Gun control and political assassinations.
I was in high school when JFK was assassinated and some people started talking about “gun control”. Everyone I knew was sure that “they” couldn't do anything. We beat our breasts about the Second Amendment. We fell back on trite cliches (guns don't kill people, people kill people). We were cocky an we were naive. When I was in college, RFK and MLK were assassinated and gun control legislation got in high gear. My parents wrote Mike Monroney, who had been a Senator all of my life, and Fred Harris, who was so popular the he ran for the Presidency in the next election. They made the standard arguments and were sure their Senators would vote against the Gun Control Act of 1968. The Senators responded by telling my parents that they didn't understand the problems in Chicago and other big cities. They also mentioned the that John Kennedy and his brother had been assassinated and that for these reasons, they were going to vote for the gun control act. Of course, they were voted out of office as soon as possible, but the damage was already done and may never be fully undone. Some pro-gun people have even found a way to profit from gun control and would not support the repeal of all gun control measures.
Today we find ourselves where we were in the mid Sixties. We need to ask ourselves what mistakes were made then and what we can do differently. There has just been a horrible political assassination in Arizona. Get ready to be slandered and libeled. The other team will try to make this an issue of the wise (them) against the fools (us).
How are we going to respond? Are we going to take the bait and give them what they want? Are we going to continue to fall back on cliches and beat our breasts? Are we going to preach to the choir and alienate everyone else? Are we going to come across as callow and thoughtless? Are we going to link gun control to unrelated issues like abortion, illegal immigration, health care, taxes, and so on? Are we going to resort to calling those who disagree with us names (socialist, communist, idiot, and so on). If so, get ready for another round of gun control.
We need to step outside of ourselves and look at the big picture. The nation is grieving over this assault on everything we believe in. We (gun owners and gun owners associations) should be out front on this. We should grieve publicly and privately. We should not respond in kind to personal and political attacks from the other side. When they do what they always do we should stick to unassailable points. We should tell them we feel it is wrong to exploit our nation's grief to make political hay. It is wrong to use the nation's grief to stampede people into hasty decisions they may regret later. Don't deviate or be lead in another direction because what you say will be perverted into something indefensible. To see what I mean, read this article on the hatchet job that was done on Harlon Carter
http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/comment081400c.shtml .
I realize this thread is walking a thin line because THR, wisely in my opinion, does not allow political discussions. Unfortunately, many other forums do. You have to toe the far right line in those forums or you get insulted and shouted down. If any of you post in those forums, please plead for civility. I honestly fear the nation is heading the direction it went in 1968.
Sorry for the long post. I am really upset over this.
Jim