Anti-gun Gun Owners:Our Biggest Problem

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Winchester 73

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An interesting theory from an Ohio gun rights group.

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5548

Buckeye Firearms Association
Defending Your Gun Rights

Our Biggest Problem: Anti-gun Gun Owners
March 25,2008
By Gerard Valentino

The District of Columbia v. Heller case was argued before the United States Supreme Court just a few days ago. If the arguments were indicative of the final ruling, gun owners are in for the victory of our lifetime – or any lifetime. It will take months for the ruling to come down and as usual, different factions of gun owners are hoping for different outcomes.

Self-defense advocates and those who believe the 2nd Amendment affirms the right to carry a gun at all times for protection are hoping for a broad ruling that strikes down all restrictive gun bans.

There is another large faction of gun owners, however, who don’t really care whether the D.C gun ban is upheld. They are the type who live with their head in the sand and refuse to acknowledge they are part of the problem. Instead, they are either only interested in owning a gun for hunting, or only want a gun for home defense and don’t see a need to go through life armed.

While gun owners who believe in the right to bear arms for self-defense accept the right of hunters and other factions of gun owners to hold their beliefs, the opposite isn’t always the case. A visit to a recent hunting trade show exposed many of the hunting gun owners for being as agreeable to the confiscation of handguns, or ban on their ownership, as anyone from the anti-gun Brady gang.

Surely there are more hunters who are absolutists on the Second Amendment than there are those who don’t see government bans on handguns as an infringement on the right to bear arms. However, the latter group does damage to the pro-gun movement out of all proportion to their population.

It was the anti-gun hunting coalition who John Kerry tried to appeal to by scheduling his fake goose hunting trip in Ohio during the 2004 presidential election. Unfortunately, there are plenty of gun owners who fell for Kerry’s grandstanding and they gladly cast their vote in full knowledge of his past schemes to ban certain guns.

When the anti-gun establishment media can find one of the anti-gun gun owners it gives credence to the argument that there is such a thing as reasonable gun control. While most pro-gun advocates, which include the vast majority of hunters, know that gun control schemers won’t be happy until all guns are confiscated, the gullible among us who are willing to sacrifice someone else’s guns to protect there own are deluded into thinking their sports are safe.

Nothing can be further from the truth, however, since the anti-gunners want all our guns. But, much like there are traitors in every group and those willing to throw their brethren under the bus to protect their own interests, such is the case with gun owners as well.

It is unfortunate that the anti-gun establishment media can use our own disagreements against us but they will stop at nothing to see their ultimate goal of total gun confiscation through to the bitter end. That means eventually they will come for the simple hunting shotgun and hunting rifle just as sure as they will come for the supposedly more evil assault rifle or handgun.

Even the establishment media’s decision on what to call certain types of guns plays into their plan to divide gun owners and then conqueror us. Guns labeled Saturday night specials, assault weapons, or guns banned by their inexpensive cost are all spun as reasonable gun control and accepted by many gun owners.

In a move devoid of integrity or honesty, the anti-gun schemers decided to hide their gun confiscation plans behind the name of a pro-gun organization. The American Hunter’s and Shooter’s Association was created by a misguided cast of anti-gunners who knew if they hid their true intentions , and claimed to be a pro-gun group that favored reasonable gun control, they could help trick the establishment media.

The ASHA, however, failed in one critical area, they didn’t hide their true intent well enough and were caught by the pro-gun movement. Establishment media reporters were the first to fall for the ASHA con, and it was successful for the anti-gun movement since they were able to sell their group as pro-gun. Organizations like Buckeye Firearms Association weren’t fooled and called the ASHA exactly what it is, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Due to their willingness to use deception to fool gun owners into thinking the AHSA was a pro-gun organization, the anti-gunners were able to make headway. What was also disturbing is that there were a fair number of gun owners who believed AHSA’s rhetoric about reasonable gun control. The fact is, reasonable gun control is a myth and only used to get the camel’s nose under the tent.
It is a sad state of affairs that some gun owners, whether hunters, collectors or self-defense advocates are willing to allow restriction on the ownership of guns that aren’t used in their particular sport or hobby. To turn on each other when the going gets tough is what the anti-gun con men want gun owners to do since when unified, pro-gun advocates are an unstoppable political force. The power of our vote is the second greatest asset the gun movement possesses.

The first is often overlooked but is vitally important to our interests – the integrity shown by gun owners in fighting for our rights. Unlike the hysterical ravings of our anti-gun opponents, we stand on principle, have the knowledge that we’re right and can’t be shaken from our purpose.

Now it’s time to unify completely as we stand on the cusp of what will hopefully be the beginning of our golden age. When (if) the Heller decision reaffirms the Second Amendment as an individual right and strikes down the Washington D.C. gun ban, we can hopefully build on that and find ways to defeat a similar ban in my hometown of Chicago, get the San Francisco bans repealed and return the right of self-defense to millions of Americans.
We must do so together; otherwise, the anti-gun forces will exploit the breach.

Gerard Valentino is the Buckeye Firearms Association Central Ohio Coordinator, writes for the ValentinoChronicle.com and teaches the Ohio Concealed Carry class through Center Mass
 
Biggest problem?

This is gonna get merged - been there, done that already.

The biggest problem is that gun owners are divisive by nature. If it even starts to look like they're moving coherently toward a goal, someone comes up with something, and suddenly the whole movement fractures... Internet helps with communication, but at the same time, I think that it leads to more fracturing.
 
The biggest problem is that gun owners are divisive by nature.

Ain't that the truth.

It can be seen here every day in the large number of threads started to gripe about why some gun owner is an idiot and shouldn't be allowed to own a gun because he didn't meet your (not you bogie;)) standards of training...

It's pretty sad really, We are becoming our own worst enemy.
 
Divisive?

The biggest problem is that gun owners are divisive by nature.
What an odd thing to say.

Seems to me that owning a gun does not make anyone more self-absorbed than any other kind of "owner."

Part of the problem may be that "gun owners" have been raised to have principles and to "do the right thing" without compromise.

Whereas those who would subvert and subjugate are willing to compromise their "principles" (because, hey, who needs principles anyway) toward the attainment of some "common" goal where each may have some special interest in the outcome, those people with real principles understand the dangers of compromising them to "get a deal."

That lesson is hard to set aside.

Hmmm.

I hear an unfinished essay calling . . .
 
I don't think that people who own guns are especially "divisive," although there can't be any reasonable doubt that some "gun rights" groups thrive on divisiveness.

The thing is that most people who own guns probably don't think of themselves as "gun owners." They are ordinary people who own one or more firearms just as they own a fishing rod or two, a car or truck, or a television set. Guns sit somewhere on the periphery of their lives. I've known quite a few people like that and many of them are anti-gun and anti-Second Amendment because they've absorbed 30 or so years of horror stories--and because they have a rather low opinion of "gun owners" in general.

Some smaller number of people--but still quite a lot--enjoy using their firearms in one way or another, perhaps for hunting or plinking and maybe even have them tucked away in a drawer or closet with the vague thought that they're available for home defense just in case. In my own experience they're about evenly divided between those who own guns and those who consider themselves gun owners. Most of those I know think that gun control is a pretty good idea because they think that the last group is strident and threatening. These people don't think anyone really needs a black rifle or a magazine that holds more than a few rounds.

Gun owners who talk about wanting to own machine guns scare the hell out of both groups. They'd sooner see strict gun registration for everyone and every other gun control measure anyone could imagine.

These two groups of people who own guns have hot buttons just like those of the non gun owning public. With unerring instinct and extraordinary perversity, gun owners--people who define themselves in some way by their firearms and their drive to preserve the Second Amendment--find and press every single hot button.

And there's the last major group. These are the gun owners. They know their rights, know they're right, and know for sure that everyone else is a weasel, a wimp, a sheep, a wart on the planet Earth, and a yellow bellied coward or a Commie-sympathizing freedom-hating maggot. And that's for openers. This is not a good set of attitudes for making friends with other gun owners or the general public, but they don't want friends or need them because they have their principles. Other than that they are very likeable people. :)
 
There's a lot of folks who take "independence" to extremes

Darn that there freedom stuff....a little tryanny and repression is just fine:rolleyes:

Most gun owners (I know anyway) are just that....independant and self reliant. Maybe it's just my area...Pennsylvania...relatively rural.
 
I think those of us who consider ourselves firearms rights activists are probably a little more independent and a bit harder to organize.

The biggest problem to me is the lack of gun owners. For the most part if you aren't raised in a family that has a history with firearms/hunting it can be difficult to get into shooting. When I was ready to buy my first handgun I went to a guy that ran a barbershop/gun shop where I had my haircut while growing up and where my dad still goes. He asked me why I thought I should have a handgun. I tried to take one of the NRA classes I always heard so much about but couldn't find one within hours. Even know I'm in a rural area thats fairly pro-gun and I still find it very difficult to find a range to shoot. If you're not part of the club it can be hard to get in. With range access poor for most and generally getting worse I think we're going to see the number of shooters and new shooters drop.

I think getting new shooters to the range to get them to turn into shooters is our biggest challenge. Right now it costs me about $40 in range fees to take a new person shooting, and a little over an hour drive that sucks down $20 in gas. Thats $60 before I buy any ammo. Its a tough sell to convince someone this might be a fun hobby or that they can affordably practice self defense.

I do encounter gun owners who are willing to go with gun control or believe its a good idea but I don't think they're our biggest problem. The hard work has been done, they're on our side, they agree guns have some useful purpose. I can convince them of the rest and show them the war of attrition we face with gun control over time and generally win.
 
Many people are of the Dianne Feinstein attitude; I can have it but it's too dangerous for you to have. I'm a responsible ___ because I attended ___ University and have a triple major in ____ and belong to ______ golf club. Whereas you are blue collar and therefore probably are an irresponsible, incestuous, corn-dog-eating, drunken cretin and WE need to look out for you for YOUR own best interest.

It's not just about guns or gun owners, the word is ELITISM.
 
Remember September 18th 1937. Remember Luguochiao (Marco Polo Bridge) Remember Nanjing. Remember these things happened to a group of people who were divided, and were almost conquered by Fascist imperialists.
 
a group of people who were divided

Never met a gun owner that didn't support the 2A.
What keeps us safe in this country is that we allow others their POV, we have the 1A, unique to us, we have the 2A to defend the previous amendment. America is at its strongest when diversity is allowed, when opinion is protected, when flag burners are protected by that same flag they burn.
I WANT you to have a different opinion than me, that's what separates us from socialism, communism, fundumentalism, collectivism.
I do not remember who, I believe it was the ACLU, a Jewish Lawyer from the ACLU defended the Nazi's rights to march in Skokie, later to be moved by the Nazi's themselves to Humbolt park. A Jew defending Nazi's in America, THAT'S American. A brave man who knew what the Constitution was all about.
I say, let the other gun owners have their say, they don't weaken us, they strengthen us.
 
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