Hunters need to separate themselves from gun nuts

Chicago Sun Times ^ | 2-17-03 | DALE BOWMAN

[SJackson]

Regarding the value of an armed public, I think it's significant that even during the worst of the Clinton gun grabbing escapades, no attempt was made to shut down the DCM program (that I'm aware of, I know it's been privatized now). That probably could have been done with nothing more than an executive order or budget cut. Even in the throes of a Clinton, the military must have recognized the benefits of firearm training and gun ownership (military weapons, nonetheless) throught the civilian population.

[ez]

There won't be nearly that many involved in a para-military group ready to die for the cause.

I'm not talking about a para-military group. They are targets. I'm talking about a natural swelling up of resistance due to tyranny, including your neighbor Mr. Peabody who no-one knew had a rifle.

And you are right, it is going to take a serious issue, like the deployment of UN troops on our soil, to cause that sort of a reaction.

Rightfully so, the only type of issue worth revolting over.

[Search4Truth]

It is tragic what passes for a man these days.

[Ches]

You'll need to find another issue other than RTKBA then to rally them

Like tanked economy, loss of income, hunger and time to dwell on their oppressors and misery.

[Brian Allen]

If ever a crackpot, by his own definition, was the defintive "gun nut," this pukey craphead is surely it!

And, for his and other similar gun nuts' edification, Our Constitution's Second Amendment is totally focused on self defense and nowhere mentions "hunting!"

[Redcloak]

Yet another idiot hunter who doesn't understand that the 2nd Amendment isn't about sporting goods.

[blackie]

The Second Amendment...
America's Original Homeland Security!

Stop the attacks on our God given Rights by the extreme wacko left-wing anti-gun nazis'!

The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed!

An Armed Citizen, Is A Safe Citizen!

Guns Save Lives!

No Guns, No Rights!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For!

Molon Labe!

FMCDH!

[SandRat]

Getting stuck with the business end of a shaft from a 50# or better bow or a bolt from a cross bow is not pleasant. It's also silent as all get out right up to the point that the target gets the point. BTW: a steel needle point bolt from a cross bow or a needle point head shaft from 90# Recurve Bow will not be stopped by a ballistic vest. Remember it was the Recurve English Long Bow and the Cross Bow that ended Knights in Armor domination of the battlefield and was the first indirect plunging fire artillary of old. It's also good backup for when you run out of ammo.

[sauropod]

If the author believes the 2nd Amendment only applies to hunters and sportsmen, then let him start the process rolling to have the wording of the 2nd Amendment so state.

Idiot. I have nothing but contempt for the mushbrained. 'Pod

[husky ed]

I guess he dosen't realize that his hunting rifle today, is a high power sniper rifle tomorrow, that only the cops and government officials should have access to.

This guy is a fool.

[Dan from Michigan]

*A ban on military-style, semi-automatic assault weapons. I absolutely agree. It should have been done years ago. The problem for hunters is the definition of assault rifles; otherwise, it in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

Bullcrap. There are many semi-auto hunting firearms. BTW - WTF is an assault weapon? Assault rifle? They are already class III.

*Restrict handgun purchases to one per person per month. For my money, you could ban handguns completely. That in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

Bullcrap. You think they will stop there? What about handgun hunting.

*Gun fingerprinting. I have no problem with that other than it is another governmental intrusion into our lives. It in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.
How many crimes will this solve.

*Lengthening the waiting period for taking possession of a handgun from three days to 10. Hey, make it a month, a year, 10 years. It in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.
memememememememememmeemmemememe - see a pattern. *Require annual background checks of those who hold Firearm Owners Identification Cards. I think that will be a logistical nightmare and should not be enacted for that reason. Otherwise, check all you want. It in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.
Yet.

*Increase the cost of a FOID card. It annoys me. It will cost me. But it in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.
same ole song and dance

*Mandate background checks of people who buy firearms at gun shows. Absolutely. That should have been in place years ago. That in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.
We HAVE that.

*State licensing of gun dealers and a state database of gun information. Go ahead. I think it will be a logistical nightmare; otherwise, it in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.
It'll increase the cost of firearms dumbass.

I'm going to say it right here. This selfish gun grabbing bastard is the WORST TYPE OF GUN GRABBER.

I'm also going to say this. You don't have a right to hunt, and if I didn't know that there were good gunowners in Illinois, I'd push for a hunting ban in Illinois just to piss this guy off.

[Destructor]

The Second Amendment is not about hunting.

[Inyo-Mono]

In fact, I don't anything hunt anymore but I love to shoot. In fact, I fire over a thousand rounds of ammo every month. I guess my ammo inventory in my garage would qualify as an arsenal.

Outstanding letter! You just described me in the paragraph above. And like you, I quit hunting years ago, but used a one-shot muzzle loader when I did.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

My guess is this clown isn't related to Henry Bowman.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Rifles are very useful-- just not so useful against the sci-fi weapons that the Pentagon would use on such an anti-government group.

[thepitts]

My letter to the author.

It is time to speak plainly for the good citizens and patriots of this nation who believe unbendingly in the Constitution of the United States of America.

Though foreign governments may disarm their subjects, we will not go down that road. We will not disarm and see our freedoms stripped away. The lessons of history are numerous, clear and bloody. A disarmed population inevitably becomes an enslaved population. A disarmed population is without power, reduced to childlike obedience to – and dependent upon – the organs of a parental state.

A disarmed population will lose – either piecemeal or in one sweeping act – those basic rights for which the citizens of America risked their lives and fortunes over 200 years ago. We will not disarm. The right to self protection – the internal directive of every living creature, be it mouse or man – is the most fundamental right of all. It is the right that must be exercised against the predators of the streets, against the predators hidden within agencies of law enforcement, and against the most dangerous predators of all – those to be found in government, whose insidious grasping for power is relentless and never-ending. We will not disarm.

Not in the face of robbers, rapists and murderers who prey upon our families and friends. Nor in the face of police and bureau agents who would turn a blind eye to the Constitution, who would betray the birthright of their countrymen; nor in the face of politicians of the lowest order – those who pander to the ignorant, the weak, the fearful, the naïve; those indebted to a virulent strain of the rich who insulate themselves from the dangers imposed upon other Americans and then preach disarmament. We will not surrender our handguns.

We will not surrender our hunting arms. And we will not surrender our firearms of military pattern or utility, nor their proper furnishings, nor the right to buy, to sell, or to manufacture such items. Firearms of military utility, which serve well and nobly in times of social disturbance as tools of defense for the law abiding, serve also in the quiet role of prevention, against both the criminal and the tyrannical. An armed citizenry – the well regulated militia of the Second Amendment, properly armed with military firearms – is a powerful deterrant, on both conscious and subconcious levels, to those inclined towards governmental usurpations.

An armed citizenry stands as a constant reminder to those in power that, though they may violate our rights temporarily, they will not do so endlessly and without consequence. And should Americans again be confronted with the necessity of – may God forbid it – throwing off the chains of a tyrannical and suffocating regime, firearms designed to answer the particular demands of warfare will provide the swiftest and most decisive means to this end. Any law which prohibits or limits a citizen’s possession of firearms of military utility or their proper furnishings, provides an open window through which a corrupt government will crawl to steal away the remainder of our firearms and our liberties.

Any law which prohibits or limits a citizen’s possession of firearms of military utility or their proper furnishings, being directly contrary to the letter and spirit of the Second Amendment, is inimical to the Constitution, to the United States of America, and to it’s citizens. Now – today – we are witnessing the perilous times foreseen by the architects of the Constitution. These are times when our government is demanding – in the guise of measures for the common good – the relinquishment of several rights guaranteed to Americans in the Constitution, foremost among which is the right to keep and bear arms for our own defense. These are times when our government has abdicated its primary responsibility -- to provide for the security of its citizens. Swift and sure punishment of outlaws is absent, and in its place is offered the false remedy of disarming of the law-abiding. Where this unconstitutional action has been given the force of law it has failed to provide relief and has produced greater social discord. This discord in turn now serves as the false basis for the demand that we give up other rights, and for the demand for more police, more agents of bureaucratic control to enforce the revocation of these rights. Legislators, justices and law officers must bear in mind that the foundation of their duties is to uphold the fundamental law of the land – the Constitution.

They must bear in mind that the unconstitutional act of disarming one’s fellow citizens will also disarm one’s parents, spouse, brothers, sisters, children and children’s children. They must bear in mind that there are good citizens who – taking heed of George Washington’s belief that arms are the liberty teeth of the people – will not passively allow these teeth to be torn out. There are good citizens who – taking heed of Benjamin Franklin’s admonition that those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety – will surrender not one of their rights. Those who eat away at our right to own and use firearms are feeding on the roots of a plant over two centuries old, a plant whose blossom is the most free, most powerful nation ever to exist on the face of this planet. The right to keep and bear arms is the taproot of this plant.

All other rights were won at the point of a gun and will endure only at the point of a gun. Could they speak, millions upon millions of this world’s dead souls would testify to this truth. Millions upon millions of the living can so testify today. Now – today – is a critical moment in our history. Will we Americans passively lie down before a government disdainful of it’s best citizens? Or will we again declare: WE are the government, government functions at our behest, and it may not rescind our sacred rights? Will we place our faith in public servants who behave like our masters? Or will we place our faith in the words and deeds of the daring, far-seeing men and women whose blood, sweat and tears brought forth this great nation? Will we believe those who assure us that the police officer will shield us from the criminal? Or will we believe our eyes and ears, presented every day with news of our unarmed neighbors falling prey in their homes, on our streets, in our places of work and play? Will we bow our heads to cowards and fools who will not learn and do not understand the lessons of human history? Or will we stand straight and assume the daily tasks and risks that liberty entails? Will we ignore even the lessons of this present era – which has seen the cruel oppression of millions on the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America – and believe that the continent of North America is immune to such political disease? Or will we wisely accept the realities of the world, wisely listen to and make use of the precautions provided by our ancestors? Will we be deceived by SHAMELESS LIARS who say that disarmament equals safety, helplessness equals strength, patriotism equals criminality? Or will we mark the words of our forefathers, who wrote in plain language: The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed? Let us make known: We will choose the latter option in every case.

Legislators: Do your duty to your country. Uphold the Constitution as you swore to do. Do not shame yourselves by knocking loose the mighty keystone of this great republic – the right to bear arms.

Justices: Do your duty to country. Examine the origins of our right to weaponry and uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

Lawmen: Do your duty to your country. Do not be misguided and misused. Your task is to serve and protect – not to oppress, to disarm and to make helpless your countrymen. To the blind, the ignorant, the apathetic, the safe and sheltered, these may seem to be concerns of another age. They are not. They are as vital as they ever have been through history. For times may change but human nature does not. And it is to protect forever against the evil in human nature that the Founding Fathers set aside certain rights as inviolable.

For these reasons we must now make known: We will not passively take the path that leads to tyranny. We will not go down that road.

WE WILL NOT DISARM.

[GraniteStateConservative]

We have a vibrant two-party system who are mostly whores. They'll pretty much accept whatever ideology will put them in power. If the Dems created the nightmare scenario you envision, the numbers of people needed to fight against the government would be about the same to peacefully boot them all out office and have the GOP or some other party replace them.

Barbara Boxer doesn't change any of her votes based on the knowledge that some people have guns.

[thepitts]

Of course I can't take credit for writing this, it's from SOF magazine, 1994. I'm not sure who did write it.

I do spread it around a little, The MMM tried to sue me for it last year, claiming that they canceled an event because of it.