Posted on 08/05/2012 6:11:21 PM PDT by neverdem
TUCSON, Ariz.
It is easy to ignore the issue of gun control, given the perfect leaderlessness it enjoys in Congress. Then again, it becomes harder to ignore when your relatives or friends are murdered in the company of someone you idolize, which describes thousands of us here.
I have owned guns, continuously, since I was 6. I still own my grandfather’s pump-action Winchester, carried for decades in a scabbard behind his saddle as he rode the range where he ranched, in Wikieup, Ariz. All the guns I’ve owned have been what are quaintly called long guns. I began my brief assault on local fauna at age 12 and I had taken four white-tailed deer, a couple of javelina and innumerable quail and dove by the time I got my driver’s license at 16.
There are, today, few who hunt with handguns or assault rifles equipped with 100-clip magazines. There are even fewer reasons to do so. But the National Rifle Association’s principal focus has evolved mostly to those. It is news to no one that the NRA has abandoned the sportsman in every practical sense. If the group were honest, it would change its name.
The NRA not only dependably opposes limits on assault-rifle sales but even opposes reporting bulk sales of assault rifles. Last year, the NRA went to the mat to prevent anyone from cross-checking the names of those on the terrorist watch list against the names of those buying guns.
These two actions clarify beyond argument that the safety and welfare of you and yours have simply dropped from the NRA’s list of priorities. The NRA represents gun manufacturers, period.
Now, handguns excel at certain things. They are unequaled at killing people at close range — quite useful for law enforcement officers and drug dealers. They’re genuine security in a drawer for those who have received unambiguous threats, like my friend Gabby Giffords.
They’re even a useful, if dubious, tool to defend yourself from murderers and rapists breaking in at 2 a.m. That hasn’t happened to me in the past 60 years. But maybe your experience is different. NRA President Wayne LaPierre thinks it might happen to you tonight.
And how else are the gun manufacturers going to “grow the market,” to sell more than the 3 million handguns they already do per year? Fear is a great motivator; mass murder is great for the gun business.
Just weeks ago a dozen citizens were murdered and about five dozen plugged with slugs from a trinity of firearms. Setting aside the shotgun, it bears mentioning that the Glock and assault rifle James Holmes is suspected of firing in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater were being used for the purpose for which they were designed, manufactured and sold.
But the gun makers have no product-liability litigation to worry about because in 2005 Congress approved and President George W. Bush signed into law legislation providing immunity for gun manufacturers from the foreseeable consequence of building instruments of murder.
But blessed be the gun makers, for they are pardoned in advance.
It strikes me that the NRA is pretty comfortable when debates over mass murder devolve into intellectual discussions relating to civility vs. demagoguery, insanity vs. impressionability and freedom vs. the tyranny of gun zealots. The more abstract, the better.
In the end, however, it’s simple: The NRA shills for gun makers who profit from the murder of American citizens. If you think the country’s policies are shaped by Judeo-Christian values, you’re not paying attention.
Michael McNulty, an attorney in Tucson, was chairman of the Giffords for Congress campaign in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
"But the gun makers have no product-liability litigation to worry about because in 2005 Congress approved and President George W. Bush signed into law legislation providing immunity for gun manufacturers from the foreseeable consequence of building instruments of murder."
By your logic, McNutty, we should hold car makers liable every time someone is killed by a drunk driver. We should hold knife makers liable every time someone is stabbed to death. We should hold Louisville Slugger liable every time someone's head gets bashed in with a baseball bat.
A defective gun is one that blows up in the user's hand when fired. A defective mind uses a gun to take innocent lives in a designated "no guns allowed" zone.
Cheap ass! I’ll give 100 and call it all good.
how about gun control for out Govt or should I say this admin, obama, Holder , after all it is they who let guns go over the borer to murderers, drug lords etc and then hundreds died and border agents did too.
Where is th epeace the families deserve, where are hte facts?
Nope yet again the liberal crap we call the media ignore this and use this shotting as an excuse to push teir agenda.
exactly , how about gun control and letting guns go to the wrong people.
Er the white house awaits you and your questions over this and certainly Terry’s family would like some answers.
Funny how this liberal media ignore obama,Hlders etc gun selling.
His grandpap’s rifle could have been a Remington Model 14 pump rifle, popular a century ago; a young George S. Patton Jr. captured one during the Pershing expedition.
Anyway, this guys’s a jerk. Molon labe!
Yes, a pump-action Winchester. Winchester made some nice little slide-action .22 rifles up until the 1960s; the Model 1890, Model 61, Model 62. Good knocking-around guns. Very popular with shooting galleries.
And I want me one! I figger it's gotta be 800 or a thousand bullet shells at least!
Sure, it sounds good here, but let me share a bit of personal experience.
When I first started USPSA practical shooting, I was using a Taurus TP-99. I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to run out of ammo during the stages, so I loaded up my rig (an Ernie Hill Speed Leather rig, leather over steel), w/ 4 mag pouches, the pistol, and 5 full mags (75 rounds of 9mm), and the first time I tried using it, it was all I could do to keep my belt from pulling my pants down around my ankles! Believe it or not, there is such a thing as having too much ammo with you!
There's a reason for tactical, load bearing vests!
There are, today, few who hunt with handguns or assault rifles
***He seems to think the 2nd amendment is about hunting, whereas the founders made it clear it was about fighting against a facisct guvmint for the most part.
I attempted to create an account to sign in for a comment. Either they are slow in opening accounts,or they do not allow comments on this article,
***I’ve been here since 1998. Here’s what they said about my account.
Thank you for your contribution. Your comment has been submitted for review.
And when I try to reply with email,
“Sorry, your account is too new to use this feature.”
Democrats learned that gun control was a loser at the polls which is why they eased off. I hope they go full throttle. It will cost them.
Disarming the American people has always been an incremental plan, one little step at a time until the 2nd amendment is gone.
Hell, I hope they go full-bore on the whole "typical-white-racist bitter clingers belong under the Trayvon Express reparations bus" complex and summon the New Black Panther Party to purge the voting rolls on election day with truncheons. Just, you know, "go for the cheese!"
Winchester made .22 pump action rifles.
I’m skeptical that his grandfather rode the range with nothing more than a .22 at hand.
This guy is the very definition of a “Fudd”, only “Sporting rifles” are acceptable, handguns are only for killing people, the RKBA is about duck hunting, etc.
5.56mm
Every once in a while, one of these “I own shotguns but handguns and assault weapons should be illegal” traitors shows his ugly face. Usually their own writing reveals their own ignorance and dishonesty, like this idiot does.
Nobody hunts with handguns? 100 clip magazines? You’re an idiot AND a liar, you stinking traitor.
I was born and raised in Tucson, AZ. Michael McNulty has been there for years. If I remember correctly, he held Public office in the past. My recollection of him is that he is a real opportunist, arrogant shithead.
Oh I forgot. He and Raul Grijalva are good buddies too! I believe Mikey was also RAT Party Chairman for Pima County at one time.
No, writer confirmed that he is a complete fraud.
NOT TRUE. The only times you can have to much ammo is when you are drowning or if you are on fire. Otherwise you just have to pay more attention to how you load out and carry.
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