The very best thing about the Universal Background Checks is that it’s going to force gun owners into the open. The very worst reflex gun owners have in this country is to try and hide, either socially or politically, their support for the right to self-defense and the moral authority of doing so.
Responsible owners need to stop with the ‘my guns fell in the lake’ dodge and stand up for their rights proudly and vocally. Retreating, hiding, being afraid; these things all telegraph to the left (and the middle) that gun owners are morally weak and up to no good.
The correct answer to “Do you have any guns?” is “Of course I do. Any morally upstanding, able bodied citizen should be armed.” When they ask why you *need* a gun, tell them, “Because I don’t choose to live at the mercy of criminals or tyrants. If you choose to live at the mercy of your fellow man, that’s your decision, but your freedom ultimately rests upon people like me.”
This is the 21st century. You * can’t * hide. You must stand up for yourself and your beliefs publicly. Free men and women shouldn’t hide, and, in the end, they can’t.
Sorry, but it is nobody’s business what I have in my house.
Your comments are thought provoking and I like them. I am unsure if it will necessarily force ownership into the open. It should be none of their business if weapons are possessed. However, depending on how you answer the questions, and what their opinions are, you might risk the chance of losing your priveleges or rights at their whim. Firearms are nothing more than a tool. The tool can be used as a piece of rescue equipment, for killing game, or for other purposes. Some are being brainwashed into believing that ‘for other purposes’ means you might harm others, and for that they will see to it that weapons are taken away. If a bunch of people started using screwdrivers as murder weapons, do you think they would institute a ban or waiting period on them?