Keep calm and carry on(e)
The gunosphere is ablaze with a lot of ZOMG IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD with respect to gun rights and gun control. It’s not. As Sebastian says: This is not our last stand, it is theirs. And this is true. NRA membership has risen drastically recently. Anywhere you go to buy guns or magazines, they are largely out of stock.
I spoke with a marketing guy at one of the largest gun distributors out there. He told me that on Monday, they sold more magazines than they ordinarily sell in 73 days. Estimates are that sales are up 7,000%. Those are big numbers. They also indicate gun owners can get active and vote with their dollars.
If everyone who bought an AR-15 magazine since 2004 wrote their congresscritter and told them to not support any restrictions on gun rights, no bill would see the light of day. So, get on it. Act. Let your reps know that you will not support them if they try to pass onerous gun bills. You voted with your dollars, now vote with your phone, email and postal service. And here are some other specific things you can do.
Point out this is a distraction from the current economic crisis.
And look at the math.
December 20th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Dianne Feinswine said that getting her gun ban passed”will be an uphill road”. We need to make that road the North Face of the Eiger, and add a nasty blizzard for good measure.
December 20th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
I’ll explain this all in one quote……….
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste, and what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you didn’t think you could do before.”
YA THINK!?!?!?!
December 20th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Over at Powerline they point out Obama and Reid have sent gun control to Beltway limbo, a special commission to study. Remember how Obama jumped on implementing the last presidential commission’s recommendations.
In the mean time we see a lot of congress critters trying to backtrack in the face of the reality of gun ownership opinion.
Remember, remember, 1994’s November.
When voters had their say.
Those who restricted found themselves evicted
Reality in politics changed on that day
December 20th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
I had a discussion with an antigun advocate about concealed carry, and his position was that gun ownership in the US is declining.
When pressed about the expansion of concealed carry, the 75+million NICS checks since 2008, and the demise of antigun groups, his response was that I could believe gun ownership was increasing if I wanted to, he was sure we were a dying breed.
Go figure.
December 20th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I wrote my rep and my adjacent reps. And my Senators.
And I just called both today. Keep up the pressure on that. It’s actually really easy to call their secretaries so the marginal cost ain’t much.
Do it.
December 20th, 2012 at 5:33 pm
JKB, that report is wrong if they are claiming that Obama is sending gun control to a special commission to study where it will waste away.
1) He’s handing it off to Biden to do high-profile press events (already started) and meetings across the administration with unnamed “stakeholders” that seem to be groups that have endorsed gun control so far. Biden has a deadline of January to present specific actions that the Administration can take independent of Congress for Obama to implement immediately and announce at the SOTU.
2) He specifically said that this task force will not study the likely impact of any suggestions they provide. Obama’s messaging during his speech is that there’s no time to study things. (In other words, we must act on these regulations right now so we can find out what it is in them.)
3) We already know that he has a list of 40 starting points for gun control suggested by Bloomberg without ever going to Congress. He doesn’t actually need this task force. It’s just the excuse to create a new media story every week between now and his announcement that he is actively “doing something” about guns. That, or they are seriously looking at ways to screw gun owners via the Executive branch beyond the 40 recommendations.
4) This month will probably be spent coordinating with his political allies to create an immediate mobilization effort behind any bills introduced in Congress. It’s not far fetched because we do know that the White House already hosts weekly meetings with groups across the left to determine messaging on specific issues for the week. That’s been something that has happened since the first days of the administration when they needed Congress to do something for them.
If people are saying that this means Obama isn’t really doing anything, then they have made the very sadly informed mistake of assuming that he will just direct Congress to act and has no starting point. In fact, he’s had a starting point for using ATF & various agencies against gun owners since 2009. That’s three years to prepare.
December 20th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Last week a new gun shop opened up just down the street from me. It’s been packed all day since.
Happy Holidays!
December 21st, 2012 at 8:15 am
“We need to make that road the North Face of the Eiger, and add a nasty blizzard for good measure.”
I’m up for an avalanche!
December 21st, 2012 at 9:11 am
A good friend, who, with me, is an RSO at our club, owns a couple pistols and a shotgun and carries religiously. His wife, who also has a CCW, owns two handguns. Monday night, after a conversation with several co-workers that day, she asked him “why do we not own an AR-15? Or two?”
Wednesday morning he went to a mutual friend who owns a gun store and bought one of the last ARs he had, 1K rounds of .223 and 6 magazines (all the dealer would sell him).
I suspect this scenario is being repeated all over America.