There’s quite a bit of acrimony in your rant there, WKU, but you’re still bashing me as if I’m part of the problem.
I only admitted to being a go-along-to-get-along type of person. I don’t own a TV and haven’t paid for cable since I bought my own home 5 years ago. I have several antique armchairs that I reinforced and reupholstered myself that I use to sit and read my Kindle every night while drinking tea. About the only modern convenience I afford myself is my extensive computer collection, but I’m a PC gamer and a computer engineer, so that sorta fits.
Now, all of that aside, I have become an outspoken Second Amendment advocate. I taught myself reloading and gunsmithing, built my own small forge in the backyard, and I regularly refurbish curios and relics. I’m well-known in my community, active in my Homeowner’s Association, at my church, and in local politics. I voted for Ron Paul in the Primaries in 08, and that was only because I could not throw my hat in the ring for a whiny RINO regardless of how much time he spent in a Vietnamese POW camp.
As far as the 94 AWB and other things, I’m not talking out of my ass. I’ve done my fair share of research on this stuff, but I’m simply making the point that I am subject to the viewpoints of history. No one book is going to be even-handed in their assessment of the situation on the ground, and I’ve not read much about the hue and cry from those of us who care about the 2A because the media seldom reports on it.
Meanwhile, I know damn well that people like yourself were instrumental on the ground to keeping the pressure on Congress to put an expiration date on this piece of legislation, and for that, I thank you. There was a lot of arm-twisting and bullshit politics that went into passing that AWB, and I’m certain there were some less-than-legal measures attempted, some successfully. In the end, it came and went, but without Patriots like yourself and an upwelling of support from the youth such as my generation and those younger than me (I’m 31), the 2A will go the way of the dodo along with the rest of our Rights.
My biggest fear is that good men do nothing. I admit to being one of those men if for no other reason than to not be thrown in the clink or murdered by overzealous cops. One person cannot make a difference, but a few thousand armed Patriots are the reason why this country came into existence. Let’s see if there are enough of us to man up and keep it alive.
"...when the Clintoon AWB went into effect with little more than a whimper from gun owners."
Breaking news...yes you are. You weren't there; by your own admission you were 14 years old at the time. By your own admission, all you know about the AWB bill process came second hand, and it wasn't until seven years later you felt the effect of it. You're talking out your a**, and those of us who fought the good fight in '94...on the phone, in letters, through petitions, through the money we donated to 2nd Amendment groups and spent joining them, then at the polls in November...don't appreciate your accusations that we let the law pass "with little more than a whimper". You weren't there. We were. Stop talking out your a**.
"I only admitted to being a go-along-to-get-along type of person. I don’t own a TV and haven’t paid for cable since I bought my own home 5 years ago."
So? I don't care what kind of TV you have or don't have. You're an admitted go-along-to-get-along guy, who made an accusation based on secondhand information, that I and millions of other RKBA advocates sat around sniffing back tears over our chamomile tea while the AWB delivered a body blow to our rights. Had you not made this ignorant and infuriating accusation, my responses to you wouldn't be "acrimonious". I probably wouldn't have responded to you at all. But you did...you talked out your a**, and by doing so, you pi**ed me off. So until you man up and admit to being wrong about your baseless accusation, I have absolutely zero time for you.
Oh yeah, and a little thanks for saving what's left of your RKBA over the years would be nice, too. Not to me, but to all of us who fought the good fight while you fought pimples in junior high school.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!