The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
If everyone who bought an AR-15 magazine since 2004 wrote their congresscritter and told them to not support any restrictions on gun rights, no bill would see the light of day. So, get on it.
This is truth. The fact is, there will be those who say “I got mine,” and then proceed to exit the fight, their purchase being their sole act of defiance. Even even half of the new buyers wrote their critters, no bill would see the light of day.
I haven’t had a lot of time to pay attention in any great detail to what the media has been yammering about. For now we have gun owners to mobilize. SayUncle has a pretty good roundup of some of the hysterics. One thing to watch for us it looks like our opposition is breaking up the assault weapons from the magazine issue. I’m expecting these will likely appear as separate bills. They’ll be looking to spread us thin and sow confusion.
Deport Piers Morgan! It’s probably outside of the President’s power to do, but you have to agree with the sentiment.
UPDATE: OK, the Morgan petition obviously isn’t a serious policy proposal, but this is.
I noticed some have taken my criticism of some aspects of NRA’s performance on Friday to hate on the NRA in general, and Wayne LaPierre in particular. It was my intention to offer some constructive criticism, rather than be a funnel for NRA hate. Because to be honest, we do not have time for this.
You go to war with the NRA and the Wayne LaPierre you have, not the NRA and Wayne LaPierre you want. And we are going to war. We are arrayed against the entire left-wing apparatus, and they mean to extract their pint of blood. They mean to extract gallons of it from us if they can get away with it. While the independent grassroots action we’ve seen this week is a huge components of the battle plan, you still need what NRA can bring to the table, which is specifically a huge network of people who tend to only be peripherally involved in this issue (and this goes beyond their 4 million dues paying members), and access to lawmakers that no other gun rights groups can match, and really no or few other lobbies in DC and the 50 state capitols can match.
I’ve heard a lot of folks saying they’ll just keep donating money to SAF. I do not want to discourage this because SAF is doing some excellent work. It’s important that SAF and the Court strategy be well funded. But understand that is a fallback strategy. If we need SAF, it means we’ve already lost, and are now relying on good lawyering and the Courts to save us where it can. While I have a great deal of faith in the former part of that equation, particularly when it comes to SAF (Alan Gura), I have very little faith in the latter (the Courts). Suggesting donating to SAF is all it takes is the equivalent of, before even seriously engaging the enemy, suggesting we cede the entire battlefield, and retreat to the outskirts of the capital and make a last, desperate stand there. We might have a lot of faith in our generals who will be leading that fight, but it’s not a winning strategy. We fight them here. And NRA is the only organization that has the capability to fight on this ground. So if you have some money to donate to NRA, or can spare the dollars to buy a membership do it!
If you think it’s time for Wayne to retire, or think NRA’s performance here or there left a lot to be desired, we can have those discussions after we’re out of danger. We do not have time right now to scream for Wayne’s head on a platter. The opposition is going to see replacing generals at this point as a sign of weakness and disarray. It can only serve to provoke a broader and more fierce attack. We’re going to war, and this is the NRA we have, and more importantly, this is the NRA we can win with. But only if we hang together, because our alternative is to surely hang separately. There is certainly time to discuss strategy, and offer constructive criticism about where we each individually we think the movement should go, but as for pooh flinging, there is no time for that.
Without any involvement from NRA, and even given Joe Manchin’s backpedaling on gun control, several hundred folks still showed up to protest him:
We all need to be prepared to turn out and show them what democracy really looks like.
I meant to get this up yesterday, but there is, allegedly, an annual holiday of some importance coming up, and we headed out to my dad’s immediately after the presser to do an early Christmas. Having initially been sorely disappointed in NRA’s performance, I think I’m ready to offer thoughts, and some constructive criticism.
The Bad
While sleeping on it helped my sense of perspective some, no amount of time is making me feel better about the parts of the press conference I thought were a disaster. So let’s start with an obvious thing; it was infiltrated by Code Pink — twice. Despite some jabs being made by anti-gun folks about NRA checking out media more than they want to check out gun owners, clearly they didn’t check very hard. You could take this two ways. NRA members generally take attacks on the organization personally, so a visible and rude attack on NRA’s ability to speak is likely to motivate members to action. But the protesters also interfere with NRA’s ability to try to change the narrative, with the media burying the rest of the story to tell everyone how NRA was so bravely protested by gun violence prevention advocates demanding an assault weapons ban. In the big picture, I think the Code Pink protesters were a minor setback. I thought there was worse.
Wayne’s introductory speech detracted from what could have been a very persuasive and focused message. I’d say about 1/3rd of Wayne’s introduction was good and on point, and 2/3rds of it was unnecessary, unproductive, and unpersuasive. NRA faces the same issue that many causes on the center-right face; we’re not reaching young people. The youth vote went overwhelmingly to Obama. So why in the world would Wayne decide attacking violent video games and lambasting popular culture was a smart thing to do? You might reach a lot of NRA’s core audience with that message, but it turns off NRA’s future, most of whom play those games. Whether Wayne realizes it or not, many young people who are getting into guns and the shooting sports, developed that interest because of those very video games that Wayne derided. Does NRA really want to end up having to do a marketing campaign years from now, like Oldsmobile did, saying “It’s not your father’s NRA?” And we know what happened to Oldsmobile. While I understand we need to win this fight today, I’d hate to do that at the cost of sacrificing NRA’s future.
I agree the topic of mental health needed to be touched upon, but why go so far as to advocate creating a national database of the mentally ill? Why pick a fight with mental health and privacy  advocates? I think there are better ways to frame that issue than suggesting we need to create some Orwellian national database. My final criticism is that I think Wayne’s speech writers, and his delivery, left much to be desired. I think one problem with Wayne is that they keep his rhetoric folksy and, to be blunt, simple minded. I don’t think LaPierre is naturally either of those two things; it’s not his background, and not who he is. He should be himself. When Wayne delivers speeches, they don’t honestly connect with me at all, and I often feel like his speech writers don’t have a very high opinion of the education level of NRA members. We can make our case for our beliefs without boiling away real substance and going with simplistic notions like “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun,” like our people have about the same moral depth of understanding as you’d get from a spaghetti western. Also, when we’re increasingly dealing with shooters who have a mental illness, they aren’t “bad guys”, they are deranged. They are sick in the head. That changes the moral dimension.
The Good
I thought the policy proposal was quite good, and as we showed a few days ago, is very much in line with what people think will work. Recruiting Former Representative Asa Hutchinson to spearhead the effort was a stroke of brilliance. By suggesting we bring more police officers, retired police or military, give them proper training and establishing clear and responsible standards, we will help keep law enforcement on our side when it comes to the legislative fight. Folks who can remember back to the 1994 assault weapons ban remember that Clinton included it in an overall crime bill that put 100,000 new law enforcement officers on the street. This cost us the support of the Fraternal Order of Police, which was a huge blow in the fight to stop it. The police were basically bought. I suspect the White House will try to similar maneuver, though with mental health being the focus instead of crime. Despite much criticism about the timing, I think NRA’s timing was good, as the media is now covering this stories as people are starting to get with family. I just wish NRA had put more emphasis on the policy, and gotten to it more quickly, after briefly framing the issue (and some of the framing in Wayne’s speech, like explaining contexts in which no one argues guns are a bad thing, was genuinely good).
It is easy to Monday Morning quarterback. I can sympathize with the fact that Wayne LaPierre likely didn’t get any sleep this entire week, and under those circumstances, it can be difficult to deliver your A game. Also, having the entire media, the White House, celebrities, talking heads, fair weather conservatives, and the left-wing activists all playing pile on is tiring and demoralizing. The death threats probably didn’t help either. But I firmly believe that Wayne’s style and rhetoric is sorely in need of an update, and after a week of taking a beating, I was looking for something different, and I didn’t quite get it.
Those of you who want to watch NRA’s press conference can watch online via either the NRA or NRA News Facebook pages, on NRA.org, or on NRANews.com.
If you can’t tune in because you’re at work, then I’ll live blog the press conference here. (Sadly, this does mean I’m missing the gun control debate between PA Rep. Daryl Metcalfe and Sen. Daylin Leach, a showdown that would no doubt call for popcorn and a drinking game.)
We’re having a few buffering hiccups already in these last five minutes before the scheduled start time. Hopefully NRA has the capacity to stream something like this to such a major audience.
Damn it! The press conference has been bumped until 11am. I could have listened to the Leach-Metcalfe debate. Of course, then I probably would have been drunk for the NRA press conference.
The press conference room is packed based on the NRA News feed. Lots of reporters are taking pictures of how packed the room is. That’s interesting if it’s news even to them.
We just had a two minute warning from Andrew.
NRA President David Keene comes first. He’s a great spokesman.
He jumps right into the discussion that parents are concerned about how to stop shootings. He’s going to turn it over to Wayne LaPierre. He said they aren’t taking questions, but will next week via normal outlets.
Wayne starts out talking about the concern for victims. He notes that NRA didn’t comment because of respect for families. He says they must speak, and that as much as the anger is directed at NRA, no one has talked about protecting children right now in a way that “we know works.”
He notes that we have gun free school zones, put out releases about them, and post signs about them in a way that shows criminals can face no consequences. He’s highlighting that we pay to put armed guards for power plants, sports stadiums, and politicians, yet we, as a society, have decided to leave them defenseless.
We have a Code Pink infiltrator getting in the way of Wayne. The Code Pink protestor is getting more attention since he’s being allowed to scream. The security didn’t remove the guy early enough.
Wayne is highlighting that federal prosecutions of gun crimes are down by 40%.
Wayne now says the media is trying to hide a dirty secret that there are violent video games. He highlights a game called Kindergarten Killers that’s been online for 10 years.
Now he’s talking hurricanes and natural disasters. He then cites music videos that show violence – but who is airing music videos these days? He says that this stuff is the worst form of pornography.
He says that these issues bring cruelty into homes. He says that kids witness 16,000 murders in media by the time they reach 18. He says that the media is to blame.
Another Code Pink protester with credentials. She started screaming from the beginning. Now the media is interrupting Wayne on the protests. And he then starts attacking the media again. This is clearly a speech meant for NRA members & gun owners who support the policies of NRA members.
He’s also going after misreporting on the power of ammunition and firearms.
He does say that the police were prompt. Ummm…20 minutes?
Wayne says that parents need to be personally involved in schools. They need to be invested in school security. He says that only good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns. But he points out that people who want to call 911, the good guy with the gun could be closer.
He points out that society views guns good in the hands of law enforcement, so they should just acknowledge that it’s guns in the hands of good guys that make the difference.
He goes back to a statement after Virginia Tech where he called for armed security in schools. He notes that if Adam Lanza could have been challenged by a qualified armed security person that maybe he could have saved lives. He notes that teachers and the principal had to sacrifice their lives in order to try and save kids, and that leaving them unarmed forces the sacrifice onto them.
He goes after Obama for scrapping school security grants in the budget. He asks if foreign aid could pay for a police officer in every school. He notes that there are plenty of people who make a corps of security plan options – retired police, military, emergency personnel, etc.
He acknowledges that local budgets are strained, but their dedication is there. He calls on Congress to pay for armed police officers in every single school in the country. He suggests they do it right now so kids return to armed security after the holiday break.
He says that schools should be planning meeting with parents to talk about these security ideas. He notes that every school is different, so the plans might look different.
NRA, as the top instructor, is highlighting their law enforcement training programs and offering them to communities. He notes that NRA did use these training programs to help in WWII. He says they are developing a new model call National School Shield. It’s going to focus on many facets – access to schools and teacher training.
They have tapped former Rep. Asa Hutchinson to lead the National School Shield. NRA will pay for it. Schools get it free of charge. No money required by schools or communities to get the materials to get them talking about how to secure their school.
Wayne notes that we should be securing our schools at least as much as sports stadiums.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been in the room where NRA is hosting this event, it can hold well over 1,000 people.
Rep. Hutchinson is speaking now, but the press is trying to yell at Wayne over them.
He notes that parents aren’t confident in school safety anymore, and that he’s bringing together security experts to put together serious recommendations that doesn’t just focus on armed security.
He says the focus is to come up with a model security plan that schools can pick and choose to fit everything for urban schools to small, rural schools.
He notes that the plan won’t be focused completely on armed guards. Hutchinson notes that there are already basic models in the public and private sphere – Pres. Clinton backed a police in schools program and his own son participates in a group of dads that actually provides extra security to playgrounds and schools in the community.
David Keene is back. He says that Andrew will be around next week to answer press questions. He also says he will be available to press next week. Reporters tried yelling over him. The text of speeches will be posted today.
Sebastian will work on a post later with a full analysis and reflection on today’s press conference.
Bloomberg’s band of criminal mayors have all signed a letter to the President asking him to ban semi-automatic firearms.
You know what this means, right? It’s time to add your local MAIG mayors to your letter-writing list. Only, instead of making the generic pleas to not support gun control, ride their butts about why they sent letters to the White House calling on Obama to ban your firearms.
Remember, most of the mayors don’t know that Bloomberg is signing their names to letters to Washington & in newspaper advertisements. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t expressly approve it, their signature appears on the letter. Hold them accountable.
Asked if he has publicly changed his mind like Sen. Bob Casey on the topic of banning semi-automatic firearms, Governor Tom Corbett spoke out and made clear that his position is that mental illness is the underlying common issue in many mass attacks.
He made clear that he does not support state action on banning semi-automatic rifles, but acknowledges that the main debate will be at the federal level. He says flat out that banning guns won’t make people safer.
See this from Brownells. The panic buying is good, I think, because it’s encouraging manufacturers to run flat out as fast as they can. If there’s a ban with grandfathering, it’ll be essentially meaningless because there will be too many of them out there. If there’s no grandfathering, there will be so many of them out there, it’ll be hard to argue they aren’t in “common use.” If the Court was serious about that test, none of what we’re threatened with should stand. But it could be years before we get to the Supremes, and who knows if the Court will change.