I just read through the thread pages and I can't believe I am reading so much misinformation/mis-opinion on THR!
If you think the Second Amendment is doomed because the 50+ guys are dying off, you are terribly mistaken. It is the younger, more energetic segment of the population who have always led social revolts, rebellions, revolutions and wars, not 50+ old farts. Just look at recent events in Egypt and other parts of North Africa/Middle East, it was the younger segment of the population who made up the core of the movements.
How old do you think our founding fathers were? Over 50-60? Wrong. Many Founding Fathers were younger than 40 years old in 1776, with several qualifying as Founding Teenagers or Twentysomethings (shocking isn't it? Teenagers and 20's as our founding fathers!). And though the average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was 44, more than a dozen of them were 35 or younger -
http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/08/ages-of-revolution-how-old-1776/
Somebody correct me if I am wrong but it is my guess that in the past few years, historic record setting number of firearms were sold in the US and much of the firearms were probably sold to under 50 shooters. Every time I go to the ranges, I see more and more younger shooters buying and shooting firearms and more and more families bringing their children to shoot. Talking to families and friends all across the country, this is representative nationwide.
I don't know about your city but in my city and nearby counties, violent crime has been increasing the past few years and the requests for gun permits has increased to historic levels. Even many Democrats and liberals are now gun owners at my work as all the neighbors/friends/relatives know of someone who has been burglarized/victimized either personally or otherwise. Who would have thought we would actually start getting Second Amendment support from Democrats/liberal! I guess the basic need for personal safety trumps everything.
In February of this year, of all places, in the state of California, a landmark Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case was won for individuals who were denied carry licenses by the San Diego Sheriff -
http://www.nraila.org/legal/article...t-confirms-right-to-carry-arms-in-public.aspx
BTW, 9th circuit covers California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii and I am guessing there are a lot of young people raising families in these states.
This is THR. Instead of spreading misinformation and acting defeated, I think we should verify facts and spread positive/encouraging information and opinions.
Absolutely +1 on Justin's post. Spread the word and pass it on.
Justin said:
Currently, American gun culture is stronger than it has ever been.
• The NRA has ~5 million members.
• Nearly every attempt to institute stricter gun control laws since the death of the federal AW Ban in 2004 has been met with failure.
• We won Heller. The Heller Decision codified, into US law, the right of individual citizens to own guns for personal protection, thereby utterly killing the claims that the 2nd Amendment is some kind of "collective right."
• Post-Sandy Hook, there has been an enormous push to institute gun control at the state and federal level, led by the President and the left-wing media. These attempts have been almost universally stymied.
• New shooters continue to join us every day. While the number of people who own guns for hunting has gone down, the number of people buying guns for personal protection, especially in urban and suburban areas continues to rise.
• Those new shooters tend to skew younger and more diverse. Men and women in their mid-twenties to early thirties from all backgrounds and ethnicities.
• Competitive and sport shooting continues to grow.
Sorry, but for those of you who think we're losing our rights, or that the 2nd Amendment will die out with the passage of the Baby Boomers, you're flat-out wrong.
