Paul Brandus says why he likes guns but hate the NRA. (Congress, Reagan)
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As someone who supports the Second Amendment — and enjoys shooting firearms — I was struck by something President Obama said at Monday's Connecticut event on reducing gun violence. He spoke of how the National Rifle Association and its lapdogs in Congress have turned guns into a wedge issue to divide Americans, and make us think we have to choose between the Constitution and public safety.
NRA President Karl T. Frederick, testifying before Congress in 1934:
"I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one. I have when I felt it was desirable to do so for my own protection. I know that applies in most of the instances where guns are used effectively in self-defense or in places of business and in the home. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses."
That pretty much tells you that today's NRA is completely different from its earlier self. Since it's so obviously changed, an intelligent person would ask himself why.
“This is a matter of vital importance to the public safety ... While we recognize that assault-weapon legislation will not stop all assault-weapon crime, statistics prove that we can dry up the supply of these guns, making them less accessible to criminals.” - Ronald Reagan
“Certain forms of ammunition have no legitimate sporting, recreational, or self-defense use and thus should be prohibited.” - Ronald Reagan
“With the right to bear arms comes a great responsibility to use caution and common sense on handgun purchases.” - Ronald Reagan
“Every year, an average of 9,200 Americans are murdered by handguns, according to Department of Justice statistics. This does not include suicides or the tens of thousands of robberies, rapes and assaults committed with handguns. This level of violence must be stopped.” - Ronald Reagan
“I think maybe there could be some restrictions that there had to be a certain amount of training taken.”- Ronald Reagan
“Well, I think there has to be some (gun) control.” - Ronald Reagan
The NRA changed course completely in 1977 with the election of Executive Vice President Harlon Carter. You can look it up. He deliberately tanked everything the organization had done before him.
Wish I was still in newspapers, if only so I could use Lexis-Nexus and do some serious research, instead of relying Google, on his and his fellow NRA executives' investments ...
Google, at least, tells us that when he was 17, he got into an argument with a 15-year-old boy and shot him to death.
The NRA had been a part of Carter's life since he joined it in 1930 at the age of 16. In 1951, he was elected to the board of directors, served as its vice president from 1963 to 1965, president from 1965 to 1967 and became a member of the executive council (a lifetime position) in 1967. For most of this time Carter served in the U.S. Border Patrol, eventually rising to its head in 1950 at the age of 37. In 1961 he was named commissioner of the Southwest Region for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Carter retired from government in 1970. Three years later, agents investigating corruption in the INS confronted him with various allegations, including the charge that when he left his position, 40,000 to 50,000 rounds of government ammunition had left with him. Carter eventually testified before a federal grand jury in San Diego, where he denied any knowledge of the missing government ammo. No charges were filed.
And someone who has done some research into the transformation of the NRA from a nice hunting group to one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the nation, fueled by fear:
But what’s the purpose, what are the deeper ideological politics of that sort of gun-cult fanaticism?
Looking back at Big Business’ violent reaction against the New Deal and the political culture that it created: a more "collectivist" political culture, as the libertarians derisively call it, where people were more deeply involved with each other and their communities, and with that involvement in their politics and communities came greater trust in their communities. That political culture — where people were more involved in their politics and trusted government more than they trusted business — was a big problem, according to pollsters and PR experts hired by business lobby groups in the postwar era, groups like the National Association of Manufacturers and the Chamber of Commerce.
“This is a matter of vital importance to the public safety ... While we recognize that assault-weapon legislation will not stop all assault-weapon crime, statistics prove that we can dry up the supply of these guns, making them less accessible to criminals.” - Ronald Reagan
“Certain forms of ammunition have no legitimate sporting, recreational, or self-defense use and thus should be prohibited.” - Ronald Reagan
“With the right to bear arms comes a great responsibility to use caution and common sense on handgun purchases.” - Ronald Reagan
“Every year, an average of 9,200 Americans are murdered by handguns, according to Department of Justice statistics. This does not include suicides or the tens of thousands of robberies, rapes and assaults committed with handguns. This level of violence must be stopped.” - Ronald Reagan
“I think maybe there could be some restrictions that there had to be a certain amount of training taken.”- Ronald Reagan
“Well, I think there has to be some (gun) control.” - Ronald Reagan
Surely, gun control opponents would tell you that anyone who has been shot by a gun before is in no good, unbiased position to make any sound judgments on what do do about guns.
more liberal butt-hurt.
want my guns ?
come and take um
Well, you must certainly be proud of Mr. Murderer/Operation *******. Such a sterling character, of whom you gun fondlers now are all the product! You regurgitate every talking point this human piece of scum ever created, ad nauseum. And you call the rest of us "sheep!"
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