From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Democrats to gun owners: The party is over
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:41:51 -0800
Second Amendment Foundation
Democrats to gun owners: The party is overBy Alan Gottlieb and Dave Workman
Breaking up is so hard to do. Judging from the Democratic Party platform,
remarks from presidential nominee Barack Obama and his selection of anti-gun
Sen. Joseph Biden as
a running mate, the long, transparent courtship of gun owners by Democrats is
over and instead of a goodbye kiss, there was a slap in the face; the political
approximation of a domestic assault.
It was inevitable. After Democrats lost Congress in 1994 because their
actions brought legions of angry gun owners to the polls, the party re-packaged
its rhetoric and tried to sell itself as a friend of the Second Amendment.
American gun owners, who are increasingly becoming gun rights activists, are
not the fools Democrats think they are. As we note in our new book These Dogs
Dont Hunt: The Democrats War On Guns, Democrats earned their reputation as
being the party of gun control. Instead of rhetoric, they need to repudiate
their long-standing animosity toward gun owner rights.
The party platform tries to patronize gun owners by claiming to
recognize that the right to bear arms is an important part of the American
tradition, and we will
preserve Americans continued Second Amendment right to own and use firearms.
But then the document quickly reveals that Democrats have changed their tune
but not their agenda: We can work together to enact and enforce common-sense
laws and improvements, like closing the gun show loophole, improving our
background check system and reinstating the assault weapons ban...
Gun owners know that the ten-year ban on so-called assault weapons
which included more than 200 types of commonly-owned firearms had no
measurable impact on violent crime, and that reinstating it is all about
symbolism rather than substance. They know that gun shows are the source of
less than one percent of guns used by violent criminals. They know anti-gunners
believe common-sense laws include licensing, registration and a surrender of
the right to carry to the discretionary whims of police chiefs and
sheriffs.
The party chose Obama as its standard-bearer. He once served on the board
of the vehemently anti-firearms civil rights Joyce Foundation. During his first
run for public office he supported a ban on the manufacture, sale and
possession of handguns and semi-automatic rifles. He supports mandatory waiting
periods on all gun purchases. He told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in April
that I am not in favor of concealed weapons, insulting millions of armed
citizens who care about self-defense in the process.
Gun owners know Biden as an anti-gun extremist. He consistently earns F
ratings from gun rights organizations. He claimed credit for writing the
original legislation to ban semiautomatic sport-utility rifles that are owned
by millions of Americans who have harmed nobody.
The proverbial last straw for the firearms community was Obamas remark
during his acceptance speech that The reality
of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those
plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but dont tell me we cant uphold the
Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.
The reality is that gun rights are the same for everyone, no matter
where they live. And gun owners know from experience that Democrats falsely
believe that the only way to keep guns away from criminals is to oppressively
regulate gun ownership for everyone.
Mr. Obama told his faithful that Sen. McCain doesnt get it. Actually,
Democrats dont get it. You do not woo people by treating them like
criminals, and you cannot support someones civil right at the same time you
regulate it to irrelevancy.
It is now clear to gun owners that Democrats only asked them to the dance
just to get through the door.
Alan
Gottlieb is founder of the Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) and Dave
Workman is senior editor of Gun Week (gunweek.com). They are co-authors of
These Dogs Dont Hunt: The Democrats War On Guns.
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2008 Second Amendment Foundation, All Rights Reserved.Second Amendment
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