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This is a good article from Politico today:

 

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/19/why-the-nra-always-wins-217028

 

Why does the NRA always win, despite the repeated national traumas, and despite poll after poll showing a majority in favor of stronger gun control measures? It’s not the money. It’s because the NRA has built a movement that has convinced its followers that gun ownership is a way of life, central to one’s freedom and safety, that must be defended on a daily basis.

[...]

To beat the NRA at its own game, the gun control movement needs to better understand how the NRA has built an army of single-issue voters.

[...]

Gun control proponents don’t necessarily have to emulate the NRA and, say, launch a TV network. But they might consider ... emulating one of the most successful public service advertising campaigns in history: the anti-tobacco “truth” campaign.

[...]

edgy ads that turned teenage perception of what smoking represents from cool rebellion to corporate dishonesty. The ad campaign is not the sole reason, but it is widely credited for helping drive smoking levels among teens down from from 23 percent to 6 percent.

[...]

Like the tobacco industry, the NRA has been cultivating an image of guns as a source of freedom and cool, with the extra value of protection from grievous harm. A large-scale counter-campaign could help reverse that image, highlighting the damage guns do every day: the depressed never getting another chance for mental health services, the children dying from home accidents, the domestic abuse victims who never could escape. 

[...]

As heartwarming as it is to see high school students organize anti-gun marches, they are no more likely to be successful in busting the NRA narrative, or separating politicians from NRA money, than the parents of Columbine and Sandy Hook. The gun rights community is steeled against succumbing to sympathetic victims, as they have convinced themselves that they are above the politics of knee-jerk emotion.

Edited by Kiyoat Husker
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2 hours ago, NM11046 said:

I wish more gun owners felt this way, instead of saying "nothing is going to change", "blah, blah, blah it would be too hard to enforce", "people would get their hands on them anyway"

 

 

I "+1" this post.  His message was moving and I appreciate it.  Part of me hopes he starts an "ice-bucket" challenge of sorts.

 

But in honesty, these videos will do zero good.  These, at least him, are empathetic people that realize the power they hold in their gun safes.  These are the people that I believe should own guns and be able to "have a whole lot of fun to shoot."

 

I don't want guns to go away; but,dammit, there has to be a way to at least try to make sure it is people like this that get them.

Edited by funhusker
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1 hour ago, funhusker said:

I "+1" this post.  His message was moving and I appreciate it.  Part of me hopes he starts an "ice-bucket" challenge of sorts.

 

But in honesty, these videos will do zero good.  These, at least him, are empathetic people that realize the power they hold in their gun safes.  These are the people that I believe should own guns and be able to "have a whole lot of fun to shoot."

 

I don't want guns to go away; but,dammit, there has to be a way to at least try to make sure it is people like this that get them.

 

Hindsight is 20/20, but the last two major shootings both featured a failing in the systems that are designed to protect the public relating to guns. The gunmen in TX shouldn't have been able to buy a gun due to his domestic abuse history, but the Air Force didn't report him correctly to the database. The FBI was told the FL shooter was a threat, but didn't forward the information onto their Miami office to follow up.

 

Before we even talk about new measures that need to be taken, we need to address cracks in the existing system that is SUPPOSED to be keeping us safe but failing.

 

But instead we're stuck with a bunch of bad-faith chuckleheads who consider the issue settled law thanks to DC vs. Heller & know they can use the issue for single-issue 2A voters. Pretty despicable, but they're not going to be acting on it anytime soon. Aside from a long, concerted effort by gun control advocates to mimic the one of the NRA that culminated in Heller, the best thing the rest of us can do is vote on people who champion reasonable gun control reform efforts - meaning very, very few Republicans.

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11 hours ago, funhusker said:

I "+1" this post.  His message was moving and I appreciate it.  Part of me hopes he starts an "ice-bucket" challenge of sorts.

 

But in honesty, these videos will do zero good.  These, at least him, are empathetic people that realize the power they hold in their gun safes.  These are the people that I believe should own guns and be able to "have a whole lot of fun to shoot."

 

I don't want guns to go away; but,dammit, there has to be a way to at least try to make sure it is people like this that get them.

 

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

-RFK

Edited by Fru
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On 8/24/2017 at 10:46 AM, BigRedBuster said:

Proof of what I have said for a long time.

 

The uproar over the "Democrats taking our guns away" is primarily pushed by gun and ammunition manufacturers who find that the more scared people are about their guns being taken away, the more they will buy.

 

It's a genius marketing ploy.

 

It's actually not, because it's creating a boom/bust economic cycle in the Gun and Ammunition industry. While the NRA continues to control the narrative right now, the more you see companies have to weather these storms, the more you're going to see them pull away from the NRA and embrace some of the more sane, reasonable alternative organizations. 

 

As for gun control, the thing I keep going back to is that the Amendment calls for a well-regulated militia. If these owners want to consider themselves militia for gun ownership, then that's fine. That means they need to be regulated, which would include:

 

  • Testing and verification of competence of gun ownership (e.g. Gun Licenses) 
  • Insurance for Firearm ownership, including Liability and Theft insurance (make it requisite, or one is fined/goes to jail if an incident occurs without)
  • Semi-automatic rifles of all types cannot be stored in the home. Instead, make gun clubs a requirement for semi-auto rifle ownership. I mean, FFS, you shouldn't be hunting with them if you're any kind of sportsman, and there's no reason to keep them at home. You're primary use for these weapons is for fun at the range, which is where they should be stored and the weapons can be checked in/out on a 12 hour basis (longer is available for dealers or for shooting competitors). 
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2 minutes ago, VectorVictor said:

It's actually not, because it's creating a boom/bust economic cycle in the Gun and Ammunition industry.

 

Yes it has.  They have had one hell of a great ride while fostering the thought that the Dems want to come take all your guns away.  It is the best marketing ploy the industry has ever had.  The problem is, the Republicans finally got someone in office that is loony tune enough to squash that fear....for a short time.

 

Just wait, if the Dems are lucky enough to take over congress in 2018, this marketing scheme will start chugging along once again.

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19 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

Yes it has.  They have had one hell of a great ride while fostering the thought that the Dems want to come take all your guns away.  It is the best marketing ploy the industry has ever had.  The problem is, the Republicans finally got someone in office that is loony tune enough to squash that fear....for a short time.

 

Just wait, if the Dems are lucky enough to take over congress in 2018, this marketing scheme will start chugging along once again.

 

Problem is, you're going to lose manufacturers for both Ammo and Firearms every time you go through a cycle. Not a long-term prescription for success in any industry. A genius marking ploy is one that can sustain sales--not create peaks and troughs in your sales. 

 

And if there are moves made to restrict AR ownership/sales and/or impose some control over sales, you won't need to wait for a Democratic congress for this to happen. Just make sure you have plenty of popcorn on hand for the fireworks. :snacks:

Edited by VectorVictor
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18 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

Yes it has.  They have had one hell of a great ride while fostering the thought that the Dems want to come take all your guns away.  It is the best marketing ploy the industry has ever had.  The problem is, the Republicans finally got someone in office that is loony tune enough to squash that fear....for a short time.

 

Just wait, if the Dems are lucky enough to take over congress in 2018, this marketing scheme will start chugging along once again.

I heard something on the radio last Thursday morning that made me want to puke.  I was listening to 1110AM out of Omaha when the national financial news broke in between segments.  The women giving the market updates addressed the struggling guns/ammunition market since Trump's election but signaled "optimism" for these markets as anti-gun discussions would permeate throughout the day following the Florida shooting.

 

There were people that intended to profit off of this.  People suck! 

Edited by funhusker
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21 minutes ago, VectorVictor said:

As for gun control, the thing I keep going back to is that the Amendment calls for a well-regulated militia. If these owners want to consider themselves militia for gun ownership, then that's fine. That means they need to be regulated, which would include:

 

  • Testing and verification of competence of gun ownership (e.g. Gun Licenses) 
  • Insurance for Firearm ownership, including Liability and Theft insurance (make it requisite, or one is fined/goes to jail if an incident occurs without)
  • Semi-automatic rifles of all types cannot be stored in the home. Instead, make gun clubs a requirement for semi-auto rifle ownership. I mean, FFS, you shouldn't be hunting with them if you're any kind of sportsman, and there's no reason to keep them at home. You're primary use for these weapons is for fun at the range, which is where they should be stored and the weapons can be checked in/out on a 12 hour basis (longer is available for dealers or for shooting competitors). 

 

Exactly. I've basically arrived at the conclusion that Scalia et al mucked up DC vs. Heller after years of pro-gun activism by the NRA & this is how we got to where we're at. If I could rewrite that decision today to align with the collectivist view (people have the right to guns for militia purposes) vs. the individualist view (people have the right to guns for whatever they want), I would do so.

 

For instance, I just did some perusing of the Scalia opinion in that case. Did you know he interpreted the phrase "well-regulated" to mean "the imposition of proper discipline and training" rather than anything about guns? What a bunch of phooey.

 

As you've pointed out, they've neatly severed that initial part of the amendment ("Well-regulated militia") from the modern interpretation at the behest of the NRA, because fewer regulations mean more gun sales.

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