Allies?
G. Hayduke attempts to warn people about allying themselves with gun owners. S/He implies that all of us gun-toting types are backwoods hicks who dream fondly of taking the nation back to the 18th century. Of course, s/he spends (at my count) six paragraphs describing the characteristics of us gun-nuts and one making the point (which is careful who you ally with). All these characteristics ring of Howard Dean’s pick-up trucks and confederate flag hullabaloo.
So, Mr/s. Hayduke, as an anti-death penalty, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, income tax hating, pro-constitution, supporter of the war in Iraq and the war on terror (who realizes they are not the same thing), lover of civil liberties, pro-drug legalization, non-racist, pro-union, anti-affirmative action gun nut, I appreciate you lumping us gun folks into whatever categories make your world view convenient. However, I won’t lump you in the same category as the Saturn-driving, goatee-sporting, organic deodorant reeking, unwashed hippie-esque, Birkenstock wearing, Bush is a Nazi, Kucinich for president, all my clothes smell like weed, gun fearing wussies before I conclude you’re wrong. I’d appreciate the same from you.
March 29th, 2004 at 4:29 pm
SO THERE!!!!
Great!
March 29th, 2004 at 5:18 pm
I wonder if that include invading a country to depose dictator, even though the “international community” is against it?
Guess not.
March 29th, 2004 at 7:47 pm
Gol’Dern it Clem
Whatca doin’ usen them big words agin. All I cud make out was guns and hippies. Lucky I graduated thu the 3rd grade. Guess I’ll go polish up my ma duce and stare ach ta rebel flag on tha wall in tha doublewide…mebee hav a touch o shine.
Ima G. Nutt
March 29th, 2004 at 8:03 pm
Thib…give me a break, we also seem to be propping up dictators in Pakistan and Uzbekistan..not to mention the first gulf war where we got rid of one dictator to re-install another one. Plus, we seem to be doing a pretty good job of oppressing the Iraqi people ourselves including shutting down newspapers and allowing the Iraqi Governing Council to roll back rights that women enjoyed under Saddam.
As I see it, gun control is more of a rural-urban issue than a liberal-conservative issue. People in rural areas tend to see guns as not a big deal and people in urban areas tend to see guns as a problem. It becomes a liberal-conservative issue because liberals tend to be in urban areas and conservatives tend to be in rural areas. Democrats from rural areas tend to be against gun control, while Republicans from urban areas tend to favour it to some degree. I don’t think that there is anything inherently conservative about gun rights or inherently liberal about gun control.
Personally, I look at it as a civil rights issue. You can’t believe in the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th or 9th amendments without believing in the 2nd and 10th (and the 3rd, 5th, and 7th for that matter).
Or maybe Hayduke is right and I have to stop being against the Iraq war.
March 29th, 2004 at 8:10 pm
Geez, Manish…you need to watch that knee-jerk thing.
March 29th, 2004 at 8:59 pm
My wee wifey and I (who, BTW look rather countercultural) are urban Republicans who consider licensed concealed carry to be a philosophically dubious compromise and make gun rights a first consideration in who we vote for. I worked last year with a rural Democrat who, altho he is a hunter, didn’t understand why anyone would get het up about gun control.