[bvmjethead]

NONE, you lazy, apathetic, couch potatoes who care more about professional sports, reality TV, cold beer & unfettered access to pornography, than you do your God given rights!!!

If you're lucky, your masters in Washington will still allow you to buy the same tired & neutered rifles and magazines that you can get today. If you're not lucky, you will all be in the same boat as the unfortunate folks who live in Kalifornia!

Tough break, but hey... what could you do about it anyway? The system is broken, right? Your opinion doesn’t matter (not that you ever voiced it beyond the realm of hollow Internet bitching). You are FAR too busy to ever sit down & actually write a damn letter to ANY elected representative, correct? After all, there are football games to watch, you are dog tired from a long week of work, and blah, blah, blah...

Besides... they will never come after your hunting rifles & your sporting shotguns, right? And hell, if they do, there is always bow hunting, fly fishing and golf.

Don't worry, I understand your predicament & I forgive you. I don't realistically expect you, Joe six-pack; King of the Unwashed Masses to fight for your birthright. America is still the freest nation in the world, and your chains aren't that heavy (hell, they are plenty light enough for you to make it to McDonalds & back).

So... continue to grow fat & lazy, fellow gun owner and be sure to sleep well tonight, as others carry your water!

[standby]

Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Kind of painting ALL your fellow gun-owning brothers with the same broad brush aren't you?

What EXACTLY are you doing to up the ante and help the fight for gun rights? How many Senators have you contacted this week? How much money have you donated to the national and local gun rights organizations this year? How many town meetings have you attended to further your/our cause? Or are you just too busy typing forum messages bashing your fellow gun owners? Maybe if you would aim some of this energy at the lawmakers you could make a difference. Preaching to the choir is OK (although not extremely productive), but alienating the choir doesn't help at all.

And to answer your original question, I plan on buying the same things I've been buying for the last ten years, just not spending as much money on them!

[FPrice]

"NONE, you lazy, apathetic, couch potatoes who care more about professional sports, reality TV, cold beer & unfettered access to pornography, than you do your God given rights!!!"

This is just a wild a** guess on my part, but you are a Michael Savage fan, correct?

[Malone LaVeigh]

Someone's off their meds again...

[redhead]

As one who has written, faxxed and called legislators about impending gun legislation, and asked some of my fellow gun owners to do the same, I can say that I've been sorely disappointed by some of my fellow gun owners. Too many of them can't be bothered to pick up the phone and make a call. I've heard many of them say that a particular piece of new legislation won't affect them, so they don't bother. How hard is it to FAX a letter from your computer to the congresscritters or state legislators? If they don't hear from us, they'll think we're just fat, dumb and happy, and continue to legislate away our rights.

[NY Patriot]

As the original author of the rant above ( I posted it over @ ar15.com, & bvmjethead thought highly enough of it to spread it around the web), I feel it is important to include the following caveat...

If the shoe doesn’t fit, please don't cram it on just for the sake of an argument.

This thread is aimed at a particular group of gun owners (the MAJORITY), not those who are politically aware & involved.

I'm just wondering if the lazy bums are man enough to come out of the woodwork to defend their inaction???

It puts my message into better perspective.

...And yes, I have taken a liking to Michael Savage as of late.

[Devonai]

Simply being on THR speaks to a certain level of interest. This is my number one source of firearms and related political information. I think very few THR members fall into the described categories.

[Derek Zeanah]

I'm just wondering if the lazy bums are man enough to come out of the woodwork to defend their inaction???Sure. I've spent years dealing with local politics in a smallish California town. In my experience:
The story you read in the paper is never correct. In this case, the editor of the local paper liked to hang out with the fatcats in town. That bias was forced onto all stories that came in.
Politicians don't care what individuals think. Duh. It's cheaper and easier to lie about your record in the ads you run in the 2 weeks prior to the election than to actually listen to voters. People don't pay attention anyway. In today's world, they can't take out counter ads regardless, so...
Politicians are corrupt. Think county commissioners with limo service everywhere provided by a local developer, or a city council member who started with an unemployed husband and about to go into bankruptcy, and ended up with 3 houses (2 out of the county so they didn't need to be reported), a private plane, and a husband without a job.
Politicians do what they're told. No, you aren't the one doing the telling. See the previous point -- all that goes away if you don't stay bought.
Facts don't matter. People start with their minds made up. It's "what's in this for me and how do I spin it," or it's "what makes for the best soundbyte with the least effort from me." It's never "Gee, why don't I do a hundred hours of research and follow my gut, when the populace in general disagrees with my point."That's applicable to the vast majority of politicians, I worked with a number of devoted people, a couple of whom were actually elected to office. Didn't make a difference though, as hundreds of thousands of dollars always flowed into the elections (from businesspeople who couldn't make a profit on paper, but had rich friends) in such a way that the group in power maintained a majority. And good people aren't willing to risk losing their businesses (ever had the FBI called in on you when you did nothing wrong? Then bring out documents that show what really went down and watch the whole thing go away? In a friggin local political fight over waste water treatment!?!?!?!?), nor are they willing to donate thousands of hours a year to keep up a losing fight. They (we) burn out.

I've seen death-threats against family members over opposition to a $3b, poorly thought-out development plan. I've seen majorities vote to recall a mayor, but the county sat on the ballots for 6 months before they were given the stamp of approval and came back with "whoops, too much time has elapsed, too bad." I've heard of backroom deals where emminent domain was discussed as an option to ffordably get the land for the newest (of 3, with the others unused and unsold) city hall property. Hell, I've seen postal employees paid off so our bulk-mail flyers weren't mailed until after the election.

I don't believe this stuff you're doing is going to work. From what I can tell, the stakes increase as you go up the ladder of government, and the corruption increases as well. I saw all this stuff at the lowest level of government, and don't believe my senators care at all what I think. I don't even think they're viewed by anyone but an intern, whose directions are "respond with the most appropriate form letter, and thank them for their input."

So, I donate my time, equipment, and internet connection instead. I hoped that directly educating the electorate was a better option than the fight that is local politics. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to doubt even that. "But Bush has an (r) after his name! He's our guy! I can't explain what he's doing, but he must be doing the best the current situation allows! If a us citizen has been locked up in a military brig for nineteen months without being charged with a crime or given an opportunity to get a lawyer, well, he must be a really bad dude so it's OK!" :barf:

[FPrice]

"...And yes, I have taken a liking to Michael Savage as of late."

Thanks for the clarification. As a way of explanation I also like Savage and thought I recognized a similarity to his style. Especially as of late.

[spartacus2002]

I think he was making a rhetorical point not directed at anyone on this board in particular.

And he does have a good point: how many of us have actually written, called, faxed, or emailed our Senators, Congressman, or the White House?

It is time to turn up the heat on the antiAWB movement. Start writing, calling, emailing, and faxing your politicians, demanding they let the AWB sunset! Don't forget the Republican Natl Cmte, too.

And Karl Rove.

[bvmjethead]

Thanks NYPatriot!

I love it!

Really get's people stirred up!

[NY Patriot]

I love it!...Really gets people stirred up!

Yup Bvmjethead, it gets people thinking & hopefully that leads to them taking action beyond posting to an Internet gun forum.

Thanks for spreading the word, brother!!!

NYP

BTW, what does a freedom loving gun owner have to do around these parts to get The Essential "End the AW Ban" Contact List & Sample Letter Thread (www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39429) floated to the top of this forum???

[Firefighter]

:D

[NY Patriot]

WOW, I stirred up a hornet's nest with this thread. GOOD... I've got your attention, and you're fighting mad!!! Let me explain...

I was making a rhetorical point with the tone & content of my post. It is not directed at any particular person on this board.

I'm just trying to get people to think, and hopefully that will lead to them taking action beyond posting to an Internet gun forum! Point is, NONE of us do enough to protect & restore our RKBA. NO ONE is above the criticism that they spend far too much time & energy on meaningless endeavors that distract them from what is truly important. At times, we are ALL guilty of taking the easy, lazy, & apathetic path of least resistance, all the while knowing that things are never going to improve for us unless we become politically active, involved, and UNIFIED!

Don't get mad at me because I'm shinning the harsh light of truth on our collective shortcomings... use your frustration & anger to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM!

Write letters, send faxes, make phone calls, visit the local offices of your elected officials, donate time & $$$ to pro RKBA organizations and political candidates, organize &/or attend pro RKBA rallies, send your opinions to the editor of your local newspaper, take newbies shooting, organize fellow gun owners on the Internet, etc......

Posting endlessly on some Internet gun forum about how bad things are, and how they will never change for the better accomplishes nothing. Heck, it isn't even cathartic... it just deepens our hopelessness & dissuades others from participating in the political process.

Guys, the hardest part of all this is convincing fellow gun owners that they CAN make a difference!