Posted on 12/20/2012 6:01:50 AM PST by marktwain
In a minute, we'll give you four concrete steps you can take to preserve your guns and your gun rights -- and not coincidentally, make Sun-Tzu, the greatest of ancient strategists, smile. But first, an assessment of the position.
We're under attack, but it's not unprecedented. It's just the usual suspects, taking delight in a crisis they won't let go to waste, frolicking in the bloody shirt. If you're young you haven't seen this before. If you're older, you saw it in the mid-nineties. A little older, you saw the 80s hysteria that led to the Hughes Amendment and the Bush import bans. And if you're old enough to be throwing junk mail from AARP in the dustbin, you saw it in the 1960s, when a demand to do something! rocked America after political assassinations and race riots seemed to be early outriders of a dawning chaos.
Keep calm and chin up. We shall fight them in Biden's kangaroo commission, we shall fight them in the Congress, we shall fight them in the courts, we shall never surrender. (And we shall beat them like a rented mule, so we do not need to fight them in all the places described in the original Churchill quote). We are many, we are intelligent, we are articulate, and, most importantly of all, we have reason and right in this fight. They have emotion. As time passes and they continue to wave the bloody shirt to stir emotion, it will become more and more unseemly. And more and more reasonable people will notice that the remedies proposed would not have prevented the crime at issue.
"But," you ask, "what can I do? I am but one man (or woman). My Congress creature, freshly elected, has no fear of nor interest in me. I cannot reason like a lawyer nor write like a pundit." That's all OK. Here are three ways you can add your unique voice to the chorus.
* Join the NRA. (You may want to wait on this until Friday's press conference. If they come out flying the Uncle Fudd flag, throwing some of their members under the bus, you can disregard this one. But we don't think they will). Here's a link. If you're already a member, upgrade to Life, extend your membership, or donate money. The knuckleheads in Washington can't grasp numbers on a balance sheet or income statement, but they sure as hell are numerate about membership organizations and voters.
* Call (don't write) your Congressman or -woman and Senators and make your voice heard. Faxes and emails go in File 13. We bet you've never written your representatives before. Well, now it's time. You can call the switchboard and find out who it is, if you don't know. You can get your Senators' numbers here. You can get your representatives' here. (If you don't know which district you're in, here -- unfortunately it doesn't give you his phone number directly, so you then have to go to the other link. What do you expect? The Government built that). If your representative(s) is/are changing in January, call both the lame duck and the representative-elect. So it might be more calls. The incoming pols may take a little more finding. You will probably get a flunky, or voicemail. Tell them who you are and where you live, so they know you're a constituent. Tell them in your own words that you oppose gun restrictions, and why. Be calm, reasonable, pleasant, brief and direct. (Alternatively, tell them that you want greater gun restrictions because the voices in your head say it's not time until there are more gun-free zones).
* Write your newspaper. Include your name, address, and phone number (many papers used to call to confirm they're not being pranked. Some have stopped because of declining staffing). Don't write the paper that inflamed you with an editorial online, write the one that actually delivers to the neighbors in your street. All the same warnings apply, but also, we underline brevity here. A short single message, and hold yourself to 250 to 300 words or they'll cut you. Write 700 words -- the length of their editorials -- and they won't even read you. Not fair? Maybe, but there it is. Send a real letter and an email in this case. They may be read by different editors, giving you double the chance to get to their readers. Using liberal newspapers to spread pro-gun messages is somewhere between jiu-jitsu an asymmetric warfare. When you do this, Sun-Tzu smiles.
* Buy a gun or guns and ammo. This is the most important of the four (and it may be the hardest, as picked-over as shops look right now). This underlines to the politicians that they have lost control of the arms of a free people -- if they ever thought they had it in the first place. Don't know where to buy? This link will find you a dealer. You can also buy at an auction site like GunBroker, and get your gun delivered to a local dealer for pickup (GunBroker maintains a list of local dealers).
Don't expect immediate results. But as future Senator John Blutarsky famously said, "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
So give it a week and call a new fire mission on the same targets. What would Sun-Tzu do?
I'm getting mixed messages here.
And by the way, I see the NRA as a big part of the problem. They are useless.
Perhaps I’m being a bit overly optimistic since many, even on here, seem to think the renewed assault weapons ban is virtually a “done deal”. (I’m not sure why, Obama’s record of getting things he “demands” and gins up public pressure for, through the Republican House isn’t exactly stellar -see the jobs bill) But a column I read yesterday made a very effective argument why such a ban can’t and won’t ever make it out of the Senate, let alone the House. The reason is the 2014 Senate elections....
Mark Begich-D-Alaska
Mark Pryor-D-Arkansas
Mary Landrieu-D-Louisiana
Max Baucus-D-Montana
Kay Hagan-D-North Carolina
Tim Johnson-D-South Dakota
Jay Rockefeller-D-West Virginia
On the coatails of Obamamania in 2008, Democrat’s won these seven seats in rural “red” states that they really shouldn’t have won in the first place. They are going to have a hard enough time holding them as it is. A vote for gun control would be the suicide for these senators.
Harry Reid knows this, so does Obama. That is why Obama tapped Biden to “study the issue” and report back in a month with recommendations (after passions have cooled down). Obama could just have easily called for a vote tomorrow, the legislation already exists after all. What Obama and Reid are hoping is that they can stop any gun control before these vulnerable senators are put in a position where they have to vote on it, but can place all the blame on the Republicans for it. That is why I believe the “Biden Group” will come back with some poison pill legislation that the Republicans will never accept. It will be sent to the Republican House, NOT the Senate. Then Obama will shed some tears and blame Republican obstructionism for “killing children” when the bill never makes it out of committee.
Ah, yes! Sun Tzu—I had to read about him in Squadron Officers School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College. Great strategies!
BTW, my husband was in a gun shop/shooting range this past week, and he told me they were the busiest he has ever seen and the clerk informed him they were totally cleaned out on certain types of weapons and ammo. Christmas rush? New outdoor wildlife hunters? Maybe....
“What would Sun-Tzu do?”
Um...kill his enemies.
The aforementioned list amounts to writing letters of annoyance to those who want you annoyed, and obtaining weapons with permission of those about to cut off your supply.
While his highest goal was to win without fighting, doing so was backed up with his opponent knowing he’d deliver a fast and violent battle otherwise. We’ll just snivel and buy licensed muzzle loaders.
I’ve got close family & friends coming to me in droves on advise for and about guns, and requests to accompany them to a range to practice. Seems that zero is getting a “Chik-fil-a” response to his “concerns”...
Call (don't write) your Congressman
Done.
Write your newspaper.
Useless gesture.
Buy a gun or guns and ammo.
Done and done.
I was in a gun shop yesterday exercising my 2nd amendment right for the first time in my 63 years. I just thought the time is now, and my wife is finally onboard. They were busy, and will be even busier this weekend. This shop is located just outside a fairground where there will be a gun and knife show this weekend, which I expect to be a zoo, and since this shop has a shooting range, people from the gun show will be there trying out their new toys.
Here’s another suggestion:
Everyone should read this gem by Karl Denninger on the subject of Obama (and many others) being complete hypocrites on the gun ssue: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=215107
Then pass it on to other threads and your email lists - especially anti-gun people. Ditto for your Congresscritters - let the bastards know that we are on to their utter hypocricy. This kind of brutal logic MUST become part of the “national conversation on guns” that the gun-ban crowd wants to have.
Find an expert and talk to them before you buy anything. Do research. Talk to folks at shooting ranges, especially the pros and see what they recommend. If possible, go to a range where you can rent a gun and try it before you buy one. Examine your requirements and make sure you are comfortable with your choice.
I’m definitely NOT an expert on this, but I’m sure there are plenty of folks here on Free Republic who are.
Finally, make sure to safeguard your purchases and the documents so that you know what their serial numbers are and you’ve got them properly secured.
Good luck!
Perhaps the percentage of Americans who didn’t vote for obummer are just making sure they exercise their 2nd amendment rights before that Mayan end-of-the-world date. :)
If nothing else it will help the letter writer to organize their thoughts on paper in a clear concise manner.
Done all that. Took the NRA training, fired everything from a 22 single action, to a 44 magnum, and decided on the Taurus Judge for home defense. As I get comfortable with it, I may move on to a semi-automatic, probably a 9mm. Right now, as I am not very mechanically inclined, semi-automatics make me nervous, and, as I have read a lot of history, I know exactly how they work, and I’ve fired semis from 380’s to 45’s. Right now, I’m more comfortable with a revolver that fires shotgun shells.
Maybe it’s not so good in a gun battle, but, if I find myself in a gun battle, I probably screwed up in advance, and my best bet is to keep my head down and get the hell out of there.
My brother has had guns since the early 1970, and it was he who originally told me about the Judge. I don’t make such serious decisions without getting all available information.
“Perhaps the percentage of Americans who didn’t vote for obummer are just making sure they exercise their 2nd amendment rights before that Mayan end-of-the-world date. :)”
A gun shop owner told me that they day after the election the shi@ hit the fan in the shop. Since the Sandy Hook massacre, and with Christmas approaching, guns are flying off the shelves. I was lucky to be able to get the one I wanted this week.
“Perhaps the percentage of Americans who didn’t vote for obummer are just making sure they exercise their 2nd amendment rights before that Mayan end-of-the-world date. :)”
A gun shop owner told me that the day after the election the shi@ hit the fan in the shop. Since the Sandy Hook massacre, and with Christmas approaching, guns are flying off the shelves. I was lucky to be able to get the one I wanted this week.
You’re definitely prepared and ready then! Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
The real question is whether or not the Obamunist crowd feels frisky enough to go for confiscation. If that’s the case, it was nice knowing you all.
Same to you. I’m trying to be prepared.
Our side keeps getting mesmerized by fears of confiscation. Our opponents are smart enough to not do that, and are busy adding other effective plans while we keep wasting time muttering “FMCDH”.
All I see is a typical liberal over-reach by the Democrats which will blow back hard on them.
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