The bad news? Groups such as the NRA have been hoodwinking you about that very issue — wastefully spending your hard-earned dues money on politics, and useless protesting by having people like Charlton Heston give that phony “pry it from my cold dead fingers” speech. A case in point is the recently publicized rush by some gun owners to “stock up” on assault weapons before they are banned by the NRA’s latest boogey man, Barack Obama.
The urge to blame President-elect Obama is a transparent example of how utterly partisan the gun groups and far too many of their adherents have become.
Pat, you might want to ask Barack Obama why renewing the assault weapons ban is still part of his platform before you start accusing NRA members of being paranoid of the boogey man. We’re going to remember all these Democrats who falsely assured us that Obama is a man of the Second Amendment when 2010 rolls around.
Two stories today which affect the continuing narrative of lead in bullets being a real problem. Lake City brags of producting 600,000 rounds of green ammunition for the military. 600,000 is a fraction of their daily production. It’s made from a bismuth alloy. The only problem with bismuth is that it’s only about twice as abundant as gold, and is only mined as an ancillary to other ores. In other words, you can’t scale bismuth production to the levels needed to replace lead at any reasonable cost. With its scarcity, prices would quickly go through the roof. The devil is in the details, and if we’re attacked along this route, it’ll be tough to speak to the public about the problems of using other metals. You can bet our opponents will be saying there are substitutes for lead — much like a helicopter can be a substitute for an automobile.
JACKSON – Preliminary results of a study by a University of Montana graduate student suggest that lead bullets may be poisoning grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem.
Tom Rogers sampled blood from 13 grizzlies during hunting season and found nearly half had elevated levels of lead, possibly because the bears had eaten lead bullet fragments in big-game carcasses left behind by hunters.
Here’s a question. How is the Yellowstone Ecosystem being poisoned by hunters when hunting isn’t allowed within the Yellowstone Ecosystem, and guns aren’t allowed either?
UPDATE: Some folks have corrected that the Ecosystem is a vast area that ecompasses more than just the National Park. Either way, here’s an idea — aren’t bears busy gaining a lot of fat for hibernation during hunting season?  Wouldn’t that tend to drive the levels of a lot of ecological contaminants higher, including lead?
Apparently City Council is once again headed to court to try to prove the Pennsylvania Constitutional actually says:
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall be questioned by Philadelphia City Council.
Rather than what it actually says. One thing from the article:
The NRA is challenging all five ordinances, although attorneys focused on the proposed assault-weapons ban in court Tuesday.
“Most of my clients have machine guns,” Shields said. “They are absolutely lawful.”
Police already have the authority to seize weapons if they are being used unlawfully, he said.
Way to go doing Josh Sugarmann’s legwork in helping confuse the public that the assault weapons issue has anything to do with machine guns. Your clients may have them, and they may be legal, but that’s not what’s at issue here.
“CCCers… wore World War I uniforms; were transported around the country by troop trains; answered to army sergeants; march[ed] in formation… went to bed in army tents listening to taps; woke to reveille.”
These must be resisted, because they are bad ideas, that are ill suited to a nation such as ours. We do not need a new “New Deal.” I took some criticism yesterday for pooh poohing the comparison to the Nazis, but I will still stand by it. The people who are proposing this crap because they are misguided, and infatuated by their own ideas and intellect. I don’t believe these people, least of all Emmanuel, is looking to march us off to the ovens, or create a police state. They might be unwittingly laying the groundwork for something much worse, and I think that needs to be pointed out. But we must be careful in trying to hang the swastika or the fasces on our opponents necks.
I agree with Jonah Goldberg’s proposition that our political opponents share intellectual roots with the fascist ideology, but that they are not evil, they are wrong, and dangerously misguided. If Obama puts Bill Ayers or Bernadine Dohrn in charge of his service initiatives, then I might change my mind, but for now, all the evidence points to Obama being a solidly naive progressive, within the framework that they’ve existed within in this country for most of the 20th century. That doesn’t mean our opposition should be any less intense, but we’re not fighting Nazis.
It’s worth remembering that the very people who created the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the National Recovery Administration, also fought a costly and difficult war against the worst horrors that fascist ideology has to offer. We must fight what is coming, but I think we also need to be wary of strained hyperbole, which not only weaken our arguments in the public eye, but also obscure the sheer horror of what Nazism and Facism actually are.
From Bruce, on the fact that Obama is going to get away with campaign finance shenanigans, because the FEC will be too busy auditing McCain’s publicly financed campaign books:
Ain’t that a sweet kick in the ass? How’s that campaign finance reform horseshit working out for now, John? Would you like some fries with that irony?
On Monday, November 17, the New Jersey Assembly is scheduled to vote on A2116 — legislation banning most firearms over .50 caliber. Though previously amended in an attempt to address gun owner concerns, the legislation still bans many popular hunting guns, historical firearms, and large bore target firearms, based on alleged public safety concerns. Ironically, the legislation bans many of the guns that won the very freedoms the bill seeks to destroy, including some Revolutionary War and Civil War guns and their replicas.
A2116 makes the fundamental mistake of banning guns based on the size of the hole in the barrel rather than punishing criminal behavior. It treats law abiding citizens who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights like potential criminals.
Please immediately email, call, and/or fax your Assembly Members and urge them to oppose A2116! Their contact information is available here.
While the rest of us are worried that gun control is back, it never really left in New Jersey. The relentless hammer pounds on in The Garden State.
I am afraid of Obama, not because he’s black, but because he proposes to ban assault weapons. They will never give us the courtesy of admitting that our actions might be rational. Nope. We’re just f**king nuts, and that’s about all there is to it. Just those crazy, cousin humping, racist rednecks acting up against. Tsk tsk.
Megan McArdle thinks not. I agree. The chief problem libertarians have is that we don’t get involved much beyond voting. Social conservatives work hard for the candidates that support them, and they do great get out the vote efforts. They are also reliable donors. I agree that the Republicans need to embrace more libertarian ideas, but this notion that we can still have a winning coalition without social conservatives is bunk.
Looks like the woman who open carried to the kids soccer game is going head to head with Bryan Miller. My advice to her is to be prepared. Bryan is a ruthless debater, and he will corral you, then go in for the kill if you’re not prepared. Get your talking points together, and stick to them. Bryan will try to change the debate to grounds that are more favorable to him. Play the nice soccer mom who just wants to protect her kids. Let Bryan’s overly aggressive tendencies work against him in the public eye.
This is the big time. When you talk to the media you represent all gun owners, and will be judged accordingly.
