Posted on 09/29/2009 6:39:35 PM PDT by marktwain
Sometimes the National Rifle Association needs to know when it’s time to lighten up.
It pains us to say that, because the NRA has fought hard to keep the state and federal governments from denying responsible, law-abiding Americans from possessing and enjoying guns.
But the organization jerked the trigger recently when it targeted Easthampton Mayor Michael A. Tautznik and other Western Massachusetts mayors because they had the temerity to join Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a national organization that works to deny irresponsible and criminal citizens from getting their hands on guns.
It would take the logical skills of Aristotle to explain the finer points of why these groups disagree. Let’s just say that the mayors’ group believes America needs stronger curbs on gun trading, while the NRA believes the group seeks to erode our Second Amendment rights.
The NRA has been sending letters to its members nationwide denouncing Mayors Against Illegal Guns and urging them to pressure their mayors to quit the organization.
Caught in the middle of the whole affair is Tautznik, a gun owner and NRA member, who is locked in a tight re-election race. He withdrew from Mayors Against Illegal Guns after he received eight to 10 letters about his membership.
“This really isn’t a local issue,” he said last week. “I thought it would be quicker for the community to just end it.” Tautznik is wrong about that. It is a local issue, and Western Massachusetts doesn’t need the NRA to tell us what to think. We know guns. Our region is home to two of the world’s leading gun manufacturers – Smith & Wesson and Savage Arms. Our friends and neighbors make these guns.
But our region is also home to an ugly gang violence problem. Nearly all the murders and shootings in the region are committed with illegal guns. We know that nearly every illegal gun was once a legal gun, and mayors should fight illegal gun trading.
The Republican has and will continue to support the rights of gun owners, but sometimes we wish the NRA would focus more on promoting marksmanship and gun safety instead of badgering small town mayors. We’ve been shooting a little high and right lately, and we could use the NRA’s help. But when it comes to politics, we can think for ourselves.
"Submitter's Note: No it wouldn't. Let's look at just one topic, closing the mythical gun show loophole. MAIG want's gun show promoters to 'register' with the AG, pay a fee and get a license. No limit on the fee, no mention of requirements to get a license. Really makes you want to run a gun show, doesn't it.
Anyone who sells as much as a single gun at a show, or talks to someone about a gun which they later buy elsewhere, is a 'vendor' and must be registered with the promoter. Failure to do so will send the buyer and seller to prison for two years, but the promoter faces five years. Still want to run a gun show?
How about the waiver of your 4th, 5th 6th and 14th amendment rights? "[T]he Attorney General may enter during business hours the place of business of any gun show promoter and any place where a gun show is held for the purposes of examining the records required by sections 923 and 932 and the inventory of licensees conducting business at the gun show. Such entry and examination ... shall not require a showing of reasonable cause or a warrant." No warrant required, no presumption of innocence. Still want to run a gun show?"
The left is very good at twisting the language. I don't know this organization, but I'd be willing to be that in the cities and towns where these mayors preside, there's nothing but illegal guns, because honest citizens are the ones who end up getting disarmed.
But the criminals and gangs never seem to have any trouble finding them.
More antigun BS. What makes this a “republican editorial”?? I tried to register to post a comment at this site and they gave me the runaround. Screw them.
The Mayor of New York city FOUNDED the group. That should tell you a lot about what it wants to do when it comes to gun ownership.
This legislation is part of an incremental plan, not to regulate guns but to ban them outright! I've been involved in RKBA activism for 53 years now and the one thing I've learned to depend on from the gun grabbers is their utter disregard for the truth.
IF THEIR LIPS ARE MOVING THEY ARE LIEING!
Take a visit to Holyoke, Enfield, Springfield...you'd be right. Take a trip south into Hartford, CT or Meriden, CT and it gets a lot worse.
The good news is that no one reads the Republican any more. They dropped their production from a broad sheet to a “tabloid” two times a week. There are days when the thing is so small they must compete with ads from the local high school paper.
Dying media. I give it two years, tops.
Plus, its a pain in the rear to get a gun permit in MA. And lets not talk about restrictions on what kinds of guns you can own.
I hate my state.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a radical leftist anti-Bill of Rights group. Any mayor who belongs to this group should not be in a government position of any type.
SUPPORT HR 2296/S.941!! Write your Congressman and Senator telling them you strongly passage of these civil rights laws.
If you're in VT, you are in a 'shall issue' state. In MA, they can say 'no' for any reason they can think of.
I hate this crap hole too. Somedays....I hear Texas calling me.
The mayor in question is from Massachusetts. Nough said!
Yes. Funny thing about Vermont is that they are as liberal as you can get. But they love their guns, and no matter how many flatlanders move in here that hasn’t changed yet.
:You nailed it. They lie all the time. I think they often lie to themselves. They start with false premises, and it is downhill after that.
Just another false-flag organization.....
I don’t argue, I just say “OUT OF MY COLD DEAD HANDS”! I used to try to reason with them, may as well talk to tree stumps!
Yeah, right. In their estimation it's irresponsible to want to own a gun, and criminal to attempt it. I love it when these guys try to play language games.
I got an LTC-A after paying $100 for the class and $100 for the application. And it is still restricted for sporting use only. Our local chief (the issuing authority) doesnt like to give out concealed carried permits unless you take the $800 class.
Now I was not going to carry concealed anyway so it really didnt bother me that much. But still.....
What exactly is an “illegal gun”? All guns are legal (even machine guns)....it is their POSSESSION which MAY be illegal.
If these mayors sign their name to an organization whose name makes no sense, what good are they?
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