Gun violence author Mark Ames:
...I grew up with guns, and despite a couple of bad episodes involving guns and a drunken violent stepfather, I have a reflexive contempt for people who haven’t gone shooting and tell you that gun control laws are the answer.
Well, guess what? Their knee-jerk solution is more right than mine.
In the past I've argued gun control with a number of sane gun owners, NRA members, who disliked the NRA's fear tactics, but they feared gun control more and some also believed that the government secretly desired to disarm Americans. I suspect Sandy Hook has changed some minds, like Mark Ames.
Passing gun restrictions today probably wouldn’t do much to slow down rampage massacres, at least not for awhile — but the politics of sweeping gun control laws could have a huge transformative effect over time. It’s no longer impossible for me to ignore that fact.
Which means it’s also no longer possible for me to ignore the National Rifle Association, and its hick fascism politics that’ve been poisoning our culture ever since the NRA’s infamous "coup" in 1977, when the NRA was taken over by far-right fanatics led by a convicted murderer and onetime US Border Guards chief named Harlon Carter — whose previous claim to fame was when he led a massive crackdown on Mexican immigrant laborers called "Operation Wetback." That’s not a typo by the way.
Ames explores the NRA's history and how it morphed into a truly fanatical right wing organization. He goes on to explain something the press fails to realize
The more batshit malevolent the gun cult gets, the more power they exert. Just ignore the periodic squeals from the rest of the country, and keep pushing the batshit envelope. ...
It’s not exactly a revelation to learn that the NRA is run by hick fascist nutjobs, although we quickly forget just how toxic they are without constant reminding. But each time you peel off a layer, it’s more shocking than you expected it be.
This is an excellent article that explains how plutocrats like the Koch brothers have encouraged gun nuttery and used it to energize the Republican Party. It's nice to see that some gun owners get it.
[h/t Balloon Juice]
--Trakker
Facists are for gun control are for gun control ... so Trakker, what does that make you?
Posted by: Dan D. Doty | December 20, 2012 at 11:08 AM
Sane!
Posted by: Trakker | December 20, 2012 at 03:01 PM
Doubtful.
Maybe you should read Michael Hoffman's book SECRET SOCIETIES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE, 1992.
So far you've been doing what someone else wants ( a police state) without blinking an eye , or ever asking a question. Trakker, you've been worked like puppet on a string.
Posted by: Dan D. Doty | December 21, 2012 at 11:10 AM
Dan, there is no shortage of scary books out there. I could give you a reading list of books that support my views. You won't read them of course. I'm really tired of your insults and accusations.
Posted by: Trakker | December 21, 2012 at 11:33 AM
The book wasn't about supporting views.
Hoffman said in the book that if you wanted to have a police state in the US, you first have you have a bunch of " lone nuts " create fear in the population, and the American people would then demand a police state.
In other words, those in the shadows would be given power by the very people they want to subjugate.
In other words ... you.
Posted by: Dan D. Doty | December 26, 2012 at 11:17 AM