Category: Anti-Gun Folks

I’m guessing, based on this article, that AHSA is done acting like a pro-gun group, and has actively decided to come out as an attack dog of the anti-gun faction of the Democratic Party.

NRA’s right wing attack dogs have been having quite a time this past week trying to weave a web of deception designed to discredit me and the leadership of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). In my recent diaries at Daily Kos (here and here), I have carefully laid out how AHSA, a new progressive gun rights organization, tapped into the concern of rural hunters and shooters over NRA’s failure to address access to public land and environmental issues resulting in a stunning NRA defeat in the hotly contested 2006 Missouri US Senate race. I’m sure many Kos readers were as surprised as I was that NRA, once again, acknowledged AHSA’s campaign made the difference for Claire McCaskill in that key 2006 Senate race.

Apparently we bloggers are now not only on the take, but also NRA’s “right wing attack dogs”.  Forgive me for a minute while I check myself for fleas.  They are correct that AHSA’s campaign was recognized in that link, but if you follow it, NRA basically calls them liars:

AHSA’s political activities are predictable when you consider its primary goals are to discredit the NRA and advance the interests of anti-gun politicians. AHSA`s first effort was in the 2006 Missouri Senate race. AHSA used direct mail to mislead sportsmen and distort the landmark work NRA was doing to protect millions of acres of wetlands in Missouri. While NRA was working with legislators to protect the 100-year flood plain in Missouri from development and ensure that land would be available to hunters, AHSA produced direct mail falsely claiming the NRA had “sold out hunters” so that they could mislead sportsmen into voting for anti-gun candidate Claire McCaskill (See Who Needs Another Alternative To NRA for more information.) Unfortunately, AHSA’s lies were at least partly to blame for McCaskill’s election and the loss of Sen. Jim Talent, a valuable friend of gun owners and sportsmen.

Read the whole thing.  Pretty clearly AHSA is attempting to get progressive street creds by pitting their “progressive” yin to NRA’s “right wing” yang.  I would note that there’s another group that uses this exact tactic, known as Gun Owners of America, and AHSA would fall all over themselves if they were half as good at playing this card from the left as GOA is at playing it from the right.

Their leaders call our first responders “jack booted thugs”; they fight efforts to restrict armor piercing handgun ammunition that threaten cops; they oppose background checks on all sales at gun shows; they opposed voluntary industry efforts to provide free child safety locks with all new guns sold; they oppose efforts to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists; they want to repeal restrictions on keeping guns out of bars and restaurants when liquor is served; they want to force employers to allow guns in the work place; they oppose efforts of our nation’s big city mayor’s to stop illegal gun traffickers ;and, incredibly, they want to criminalize efforts by law enforcement to share crime gun trace information. This is just a short list that more than justifies labels like “right wing whackos”.

Wait, am I reading something by AHSA or the Brady Campaign?  You guys aren’t even pretending anymore.   Face it Schoenke, the gig is up.  You’re another gun control group, and it couldn’t be more obvious.  Everyone should read the whole sorry thing.

We must prevent the anti-gunners from creating a time paradox.

I don’t know if anyone noticed, but Bitter’s blog was featured in yesterday’s NRA Outrage of the Week:

But when NRA-ILA puts the word out that AHSA is an anti-gun front group, these “sportsmen” get a little sensitive, calling ILA staff “right-wing attack dogs” and calling gun owners who support the right to own firearms to defend themselves “self-defense whackos.” (To see the comments Ricker made on a popular pro-gun blog, please click here.)  But the truth is, AHSA and its anti-gun leadership have supported anti-gun lawsuits and gun bans, and its leaders have given money to the Brady Campaign and to anti-gun politicians like John Kerry, Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, and Ted Kennedy.

Bitter has a post that devastates Riker’s assertion in her comments here:

At AHSA, we value quality over mere quantity and let me asure you there are plenty of very wealthy “progressive” gunowners out there who understand AHSA’s mission. You know, NRA in over 100 years has only signed up about 4 million of the 70 million gun ownres out there and it’s not like the other 66 million gun owners have not heard from the NRA- clearly a huge majority of gun owners have rejected NRA’s message. That leaves a huge market for a group like AHSA that has a more reasoned and rational approach.

Basically about 33 million people think they are members of NRA, but aren’t paying dues, which is what counts for membership numbers.  That leaves Bob’s pool of “progressive”gunowners much smaller than he thinks.  There’s never been a group that’s been able to seriously capitalize on disconcent with NRA.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, capitalizing on discontent from the right of NRA, GOA’s income from membership dues puts their numers at about 30,000.  I highly doubt AHSA will do any better, but maybe they can dupe enough folks that they can afford some digs that are a bit more swanky than a post office box in Fredrick, Maryland.

SayUncle puts a damper on their Brady Act anniversary celebrations:

1.4M? Sounds impressive. It’s 1.9% of all transactions. But how many were arrested? You know, for breaking the law because they were illegally purchasing guns? 1,400 were. And only 9,575 were even investigated. And only 135 were charged. 46% of rejections were due to felony convictions. 161K rejections were appealed and 57K of appeals were successful. (all data from the DOJ).

They have to lie.  It’s the only way they can win.

Yep… pretty much.

Apparently I’m now one of Wayne LaPerre’s right wing attack dogs.  I feel happy I managed to engage Bob Ricker in the comments over at Bitter’s.  Let’s look at some of what Bob had to say:

Me: So how many members are up to so far Bob?

Bob: More than enough to cause the “whackos” in the gun rights movement serious problems.

So we’re all “whackos” now eh?  AHSA claims to represent shooters.  I am a shooter, by most anyone’s definition.  They think I’m a whacko.

Bob: I don’t understand why you self defense whackos are so concerned about how AHSA elects its directors or our how the organizations finances work.

Because self-defense is oh so whacko.  Normal people have no desire for self-preservation!  Either way, the reason to be concerned is because it speaks to whether AHSA is a real grass roots organization, or a front to give anti-gun Democrats political cover to keep crapping all over your rights.  Good thing the plot didn’t work.  So Schoenke says on Kos:

And remember, NRA rarely acknowledges defeat. That’s why they lead off their attack on AHSA with references to old wins in the 1994 congressional elections and Bush’s win in 2000 despite his having lost the popular vote.  However, the NRA attack dogs fail to mention that Democrats did take back the Senate in 2000 by defeating pro-NRA candidates in Washington, Missouri, Michigan, Delaware and Florida.

I’m not even going to get into why none of these matter, but it’s good to see AHSA showing its true colors here, as a tool of the Democratic Party.  Keep digging guys, that hole of irrelvancy you’ve been working on isn’t quite deep enough.

“If somebody approach me wrong, I’m going to cold cock them.” – Mayor Nagin of New Orleans.

He gave the order to take honest people’s guns after Katrina, because they might perpetrate violence, you know.

Last week Traction Control did a great fisking of John Rosenthal, board member of American Hunters and Shooter Association (and also a founder of Stop Handgun Violence, a Massachusetts gun control group) claims of NRA lies.

Now Bitter rips apart another AHSA press release claiming all manner of things about the NRA.  Give both a read.  It’s important to make sure gun owners are not fooled by these shucksters.

Looks like they’ve updated their Board of Directors page, and what do you know, the good Professor isn’t on it.  One has to wonder whether he was quietly uninvited.  Perhaps Alex T. Riley has been abducted by aliens.

Hat tip to Armed and Safe and War on Guns for noticing the update.

SayUncle pointed to another anti-gun blog.  I went over and commented, and it would appear the site is moderated, and comments are not being approved.  Now it could be that the proprietor hasn’t gotten around to it yet, but feel free to go engage in some reasoned discourse of your own.