I couldn’t have asked for a better gift. First reaction is that this is at least an honest position. I agree most with Glenn Reynolds on this particular op-ed by the former Supreme Court Justice:
1. Calls to repeal the Second Amendment are, despite whatever gyrations the callers go through, tacit admissions that the Second Amendment bars sweeping gun control.
2. Good luck with that, we’re more likely to see an amendment banning abortion pass than one repealing the Second Amendment.
3. The Second Amendment, according to the Framers (and some Supreme Court dictum) recognizes a natural right; repealing the amendment doesn’t extinguish the right.
4. Nothing could be better for the GOP in 2018 and 2020 races than for the Dems to make this an issue.
I think this is right. It’s also a good time to rehash Charles C.W. Cooke’s take on it. The one thing that can save the GOP from its own incompetence, sloth, and back stabbing is the Democrats taking positions far outside the mainstream and that are politically untenable. I actually wish they wouldn’t, because I’d like to put some epic punishment on the GOP, but I fear their chief competitor needs it worse at the moment.
We need to regain our composure again here. Positions like this only help attain a moral victory.
The Florida GOP legislature needs to get punished and pushed toward repeal. How to do that while also allowing for someone to enter the primary who is actually competitive with the Dems?
We also need to set our sights on Rep. Brian Mast, an “A rated” GOP congresscritter who thinks an AWB is a hill worth dying on. He will most likely lose against an actual Dem this year anyway, we can only hope.
I don’t really know enough about Florida politics to know how best to punish the GOP. But I agree that any Republican who embraces gun bans either gets challenged or not endorsed.
I am in North Central Florida. Here is the issue:
My state senator not only voted against the new bans, but was actively pushing for open carry. He was simply outvoted.
I do not have a state representative, because my old one died, and will not be replaced until next election in November.
My governor is Scott, and his sellout ass is out of the Governor’s mansion due to term limits and is running against antigun Bill Nelson for the US Senate. I honestly don’t see a difference between Scott and Nelson. I don’t vote for Democrats, so I am going to leave that spot on the ballot blank.
Other than that, there is nothing I can do. The Republicans who voted for this are mostly from the left leaning counties near Orlando and Miami, where illegals and displaced New York liberals are shifting the state to the left.
It’s not really the Illegal Aliens. It’s more so the accumulation of the yearly averages from 2009-The Present Date,of 70,000-75,000 Puerto Rican transplants, fleeing the socialist utopia they created in Puerto Rico, moving into Florida, bringing their voting habbits with them, and recreating Puerto Rico in Florida.
My Uncle Frank lives in Florida, (Clearwater) and has told me; “Florida will be California-Blue after 2022 the latest”. I’ve talked about Gwen Graham, the Democrat Candidate for Florida’s 2018 Gubernatorial Election. She will be to Florida what Jim Florio, Jim McGreavy, and Jon Corzine were, and what Phil Murphy is now to New Jersey. Gwen Graham gets elected, and you guys are F***ed, from every political angle, let alone the 2nd Amendment.
Make sure that Rick Scott is defeated in the 2018 GOP Florida Senate Primary. If he’s the GOP Senate nominee, he will pull negative coattails down ballot, and destroy the Florida GOP, turning Florida into a “Carbon-Copy” of NJ.
I agree with you on the PR thing, but that is Central Florida. Miami is the Hatians, Cubans, and South Americans.
That is why I moved further north. The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was when I went o McDonald’s and the employees had to get the manager so I could order, because no one else spoke English.
Once Florida falls, we have been talking about moving to another state, maybe Georgia, Tennessee, or Utah. If gun control goes nationwide, maybe even leaving the country. Saint Martin, or St Kitts would be nice.
The GOP managed to “Flip” the old Democrat Blue-Wall States of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin in 2016 with Trump. If Florida does indeed flip to the Democrats, the GOP better be working on holding those States to turn them Red for good, and it can be done, as Trump actually didn’t need the Electoral College Votes of Florida to win in 2016.
Also, if not for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian 2016 Presidential Candidate, Trump would’ve won Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota and Nevada. Nevada and Colorado are by no means lost to the Democrats, and New Mexico, looking at the State overall, is getting very purple. Maine and New Hampshire are showing long-term shifts back to the GOP since 2010, and Minnesota looks like it’s gonna be a Republican State by and after 2020.
Also, the GOP needs to put it’s “big-boy” pants on, and start flipping Washington State and Oregon. Looking at the 2016 Election and local elected offices, Pierce, Skagit, Clallalm, Gray’s Harbor, Snohomish, and even Whatcom Counties in Washington State are quickly turning purple, with Pierce County showing signs of “redding” quickly. Oregon is quite libertarian outside of Portland too.
If there is a 3rd party candidate for senator you could vote for that person as a protest against the two morons.
A huge thank you to Stevens for bringing out the truth. The GOP couldn’t ask for a better gift. Now hopefully they can capitalize on it.
Every single GOP candidate for the Senate better be preparing mailers using his headline and emphasizing that their SCOTUS votes are the most important thing ever.
Unfortunately, the state level GOP appears to be rushing to outdo each other on crapping on the Second Amendment.
In FL and Vermont, they are just fine with “repealing” the Second Amendment for adults 18-20 years old. As is Trump.
Everyone ticked off at him is so because he slipped up and told the truth…
Just some more of that “amazing”! leadership we have come to expect, eh?
Imagine how easy this election cycle is going to be when it comes to creating attack ads1
“2. Good luck with that, we’re more likely to see an amendment banning abortion pass than one repealing the Second Amendment.”
Turns out that the political left guaranteeing women the right to dead babies is not as popular as the left once imagined it would be. On the other hand, women are arming themselves in increasing numbers, so that they can protect themselves, and their children.