Posted on 12/24/2012 6:34:49 PM PST by marktwain
I didn't want to post about this, because frankly, it is exhausting. I've been having this exact same argument for my entire adult life. It is not an exaggeration when I say that I know pretty much exactly every single thing an anti-gun person can say. I've heard it over and over, the same old tired stuff, trotted out every single time there is a tragedy on the news that can be milked. Yet, I got sucked in, and I've spent the last few days arguing with people who either mean well but are uninformed about gun laws and how guns actually work (who I don't mind at all), or the willfully ignorant (who I do mind), or the obnoxiously stupid who are completely incapable of any critical thinking deeper than a Facebook meme (them, I can't stand).
Today's blog post is going to be aimed at the first group. I am going to try to go through everything I've heard over the last few days, and try to break it down from my perspective. My goal tonight is to write something that my regular readers will be able to share with their friends who may not be as familiar with how mass shootings or gun control laws work.
A little background for those of you who don't know me, and this is going to be extensive so feel free to skip the next few paragraphs, but I need to establish the fact that I know what I am talking with, because I am sick and tired of my opinion having the same weight as a person who learned everything they know about guns and violence from watching TV.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpfo.org ...
Indeed. That is where I read it. Also as a result, I bought Kindle copies of all his books. Judging by the first few chapters of the first one, reading them is going to be a LOT of fun.
Bflr
Agreed about media control as a factor for being able to exploit an advantage but I don’t see how that eliminates the universal existence of opportunity within a crisis or danger. I know that sounds like just semantics but I really intend no disrespect for your point of view as I quite often agree with your posted articles and forum posts. Innovation will be required for success. Exhibit A for how NOT to do it was the NRA last Friday and the Meet the Press follow-up on Sunday.
I should have been more clear. In a generic sense, you are correct. I was trying to say that the ability to use a crisis to enact political legislation that could not otherwise be passed, depends in large part on the ability to control the narrative in the media, and that the ability to do so has been quite one sided for several decades.
Now we’re on the same basic page. I’m assuming you’ve left unsaid your agreement with my point about the need for innovation to address that mismatch of access as well as using the NRA as the innovation laboratory to improve on the pathetic performances I noted.
The NRA is (surprisingly) moving in the right direction, if a bit slugishly. They are part of the solution, but they are being upstaged by the more innovative and smaller organizaitons.
I hope that they will monitor those activities, note successes and failures, and act appropriately.
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