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How Anti-Gun Politicians Divide And Conquer Us
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
How Anti-Gun Politicians Divide And Conquer Us
By
Carla Howell, Libertarian for Governor, Massachusetts
How do Big Government Anti-Gun Politicians get the votes they need?
Divide and conquer.
They tell hunters that they support hunting.
They speak of the joys of going out into the wilderness with shotguns or fishing equipment so that everyone who's a hunter or a fisher or outdoorsman will think or feel that the politician is really one of them. The result? Hunters feel comfortable and safe voting for these anti-gun politicians.
They tell sports shooters that they support organized and competitive activities.
They speak fondly of the discipline and skill required to hit a bull's-eye. They sound impressed talking about the eye-hand coordination required to shoot skeet. They put their arm around the champions. The result? Sports shooters feel comfortable and safe voting for these anti-gun politicians.
They tell law enforcement officers that they support a well-trained, well-equipped police force.
Big Government Anti-Gun Politicians tell law enforcement officers they'll give them better weapons. They give tough talk about cracking down on street hoods and thugs. They'll talk about disarming criminals.
But they exercise their right to remain silent on the one issue that all working police officers know to be true: Armed citizens are safe citizens.
The non-gun community.
Many people in the non-gun community have no strong opinions about guns. They simply don't know much about them and maybe don't care much either.
Big Government Anti-Gun Politicians tell the non-gun community that they want to get guns off the street. That they want to protect children from unregistered guns. That they want to make streets safer. They'll couch their anti-gun talk in terms of "gun safety". Again and again and again. And they'll talk about "gun safety" to soccer moms, to stay-at-home moms, and professional moms. So the non-gun community feels comfortable and safe voting for the anti-gun politicians.
Divide and conquer.
Anti-gun Politicians say they're not against the use of firearms for all purposes. They say they're against the use of firearms for some purposes. Like self-defense.
Anti-gun politicians claim they'd never dream of prohibiting guns. They're only trying to control guns.
Anti-gun politicians claim they're not prohibiting guns. They're registering them. They're regulating. They're restricting. They're licensing. They're taxing. They're suing -- and allowing law suits against honest guns owners, gun manufacturers, and gun dealers.
The Gun Prohibitionists tell us they're not prohibiting your guns; they're prohibiting other people's guns.
They say they're not prohibiting gun ownership, they're prohibiting buying and selling.
They're not prohibiting guns; they're prohibiting bullets and gun reloading materials and gunpowder and holsters.
They're not prohibiting guns. They're merely requiring people who own guns to have child-proof trigger locks. And criminal-proof homes so their guns can never be stolen.
Divide and Conquer.
They say they're not prohibiting gun manufacture. They're merely prohibiting manufacture of certain bad guns, wrong guns, or dangerous-looking guns.
They're not prohibiting gun manufacture. They're just prohibiting how guns can be transported to gun stores.
They're not prohibiting gun possession. They're merely prohibiting how you carry it when you carry it, and where you carry it.
Chapter 180 is not prohibiting your guns. It's merely prohibiting other people's guns.
Anti-gun politicians say they're not prohibiting guns in your town. They're prohibiting guns in some other town.
They're not prohibiting gun owners who can get a statement from their doctor saying that they're sane. They're prohibiting gun owners who can't get a statement from their doctor saying that they're sane. Or who refuse such indignity.
They're not introducing new gun laws right at the moment. They're calling for stepped up enforcement of draconian anti-gun laws already on the books.
Divide and conquer. That's the Big Government Anti-gun strategy for gun prohibition.
But to Divide gun owners is to Conquer gun owners.
To take away one gun right is to set the stage for taking away every gun right.
To infringe once on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms is to infringe again and again. And render the Second Amendment meaningless.
To register firearms is to set the stage for confiscation of all firearms.
Divide and conquer worked in Canada where handgun ownership is now a felony.
Divide and conquer worked in England where they virtually disarmed the population.
Divide and conquer worked in Australia where gun owners were forced to surrender 640,381 personal firearms. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fine handguns, shotguns, and rifles were destroyed.
The Anti-Gun politicians who are taking someone else's gun rights today will go after yours tomorrow.
Don't buy the lie.
Tell the truth. Vote the truth.
Gun ownership saves lives. The Second Amendment keeps us safe.
The only way to make our gun rights safe is to vote for politicians who oppose all violations of the Second Amendment. All infringements of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
The only way to make our gun rights safe tomorrow is to vote for 100% pro-gun candidates today. Small government, 100% pro-gun candidates who will repeal the anti-gun laws in Massachusetts and who will restore the Second Amendment.
Governor Carla Howell will veto every anti-gun law. Governor Carla Howell will work tirelessly to dismantle anti-gun laws and regulations. Governor Carla Howell will work to restore the Second Amendment.
Libertarian Carla Howell (www.carlahowell.org) is the only pro-gun candidate for Governor in Massachusetts. Carla Howell is also the Chair of the Committee for Small Government, sponsor of 2002 Massachusetts ballot Question #1 to End the State Income Tax.
http://www.gunowners.org/wv30.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By
Carla Howell, Libertarian for Governor, Massachusetts
How do Big Government Anti-Gun Politicians get the votes they need?
Divide and conquer.
They tell hunters that they support hunting.
They speak of the joys of going out into the wilderness with shotguns or fishing equipment so that everyone who's a hunter or a fisher or outdoorsman will think or feel that the politician is really one of them. The result? Hunters feel comfortable and safe voting for these anti-gun politicians.
They tell sports shooters that they support organized and competitive activities.
They speak fondly of the discipline and skill required to hit a bull's-eye. They sound impressed talking about the eye-hand coordination required to shoot skeet. They put their arm around the champions. The result? Sports shooters feel comfortable and safe voting for these anti-gun politicians.
They tell law enforcement officers that they support a well-trained, well-equipped police force.
Big Government Anti-Gun Politicians tell law enforcement officers they'll give them better weapons. They give tough talk about cracking down on street hoods and thugs. They'll talk about disarming criminals.
But they exercise their right to remain silent on the one issue that all working police officers know to be true: Armed citizens are safe citizens.
The non-gun community.
Many people in the non-gun community have no strong opinions about guns. They simply don't know much about them and maybe don't care much either.
Big Government Anti-Gun Politicians tell the non-gun community that they want to get guns off the street. That they want to protect children from unregistered guns. That they want to make streets safer. They'll couch their anti-gun talk in terms of "gun safety". Again and again and again. And they'll talk about "gun safety" to soccer moms, to stay-at-home moms, and professional moms. So the non-gun community feels comfortable and safe voting for the anti-gun politicians.
Divide and conquer.
Anti-gun Politicians say they're not against the use of firearms for all purposes. They say they're against the use of firearms for some purposes. Like self-defense.
Anti-gun politicians claim they'd never dream of prohibiting guns. They're only trying to control guns.
Anti-gun politicians claim they're not prohibiting guns. They're registering them. They're regulating. They're restricting. They're licensing. They're taxing. They're suing -- and allowing law suits against honest guns owners, gun manufacturers, and gun dealers.
The Gun Prohibitionists tell us they're not prohibiting your guns; they're prohibiting other people's guns.
They say they're not prohibiting gun ownership, they're prohibiting buying and selling.
They're not prohibiting guns; they're prohibiting bullets and gun reloading materials and gunpowder and holsters.
They're not prohibiting guns. They're merely requiring people who own guns to have child-proof trigger locks. And criminal-proof homes so their guns can never be stolen.
Divide and Conquer.
They say they're not prohibiting gun manufacture. They're merely prohibiting manufacture of certain bad guns, wrong guns, or dangerous-looking guns.
They're not prohibiting gun manufacture. They're just prohibiting how guns can be transported to gun stores.
They're not prohibiting gun possession. They're merely prohibiting how you carry it when you carry it, and where you carry it.
Chapter 180 is not prohibiting your guns. It's merely prohibiting other people's guns.
Anti-gun politicians say they're not prohibiting guns in your town. They're prohibiting guns in some other town.
They're not prohibiting gun owners who can get a statement from their doctor saying that they're sane. They're prohibiting gun owners who can't get a statement from their doctor saying that they're sane. Or who refuse such indignity.
They're not introducing new gun laws right at the moment. They're calling for stepped up enforcement of draconian anti-gun laws already on the books.
Divide and conquer. That's the Big Government Anti-gun strategy for gun prohibition.
But to Divide gun owners is to Conquer gun owners.
To take away one gun right is to set the stage for taking away every gun right.
To infringe once on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms is to infringe again and again. And render the Second Amendment meaningless.
To register firearms is to set the stage for confiscation of all firearms.
Divide and conquer worked in Canada where handgun ownership is now a felony.
Divide and conquer worked in England where they virtually disarmed the population.
Divide and conquer worked in Australia where gun owners were forced to surrender 640,381 personal firearms. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fine handguns, shotguns, and rifles were destroyed.
The Anti-Gun politicians who are taking someone else's gun rights today will go after yours tomorrow.
Don't buy the lie.
Tell the truth. Vote the truth.
Gun ownership saves lives. The Second Amendment keeps us safe.
The only way to make our gun rights safe is to vote for politicians who oppose all violations of the Second Amendment. All infringements of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
The only way to make our gun rights safe tomorrow is to vote for 100% pro-gun candidates today. Small government, 100% pro-gun candidates who will repeal the anti-gun laws in Massachusetts and who will restore the Second Amendment.
Governor Carla Howell will veto every anti-gun law. Governor Carla Howell will work tirelessly to dismantle anti-gun laws and regulations. Governor Carla Howell will work to restore the Second Amendment.
Libertarian Carla Howell (www.carlahowell.org) is the only pro-gun candidate for Governor in Massachusetts. Carla Howell is also the Chair of the Committee for Small Government, sponsor of 2002 Massachusetts ballot Question #1 to End the State Income Tax.
http://www.gunowners.org/wv30.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
MMM Founder calls for "banning pump-action guns"
Submitted by: Michael Pelletier
Germany's timely action should serve as example for America
August 8, 2002
BY DONNA DEES-THOMASES AND CAROLYNNE JARVIS
So far this year, 10 Detroit-area children were killed by guns. How can we, as a community and a state, stop this rising tide of gun violence?
Other communities that have stood at the dangerous intersection of young people and guns provide a good lesson. The similarities between school shootings in Littleton, Colo., and Erfurt, Germany, are striking -- troubled kids, access to guns and unbearable tragedy. Even more striking: the difference between the two countries' responses.
In Littleton, two teenagers gunned down 13 schoolmates and teachers before killing themselves. The law prohibited the underage Columbine High School killers from owning their private arsenal, including a semiautomatic weapon. But the consistent failure of state legislatures or the federal government to implement strong enforcement mechanisms -- like universal background checks, the licensing of gun owners and firearm registration -- made it easy for them to get their guns. All it took was a friend to pick up the murder weapons at a local gun show -- a friend who later testified that she never would have bought the guns if she had been subject to a background check.
In the Erfurt case, Germany's gun laws were also insufficient to keep firearms out of the hands of a disturbed youth. Despite a history of troubles at school, a 17-year-old was legally authorized to own the 9mm handgun and pump-action rifle that he used to kill 17 people, including students, teachers, a policeman and himself. He obtained a German firearms license with relative ease -- no psychological examination required.
But while nothing has happened three years after the Columbine High killings, seven weeks after the Erfurt shooting, the German parliament passed legislation that tightens the rules on gun ownership. The new laws don't preclude private ownership of guns, they just include common-sense measures: raising the age of ownership for firearms from 18 to 21; requiring that people under 25 seeking to purchase a gun pass a psychological examination; and banning pump-action guns.
This measured response to a horrifying crime is exactly what the United States failed to do in Columbine's wake. Yes, early on, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that would close the infamous gun-show loophole and require background checks for all gun sales at these events. But that modest effort withered in the House. More recently, Senate leaders, including John McCain, R-Ariz., have introduced new legislation to close the loophole, but it's likely that these bills will suffer the same fate.
Meanwhile, gun shows have become a reliable source of weapons used in crime and terrorism. In Michigan, Ali Boumelhem, linked to the terrorist organization Hezbollah, was convicted Sept. 10 of conspiring to smuggle guns and ammunition to Lebanon. Federal agents testified they saw him buying weapons at three gun shows.
At the state level, stronger gun legislation is caught in a tug-of-war between widespread public support and gun industry opposition. While states such as California and Illinois have imposed tougher gun laws and defeated efforts to loosen gun regulation, the majority have done little. Even Colorado, home to the Columbine tragedy, failed to act -- until outraged voters tightened gun-show regulations by referendum.
Some Michigan legislators, spurred by a well-funded gun industry lobby, plan to introduce legislation in the lame-duck session after the November elections that would allow concealed weapons in theaters, sports arenas and other public venues where they are currently banned. At the same time, they are blocking the introduction of legislation that would enable prosecution of illegal gun traffickers by mandating the tracing of all crime guns to identify when and where they crossed from the legal to the illegal market.
The daily litany of gun violence kills nearly 30,000 Americans, including 1,200 Michigan citizens, each year and seriously injure at least three times that many. The incredible ease with which guns are available helped give the United States the highest rate of gun violence in any developed country in the world. Our attitude towards guns and gun violence is shockingly casual. And as a nation, we are continuing to pay the price.
Nearly 90 Americans will die in our neighborhoods from gun violence, including suicides, today. And tomorrow, and the day after that.
If we want to bring a stop to the daily drumbeat of gun violence, we must learn from the quick German response.
DONNA DEES-THOMASES is the founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Million Mom March. CAROLYNNE JARVIS is executive director of the Lansing-based Michigan Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence. Write to them in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI 48226.
http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/eguns8_20020808.htm
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"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
8/7/2002
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The shooting rampage that sparked the formation of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Million Mom March is fading into memory, as is the gathering of 750,000 gun-violence prevention activists on the National Mall on Mother's Day 2000.
But like other chapters nationally, the L.A. area Million Moms continue to stay active, the Los Angeles Times reported Aug. 5, lobbying lawmakers, raising money, and recruiting new members.
"Social movements are like relationships: They are a lot easier to start than to maintain," said Valley chapter President Virginia Classick. "It takes a great deal of energy to keep moving forward, but we see ourselves as active participants in a process of social change."
The Valley chapter is part of a group of 25 California Million Moms groups that are lobbying Gov. Gray Davis to repeal a law that protects the gun industry from liability suits. In Michigan, Million Moms groups have worked to defeat gun-rights advocate Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.).
Some observers say the Million Moms are patterned after Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which has been effective in fighting drunk driving and underage drinking. But as Shikha Hamilton, president of the Detroit Moms chapter, noted, "It took them 22 years to change the culture of Americans. This is not a sprint; it's a marathon."
The Million Moms, merged last year with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, will continue to face opposition from the gun lobby and the growing pains associated with any new organization. But the group plans to address issues such as racial diversity in its membership and improved organizational structure in future conventions, workshops, and chapter meetings.
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/summaries/reader/0,2061,553234,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878