I don't think any of the legislation has a chance of getting through. The strongly Tea Party-tinted House, already stung by MSM and Democratic operatives trying to paint them with blood, are unlikely to budge from their core values. In the Democratic-led Senate, a lot of those Dems are up for re-election in 2012, and I think we as a culture and a political lobby can guarantee that a gun-control vote is political suicide. [NOTE TO THE LOONY LEFT: "Political suicide" means that the politician in question will be voted out of office; not that we'll stand by and force him to drink Kool-Aid]
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The antigun push will follow established strategy, going after whatever the gun grabbers think they can get. In this case, it will be standard capacity magazines. I suspect there will be a lot of hot air, but in reality this is a fight no one wants. All the polling numbers indicate that there has indeed been a sea change in public attitude...the American people do not believe gun control works. Rather, the public, voting with their feet with CCW permits, believes that guns are more the answer than the problem. And with the rise of the Internet and alternative media, the gun control fellow travelers in the MSM no long have the power to drive public opinion. In fact, this most recent "blame the Republicans/Tea Party/talk radio/conservative bloggers" MSM obsession may have driven the final nails in the old media's credibility coffin.
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The gun control "lobby" itself is in shambles and is seizing onto the Arizona shootings as its last chance to get enough money in the doors to keep Brady's Paul Helmke in brie and sherry. Helmke's performance on Fox News over the weeks was breathtaking — he couldn't have been any happier, smirking for the camera, grinning like the fool he clearly is.
Read Politico's piece on the absence of support for additional gun control, which comes to the same conclusions I have from the opposite side of the table. Obviously we have to be on top of this, but it's clear that the November elections scared the crap out of the Democrats, who actually believed there were still one or two Americans who supported their progressive agenda. They know now they're out there all by themselves, and that a gun control fight spearheaded by the Democratic establishment would make them pine for the "good old days" of the 2010 Shellacking come 2012. [NOTE TO THE LOONY LEFT: "Shellacking" is a phrase used by the President and does NOT indicate carpet bombing, wholesale slaughter, blah blah. blah]
Just my opinion...your mileage may vary...
Well put Michael...
ReplyDeleteDon't get lulled into thinking that we need to fear only the Dems. Or that the Tea Party folks will protect us. We have LOTS of Republicans that I wouldn't trust further than I could throw them (that is a metaphor by the way LOL). Eric Cantor comes to mind as he threw Ohio candidate Rich Iott under the bus (a metaphor also).
ReplyDeleteI see that one of the house Repuklicans Rep. Peter King is ready to stab us in the back (yes it's a metaphor again). What's that old saying...Et Tu, Brute
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/11/peter-king-strict-gun-control_n_807323.html
New York Republicans are only useful to pump the numbers to majority status. That state is a lost cause. Glad I moved.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Michael. Spot on. Remain vigilant, of course, but this issue has a stake in its heart and any attempt to resurrect it will bring on the beheading, burning and scattering of the ashes.
(note: this is a metaphor, it is not intended to incite violence against Vampire-Americans.)
The guy (read lunatic)could have achieve the same results with a car. probably more effectively.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Fort Hood shooter did what he did we where all told "not to jump to conclusions" by Obama and the media. Too bad they wont follow their own advice in this case.
ReplyDeletejust incase, i ordered 5 more pmags... noticed several favs for ar and ak already backordered at uncle larry's... figured i better order before the price goes up again!... and as my grandma said long ago.. "getem before the hoarders get em"!
ReplyDeleteI don't think we'll see any additional federal regulation out of this. What we will see is those of us in anti-2A states will languish longer because of the rally cries this incident will create. And since we don't have the political power or powerful voices (hey Michael, you could help us here...) to drown out the cries, we're stuck. Of course, according to Justice Stevens I should just move. Tell that to my employer.
ReplyDelete...I mean Justice Breyer. I get those guys confused every time.
ReplyDeleteYou can always count on the Brady Bunch and the other politicians to come out and dance in the victim's blood.
ReplyDeleteI think even most liberals are realizing the country has changed and gun control is a suicide issue them. Only the truly committed single-issue partisans like McCarthy will push for it.
If the maniac had a sword instead of a pistol, he might have killed/injured even MORE folks. A sword never runs out of ammo and doesn't jam.
ReplyDeleteLet's ban steak knives next ~;-(
Remember the UK?
YEP NJ Larry...Peter King...who ran GUNS to the IRA in Ireland, wants to keep guns in the hands of the Elite in this country...
ReplyDeleteKing, what a despicable RINO POS.
Michael Bane.
ReplyDeleteWords have consequences.
You are also part of the diatribe of noise on the subject. You use the same phrases you accuse the 'other side' using, you just change the names. 'Loony Left and gun grabbers' and the like.
You say OH I did not invent the phrase so and so said it first.
Really? This is not the 5th grade. You are an adult and appear to have enough gray hair that you should get what I am saying.
Just saying. Noise is noise, no matter where it comes from. We need a conversation among the people, not mouth pieces on the left or right.
Right now I feel I can not have a conversation with anyone on either side.
As an American is am disappointed in us. We should strive for debate, yes! Should we strive for agreement but we may only find common ground.
Diversity is the spice of these United States but too much of one thing is too much.
Hey BJ... It is a free country, and might I suggest voting with your feet, and tune into the kumbaya Blog... might be less offensive to you... just sayin...
ReplyDeleteKeep a careful eye on the mag ban. I think the grabbers think this one doesn't have a lot of active defenders and may try to pry it in.
ReplyDelete"Hey, after a ban the nutcases will only be able to kill 8 or 10 people before reloading." Yea, that's a win.
Moosejaw...
ReplyDeleteI had a good laugh at your post. I had written a couple of paragraphs in my earlier post about King and the IRA. Then re-read it and figured that no-one would either remember or care. So I deleted it from my post. See I used to hang out at Gaelic Park in the Bronx, notorious for the fundraisers collecting for the IRA at hurling matches (along with cute Irish lasses, the main reason I was there ! ). You absolutely nailed it when you connected the dots on Peter King. He used to be quite proud of his association with the IRA and folks like Bernadette Devlin. Now you never hear a word about that history. Glad to see that someone else knows his sorted background. And this is the guy who is now Chairman of the Homeland Security committee. What a joke.
Why don't we just ban crazy people and be done with the problem.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be so quick to write off a new attack on our "2-A" rights. I can see a gain in momentum in attacking them, in the wake of the Tucson shooting. The gun-haters are always laying in wait. They are seizing this opportunity to attack guns, ammo and magazines, just as they always have. They are also using this opportunity to attack out "1-A" rights, but back to guns.
ReplyDeleteTodays local paper has a large 1/4-page article by Roger Lowenstein, a "Bloomberg News" columnist, that rationalizes, from his unqualified pointof view, why we should ban semi-automatic "weapons". The article includes all of the old-but-now-renewed cliches and insults to gun owners, etc. Even though the argument is tired and old and above all, absolutely without basis, many people are swayed to re-examine them out of emotion alone. I submit Congressman Pete King as an example. His recent proposed legislative solution to protect elected officials is so obviously un-workable that it is laughable. He none the less put it forward because emotion often trumps common sense. We need to repectfully refute these new calls for an erosion, or complete loss of our rights, by countering with facts and data. All of us need to dust-off our notes as the debate is beginning again. Remember, it was our presentation of the facts that drove gun control off the radar over the past few years, along with the NRA's relentless efforts and many other noble civil rights activists. We need to focus on the real root cause and solve that problem. The root cause of the Tucson shooting had a first and last name. The solution is holding individuals personally responsible for their actions. This may also include the succession of family members, the local police department, or any others that knew of this guys problems and infractions, but chose to avoid the direct and personal responsibility aspect. They should also be held reponsible, rather than the public at large.
We also need to be aware of "agency actions" attacking our rights, rather than legislation. Such actions are not subject to oversight by the Congress, they only require the action itself, or a signature by the Chief Executive. This is an "easy-out" for those congressmen that are on the anti-gun side.
The progressive / liberals / Democrats can never bring themselves to accept personal responsibility for anything. According to them, it's always someone else's fault, or it's all of our fault. That, in and of itself, is a major root-cause for many of our nation's problems. We'll save that discussion for another day too.
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