http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/votes_index.html#state
And found that Michigan has voted for the Democrat Presidential Candidate in 3 of the last 4 elections. Based on that alone, I'm not convinced that enflaming the passions of gun owners (at least in MI) is all that risky.
The gun voters in Michigan could not have really believed that Clinton and Gore were their best 2A protectors. There must have been other issues involved, and I'm betting they were and remain Union issues. I know here in NY, that is very much the case.
A few years back I worked for Xerox in their Model Shop, and all of the modelmakers/machinists were as dyed in the wool conservatives as you'd ever want to meet, and almost all gun afficionados. But they rarely voted Republican because of a perceived antipathy to Unions and their workers. They couldn't believe I voted Republican, because they considered me a working stiff just like them.
I have never owned a gun, and probably never will (though I have contributed to the NRA twice). Although I'm in the process of buying a house and since I live alone, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get one now. But applying for a permit in NYS is a genuine pain in the ass.
In addition, I'm just so uneducated as far as guns are concerned, I don't know where to begin to learn. No one in my family has ever owned a gun, so it's quite foreign to me. And I'm under the impression that it would take a ton of practice to get any good at being able to handle it, and put it to good use should I need to.
In major statewide races, it went GOP for Gov(defeating incumbent) in 90, gov and Sec of State(defeating 40 year incumbent) in 94 and 98, and Sec of state and Att General(both open seats) in 02.
It went dem for Sec of state and AG in 90(incumbents), pres in 92, ag in 94(incumbent), pres in 96, AG in 98(open), Pres in 2000, Gov in 2002(open).
The GOP has controlled the state senate since 1984, and the state legislautre since 1998. The last gov race was 3% 4% for the last presidential race.If we convince about 80,000 people to switch from dem to GOP, we'll take MI in 2004. If we get those people that voted for Granholm, but also Mike Cox, we'll win. If we get the people that voted for Posthumus but not Bush(Macomb, Monroe, etc) and people that voted Bush the first time, but not Posthumus(Yoopers, State Workers, Eaton County), we can win.
And I'm under the impression that it would take a ton of practice to get any good at being able to handle it, and put it to good use should I need to.
It does, and I highly recommend training, especially with a pistol. One factor you also need to consider is recoil. The first day I shot my 12 gauge shotgun, my shoulder was extremely sore. I then used better technique by shooting it more often, and now I hardly notice the recoil.
If you are going to own a firearm, I'd ask someone in your union shop that has one where a good shop/range is to fire a few rounds from different firearms before spending big money buying one. Make sure you get the best firearm that is for you.