A Threat We Can’t Ignore (gun owners)

New York Times ^ | June 20, 2009 | Bob Herbert

[reaganaut1]

...

There is no Obama gun ban on the way. Gun control advocates are, frankly, disappointed [so far].

What’s important to grasp here is that this madness has nothing to do with hunting, which the politicians always claim to be defending, and everything to do with the use of firearms to resist policies and lawful government actions that some gun owners don’t like.

In a speech in February to the Conservative Political Action Conference, the executive vice president of the N.R.A., Wayne LaPierre, said: “Our founding fathers understood that the guys with the guns make the rules.”

A new book by Dennis Henigan, a vice president at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, goes into detail on this point. In “Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths That Paralyze American Gun Policy,” Mr. Henigan refers to a Harvard Law Journal article written by an N.R.A. lawyer titled, “The Second Amendment Ain’t About Hunting.” In the article, the lawyer makes it clear that for the N.R.A., the right to bear arms is “directed at maintaining an armed citizenry. ... to protect against the tyranny of our own government.”

There was a wave of right-wing craziness along those lines during the Clinton administration. Four federal agents were killed and 16 others wounded in 1993 during an attempt to serve a search warrant at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Tex., where a stockpile of illegal machine guns had been amassed. The subsequent siege ended disastrously with a raging fire in which scores of people were killed.

In the aftermath of Waco, the N.R.A. did its typically hysterical, fear-mongering thing. In a fund-raising letter in the spring of 1995, LaPierre wrote: “Jack-booted government thugs [have] more power to take away our Constitutional rights, break in our doors, "

[reaganaut1]

What’s important to grasp here is that this madness has nothing to do with hunting, which the politicians always claim to be defending, and everything to do with the use of firearms to resist policies and lawful government actions that some gun owners don’t like.

Herbert explains well the importance of gun rights, although he opposes them.

[mainepatsfan]

Yeah that’s kind of what that little incident at Lexington and Concord a couple of centuries ago was about.

[I Hate Obama]

Guess what NYT when and/or if it does come, we will be ready and you will be the first thing to go.

[dirtboy]

Herbert is just carrying on the long-standing liberal tradition of ignoring the fact that 100 million peopl last decade were killed by their own governments - including millions in the liberal communal utopia of the Soviet Union.

And only a liberal can decry George W. Bush as a fascist while wearing a Che t-shirt.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Did anyone ever see one of those illegal machine guns from Waco?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

This looks to be a pointless “undated” Herbert article, to run when Bob is on vacation.

[Kolb]

I wouldn’t wipe my backside with that article.

[Renegade]

Lets buy Bob Herbert a one way ticket to Iran or China . Send the Hildabest with him .

[joma89]

Choose sides, folks. The anti-gun, “government knows best”, “people are too stupid to take care of themselves” crowd like Herbert are coming for you. I know which side I have chosen. Do you?

JoMa

P.S Notice the author conveniently left out the Muslim who killed a US soldier in Arkansas back in June? This is a perfect example of biased writing.

[Graybeard58]

To a liberal, anything other than a single shot is a "machine gun" and if you are a fast reloader, that single shot is a machine gun too.

[Logophile]

There is no Obama gun ban on the way. Gun control advocates are, frankly, disappointed in the president’s unwillingness to move ahead on even the mildest of gun control measures.

Good. Let's make sure that no such ban ever comes our way, and that gun control advocates remain forever disappointed.

[scory]

Every act of oppression and tyranny when imposed by government is “lawful”.

[flowerplough]

There is no Obama gun ban on the way. Bammy's people have learned from the Clintons' experience, and will probably laser-engrave, register, restrict and tax ammo, instead. To wit:

"Ammunition Accountability is a newly forming group of ammunition coding technology supporters. Our group includes gun crime victims, industry representatives, law enforcement, public officials, public policy experts, and more. We are working together to pass legislation to make ammunition coding technology a reality.

Ammunition coding technology works by laser etching the back of each bullet with an alpha-numeric serial number. Then when a potential criminal purchases a box of 9mm cartridges, the box of ammunition and the bullets’ coding numbers would be connected to the purchaser in a statewide database. When a bullet is found at a crime scene, the code on the bullet can be read with a simple magnifying glass and then be run through a statewide database to determine who purchased the ammunition and where, providing a valuable investigative lead.

There are many ways that you can help us solve gun crime around the nation. For more information about our organization or information about the technology contact us: ACT(at)ammunitionaccountability.com."

[dirtboy]

Gun craziness of all kinds, including the passage of local laws making it easier to own and conceal weapons, is on the rise.

Another classic liberal self-inflicted wound on the subject of CCW. How many DC gun laws did von Brunn violate in taking his weapon to and into the Holocaust Museum? The DC laws did not stop the madman, nor do they stop an astronomically high murder rate in the nation's capital. Liberals are just unwilling to deal with the basic notion that criminals do not obey gun laws.

[Nat Turner]

That ban will surely come as national "Gun Salesman of the Millennium" continues to spend spend spend, shred the Constitution, nationalize industry and ruin the free market.

All it will take is another Katrina like incident or terrorist attack and the "national security state" will move against the 2A and gun owners.

[Emmett McCarthy]

I believe the reason no gun ban is on the way is that Congress is aware of actions being taken at the level of various state legislatures which are firmly opposed to it. They cannot afford to have an open and public breach with states at this point.

[dirtboy]

P.S Notice the author conveniently left out the Muslim who killed a US soldier in Arkansas back in June? This is a perfect example of biased writing.

The author, after decrying the rise of hate-driven websites taking issue with Obama's race, ignores the reality that the average black person in this country is at vastly more danger from someone of his own race than from some deranged Stormfronter.

[PLD]

It figures the article is from the NYT..

Always bringing up the murders at the Branch Davidian compound no one knows the truth there..If you ask me the Clinton's, Janet Reno was trying to show their power..They killed little kids and blamed it on the people living in the compound..I am not far from Elk Texas where this happened..If they had of wanted to serve a warrent on David Corresh they could have done that any time in Dallas where he humg out and they knew he went there often..All the had to do was walk in a store and handcuff him..

As for the people there, they worked out in town along other citizens of Waco and surrounding areas and were the nicest hard working people a person would want to meet..

So go to hell NYT I am waiting for the day that paper of yours is shut down..then we will get the last laugh..

[Scrambler Bob]

That three sentence paragraph turns the Waco incident exactly around. How many alive now have never heard of Waco before, and get their first recounting here?

[DJ MacWoW]

I guess that he’s never read Jeffersons comments on owning guns.