fraternity.
Now, with a flat out communist elected to the highest office in the country, it is time to draw a line in the sand. The only way that we will be able to keep our guns and our FREEDOM is to band together. While the NRA is not my first choice of representation, they are the defacto voice of the shooting community. Therefore, the day after the election, I joined the NRA and I urge EVERY shooter to do the same.
What are you, like a hundred years old?
I understand what you mean as the NRA has sold us out more than once, but they do far more good than harm in the grand scheme of things.
I have been a NRA member for a long time and proud of it.
Obambi will come after us and quick, count on it!
not quite, although sometimes I feel older than that. :)
The GOA is equivalent and they won’t use your dues to run ads supporting murtha.
bookmark
The goa has never accomplished a single thing in their history on their own. Giving them money is throwing it down a rabbit hole.
The NRA spent forty million dollars on this election. The goa didn’t do a single solitary thing. Not one commercial. Not one radio spot.
The GOA is totally ineffective .
The NRA is not in the business of solely electing Republicans . The NRA is in the business of electing Pro-Second Amendment politicians on either side of the aisle , there just happens to be more on the Republican side .
I taught a very good friend of mine to shot a 9mm. She never shot before. The other day she told me a great story about how she recently taught two of her friends to shoot, who also never shot before.
This is how is starts, folks. Get out there and ask a friend to the range. Guns are not the enemy. Bad people are.
JoMa
You’re exactly right . The NRA stepped in to help pro-gun polticians when the their own party abandoned them . The NRA did mailouts , radio, and TV .
Bookmarking.
The NRA is trying to stop antigunners in the dem party by electing more progun dems. They’re trying to take antigun legislation off the bargaining table.
And what did you get for your money? Did you get a lawsuit in your behalf against antigunners? Any CCW laws? Can you put a gun in your car without getting fired? Is your gunrange protected by goa insurance? Did your gunrange close down because of stupid noise or hazardous waste laws?
Did they at least give you a tshirt?
Folks, we need to get off our ass and get on offensive!
Did you go out and buy extra ammo after the election?
That box probably cost the price of one NRA membership.
Already got a membership you say, does you wife, grown children, your parents?
Take that money and buy them a membership! I am! I’m going to buy two for people that I know, what say you?
We will lose our freedoms if we don’t speak up. The NRA is OUR voice in Washington DC!
Thanks for the link. I just joined and forwarded the link to some friends. I’ve been a member before but had let it lapse and this seems like a good time to rejoin. Cold dead hands and such, but I hope it never comes to that.
Neil you are right (or is that Wright)! Thanks for bringing it up. It’s time for action.
OK, OK. I just renewed. I’m still going to support GOA.
BTW, I don’t give a crap about t-shirts and stickers.
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