Last nail? I was waiting for the first
The Hill has a piece in which it claims gun control is likely dead as a big issue:
Like Dean, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is a strong supporter of gun rights. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports gun control but rarely mentioned the issue before the 2004 election.
National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Director Chris Cox said Dean, whom the NRA endorsed when he was running for governor, was taking over a party that had suffered electorally for its embrace of gun control.
Over the past decade, the issue had become strongly partisan, but gun-rights groups say the political winds have shifted. [not really – both sides mouth support for the assault weapons ban but neither is acting on it so take it for what it’s worth – Ed.]
Countertop is happy noting:
Its official. The worst element of the failed and flawed ideology of the liberal left is now all but over.
I tend to agree. Taking a hard line for gun control can be deadly in federal politics. It kills you in the south and most red states. However, being pro-gun control is popular among most Democrats and most northeastern Republicans. Additionally, gun control is cyclical in nature as Robert Spitzer notes in the article:
“The gun issue has historically been a cyclical issue, and we’re in a cycle right now where there is less interest in gun control for a variety of reasons. The Democrats feel they were burned in 2000 on the gun issue. And enough Democrats believe it to be so that the Democratic Party doesn’t have the same zeal for the issue that it did earlier.”
It only takes one or two idiots to walk into a public area and start shooting people to bring the issue to the forefront. Now is the time for pro-freedom, gun-loving folks to go on the offensive. We should not sit back thinking everything is going well (even though, as I’ve said before, it is). Time to push for more of what we want. We may fail but it keeps the anti-gunners from gaining ground.
Turns out, The NRA (ain’t they cute?) are doing just that:
Fresh off its success at poking holes in a Wilmette handgun ban, the National Rifle Association has launched a new legislative drive to dismantle strong gun prohibitions in Chicago and test Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s wavering commitment to broader gun control.
Taking direct aim at Mayor Richard Daley’s hard-line stance against the proliferation of guns, the NRA package of state legislation would allow residents of Chicago and other communities that ban handgun ownership to legally keep the weapons in their homes for self-defense purposes. It also would hold Chicago and other places with bans liable for injuries that residents claimed could have been avoided had they been allowed to carry handguns.
Good to see the NRA going toe-to-toe with a gun banner like Daley. I need to make a contribution.
As for the Democrats at the Federal level, the proof will be in the pudding. Or as the president of GOA says:
“Harry Reid needs to make sure his boys in the Senate don’t throw up a filibuster to block these [bills] from going through,” Pratt said.
