Whachu Talkin’ ‘Bout Oliver Willis?
OW has a post about Howard Dean and his 100% rating by the NRA. Apparently, Mr. Willis felt the need to apologize for a fellow Democrat’s stance on gun issues. According to Issues2002, most Americans agree that there is an absolute right to gun ownership. I also think the gun issue makes or breaks presidential candidates. There are many people who vote entirely based on the gun issue (and other issues too). I do. And here’s why: If a candidate opposes an absolute right to gun ownership, that candidate doesn’t trust the people. Gun laws do not dissuade those who are inclined to break laws anyway. I cannot trust a candidate who doesn’t trust me. Heck, I’m a helluva guy. After gun rights, I look at their philosophy on taxes, then their history of pork and big government. Often times, there is not an ideal candidate, so I pick the lesser of evils. If the Democrats want to get elected, they should view gun ownership as an absolute right. An acquaintance of mine owned a gun shop. He was very liberal in the Democrat sense of the word. But he voted Republican every time just because of the gun issue. Then he’d complain about everything the Republicans did, except the gun thing.
Democrats point out that Republicans kowtow to the NRA. My favorite exchange regarding the NRA and political candidates involves Gore accusing Bush of being in the pocket of the NRA :
And the supporters of gun control are hypocrites. Diane Feinstein, who has militantly supported various gun control measures, packs a pistol. Her message is clear: You can’t keep and bear arms because you’re possibly dangerous to society. I, however, can because I know what’s best and I’m rich.
I’m not a member of the NRA. OW calls the NRA an extreme gun rights organization. I’m not sure what he means here. I assume extreme can mean one of two things: 1) they have an extreme ideology or 2) they take extreme measures with respect to an established ideology.
1 – Their position on the second amendment is not extreme. It is, in fact, shared with the majority. Current law also supports their position and that is undeniable (anyone who buys the collective rights model is a loon or just in complete denial of the facts). To deny that there is an absolute right to gun ownership is without merit and delusional; it is also, therefore, the extreme. If you want extreme pro gun positions, peruse some militia types’ websites. Scary stuff.
2 – The NRA does not take extreme measures. They have opposed some reasonable restrictions in the past and I’ve chided them for that. The NRA lately has become almost ineffectual. It is as if they assume defeat from the beginning on any gun issue and work to compromise to not make it so bad. Instead, they should become more vocal and more active. Not so reactive. It’s a pity. If they took extreme measures, I’d likely support them. For example, when Charlton Heston held aloft the old flintlock and said from my cold, dead hands it wasn’t extreme. If he had held aloft a Colt M4 with an 11.5 inch barrel, a collapsible stock, a 30 round magazine, a combat sling, a bayonet lug, a flash suppressor and a selector switch; that would have been extreme. And I’d have supported him just because it would have shown he had balls. Now, the NRA is too moderate in an effort at public relations to appeal to the middle of the ground voters, I suppose.
The NRA is not extreme in either sense.
The Democrats need to change their collective position by acknowledging the fact there is an absolute right but that reasonable restrictions are not a threat to that right. For example, we don’t need assault weapons banned (because the differences between an assault rifle and a hunting rifle are all cosmetic), sniper rifles banned (the only difference between sniper rifles and hunting rifles is the target), high capacity magazines banned (because I can do as much damage with 10 round magazines as I can with 30 round magazines), we don’t need banning of specific calibers (you can be killed with a .22 or a .50), and we don’t need registration that infringes on rights to privacy or that could lead to confiscation.
The gun crowd has historically opposed all gun laws under the assumption that give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. There is some truth to that since past registration in other countries has lead to confiscation. So, who can blame them?
Of course, I won’t vote for Dean because of his stance on other issues. But he did pass the first phase of my selection process, which is pretty gutsy for a Democrat.
