Morning Report

Didn't go to the banquet last night trying to catch up on meetings. Spent some time earlier with Dave Kopel and Jeff Knox trying to get a handle on the politics. Short story is what you already know...we're surrounded by implacable enemies who, to some extent, are afraid of the political pressure we can bring to bear. That means unless something happens to hand the other side leverage, we're probably good until the 2010 midterm elections. Expect more posturing on the part of the Dem antigun fanatics, but they're not going to risk the election.

The run on guns and ammo rattled some of our enemies' world view...portions of the other side actually believe the crap they dribble out to the media, and it's shocked them pretty badly to discover that America really is Gun Nation. The crowds here have all been record-breaking, to the extent that on the first day fire marshals had to limit escalator access because the huge number of people headed into the show. One really positive note is the unprecedented number of people attending the NRA Grassroots Workshops. 

There is a fear that the "cry wolf" syndrome might blunt our edge; I said I agreed that is a valid issue, but that I thought on the whole the culture understands it's in a life-or-death battle with this administration. 

Interestingly enough, I think this has been a very positive Members' Meeting...there's less fear than I saw back in December, and I think that's because we're in the fight now and we've scored some early points.