The NRA, like the GOP, has found itself well down the road to irrelevance. By pandering to the ideology of the extremists they attract, they’ve alienated the majority of Americans. This includes many who’d support some of their ideas if it wasn’t for their obstinate insistence on no compromise, no common sense solutions. When faced with horrific tragedies and real issues to be addressed, instead of moving to the center or at least acknowledging an issue with guns, they double down on rhetoric. Instead of catering to mental stable gun owners, they’ve narrowed their audience further and further by stoking the fires of paranoia in the minds of conspiracy theorists and militia members. Rather than promote responsible gun ownership, they’ve cashed in on the wannabe Rambos and people who wouldn’t be able to pass the psychological exam to become a police officer or soldier.
I grew up in a house in Walker, MN, that had an NRA sticker on the front door. My father, an Army Reserve infantry officer, kept several rifles and pistols in our home- unlocked and freely accessible. I learned how to handle and fire weapons safely at an early age. I read American Rifleman magazine every month. I was never particularly enamored of firearms, but I could handle them safely and I understood what they’re capable of. I understand, perhaps more than most Liberals, that the majority of gun owners are decent, responsible people who want to do the right thing. Increasing numbers of these folks are coming to understand that the NRA no longer represent their interests…if they ever did in the first place. Over the years, the NRA has become the point man for the gun industry and a group of gun owners that can only charitably be called “gun nuts.”
The unfortunate thing for the majority of gun owners is that they’re represented by a cabal of paranoid conspiracy theories who have convinced themselves- and are bent on convincing everyone else- that Barack Obama intends to use his second term to take their guns. The truth is that no reasonable person believes that, but the NRA and it’s President, Wayne LaPierre, are nothing close to reasonable.
Thankfully, there’s at least one committed gun owner willing to make the argument that the NRA no longer represents him or the vast majority of responsible gun owners.
[T]he NRA doesn’t represent me anymore…. Their answer to gun violence? More fear, more paranoia. Buy more guns, buy more ammo, become a member and slap an NRA sticker on your vehicle to scare off criminals. And seriously, who the fuck are these nuts who want an AR-15 for home defense? Fire one of those at an intruder and miss? That 5.56mm round will scream right through 2 layers of drywall and insulation and right into your spouse or child sleeping in an adjacent room. Don’t tell me you need a semi-auto weapon with a 30 round clip and armor piercing rounds to protect you from a crackhead. Chances are you’re a lousy shot but let’s be honest, you want to really, really kill someone.
These aren’t people who really want to protect their homes, they have this delusional, Fox News fed fantasy that Obama and the UN are going to show up to take them to detention camps. They have watched Red Dawn or Rambo one time too many and think that they will somehow fight off an imagined repressive government with a single rifle, and the NRA reinforces that delusion at every opportunity to make even more money.
I may be a confirmed and unapologetic Liberal, but as much as I might prefer otherwise, I recognize that the 2nd Amendment isn’t going anywhere. I understand that some gun nuts cling to their guns more fiercely than even God, family, and Fox News Channel. Some are compensating, some believe the U.S. government and/or the U.N. are out to take their guns away, some are convinced that they really, truly NEED an AR-15 to defend their home, family, and yes, their guns.
Here’s a news flash: no one is proposing to take away your guns. The discussion we want to have is about sane, rational gun control that will allow us to get assault weapons off our streets. People like me may not be fans of the 2nd Amendment, but we understand its role in the American experience…and we understand that it’s not going to go away.
When intelligent, objective gun owners call out the NRA for representing the gun industry and gun nuts at their expense, you begin to understand that reasonable and responsible gun control is possible. Sure, there’s the “You can have my guns when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers” crowd, but you don’t hear about the millions of gun owners who understand that too much is…well, too much.
I’ll support reasonable restrictions on gun ownership, including special licenses for military-styled weapons such as an AR-15 and bans on high capacity magazines…. We aren’t going to stop gun violence in our country, violence has been part of our history since the beginning. We can make a dent in it and we can make it harder for people who suddenly snap to go on rampages like we saw at Sandy Hook or Aurora.
If you’re a responsible person, you should be able support certain safeguards which in no way restrict your ability to own or use firearms in a responsible manner. Or you can follow the way of the NRA, double down on stupid, and follow the bloody trail to irrelevancy. Your choice.
Responsible gun owners understand the importance of safeguards. They, more than most, understand the lethality of guns. They understand that guns are not toys, nor are they a means of compensating for other shortcomings. These people are the ones who should be driving the discussion on gun control. They no more want to be associated with paranoid conspiracy theorists like Wayne LaPierre than they want to see their rights trampled.
Responsible gun owners want nothing to do with people who wish to make it possible for anyone, no matter how unbalanced, to own unlimited deadly firepower. They especially don’t want to be seen as condoning a system that makes it far too easy for people like James Holmes or Adam Lanza to secure the weaponry they need in order to massacre innocent civilians.
It’s time for responsible gun owners to carry the day and tell the paranoid conspiracy theorists who run the NRA where they can stick their lunacy.
