I have to admit, I did a double take when I saw this headline come across my Google Alerts: “Rifle association hit by polls, forced to cancel national event.” I was concerned that something horrible had happened overnight or during the morning, ahead of the NRA Annual Meeting, forcing them to cancel everything (as happened in Denver the year Columbine happened). But no, it turns out this article is about the National Rifle Association of India. The problem? A national “all India” match came too close to election day, and apparently election day has special consequences for gun owners in India:
It has had to cancel an all-India shooting event because its members received notices from the police asking them to surrender their weapons during the election period.
This, despite the Commission (EC) exempting the sports body from impounding its weapons during the poll season.
Indians have to surrender their firearms during elections? We’re somewhat fortunate in this county that such a thing would be impractical (where would they put them all?) because I could totally see the antis trying to do something like that here.
I seem to remember reading an article that claimed it was once common in certain Swiss cantons to go to the polls with your military-issue rifle. The rifle was a sign of your citizenship.
It has to do with the historically absolutely corrupt nature of Indian elections,, polling-places, and various “get-out-the-vote” efforts have a long history of bribery, corruption, and payola, including strong-armed votes and kidnapping – and also the use of inflamed religious passions AT the polling-place.
Basically uninformed/misinformed illiterate peasants voting for a party-line ticket about which they’ve been lied-to for years while being promised riches-on-earth – sorta like Democrats everywhere.
Wait, You start talking about India, and continue on about Allegheny County in PA.
Last week an off-shore co-worker was REQUIRED to take Thursday and Friday off “for the elections”. I do wonder if it was more about allowing employees shelter through any violence than with ensuring turnout.
Wasn’t it that idiot Peter King in NY who wanted a law making it illegal to have a firearm within 2000 feet of a lot of politicians and federal officials?
He’d probably LOVE this kind of crap.
Impractical never stopped them. They want 100 million people to lay down on a shrink’s couch before buying a gun.