[mdsteele]

Americans my butt! What a crock!


By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Most blacklists are designed to intimidate. But thousands of Americans are clamoring to join one drawn up by the National Rifle Association.



Actor Dustin Hoffman was so dismayed to find his name missing from the NRA's shadowy 19-page list of U.S. companies, celebrities, and news organizations seen as lending support to anti-gun policies that he wrote to the powerful pro-gun lobby group begging to be included.


"As a supporter of comprehensive anti-gun safety measures, I was deeply disappointed when I discovered my name was not on the list," Hoffman wrote in a letter to the NRA that was released on Tuesday.


"I was particularly surprised by the omission given my opposition to the loophole that makes it legal for 18- to 20-year-olds to buy handguns at gun shows," he added.


Hoffman's name has now been added to the list which reads like a Who's Who of American business, culture and religion and which ranges from the American Jewish Congress to A&M Records, ABC News and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.


An NRA spokesman could not be reached for comment.


The list was found deep in the official NRA Web site by a group of grass-roots anti-gun campaigners and publicized by them two weeks ago to garner support for two pieces of gun control legislation going through Congress.


The campaigners set up their own Web site (http://www.NRAblacklist.com) and urged Americans to voluntarily put their names there. A full-page ad on Tuesday in Daily Variety -- the Hollywood trade magazine -- urged movie and music artists to sign up.


"What the site tries to do is turn it into a badge of honor to get on the blacklist by saying 'Hey Julia Roberts is on the blacklist. Why don't you join it?.' It's been incredibly successful. Since we have launched, 25,000 people have signed on to ask to be put on the blacklist," said Wendy Katz, spokesperson for the group.


The NRA initially denied compiling a blacklist as such, saying it was merely responding to members wanting to know which individuals and corporations opposed the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment on the right to bear arms.


But National Rifle Association Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre said of the list last week; "Our members don't want to buy their songs, don't want to go to their movies, don't want to support their careers."


Katz said the campaigners hoped to expose the NRA's influence in Washington, D.C., spur opposition to a bill that would grant immunity in civil cases for gun manufacturers and dealers, and gather support for renewal of a 1994 ban on the sale of military assault weapons.


Edited to add link:http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031029/od_nm/blacklist_dc_1

[4v50 Gary]

Mark Morford of the SF Chroncle wrote a column about it and encouraged people to add their names.

[spacemanspiff]

and gather support for renewal of a 1994 ban on the sale of military assault weapons.
i forget, exactly which military assault weapons are we banned from having? cause we all know the military solely uses semi-automatic weapons.
:rolleyes:

[JohnBT]

Let's get some of these folks on the NRA's mailing list. ;) JT

[moa]

This could be a good thing. The more publicity the "blacklist" gets the better as it will draw more attention to it from NRA members and others as well.

[Standing Wolf]

I don't do business with anti-Second Amendment bigots.

[Langenator]

I just noticed something...does anyone know how many people are on the Brady's list? I can't find the total number, or a list of names, on the Brady site, and it's not mentioned in the story.

Why do I get the feeling that the Brady's allies in the media are pumping this story?

[Mushinto]

It seems that the antis want to flood the list with nobodies to dilute the meaning. Like everything they try, I hope it backfires in their face. I can picture some young and stupid "star" whose agent gets him on the list, wanting to run for Governor of California in twenty years and someone (like me) dredges up this list when he lies about supporting RKBA.
ML

[Mark Tyson]

Why do I get the feeling that the Brady's allies in the media are pumping this story?

The list has been around for years, and didn't achieved notoriety until Brady started making it a big deal recently. The journalists crying about this are just ignorant lapdogs.

[greyhound]

The list was found deep in the official NRA Web site by a group of grass-roots anti-gun campaigners and publicized by them two weeks ago to garner support for two pieces of gun control legislation going through Congress.

Get real. In this day and age, with passions running so high, there's no way the NRA (or, to be honest the MMM or Bradys, either) can "hide" anything on their website so that only the faithful can find it.

As evidenced in the quote, if you don't think that every day fierce antis are all over the NRA website (and vice versa), I'll trade you this big ole nickel for that tiny little dime...

[Hkmp5sd]

"I was particularly surprised by the omission given my opposition to the loophole that makes it legal for 18- to 20-year-olds to buy handguns at gun shows," he added.

Hmmm...didn't know the federal law prohibiting anyone under 21 from buying a handgun had an exemption for gun shows. I need to re-check the laws, there might be an exemption allowing the purchase of post-'86 machineguns at gunshows too.

BTW, the purpose of the article is to give Hoffman a soapbox to peddle his new movie which directly attacks the firearm industry and gun rights groups.

[morganm01]

When they check their list, I wonder if they will see the irony that Kim Jong Il has signed up!

[Moparmike]

Really, a flock you say? Last time I checked, there were 25k or so, out of 250 million. That is .01% of America. There are an estimated 80million gun owners, which amounts to 32% of America. Let me know when you get 35% of ALL Americans to sign on for something. We can barely get 35% of people eligble to register to vote to do so and vote. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :banghead:

What a bunch of self-important f#*&weasels. Seems like someone needs to unleash the Cluebat™ upon these morons.

[BluesBear]

"I was particularly surprised by the omission given my opposition to the loophole that makes it legal for 18- to 20-year-olds to buy handguns at gun shows," he added.
What loophole?

What makes him an expert on Gun Show activities?
I bet the esteemed Mr Hoffman has never been to a gun show in his life.

Just because he knows how to walk in high heels doesn't make him well heeled.

[Mike Irwin]

Sorry, MD, but the title of your thread is incorrect.

It should read "Enemies of freedom flock to get on NRA Blacklist..."

[Ironbarr]

Does the NRA have a "White List".

Wonder how many names of plain old folk who spend time and money watching these jerks "act" are on it?

Hey that's it - Hoffman, like others, is an "actor" so he's just following a script.

Wonder who wrote it?

Ideas?

-Andy

[Combat-wombat]

http://www.nrablacklist.com

Anyone seen this stupid site? Just heard about it today.

[Mushinto]

...Hmmm...didn't know the federal law prohibiting anyone under 21 from buying a handgun had an exemption for gun shows. ...
The "loophole" is that federal law does not prohibit private sales to persons under twenty-one but over eighteen at a gun show (or anywhere else). To the antis, anything that allows private ownership of weapons is a "loophole."
ML

[Jammer Six]

Americans my butt! What a crock!


One's political views have nothing to do with one's citizenship.

Questioning one's citizenship on the basis of a political views that are different from yours, however, is decidedly un-american.

[Tamara]

and gather support for renewal of a 1994 ban on the sale of military assault weapons.

Silly rabbit, the '94 ban was on civilian sporting arms! "Military Assault Weapons" were banned 'way back in 1934, so as to render us helpless against our lords and masters on the NRA's "blacklist"...

[BluesBear]

There's the rub.

Since the sale is legal "anywhere else" in is NOT a Gunshow Loophole. :scrutiny:

Gunshows are not mystical places where the laws of time and space do not apply. :rolleyes:

RainTootsie probably thinks that Gunshows are evil and things happen only there and nowhere else in the world.
:barf:

Why do "famous" people think that fame automatically makes them smarter than anyone else or that their opinions are more valid?
:barf:

[Tamara]

Meryl Streep is a noted biochemist and expert on Alar in apples; Congress told her so... :uhoh:

[sm]

This further supports my theory:

Some people just ain't wired right

[BluesBear]

Personally I'd rather hear the opinions of Tamara that Dustin Hoffman. She knows how to walk in high heels AT a gunshow! ;)

[Tamara]

Heh.

When one is 5'12", one doesn't wear heels except on special occasions; no point in rubbing it in... ;)

[Orthonym]

And did I not join it, using (shudder) my real name?

[twoblink]

If they would be so kind as to list their addresses, I would be so kind as to pass that information to criminals..

Hey! They want to be robbed! They are unarmed!!:D

The 2 second intelligence test:

If Julia Roberts did it, do you:

A) Do the same
B) Do the exact opposite

[BluesBear]

Tamara,

If ya got it might as well flaunt it.

A lady can never be too tall or too pretty or too intelligent.

[Boats]

I am on it twice:

Ima Simpleton--liberal@nitwit.net

Pol Pot--genocide@aol.com

[SeaG]

Hey Julia Roberts is on the blacklist. Why don't you join it?

This sounds like a sad attempt to gain support by making it look like its the "in" thing to do. "Hey look at this cool barcode tatoo she just got on the back of her neck! Call to reserve your very own personalized number today!"

[Tamara]

Me, too!

Ihatecivilrights@aol.com

:D

[Orthonym]

Six feet tall and high heels too might incite both envy and enmity among the other females. Besides which, I thought everybody knew that the purpose of high heels is not to make you taller, but to make you wiggle in a male-attracting way when you walk.

[twoblink]

ImASerf@aol.com

:D

[only1asterisk]

Blissninny@policestate.com

[ScottsGT]

Interesting,
Adolph Hitler just registered! :D

[ScottsGT]

Adolph Hitler just joined! :D

[hillbilly]

Joseph Stalin just joined the list, too.

Hey, somebody ought to tell Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, Nikolai Caucescu, Ferdinand Franco, Lenin, and all those other ruthless dictators about this list!

hillbilly

[Langenator]

Lenin, Pol Pot, and Leventi Beria all registered this weekend. :evil:

[DF357]

https://www.nrahq.org/goodguys.asp

can't figure out how to see who's on it, but you can join up.

[Gewehr98]

It would appear that Genghis Khan just joined. Neat email address: mongolwarrior@aol.com.

Osama Bin-Laden, too. muslimterrorist@msn.com


;)

[dandean316]

It's time to just not support Hollywood anymore. All the good movies have been made. All the good music has been made. I'm 32 and figured this out - so I can't understand sitting in a movie theater on a Saturday watching some jackass spewing forth their anit-gun bigot agenda.

There are 100's of better things to do than watch TV or go to a movie.

[mdsteele]

All those email addresses and things are kinda neat, but............................

The folks that look at this list aren't going to look at each individual post.

They are going to look at the numbers.

It is my opinion that if you signed the list, you are a supporter in the eyes of the folks looking at this thing.

I personally started to sign it "Adolf Hitler", then it hit me.

[Boats]

Several theories about sham names:

1. If the Bradys have two braincells to rub together, sham names will be scrubbed before the list is presented to any potential reader of the list lest even a chance glance reveals that Pol Pot signed on and makes the reader wonder just how many such examples are on it.

2. The list will be ignored by anyone not predisposed to wanting it. In any event the list, even if shams are on it, will never numerically match the sheer numbers of known pro 2A folks out there.

3. The list is being used as a fundraiser and awareness raiser by our foes. By polluting the list we make work for them that they'd otherwise not have to expend resources on even if it is just a mailer-daemon bouncing traffic from their server and using bandwidth. That is the spirit in which I signed it under assumed names twice.

[mdsteele]

"Boats" You make excellent arguments, but............
We both know that our foes will have nothing to do with facts or logic.

And it's public knowledge that our elected officials vote on bills without ever reading them.

[WonderNine]

When they check their list, I wonder if they will see the irony that Kim Jong Il has signed up!

OMG! :D

Hahahahahaahaha!!!!

[Old Fuff]

Since the NRA's Blacklist is so popular with the liberal/entertainment/media crowd I think the NRA should list them all - - for a price.

If they want to make this "prestigious" list they can have their names added AFTER they make a $100.00 or greater contribution. No money, no listing. If they want to brag to their friends in Hollywood, L.A. or N.Y.C. they have to pay.

Why should they receive this considerable honor for free?

[BluesBear]

SPLENDID IDEA Old Fluff !


$100 would get you added to the bottom of the list.
$500 would get you listed somewhat higher.
$5,000 would get you in the top 50
$10,000 wold get you in the top 25
$25,000 Would get you in the top 10


These would be yearly dues of course. :D

[Old Fuff]

I am delighted by your constructive suggestions. Everyone knows these folks are made of money anyway.

And it wouldn't hurt to ask them to include the number on THEIR personal CCW license along with the donation .........

[BryanP]

Besides which, I thought everybody knew that the purpose of high heels is not to make you taller, but to make you wiggle in a male-attracting way when you walk.

Rumor has it that the same attractive wiggle can be created by a large holstered pistol on each hip. :D

Oh, and whatamaroon@blissfullyignorant.com is now a member.

Bryan
(who may be happily married, but certainly isn't blind ...)

[Langenator]

OK...maybe I'm missing something here, but in all the stories I've read about the "blacklist", both online and in print, I have yet to see the a link to or the URL for the list. Most of the time, when you run a story about something that's on the web, you include the address/link, especially if the story is being published on the web (yahoo, cnn.com).

More anti spin-by not showing people the list, it seems to be some big, sinister, evil thing, rather than being what it really is-the Beverly Hills phone book.

[gundam007]

Do not go on the blacklist as a joke name!!! it counts and looks like they have more support even though it is blatantly assaulting them... such is the way of our enemy's "petitions"