The Bright Side

[coloradokevin]

I was just starting to notice that times look better for the gun-owning community these days, at least compared to the political climate in the 1990's (our famous assault weapons ban years, among other things).

While I don't want to sound complacent on this particularly contentious issue, I have to admit that I've been a bit surprised by the reaction to the recent shooting here in Colorado. As tragic as that event was, I'm still glad to see that many political opinions following this incident have sounded more sensible than I would have expected.

First, people aren't really screaming for gun control the way they used to. More notably, our local news agencies have reported some very interesting things in the past few days.

Namely, they've pointed out that interest in gun ownership is way up, and that week over week background checks are up something like 40% here in Colorado:

http://www.9news.com/news/local/art...ackground-checks-surge-in-days-after-shooting

Then, other articles have quoted our Democrat governor, John Hickenlooper, as making some comments that seemed surprising, and fairly pro-gun (contrary to reputation):

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-22/colorado-s-hickenlooper-says-gun-control-won-t-stop-evil


Granted, there's still a lot of gas coming out of the usual suspects (Feinstein, for example), but they'll never change. I guess the part of this news coverage that really grabbed my attention is that it finally seems like outward public opinion is more pro-gun than anti-gun.

This is a good trend to be witnessing! I think the gun control issue may finally be put to rest in politics (at least for the time being), if both sides start to realize how unpopular they become by seeking ridiculous gun laws.

I may be wrong about this, but I have some hope on the subject, which is something I haven't had in a while. Maybe people are just starting to come to grips with the fact that guns are not responsible for crime?

 

[coloradokevin]

On the other hand, just after posting this thread, I found a CNN article featuring Michael Moore and Mayor Bloomberg. Again, some people will NEVER change.

Nevertheless, you guys might like the short interview piece that they threw into this story with Ice-T. Never knew he had such an understanding of the 2nd Amendment!

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2012/07/25/piers-moore-ice-t-gun-control.cnn

 

[mokin]

I've been waiting for the cries for gun control to reach the level they did back in the 90s as well, but despite the best efforts of the media they don't seem to gain much traction. The Brady Bunch are trying to capitalize on a terrible event to further thier cause. Moore and Bloomberg are looking for media time. All of them making an effort to remain relevant to the country at large. I heard the interview with Ice-T yesterday and loved it. If he's not careful he'll get thrown out of Hollywood. Probably earn him a lot of cred.

 

[CoRoMo]

...our Democrat governor, John Hickenlooper, as making some comments that seemed surprising, and fairly pro-gun...

I wouldn't use the term 'pro-gun' for any reason. The two interviews he gave over the weekend that I've watched were okay. Here they are:

http://sotu.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/22/time-to-get-serious-about-gun-control/

http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/aurora-colorado-shooting-aurora-heartbroken-16830878

...or use this one because the ABCnews link above never worked for me...

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politic...olmes-would-have-created-horror-without-guns/

I'd say he didn't wave the gun grabber flag, sure, but I can't give him a 'pro-gun' sticker. I'm glad that Candy Crowley pressed him over and over to jump into the anti-gun pool, but he ducked each opportunity that she gave him.

Granted, Hickenlooper said a lot of good things, but he left the door wide open, with an expectation that 'the political arena will address' gun control. I would have preferred that he make the statement that there is no useful or worthwhile solution behind the gun control agenda.

A good many articles written about his interviews painted his responses as "dodging the call for gun control" as opposed to refuting it or countering it. That's what I saw. He didn't want to make the call for gun control, and there could be several reasons why. I think he'd prefer that gun control come down from Washington so that his hands are clear of it, but he is also wise enough not to use this tragedy for that political gain.

Looking on the bright side: he didn't call for a new round of gun control. Further, he avoided the discussion of it as much as he possibly could.

 

[coloradokevin]

CoRoMo,

Believe me, I'm not letting my guard down with Hickenlooper. I don't believe he's pro-gun, I just felt that his one comment almost seemed to lean that way. To me, the silver lining in this is that he didn't come out as being clearly anti-gun in the wake of this shooting, which is what many of us were expecting all along.

I've met and talked with Hickenlooper a number of times in my career. He's a personable guy when you meet him, but a CLASSIC politician in every sense of the word. His only motivation in any speech is to maintain his voter base. Regardless, at least it seems that he is recognizing that he better not trounce gun rights if he wants to remain viable.

I think the same could be said for Obama in the wake of this shooting. I'm not an Obama fan in the least, and I believe that he is strongly anti-gun. But, in the interviews I've seen in the past week, he's tempered his comments enough to avoid speaking of the gun control issue. He may want gun control, but I think he knows that it isn't a good issue for him to be pursuing in America today.

 

[CoRoMo]

I agree. Politicians in their first term... looking for a second.

You're right, there is a lot of bright side here. I'm certainly delighted that he didn't call for the legislature to review our gun laws. It's very telling that after a tragedy like this, from the behavior and lack thereof from the elected class, we can all tell how obvious it is that they are terrified to really charge forward with gun control (except Ms. McCarthy; her voting district protects her lack of ethics).

http://www.morrisdailyherald.com/20...ntrol-advocates-are-met-with-silence/aba3u3i/

Apparently, we truly have power. They learned something from the Clinton AWB fallout.

 

[FROGO207]

Lets all hope that the lesson learned will not be short lived . And the old sayin' Only to save political face.

 

[Leanwolf]

I should think that Michael Moore would be as happy as a pig in slop because he can now make another (lying) "documentary," entitled "Bowling With Batman." Should make him another twenty or thirty million $$$$$, net.

Think of all the bacon cheeseburgers and fries he can buy with that!

L.W.

 

[coloradokevin]

Well, anyway, so much for hoping. I guess I spoke too soon, once again. On the other hand, at least this means my initial gut instinct about this guy was probably right on target:


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...-use-in-wake-colorado-massacre/#ixzz21h3XTjI3

"I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms," Obama said. "But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not on the streets of our cities."