What has changed since 94'?

[Dean Weingarten]

Not just the Internet, the whole new media vs the MSM

It is not just the internet that has made the difference, it is the whole new media vs the MSM (Main Stream Media). In 1994 the MSM controlled much more of the information flow than it does now. The MSM was absolutely shocked that the Democrats lost the house in 1994. According to their political scientists, it was impossible.

Most people expected real change after the 1994 elections, and the Republicans did attempt to change things. They got welfare reform through, and reformed much of the special priviledges that the Congress had voted themselves over 40 years of "progressive" control.

Then the MSM got over their shock and started the counterattack. Conservatives were demonized as never before. The MSM was willing to trade credibility for winning political power. They covered up Waco for Clinton and got him reelected. We have seen an increasing radicalization of the MSM for the "Progressive" or Statist agenda ever since.

At the same time, the new media has been growing. Those who are willing to go on line and look can obtain truth and see how much they are lied to (mostly by ommission) in the MSM.

The MSM's credibility has continued to drop, but there are still large segments of society that get most of their information from them. When the MSM is totally one sided, as it has been for President Obama, they are hard to overcome.

 

[mljdeckard]

During the Bush years, one of the things that allowed the dems to re-take the Senate and the house was widening the party guidelines. They let in a lot more moderates, pro-gun, not completely left. The result of this, was a house with such a strong pro-gun presence, that in 2009, when Obama took office, 65 dem congressmen sent a letter to the AG telling him not to bother with any new gun laws, because they wouldn't vote for them. (This is also why Feinstein et al have waited this long to make a move.) Of those 65, 48 lost their seats. (Mostly in the Tea Party wave in 2010.) Only 5 of those were replaced with other dems, they rest went republican. That is what we are working with now. They opened their ranks to moderates to grow their numbers, and in return got members who wouldn't support all of the policies they want. It's always a trade-off.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

This medium *IS* the single biggest factor. We won't get fooled again ~ not at least without notice. And CCW expansion and Heller have gone along way to help.

 

[jerkface11]

By a blanket condemnation of progressives or liberals, you're shutting out some who would be on your side.

These pro-gun progressives vote for progressive candidates who are by and large anti-gun. Not doing much for our cause when they cast a vote for Pelosi and Obama.

 

[Loc n Load]

A lot has changed since 94

I have been a 2A activist since the late 60's...before the term "assault weapon" was dreamed up, back then it was the evil "Saturday night special".
A. The general population of the USA has a different attitude towards crime, the media, our broken judiciary system and gun ownership then it did it 94.
B. Our manufacturers are taking a stand now, most of them did not do that in 94. In fact some of them threw us under the bus.
C. We had an AWB for ten years and it was worthless......it took a ten year "sunset clause" to even get it to the floor for a vote.....then for the first time in 40 years the Dem's lost the house, Senate and WH.....Bill Clinton publicly admitted it was due to the 94 AWB.....this is why he is cautioning Dem's from committing political suicide now by voting for Feinsteins monstrosity.
D. We have the internet, forums and the ability to communicate enmasse instantly now, we did not have that in 94.....I used to dial the 1-800 Neal Knox "hardcore" hotline to learn what was happening in the legislature....this was basically a recording that Neal made and put on the phone.
E. There are a lot of manufacturers who make AR's now and a giant industry that produces accessories for these platforms....a lot of people with "skin in the game". We did not have that in 94....you had 2 or 3 manufacturers making AR's....
A lot has changed since 94 and for us shooters most for the good.....join the NRA, GAO, SAF and keep contacting your legislators.

 

[Cosmoline]

--Gun control has become part of the culture war, and the red/blue division is much starker.
--The people pushing the bans at the top level are mostly the SAME people. They're older but no wiser. Obama's failure to keep them tied up in the kennel has likely doomed what would have been an easy victory on UBC's and may end up costing the Dems dearly in 2014.
--The industry is much closer aligned to the gun owners now, and we're far more unified than we were then. The MSM thinks this is the "NRA", but it's always been us gun owners.
--2014 will be seen as a litmus test on this single issue, and will be the most important election of our lifetimes. If the punishments are handed out, the lesson will be learned. If the D's hold or gain ground then they'll push further in 2015 and 2016.

It drives me around the bend every time I see a pro-gun spokesperson allow the anti-guns forces to set the terms of the debate.

I've been less than impressed with the spokespeople for our side, but letting the other side set the terms isn't necessarily a bad thing. They've taken enough rope to hang themselves, yet accomplished very little for all that. It's now up to us to pull the lever and drop them next year.

 

[denton]

I think TexasBill's post is very thoughtful. I think we are couching the arguments in ways that are true, but not winning arguments.

JMO, we need a lot more of the human faces of self defense.

Fran Drescher, the actress who played The Nanny, was raped in a parking garage. I saw her interviewed about it years later, and believe me, you'd have to have a heart of stone to not be moved by what she had to say. We need people like her, but with the difference that they successfully defended themselves.

The court of public opinion is won and lost on emotion, not facts. If we can point out sympathetic situations where people saved themselves or someone else, then we can turn their ploy around and ask, if it saved just one life wouldn't it be worth it?

 

[rodinal220]

The 94 ban did not reduce gun crime,they went up in many parts of the USA,just look at Chicago.

The Democrats took a beating in election in later years on the gun issue and many did not get re-elected.

More people than ever are interested in firearms and the related firearms sports.The CCW movement is huge and I see couples and women buying self defense arms in droves.People are seeking training more than ever.

After 9/11,Katrina(now Sandy) many saw how ineffective the Govt is in providing real protection or services.

Back in the 80/90s if you were a "survivalist" you were a kook or nut job.Now if your a prepper you can be anything from a little "kooky" to "hey thats not a bad idea".

 

[BSA1]

What is different this time is the anti-gunners are fighting on the state level. The anti-gunners have had notable success in New York and Colorado however other states are passing pro-2A laws to prevent enforcement of Federal anti-gun laws in their states...a classic pre-Civil War state rights vs. Federal law clash.

To state that a AWB will not be be passed in Congress is foolish. House Speaker John Boehner says he ‘absolutely’ trusts Obama. With such a cozy Washington relationship I would not care to bet on the odds of the Republicans compromising in the spirit of working together to solve our crime problem.

 

[chrisTx]

What's changed? A whole crap ton of jobs were created since 2004 when any old machine shop could turn out AR parts.

 

[22-rimfire]

As was mentioned earlier, the manufacturers are sticking together a lot more this time around. All you have to do is look at the PA Sportsman Show that was scheduled for early February. The promoters decided in their wisdom to excluded "ARs" and "high capacity magazines" from the show and over 300 supporters of the show bolted. Those included Bass Pro, Cabelas and all the gun companies. The show was canceled. Yes, gun owners are sticking together more this time and in part it is because there are less hunters and more shooters.

 

[TexasBill]

These pro-gun progressives vote for progressive candidates who are by and large anti-gun. Not doing much for our cause when they cast a vote for Pelosi and Obama.

670

These pro-gun conservatives nominate candidates who make idiotic statements that guarantee their defeat, like Murdoch and Akin. Not doing much for our cause, either.

United, we're armed; divided, we're criminals.

 

[jerkface11]

Justify voting for anti gunners any way you can.

 

[TexasBill]

Justify voting for anti gunners any way you can.

Most of the people I voted for won. That's because I voted for some Democrats, some Republicans and even one Libertarian.

But perhaps you weren't aware of the split ticket.

People who win make the laws: people who lose don't. That's why it's too late to wait until the election. Involvement has to begin in the earliest stages, which means right now. Out of the millions of gun owners in the U.S., there should be enough in most states to influence the nomination of candidates or establishment of a party platform.

Gee whiz, folks! The way to win isn't to cling to the Second Amendment, the way to win is to understand this is politics and we have to play the game. This means we have to meet the opposition head-on, toss their bogus statistics back in their faces, point out their failures, accuse them of mounting campaigns on the bodies of young schoolchildren and being generally nefarious.

Remind Piers Morgan of the fact that London Police are now patrolling the city with Glocks and H&K MP5s. Why? Because English gangs seem to have little more trouble obtaining guns than their counterparts anywhere else.

Don't anyone tell you what you "need" in terms of a firearm without questioning their credentials to tell you anything at all about firearms or your needs.

Remind our fellow citizens about the homicide rates in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. Develop verifiable statistics like the fact the handgun homicide rate in New York State is higher than it is in Texas.

Here's a fun fact for you: the gun control crowd likes to aggregate all forms of "gun violence," including homicide, suicide and accident, into a nice big number. Then they compare that to the very low homicide rate in Japan. If we do the same aggregating they do, Japan's combined suicide/homicide rate is 22.1/100,000; the U.S. rate is 16.2/100,000. And the Japanese manage it with almost no guns at all. BTW: the Center for Disease Control says firearms were used in 56% of American male suicides and 31% of American female suicides.

And the bugaboo about "assault rifles:" Could it be that rifles with straight-back recoil and pistol grips have become popular because they are a better functional design than one that has been handed down since the arquebus? That elevating the sights on a rail is better than curving the stock down and raising the sights to eye level that way? Could it be that the lessons learned in military weapons design could have an application in sporting firearms?

We can serve steak; all they have is sizzle. But we're not getting the word out. We wrap ourselves in the flag instead of leading the charge to defend what it stands for.

We're fond of saying, "They'll get my guns when they pry them out of my cold, dead hands." But are we willing to get off our old, dead butts to keep them?

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Don't fool yourselves, the billionaires like Bloomberg have watched what was called "The Colorado Model" where 4 wealthy leftists have invested their pocket change into politics and taken over a state where voters are center right for the most part. The latest blast at gun rights here was fueled by money and influence from a Bloomberg group and when you combine the propaganda coming from television, the education collective, the press, and the special interest groups it will be a tough struggle to keep the republic.

Just for the record, the Bush family may be Republicans but they are neither conservative nor respecters of the Constitution. Just remember that when the third Bush begins to sprout.

 

[Alizard]

Specifically, why no AWB after the recent string of shootings? We all braced for it, but it looks like the antigunners in Congress aren't going to get their way.

What I said over and over was very simple: the only man with enough political clout to get any such bill through the house no longer exists. PERIOD

Maybe at the state level, NEVER NEVER NEVER at the FED level.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/ronald-reagan-helped-pass-the-1994-assault-weapons-ban/

 

[HorseSoldier]

Don't fool yourselves, the billionaires like Bloomberg have watched what was called "The Colorado Model" where 4 wealthy leftists have invested their pocket change into politics and taken over a state where voters are center right for the most part.

Which is why it is so important that Colorado voters destroy the current regime in that state in detail. If we can get that situation to turn into an electoral equivalent of razing the Colorado state house and salting the ground maybe Mayor-Bee and his cronies will feel sufficiently scalded to watch their step next time.

 

[mortablunt]

The first thing that has changed is the gun community. Guns have never been more mainstream than at any point before the nation became urbanized. We have had a time when we lost a major component of our rights. We don't want it to happen again. We now realize just how easily it can all go away, and we do not want to lose them. There are many more, but mostly it's because semiauto rifles and 30 round mags are now normal and it would be political suicide to stand against something on a high of popularity.