If you were the NRA,

[TripleDigitRide]

how would you argue the case regarding gun control?

Are you for or against any level of gun control? What level of gun control is acceptable, if any? Would you do away with or tweek any current policies? If so, please give details. Would you enact additional policies? If so, please give details. What can we, as a society, do to help ensure guns don't end up in the wrong hands?

[jcoosi]

From what I have read that Conneticut already has some of the strickest gun control laws.

 

No one under age of 21 to purchase a firearm

 

Permit required to purchase a handgun

 

2 week waiting period on purchases of handgun

 

I think they still had most of the previous awb in place.

 

The kid was under 21 and he stole the guns no piece of legislation could have stopped this. Evil is evil and will find a way no matter what obstacles are in its path.

[maroonandwhite]

My personal opinion is that they should not budge an inch. My gut tells me that any legislation that is passed now will just be the start of losing our gun rights completely. All of the facts about how gun control doesn't work have already been presented over the years so we really have nothing new to bring to the table. As I said in another post you can't reason with unreasonable people.

 

I can only hope that this will blow over and we get focused back on the debt problem. We as a society can continue to use good judgement about who we are selling our personal guns too. Past that  I don't see how it is my problem if you choose not to defend yourself with a weapon. Regarding the states that do not allow carry I think the Gov. is already doing the maximum to keep guns out of everyone hands and we are seeing the fruits of that labor.

 

I fear we are in for a tough battle.

[mikegideon]

The libs/media are trying to divide gun owners right now, and it's working to some extent. The NRA needs to bring everybody together first.

 

The biggest hole in the NRA's defense is private sales. I think the general public believes that background checks perform a useful function (reality doesn't matter). If the NRA defends that hill, they will be viewed as irresponsible by a pretty big group of people. It could weaken them in the big picture.

 

I don't want any more gun laws, but it looks like we may get some. The NRA can't be wrong in their strategy, or this whole thing could snowball into huge losses. They need to freshen their talking points and defend as much ground as they can. It depends on our friends in the House. You can bet they've been in touch.

Edited December 20, 2012 by mikegideon

[MacGyver]

I personally don't feel like we need to give up anymore of our cake.  We've won a lot of legislative victories over the last decade and not a few court cases to boot.  We've got a strong position.

 

I think Mike is right.  The brilliant strategy by those who want more control and their lackeys in the media is to divide us.  The question asked is not, "are you willing to make concessions?"  Instead, it's, "how much are you willing to give up?"  At least two "A-rated" legislators have come out ready to throw us under the bus so far this week.

 

I think the two good options available to us right now are to call our representatives - repeatedly and to start having an intelligent discourse with those around us.  I'm not terribly active on Facebook, but I may start posting some stuff there to get some conversations started.

 

For instance:

 

Average police response time in minutes for:

Nashville - 9:00

Detroit - 24:00

Denver 11:00

Tuscon 10:11

Atlanta 11:12

 

Everyone wants the police to have high capacity magazines, and yet the police are always and will always be second responders.  If someone is intent on doing my family harm, 9:00 in Brentwood is way too long.

[Guest cardcutter]

Were I the NRA i would start a full press ad campaign showing defensive gun uses and chiding the MSM for not reporting them. I would also be running ads asking why the massive debate on guns while the govt is going broke. It is a glorious distraction from the tax increases coming in Jan.

[mcurrier]

[mikegideon]

I personally don't feel like we need to give up anymore of our cake.  We've won a lot of legislative victories over the last decade and not a few court cases to boot.  We've got a strong position.

 

I think Mike is right.  The brilliant strategy by those who want more control and their lackeys in the media is to divide us.  The question asked is not, "are you willing to make concessions?"  Instead, it's, "how much are you willing to give up?"  At least two "A-rated" legislators have come out ready to throw us under the bus so far this week.

 

I think the two good options available to us right now are to call our representatives - repeatedly and to start having an intelligent discourse with those around us.  I'm not terribly active on Facebook, but I may start posting some stuff there to get some conversations started.

 

For instance:

 

Average police response time in minutes for:

Nashville - 9:00

Detroit - 24:00

Denver 11:00

Tuscon 10:11

Atlanta 11:12

 

Everyone wants the police to have high capacity magazines, and yet the police are always and will always be second responders.  If someone is intent on doing my family harm, 9:00 in Brentwood is way too long.

Those A legislators were Democrats. I'm seeing NRA members and other gun owners supporting and AWB ban. THOSE people need to be reeled in. This is gonna be a big fight. We KNOW the house will stick with us IF they can. If a large majority of their constituents are for a ban, it's gonna be tough for them to go against it. Lots of PR to do. The libtards are way ahead of us.

Edited December 20, 2012 by mikegideon

[gregintenn]

I AM the NRA. I have a window sticker to prove it. I feel we should keep on doing what we have been doing.

[mikegideon]

I AM the NRA. I have a window sticker to prove it. I feel we should keep on doing what we have been doing.

So do I.

[Punisher84]

Those A legislators were Democrats. I'm seeing NRA members and other gun owners supporting and AWB ban. THOSE people need to be reeled in. This is gonna be a big fight. We KNOW the house will stick with us IF they can. If a large majority of their constituents are for a ban, it's gonna be tough for them to go against it. Lots of PR to do. The libtards are way ahead of us.

 

Haven't posted in awhile, but all of this has made me check back in. Mike, you're right. I've seen alot of former staunch 2A people suddenly start saying "Well, maybe an AWB is ok if it will prevent this sort of thing." People on both sides are being led by the media like lambs to the slaughter.

[MacGyver]

Those A legislators were Democrats. I'm seeing NRA members and other gun owners supporting and AWB ban. THOSE people need to be reeled in. This is gonna be a big fight. We KNOW the house will stick with us IF they can. If a large majority of their constituents are for a ban, it's gonna be tough for them to go against it. Lots of PR to do. The libtards are way ahead of us.

Listening to Mark Warner on NPR this morning was illustrative.  A ban is being treated by the media as a forgone conclusion - it's all about how much more they're willing to ban.  And, the conversation is shifting.  They're taking the debate from, "you'll never rid the streets of guns", to "surely fewer guns are better, right?"

 

I'm beginning to think that a lot rides on Boehner's ability to ride herd as we approach the fiscal cliff.  His Plan B already has a bunch of Republicans ready to jump ship.  If he loses them here, we've lost any hope of them sticking together on this.

[mikegideon]

Listening to Mark Warner on NPR this morning was illustrative.  A ban is being treated by the media as a forgone conclusion - it's all about how much more they're willing to ban.  And, the conversation is shifting.  They're taking the debate from, "you'll never rid the streets of guns", to "surely fewer guns are better, right?"

 

I'm beginning to think that a lot rides on Boehner's ability to ride herd as we approach the fiscal cliff.  His Plan B already has a bunch of Republicans ready to jump ship.  If he loses them here, we've lost any hope of them sticking together on this.

If we don't control the message to the people, it won't matter what people in the house think.

[MacGyver]

Agreed.

[Jonnin]

how would you argue the case regarding gun control?

Are you for or against any level of gun control? What level of gun control is acceptable, if any? Would you do away with or tweek any current policies? If so, please give details. Would you enact additional policies? If so, please give details. What can we, as a society, do to help ensure guns don't end up in the wrong hands?

 

Well my words would get me in trouble because I am a simple person. 

 

But I would fight this current crap with a series of questions for congress.... the sarcasm would have to be reworded a bit, but pretty much something like this, in a public, on the news, address to congress with a chance for response from the supposed leader of the supposed gun control task force (IE biden would respond).

 

1) If a mentally unstable person managed to get hired as a bus driver and drive off a mountain, killing 20+ 6 year olds and 10 adults, what measures would congress take to ensure that no children ever die in a bus again, would they ban high capacity busses, discriminate against mentally ill people for having the job, or what?

 

2) The shooter broke at least 20 laws intentionally, including murder, gun on school property, theft, breaking and entering, and more.  What special, magic law do you think he would obey that would have stopped this shooting?

 

3) AR-15s and other semi automaic rifles have been used in a very tiny fraction of 1% of all violent crimes committed with guns.  Why are we focused on this one weapon type that is almost never used? Also, the ar-15 is one of the most popular guns in the country -- so it is not only one of the least used in crime, its one of the most commonly owned, how do those lead you to believe the ar-15 is a problem weapon?

 

4) The school shooter reloaded at least 3 times estimated from number of shots fired.  How would a smaller magazine have changed anything?

 

5) More children die every year in the USA from vehicles than from guns.  What new laws are you going to enact to protect the children from these horrid machines?

 

6) There have been many who argue that armed teachers could have stopped this horrible crime, saving at least some of the lives.   Why are armed teachers and an end to no-gun zones like schools not being discussed as a way to deal with irrational violent people bent on killing children?

 

7) If the shooter had used a knife, as did the recent whacko in china, what laws would you be considering to prevent future stabbings? 

 

8) If the shooter had used a bomb strapped to his chest, like an "atypical radical extremist whose religious preferences do not coincide with anyone elses in the known universe or anything like that" might do, what would you be doing to ban household chemistry that can be used to create deadly explosions such as ammonia, fertilizer, gasoline, or the like?

 

....

 

I can do this all day.   I think an 8 hour session of this would make the point very, very clear.

[Guest TNSovereignty]

Well my words would get me in trouble because I am a simple person. 

Not so friend.  Simple people are often the wisest.  I've worked with too many brilliant fools to believe otherwise.

 

Haven't posted in awhile, but all of this has made me check back in. Mike, you're right. I've seen alot of former staunch 2A people suddenly start saying "Well, maybe an AWB is ok if it will prevent this sort of thing." People on both sides are being led by the media like lambs to the slaughter.

Agree.  Theirs is a divide & conquer strategy, and we gun owners - for the sake of wanting to be perceived as "responsible" and "reasonable" - should be wary of retreat.  There are gun owners who have a tendency to follow the crowd ... they may have a .22 and a bolt-action hunting rifle, but since they personally don't have a .50 BMG they can't grasp why that's an important weapon to be available to the general public.  The NRA, GOA, et al need a massive education campaign - for their gun-owning co​nstituencies, NOT the statists - and explain the relevance of everything from the .50 BMG to the black rifle to the BB gun.  Bottom Line - there are still too many gun owners who remain in the 'sheeple' fold, and we need to help them understand the importance of a remaining united with the sheepdogs, especially when the wolves are circling/salivating.

[mikegideon]

The AR-15 and similar has been used in several high profile mass killings. We need to seperate the zealots from the sane here. The zealots want to ban everything. I'm worried about the ones that will push for an AWB BECAUSE of the documented cases of its use, and leave other guns alone. A lot of these turds want to ban Glocks too. I'm not worried about them

[Cruel Hand Luke]

No one wants to hear it but...the system worked as it was intended to.

 

The kid was STOPPED from buying a gun at a gun store earlier in the week. He did not acquire the murder weapons by purchasing them from an unscrupulous dealer , or through a "gun show loop hole" .

 

He MURDERED someone to get them! 

 

He then broke God knows how many laws and used the rifle to shoot a hole in the glass of the building and gain entry. He then shot the unarmed (by laws intended to keep the children safe) employees and then shot the kids. The laws that kept the employees helpless and unable to defend themselves were simply IGNORED by the little psycho. The "System" worked just as it was intended.

 

The criminal BY DEFINITION ignores the laws he does not care to follow. 

 

This was not a "failure of the system" it was a criminal deviant showing extreme persistence to bring about a horrific act. 

 

Oh and did I mention that before he launched his attack he destroyed the hard drive to his computer so he would not leave information/evidence behind....wonder exactly what he was hiding?

 

Maybe communication with someone else? Wonder who?

 

Not to be all "conspiratorial" but we still really do not know yet whether this was JUST the work of an unstable kid or whether he had help/mentoring from someone else online... THAT is what the authorities should be more concerned with than banning rifles LEGALLY used by MILLIONS of gunowners the overwhelming majority of whom never use them for evil purposes. 

[K191145]

Those A legislators were Democrats. I'm seeing NRA members and other gun owners supporting and AWB ban. THOSE people need to be reeled in. This is gonna be a big fight. We KNOW the house will stick with us IF they can. If a large majority of their constituents are for a ban, it's gonna be tough for them to go against it. Lots of PR to do. The libtards are way ahead of us.

I would bet the farm that those two Democrat legislators were advised (threatened), by certain other democrat legislators to step in line with the official agenda, or face some serious political consequences.

[K191145]

I don't know, maybe a new NRA education program, a free DVD with every firearm purchase featuring one of the few well known pro-gun celebrities, make the video entertaining somewhat, not like some boring class room video. Discuss firearm safety, storage, and as the Eddie Eagle program educates children what to do if they find a firearm, seriously discuss proper storage if you believe you have a mentally troubled child or anyone else in your home. That may sound like a silly idea but for a long time, long before this shooting I wished dealers and manufacturers provided a good entertaining safety DVD, I know everyone here has seen people at their local range that could definatly use some safety education. Of course there would be no legislation to require it, it would be voluntary.
And of course that and anything else the NRA does or says will not be acceptable to the libtards. Edited December 20, 2012 by K191145

[frankmako]

the nra should come out stating that we need to enforce the current gun laws.  if we enforce the current gun laws we would not have these problems.  sometime you need to build more jails and keep them in for longer times.  take away the tv/radios in jail.  make jail like it use to be,,, no fun.  bring back the chain gang like what we had in the 60's.   seeing men cutting the right of way in 100 plus heat in august set me on the stright road.   i knew i did not want to be like others morons i knew in school.  it use to be, many mango season ago, you get in trouble, as a young man the judge gave you two options.  go to the chain gang or go see that nice army recuriter that  is out side the court room door.  had several friends that was given this option in the late 60's.   they did not take the chain gang option.