December 2012 – Page 11 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Betrayed in West Virginia

Senator Joe Manchin calls for an assault weapons ban. Maybe the folks who said to never trust a Democrat who claims to be pro-gun have a point:

Gun rights advocates have always said that an assault weapon bans would lead to further gun controls and eventually a repeal of the Second Amendment, but Manchin andÂ Morning JoeÂ host Joe Scarborough both commented that the Second Amendment shouldnâ€™t protect the right to own weapons designed for combat.

How many more will betray us? How many more before gun owners wake up and mobilize? If you live in West Virginia, I’d call his office (855-275-5737). If you don’t, I’d use the contact form. But I’d let him hear form us.

UPDATE: Click here to send him a tweet if you oppose gun bans & think the Second Amendment is about more than hunting.

Positive TechCrunch Article on NRA Facebook Strategy

Tech Crunch notes NRA un-publishing its Facebook page.

Some have accused the organization of cowardice for taking down the Page and ceasing to tweet. However, this crisis-management strategy may be succeeding. Itâ€™s prevented creating a centralized place under the NRA banner where perspectives of its independent supporters could have been taken as its own. The last thing the NRA wants is to be characterized as sharing an extremist or offensive position posted by someone who doesnâ€™t speak for it or the rest of its fans. Other brands and organizations might follow the NRAâ€™s lead by retreating from social media when they face times of crisis.

It’s an interesting point of view. I think the tactic is correct in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy, but at some point, people need to hear from NRA. At some point it flips from helping to hurting. When is that point? Damned if I know. I’m playing this by ear just like everyone else.

Accomplishing Actual Change

Paul Barrett on NPR.org:

Barrett says he understands the human need for action, and banning a weapon can feel like substantive progress. “But it’s also important to distinguish between symbolic gestures and the particular goal you’re trying to accomplish,” he says.

Barrett is a good spokesman to have out there, as someone who can get on lefty media, but speak a bit of common sense. I kind of view him similarly to Professor Adam Winkler. Only Barrett seems more on our side than on the side of gun control, but willing to take gun control arguments seriously, whereas Professor Winkler is flipped in that orientation. Nonetheless, neither seem to buy into the more dogmatic assertions from either side.

I Wouldn’t Say Worked

Clayton notes a report that suggests that the deranged Kindergarten murderer (I shall not name him here) attempted to buy a gun legally, but was thwarted by NICS and Connecticut’s waiting period. But it would seem he exploited the “Murder your mother and steal her guns,” loophole. The premise of these laws is to make society safer. When they are circumvented, I consider that a failure of the laws. In fact, it plays into the argument many of us have long made; that these laws are easily circumvented by those determined to cause harm. This is really just another example.

GOP Capitulations Post Columbine

A worthwhile thing to remember. Don’t think just because your Congressman is a Republican, that he’s automatically going to be on your side. Only constituent pressure will keep him there. Here’s what we have going for us:

People are seemingly open to a discussion of the sorry state of mental health treatment.
The rest of the center-right coalition is not seemingly headed for the hills. Most generic folks in the coalition I follow on social media seem primed for a fight. We have more and stronger allies this time.

What we don’t have going for us? I think a lot depends on what President Obama does. He’s going to be facing a great deal of pressure from his own party to do something. There are some factors at play. One is we’re in the middle of “fiscal cliff” negotiations. Obama may not want to pick a fight with the GOP on the gun issue in the middle of delicate negotiations on this topic. The other side of the coin is he might revel in trying to pile on with the GOP. Knowing Obama’s personality, I think the latter is quite likely. He’s been trying very hard to get the GOP to throw the anti-tax constituency under the bus by having on tax hikes. He could also think it wise to try for a twofer, and get them to throw the gun vote under the bus at the same time. Â The White House strategy in all this seems to be to make the GOP thoroughly screwed no matter what door they decided to walk through. The risk is that it would only cause the GOP to dig in their heels and not budge at all, being attacked on multiple fronts. But I’m not sure Obama thinks that is a bad result either, because then he gets to blame the GOP when we go off the “cliff.”

Time will tell, but one of the reasons you see the gun control folks pushing Obama so hard is because the “bully pulpit” is important. Clinton was a master of its use, even for causes that hurt Democrats, like gun control. The presidency is a powerful office for trying to steer the public conversation. If President Obama still had to protect a large number of blue dog Democrats, the political calculus would be different, but given that blue dogs are now an endangered species, it would be hard to believe that the Administration’s reaction is going to be to do nothing.

On Protecting Schools

This is probably the most sensible idea I’ve read in regards to how to protect schools, and that may be politically achievable. Talking to Bitter tonight, I’m struck with how many things you may typically find around a school classroom that may double as weapons. Standard dry chemical fire extinguisher? It can make a great improvised defensive spray (don’t ask me how I learned this). Do you remember those pointy wooden sticks teachers used to point to the chalk board? (do they still have those?) Some of you might be old enough to remember when teachers did use them as weapons. :) Anything heavy, like a chair, is an effective bludgeon. When I was 16, I was given a 4D Maglite to keep in my car, along with instructions as to what its true use was (and it wasn’t, necessarily, illuminating the engine in the event of car trouble, though it was useful for that as well).

Point being, and mirroring that of the article, we spend a lot of time and money drilling against outbreaks of fire, which at this point is now more than paranoid, as no child has died in a school fire in half a century. So why not get teachers in the right mindset for resisting school shooters? That doesn’t necessarily have to involve arming them with carbines or handguns. Much can be accomplished just with mindset alterations. And, after all, that is part of moving the culture in the right direction.

It Really Begins Tomorrow

A left-wing group is planning a protest at NRA’s Federal Affairs office in Washington DC. This is where they will start to lay this tragedy at our feet and make us own it. This is where we have to stand, if you’re capable of getting there. I would encourage everyone, if you’re in the DC area, to show up and counter-protest. Take signs that show the real problem is our mental health system, rather than guns. Take signs that support the Bill of Rights. The politicians will be paying attention to who shows up. Be peaceful, be civil, but be firm. If you forgive my nerdiness here:

It Begins Tomorrow

Clayton notes that sensible people need to get out thereÂ and start steering the public debate in a positive direction. I made a decision on Friday to give people the weekend. But tomorrow I plan to begin the political struggle in full to save what many are going to want to do to our rights.

This weekend MoveOn was running vigils around the country, and we drove over to the one near us to see what was going on. About ten people showed up, with six having been registered for the event. This was a good indication for how fired up the gun control movement was getting people. Most other vigils within 100 mile radius had fewer registered than ours. The ones in New York City were likely much better attended, because they had a higher registration rate than the ones in this area.

I did not take pictures. The event was not overtly political, and to the extent that people showed up because they were grieving, I did not want to make a spectacle out of it. For all anyone knows, it was a group of people celebrating Christmas, because that’s what it would have looked like to a casual observer. CSGV also held a protest at the White HouseÂ on Friday, which you can see was not well attended. I don’t think people really want to see this politicized, so to the extent that the other side is doing it, there’s something to be said for never interrupt your enemy when he’s in the middle of making a mistake.

From the Mother of a Mentally Ill Child

This is well worth your time to read in its entirety:

I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanzaâ€™s mother. I am Dylan Kleboldâ€™s and Eric Harrisâ€™s mother. I am Jason Holmesâ€™s mother. I am Jared Loughnerâ€™s mother. I am Seung-Hui Choâ€™s mother. And these boysâ€”and their mothersâ€”need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, itâ€™s easy to talk about guns. But itâ€™s time to talk about mental illness.

The system is failing her, and, I might add, failing her son.

On Strategy and Tragedy

A few people seem to be offended that I’m not jumping right into the fight, in regards to a previous post I have doneÂ suggesting that going around advocating we arm teachers isn’t really going to win any hearts and minds, especially in the immediate aftermath of a horrific event like this. While we have made a lot of advances in the culture in regards to our issue, we have not yet made quite enough progress that such a thing can be seriously proposed. Diving right into the fight does not feel instinctively right to me, nor does it seem like wise strategy.

Why do I think this? How many states have successfully passed laws easing restrictions on permit carriers in Universities? In the wake of Virginia tech, this was tried, in several states, and we got our asses handed to us in notorious anti-gun legislatures such as Texas and Virginia, and a gubernatorial veto in Arizona by the same governor who signed the right-to-carry without a permit. We’re talking here about schools full of adults, and we can’t get it done. Removing gun free school zones for primary and secondary schools is up there with legalizing machine guns in terms of “culture just isn’t there yet” issues.

When I speak of now not being the time for politics, that’s not a capitulation. It not only makes us look decent, it’s a smart strategy. The big issue you have in the wake of a tragedy like this is that the “something must be done” crowd is going to demand that, well, something be done. Remember that in the wake of Virginia Tech, the gun control organizations were shouting from the rooftops and pushing their whole agenda, but before the (then Democratic) Congress could really get any momentum on it, the “Something must be done” crowd was appeased by what, on balance, was able to be made into a pro-gun bill. That bill Â encouraged states to report more mental health adjudications to NICS (which most of them haven’t lifted a finger to do for various reasons, including state privacy laws) in exchange for turning mental health prohibitions on gun ownership from lifetime prohibitions to prohibitions one could petition to have lifted. I can promise you that the Bradys were less than happy with that bill, but they had no choice but to get behind it. It offered Congress a way to please the “Something must be done!” crowd, and go back to their shocked and horrified constituents and tell them what a wonderful thing they did. A lot of people were upset with NRA for floating that bill, but it staved off the possibility we were going to get something far worse as a result of Virginia Tech. In my opinion, it was a brilliant maneuver on NRA’s part to keep the bad bills from moving in a Democratic Congress whose leadership was hostile to civilian gun ownership.

So what is going to be the issue to hit the “Something must be done” crowd this time? I spent a lot of time looking through posts on social media, seeing what my family is saying, seeing what my former schoolmates are saying, childhood friends, coworkers, etc. Most of these folks are ordinary people, and not activists or bloggers, or political junkies. There are some talking about gun control, but I don’t see people shouting from the rooftops. The vast majority are just shocked, horrified, and upset. If you hit them with “Arm teachers!” you’re going to turn them off. They’ll stop listening to you. But one message is definitely out there, and that’s the colossal failure that is our current mental health system. If you want people not thinking gun control is the solution, that’s the policy point to make. I know a lot of libertarians are uncomfortable with this, but it’s going to come down to a choice: either we hospitalize the most seriously mentally ill, or we turn the rest of the country into a low level padded cell where no one can have dangerous or sharp objects. The vast majority of the population who are not libertarian will likely force this choice.

Plus, fixing the mental health system, unlike gun control, has a prayer of actually making a difference. This guy committed his horrific act in Brady #5 ranked state Connecticut. Connecticut requires a permit to purchase a handgun and has a statewide assault weapons ban. Connecticut also has a safe storage law. I also heard that the shooter tried to buy a gun and was denied by NICS. Neither of these laws stopped the shooter, because he murdered his mother and stole her guns. Many of us responsibly keep our guns under lock and key, but if someone murders us and gets the key, there’s no gun control law in the universe that’s going to prevent those guns from falling into the wrong hands. If lunatics are going to keep getting a hold of guns, and as long as lunatics roam the streets, they will, we have to have solutions, and win over the public, most of whom think “something must be done!” from those who will propose more gun control as the solution.Â In this vein, I think every gun owner needs to read Clayton’s book, My Brother Ron. We do not live in a world where people are going to watch 20 kindergarteners brutally murdered, along with their teachers, and the response is going to be “C’est la vie.” Events like this, in one day, can erase years of cultural progress if we don’t play our cards well.