Posted on 08/23/2009 6:46:01 PM PDT by Coleus
There are two universes of American gun culture. In one universe, the Second Amendment is a stanchion of protected American freedoms, as sacred as free speech. In this universe, when the right to bear arms dies, so does a free America. In another universe, guns make blood run in our city streets. They kill and maim criminals and innocent alike, make good people prisoners in their own homes.
Last week in New Jersey, it wasn't hard to visit both universes. At the Riverdale Pistol Club Range in Passaic County, instructors from the National Rifle Association were teaching first-timers how to safely fire handguns during a stringent all-day seminar. In this universe, the power of the gun is feared, but mastered for protection.
At the Betty Shabazz housing project in Newark, residents were angry over the shootings of a neighbor and her adult granddaughter, both caught in the crossfire of a turf war. Here, the power of the gun is not mastered. In this universe, the gun is no instrument of protection; it is a cause for fear.
Fear. It drives people to get guns in both universes. Statistics -- from FBI background checks to gunmaker profits -- show enormous leaps in gun permit applications and purchases over the last year. "People are telling us, "I better buy before I can't,' " said Paul Raynolds, an NRA instructor, who was at Riverdale to teach a mixed crowd of men and women, from teenagers with their parents to near octogenarians.
"Many people feel the current administration is anti-firearm, and the government wants to regulate firearms to a greater degree." he said. "Last year, we did one class every six weeks up here. Now we're doing them every two, and we can't keep up."
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
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New Jersey Firearm laws suck big time .
Amendment IIA well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Well, Nancy Boy columnist, HERE, I've used a firearm 3 times in the last month on rattlesnakes.
/johnny
You cannot even touch a gun in a store without getting a special Firearms ID in Jersey.
Hollow points are banned.....cop killers dontcha know?
And only one handgun shall be purchased or delivered for each permit.
New Jersey.....where the 2nd Amendment went to die.
You CAN have hollow points BUT you have to know the rules of possession perfectly .
They also JUST passed a one handgun purchase a month law in July .
Ummm, no "They" don't.
Middle grounds on all constitional rights, ping/sarc
So let me get this straight, the author is comparing a lawful activity with murder?
WFT—OVER...
“...guns make blood run in our city streets...”
Guns do? Guns???
Then why in the 1950s when we still had the freedom to order guns through the regular mail to our homes, the crime rate and the murder rate were so much lower?
Maybe liberals should start blaming criminals for crime.
Based on past experience, I’m thinking that the “middle ground” is whatever the Leftist position happens to be. That “other” position — you know: the Constitutional position — doesn’t seem to carry any heft with these people.
I thought the middle ground was called No Mans Land.
BEAT ME TO IT!
WHY THEY WANT OUR GUNS!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j73SsNFgBO4
DISARMED GERMAN JEWS AND THE HOLOCAUST!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg9q9sxJFnA
“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that we will never need it until they come to take it away.” Thomas Jefferson
“A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity.”
Sigmund Freud
From a couple of homies in the hood comes this line in hte article: “Let me ask you, why is everybody afraid of the NRA?” said Barry Smith, who lives at Betty Shabazz, a few doors down from last week’s shooting. “These guns are coming up from the South, or wherever, where these guys buy “em for $300 and sell “em for $800 up here on the street. Let me ask you this, why does a guy need 300 guns? He’s only got one trigger finger. They (the government) have got to get these guns off these streets.”
No, Barry - not at all. Government can’t protect anyone from a criminal. Get a gun and go to an NRA course so that you don’t shoot your own foot or hand.
Then, once you can protect yourself, you are a free American who doesn’t need to wait minutes for a cop when seconds count.
Know Guns, Know Peace - No Guns, No Peace.
Got that, Barry?
PS Google Racist Origins Of Gun Control, download the article, and you will understand why Jefferson said it was the right and duty of Americans to at all times armed.
From an email
1. “Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.” ~Thomas Jefferson
2. Those who trade liberty for security have neither. ~John Adams
3. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
4.. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
5. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
6. Gun control is not about guns; it’s about control.
7. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.
8. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
9. You don’t shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
10. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
11. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
12. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights Reserved
13. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
14.. What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ do you NOT understand?
15. Guns have only two enemies; rust and politicians.
16. When you remove the people’s right to bear arms, you create slaves.
17. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.
thanks, bfl
I will say it again...
When confronted by some moron who says “there are too many guns on the street,” the proper answer is “well, the quickest way to get a bunch of guns off the street is to disarm the police.” It’s important to make these idiots realize that the problem isn’t the guns, but who is using them. Get the criminals off the street, then the guns are no longer a problem.
Still, too many leftists can’t understand that simple fact. Or they won’t allow the facts to interfere with their beliefs.
Mark
One of my favorite quotes too. As well as this one...
“If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.” - the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
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