Cultural vs. Political Battles

Let me just touch on this subject a little more. In the years I've been on the front lines of Gun Wars, the single most frequent question I've gotten from Our Side is, "Why don't the antis and/or media tell the truth?"

It's an interesting question because it shows that Our Side doesn't truly understand the battlefield. We think we're in a debate; we think that if we win the debate — do more comprehensive studies, present more compelling numbers, more clearly state our case, etc. — the majority of the public will sway to our arguments.

Our opponents understand that this war is about as far from a debate as you can get and remain in the same universe. It's not about facts; it's about convincing the great middle class that guns are bad. So what if you lie if the lie is parroted by useful idiots (to borrow a term from the old USSR) like Katie Couric then retracted on page 46 of the New York Times — if anybody bothers to retract it at all?

That's why you're seeing moronic remarks on the Tyler shooting like this AP wire story in the Kansas City Star this AM:

Tyler police spokesman Don Martin said Monday that gun owners should carefully weigh the risks before intervening in a shooting crime.

"We don't want citizens to go out there and get involved in situations if they don't have to because they don't have the training that the officers do," he said.

Kristen Rand, legislative director for the pro-gun control Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C., said the Tyler shooting last Thursday shows that criminals are undeterred by people potentially carrying concealed weapons. All but four states allow permits for carrying concealed handguns.

This is the Sound Byte War, folks. We don't need another million dollar study on how gun ownership does not cause cancer. We need full time spokespeople who are out there every day hammering the media with OUR sound bytes! I can't believe that we DON'T have such people! We should be raising holy hell!