Arms-Bearing Can Bear the Defeat

[30 cal slob]

Look I'm not jumping up for joy at the Democrat victories ... but on the flip side ...

...could this have been much worse?

 

[ArmedBear]

But, you seem to be saying that "This vote wasn't about guns," and extrapolating that the Democrats will therefore not introduce new gun control measures. The fact is, they will now do whatever they please in Congress for two years, and gun control measures clearly please the leadership they have chosen for themselves. You may not have voted for gun control, but gun control is very likely to be exactly what you receive.

Actually, those who voted Democrat DID vote for gun control, whether or not they believed it at the time. Some of us have been trying to explain that here for a while now.

Let's put this in perspective...

CAFE standards (mandatory gas mileage averages) were not on anyone's mind this election. But the Democrats will try to raise them, perhaps to levels that further cripple our domestic auto industry.

Gun control is the same.

 

[ArmedBear]

Look I'm not jumping up for joy at the Democrat victories ... but on the flip side ...

...could this have been much worse?

Yes. They could have beaten some Republicans I really WANTED in office.

Here in California, they did.

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

I think we can hold off more gun control federally, but we're really going to have to work at it. The Democrats will remember what gun control did to them in 1994--but only if we remind them.

Before this election, I didn't contact my U.S. Rep. or Senators (except after Katrina), because things pretty much ran just fine on their own. I spent all my time sending off letters to my state officials in California. I'll have to work twice as hard now, but... I can do it.

My U.S. Rep. (Ellen Tauscher, CA-10), who has an F rating from the NRA, sent me a written response after I sent her an email with a link to the Patricia Konie beating. The Rep didn't go any further than to call it "interesting", but my point is, even anti politicans are not completely deaf to our cries. It is woth it to let them know how you feel.

Schwarzenegger is pro-gun now? That should tell us something about the methodology used to determine who is pro-gun for the purposes of this article.

He seems to have reversed course after the 50 ban. So far.

 

[lbmii]

oops wrong thread!

 

[.38 Special]

How silly of me to interpret "I doubt the Dems have yet forgotten the lesson: gun control ain't a winning ticket. I'd bet that the dems are going to be hammering away at the Repubs on issues like war and economy. Guns will barely be on the radar until at least '08, according to my crystal ball." as making that argument then.

You left out the next line, Bart: "It wouldn't surprise me to see a bit of incrementalism over the next few years..."

Must be a bit of politician in you.

Bottom line: Repubs didn't lose, nor Dems win, because of guns as an issue. The issues were/are war, economy, and ethics, and you can bet that the Dems are going to be making a lot of noise about them.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

My thoughts: They won't go incrementalism. They will try to rip the bandaid off all at once and pile as much gun control as they think the market will bear into a single bill. They'll also do it as early as possible hoping it will be a distant memory when the next election rolls around.

 

[Gray Peterson]

I think we need to be a little bit more concerned on the state level than on the federal.

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

My thoughts: They won't go incrementalism. They will try to rip the bandaid off all at once and pile as much gun control as they think the market will bear into a single bill. They'll also do it as early as possible hoping it will be a distant memory when the next election rolls around.

I think the more outrageous it is, the easier it will be to defeat. And supposedly, the Democrats newly elected are mostly "blue dogs", generally not too anti, so that would temper what they go for.

But who knows, we'll just have to wait and see.