"Radical" gun owners?

[Sobie]

(Get a Coke now, this could take a while...)
I'm new, so excuse me if I'm not following proper etiquette.

I've been reading this site for a while now, mostly in black and white 'cause I never bothered to register... But I've done it, so here I am.

I have a question for you, more of a think piece if you will... Just close your eyes and imagine this:

Do any of you remember how some gay people acted before it was "socially acceptable" to be gay? (Gosh I hope that word isn't asterisked out. Um, G.A.Y.)
Well I do. They were blatant, in your face, "HERE WE ARE, YOU DEAL" types. Now yes, that is broad brushing a lot of people, and some were just quietly being their homosexual selves, but there was a violent minority that cried out to be accepted in "regular" society. Yes it put a lot of people off, but guess what else it did? It worked.

There aren't any places that ban homosexuals, you don't need to register yourself as one, you can have depression or talk to a therapist and still be gay... See where I'm going with this?


Now, what is the proposition of this, my first post? Well I think we need a better PR firm. Don't get me wrong, I like the NRA, but that's it. Only like. They don't get behind the things that REALLY move me. I don't want to be on defense the rest of my life, ya know, I want to play some offense too. I want someone standing up for the ROLLING BACK of onerous gun laws, I want someone to vocally say, "The citizens of this country should be allowed to own ANY firearm, without limit, and without cause or reason." I want short barreled rifles, I want fully automatic, I want sound suppressors, and I want them all right now.

And for that wiseguy who says, "You can already own those, if you pay a tax." I say this: Did you pay your freedom of the press tax today? Your freedom of religious tax? Your free speech tax? How about your tax so you won't get illegally search and seizured? Yep, didn't think so.

I guess I don't know what I propose. I have a very helpless feeling whenever I hear gun grabbers in the newz. And I don't trust half of the Republicans (or more) that if they got some sweetheart deal out of it, they'd sell us all down the river in a heartbeat.

People, what I want to know is, are we fighting a losing battle? Is America going to be just another despotic South American or African country in 50 years?

Please help me, with your comments below, to keep this from a "criminal vs law abiding citizen" debate. I don't intend to go down that hole. While I don't personally know any criminals, by nature criminals don't follow the law, hence the term "criminal." Also, please also don't limit your thinking to, "We have to register guns!" because we don't. Firearms in this country have only been registered for a short time. What on Earth did we do before that?! (Rhetorical question...) Yes, I am even against registration.

Actually, now that I think about it, if it is for personal use and you do not intend to sell it, you are allowed to make a firearm and not tell anyone. Big if, because you have a machine shop and the highly technical knowledge to perform such an act...

Finally, please don't explain the differences between gay people and firearms. I'm not speaking on the actions, I'm speaking of the behavior of a small, small segment of the populous that forced their way into the mainstream. Can you imagine what some "radical" gun owners could do?

Thanks for the read.

 

[fireside44]

I'm not sure your analogy drawn with homosexuality is a very good one. I understand where you are coming from in terms of the loud n proud bit but the trouble is gun ownership cuts across a much broader section of society than does the comparatively small section of society with non traditional sexual habits. So the viewpoints of gun owners, to me, would seem harder to distill into a few core beliefs.

For example, not enough gun owners are willing to stick their necks out in terms of a "we're here, deal with it" type of statement. Often they are more conservative and reserved and less inclined to advertise. I think you have many factors playing into the less bold, in your face type of actions. They generally don't push back unless first pushed.

I DO see it as having headed that way, albeit slowly. I recall the 80's and early 90's when gun ownership and rights seemed to be dying a slow death. Then along came the internet, making it easier for owners to organize and vent their frustrations. I think what's coming in the future is a showdown between an overreaching government looking to take us back to the late 80's and early 90's and a large portion of the populous who have come to appreciate, and will not at this point give up, their hard earned gains. Greater resistance to the 2A movement will then be crystallized into the "we're here, deal with it" attitude.

 

[40-82]

We're not losing. Look at the concealed carry laws across the country ten years ago and look at them today. People who believe in the second amendment are more effectively representing our cause than ever before. To be effective we have to pick our battles because we don't have a majority in every locality in the country,

The major area where we lose ground is not in the legislatures but in the media. I'm not sure what we can do about that since all media outlets are privately owned, and these organizations have the ability to present events however they choose. News reporting is far too valuable to waste on reporting mere events. News reporting is always done with an eye toward pushing a political agenda, which is important because there is a small percentage of people who will always change their views to support the side they perceive is in the majority. Even people who disagree with the views of the major media outlets tend too often to believe that those views that they hear night after night on the news are inevitable, and the average viewer sees our rights as slipping away. How could they think anything else when any anti-gun measure that is passed gets extensive coverage, but when a pro-gun law is passed it is either ignored or given very little coverage?

The NRA is an extraordinarily effective organization given its resources, but compared to the financial giants it is up against its resources are tiny. We hold the moral high ground but the material low ground.

 

[zxcvbob]

Do any of you remember how some gay people acted before it was "socially acceptable" to be gay? (Gosh I hope that word isn't asterisked out. Um, G.A.Y.)
Well I do. They were blatant, in your face, "HERE WE ARE, YOU DEAL" types. Now yes, that is broad brushing a lot of people, and some were just quietly being their homosexual selves, but there was a violent minority that cried out to be accepted in "regular" society. Yes it put a lot of people off, but guess what else it did? It worked.

To stretch a tenuous analogy a little farther, the loudest opposition to open-carry where it is legal but uncommon seems to come from other gun-owners. Especially those with concealed carry permits. So-called "Suzy Soccermom" doesn't seem to notice, it's the gun owners and cops getting upset vicariously on her behalf.

 

[Ryanxia]

It sounds like you're seeing all these attacks on our Second Amendment Rights and are getting a little discouraged. Don't let it get you down, we win some and lose some. Since Sandy Hook there have been a lot more pro Second Amendment laws passed on the state/local level than anti-gun laws. The three Senators recalled in Colorado sent a huge message, first time in that state's history. (I know Hudak resigned before the recall passed). As long as there are people willing to fight for our Rights then we'll still have them, and day by day we do what we can.

Welcome to THR. I too was a lurker before I jumped into the fray