Gun-loving+government-hating=Dallas

5 Comments

1. Don Johnson says:

   July 9, 2016 at 2:05 pm

   well, you might be right about the NRA, but it doesn’t sound like this dude in Dallas fits the NRA profile: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/us/suspect-in-dallas-attack-had-interest-in-black-power-groups.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

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   • Eric Weiss says:

     July 10, 2016 at 7:32 am

     True. He was a paranoid gun nut who bought his guns legally. He’s the textbook demographic for the NRA, with the sole exception of being black. The NRA has issued a statement condemning the Dallas shootings, but remain silent on the Philando Castile. He was a legal gun owner who got killed for a broken tail light and owning a gun while being a scary black man.

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2. MonteCristo says:

   July 9, 2016 at 2:24 pm

   It just goes to show what happens when you let an agenda seeking group take over from well meaning volunteers

   “The NRA was founded by a group of Union officers after the Civil War who, perturbed by their troops’ poor marksmanship, wanted a way to sponsor shooting training and competitions. The group testified in support of the first federal gun law in 1934, which cracked down on the machine guns beloved by Bonnie and Clyde and other bank robbers. When a lawmaker asked whether the proposal violated the Constitution, the NRA witness responded, “I have not given it any study from that point of view.” The group lobbied quietly against the most stringent regulations, but its principal focus was hunting and sportsmanship: bagging deer, not blocking laws. In the late 1950s, it opened a new headquarters to house its hundreds of employees. Metal letters on the facade spelled out its purpose: firearms safety education, marksmanship training, shooting for recreation.

   Cut to 1977. Gun-group veterans still call the NRA’s annual meeting that year the “Revolt at Cincinnati.” After the organization’s leadership had decided to move its headquarters to Colorado, signaling a retreat from politics, more than a thousand angry rebels showed up at the annual convention. By four in the morning, the dissenters had voted out the organization’s leadership. Activists from the Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms pushed their way into power.

   The NRA’s new leadership was dramatic, dogmatic and overtly ideological. For the first time, the organization formally embraced the idea that the sacred Second Amendment was at the heart of its concerns.

   The gun lobby’s lurch rightward was part of a larger conservative backlash that took place across the Republican coalition in the 1970s. One after another, once-sleepy traditional organizations galvanized as conservative activists wrested control.

   Conservatives tossed around the language of insurrection with the ardor of a Berkeley Weatherman. The “Revolt at Cincinnati” was followed by the “tax revolt,” which began in California in 1979, and the “sagebrush rebellion” against Interior Department land policies. All these groups shared a deep distrust of the federal government and spoke in the language of libertarianism. They formed a potent new partisan coalition.

   Politicians adjusted in turn. The 1972 Republican platform had supported gun control, with a focus on restricting the sale of “cheap handguns.” Just three years later in 1975, preparing to challenge Gerald R. Ford for the Republican nomination, Reagan wrote in Guns & Ammo magazine, “The Second Amendment is clear, or ought to be. It appears to leave little if any leeway for the gun control advocate.” By 1980 the GOP platform proclaimed, “We believe the right of citizens to keep and bear arms must be preserved. Accordingly, we oppose federal registration of firearms.” That year the NRA gave Reagan its first-ever presidential endorsement.

   Today at the NRA’s headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, oversized letters on the facade no longer refer to “marksmanship” and “safety.” Instead, the Second Amendment is emblazoned on a wall of the building’s lobby. Visitors might not notice that the text is incomplete. It reads:

   “.. the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

   Source : http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/nra-guns-second-amendment-106856?o=1

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3. Maps Onburt says:

   July 10, 2016 at 5:16 pm

   All well and good to K ash your teeth about the NRA and legal gun owners but the fact remains that until ILLEGAL guns are cleaned up, there is no point. For every crime committed with a legal gun, there are NINE or 9.7 (depending on data source) that are illegal. Typical progressives – focusing on laws to increase the powers of government and take away citizens rights without concentrating on the root cause.

   P.S. I don’t own a gun

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