Chris B. said "I'm so glad it is not up to you who gets to have guns in this country. It is the gun grabbers and liberals like you that want a disarmed public "to make it safe". Our Forefathers gave us the 2nd ammendment for many good reasons. I'm a proud NRA member, gun owner, hunter, competive target shooter and freedom enthusiast and will fight your kind till the day I die and so will millions of other gun owners! "
You have no idea who I am, or what positions I do support. What you've pretty much seen in this thread so far are my objections to the typical falsehoods bandied about in 'gun threads', and in doing so I've made an effort to provide credible data and sources. I use to be an NRA member but I let my membership drop around the same time that Bush Sr did, when he objected to the NRA using the term 'jack booted thugs' when speaking of federal officers. I'm a former high power shooter, I still plink with the kids, but have never been much of hunter.
The vast majority of gun owners in this country are not members of the NRA. From 'Outdoor Life' a few years back:
http://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/gunsbowsammo/
shootingrot.html
Rot and Evil In the Universe of Firearms
by David Petzal
All is not well in the universe of firearms, and
what follows is sure not going to help matters any.
Andy Rooney has come to fame and fortune whining
at us about what bothers him. So, as an aspiring
curmudgeon, why shouldn't I give it a try? Here's
what currently cheeses me off in the wonderful
world of guns.
l. The trend toward super-powerful long-range
cartridges. I have no problem with these colossal
rounds until people take them out and shoot at
game at genuinely long range. In order to learn
to shoot at long range, you have to practice at
long range, and there are very few places you
can do this. Moreover, there are very few
shooters willing to practice at any range. The
result of people slinging lead from half a mile
is going to be missed game, wounded game, and an
even worse image for hunters than we already enjoy.
3. The NRA, for not endorsing President Bush
in 1992 on the grounds that he was not
wholeheartedly in support of them. It was a
very close election, and if more NRA members
had voted for Bush, we might have been spared
the most anti-gun President in our history.
On the other hand, we might also have missed
out on Monica Lewinsky.
6. Gun owners who leave firearms and ammo
where kids can get at them. No comment
necessary.
7. Varmint shooters who wear those nifty
T-shirts that show exploding prairie dogs
and other animals and carry catchy slogans
like "The Red Mist." Friends, I have news
for you. There are a lot of people who are
not thrilled with the wholesale shooting of
varmints, and not a few of them are hunters.
Forgive me for suggesting that you curb
your right to self-expression, but your
T-shirts are not helping any of us.
9. All the yahoos who believe that Article
II gives them the right to act like jerks in
public, preferably when the media is present.
Maybe it's not just shooters and hunters;
maybe we're a less polite society generally,
but I can't recollect when a group of people
has come off so poorly. I've gone to local
meetings where the antis looked respectable
(though a few of them were visibly fighting
down hysteria); but the hunters and shooters
looked like the local **** 's Angels chapter
had interbred with a pack of baboons-and they
acted like it. The same with letters and phone
calls. You may think politeness is dead, but
I have news for you: There have been a lot
of foul mouths speaking for Article II, and
now we're paying for them.
10. Members of the entertainment industry
who publicly deplore guns but who glorify
violence in their work, thus leading the
half-bright among their audiences to emulate
what they see on the screen. But with real
consequences. Take a bow, folks.
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