Wishful Thinking
By Mitch Berg
If you can’t remember the seventies, it’s hard to remember what a dismal time it was for Second Amendment rights. Gun control was at flood tide. There was serious talk of society-wide gun bans. Poliiticians could seriously and openly discuss repealing the Second Amendment without fear of electoral reprisal. Many states that’d never had problems with firearms imposed stupid gun laws to keep up with the Joneses; Minnesota, which until 1974 required no permit for the law-abiding citizen to carry a handgun, imposed a cranky “might-issue” law (and what exactly has happened to crime in Minnesota in the past 35 years? I don’t wanna keep seeing the same hands, here…)
Starting in the late seventies, that changed. One of the greatest grassroots political uprising in American political history turned the story around. Within 25 years of the mid-seventies nadir, gun control was a third rail, onto which not a few Democrats electorally whizzed, to their chagrin.
And it was the National Rifle Association that was the fulcrum of this movement. And ever since, the left has been trying to find a way to neutralize the organization.
And it’s shifting into high gear:
The National Rifle Association‘s threat to punish senators who vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has been met with a shrug by Democrats from conservative-leaning states and some Republicans who are breaking with their party to support her.
The gun rights group is used to getting its way by spooking lawmakers about the political consequences of defying its wishes. But it never before has weighed in on a Supreme Court confirmation battle. It was cautious about breaking that pattern, and it looks like a losing a fight to defeat President Barack Obama‘s first pick for the court.
Sotomayor is expected to easily win confirmation in a vote this coming week that could deflate the long-accepted truism in Washington that you don’t cross the NRA.
It could deflate the NRA – as indeed, every crisis it’s faced in the past thirty years could have.
But the media has declared the NRA’s political influence “on the wane” and “dead” more times than Tokyo Rose declared the USS Enterprise sunk during World War II.
The thing the story’s writer misses is that the NRA’s power isn’t making sure you can’t get good restaurant reservations; it happens at election time.
August 4th, 2009 at 7:53 am
I make sure I look at the NRA “grades” before I go vote. It’s important to me, so it is one of the things I always consider.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:09 am
When I lose hope for the future of freedom (which is pretty much on the hour, every day), it always helps to think back to the ’70s, and how things looked for firearms rights. The “hope and change” of a gun-free society seemed inevitable. But we fought back, we made our case, and we won (for now).
More power to the NRA. That’s grass-roots, community action for you.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I’m all for guns; I like guns. Guns are wonderful.
Not so keen on single issue politics though.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:35 am
DG, as a rule of thumb, if I disagree with someone on Second Amendemnt rights, I’m probably going to disagree with them most other issues.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:41 am
DG,
What Night said. While I”m not a big believer in “litmus tests”, I’ve generally found that the RKBA is a good indicator of someone’s overall worldview.
Exceptions exist, of course; hence, I say “generally”.
August 4th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Um, yeah:
“it is one of the things I always consider”
August 4th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
If you tell me where you stand on guns and abortion, I will know how you balance your desires against those of other people. From that, I can pretty much predict how you’ll act on everything else.
Same with politicians. Tell me how guns and abortions fit into your favorite politician’s political philosophy and I have an insight how she’ll vote on everything from national defense to single-payer health care to nuclear power plants.
Check with NRA and MCCL, then vote responsibly. Or in the Twin Cities, just check the party label – DFL always stands for Darned Flaming Liberal. Always.
.
August 4th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Mitch said: “But the media has declared the NRA’s political influence “on the wane” and “dead” more times than Tokyo Rose declared the USS Enterprise sunk during World War II.”
And you call yourself a history buff. Like Star Trek happened at the same time as World War II!
August 4th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Episode 52! You silly clown!
August 4th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
You know, the thing they really don’t get is that this isn’t about the NRA. The NRA wasn’t always a significant force in politics. It took a lot of effort by the members to get the NRA motivated, to push the NRA into forming the ILA, etc.
And for all of that, most of what the NRA has done has to run hard to get out in front of what local grassroots organizations have been doing, so that they could look like they were leading the parade.
The basic truth is that it isn’t the NRA that stands in their way. It’s not the evil gun manufacturers. It’s us.
If the left could outlaw the NRA, have it disbanded, its lobbying efforts banned, all of its leadership jailed, they’d still have 20 million pissed off gun owners to deal with.
August 4th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Interesting how the media wants to label the NRA as irrelevant just when HR 45 is reintroduced, eh?
http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/blairholt.asp
Basically this “little” piece of legislation would make it illegal to own a firearm – any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless:
It is registered
You are fingerprinted
You supply a current Driver’s License
You supply your Social Security #
You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing
Each update – change or ownership through private or public sale must be reported and costs $25
– Failure to do so you automatically lose the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail.
There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a child-access provision. Guns must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18.
The Government would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is punishable for up to 5 yrs. in prison.
Five years in prison for having a gun accessible to a 17 year old kid that has taken firearms Safety? WTF? Sounds like hoplophobia.
I still hold out hope that the blogosphere and other concerned Americans will get this bill defeated in a hurry and for good.
August 5th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I’m not as big a fan of the NRA as some are; I think they’re far too accomodationist, and I’m not alone in my belief — I’ve got two friends who were kicked off the national board for insisting on more activism than the Powers That Be were willing to go along with.
But that’s okay; there’s a lot of room for moderate civil rights groups like the NRA as well as the rest, and they are the 800 pound gorilla of the 2A movement.