"Due to my liberal friends' attacks...I have now become a life member of the NRA"

[alp227]

LTTE to be published in Friday's local paper:

Due to my liberal friends' attacks on an organization that promotes the responsible use, care and storage of firearms for law-abiding citizens, I have now become a life member of the NRA and will work toward dispelling the half-truths fostered by unreasonable people. Up until the Newtown massacre I was a casual supporter of the NRA. However, due to the emotional and irrational comments from the liberal left and our politically motivated president I can no longer take that path. I am not the only American who feels this way. The NRA reports membership is increasing exponentially along with gun and ammunitions sales. Gun control is not the only answer in solving gun violence. Contributing factors range from lack of mental health programs to violence in entertainment/video games to lack of parental involvement. Spend the money being used to tighten gun control laws for teenager-at-risk programs. This would better serve our society.

I think this letter writer is partially right about the "contributing factor" and "at risk programs", but I wonder if he realizes that by joining an org like the NRA he's becoming a puppet of the greedy gun company CEOs?

[Scuba]

1. Which is it? In the NRA or dispelling half-truths. He can't have it both ways.

[Lint Head]

2. Drown the NRA in the blood of ever person murdered by a gun.

[krispos42]

4. Only if we can drown the ACLU...

...in the blood of every person that was killed by a murderer set free by a technicality.

[Pholus]

5. Ahhh, I guess the ACLU is supposed to boil some liberal blood...

Equivalencies are cool tactic to deflect the topic at hand.

[krispos42]

6. So is knee-jerk blame games.

Can we drown the DoT in all the blood from all the people killed on a highway?

[Lint Head]

7. False comparisons does not a point make.

[Pholus]

9. Yet another false equivalence.

Your new misdirection might actually even be relevant if the NRA tried to reduce gun deaths the way the DoT tries to reduce highway deaths. You know with "car control."

But they don't.

[krispos42]

10. Can we drown Congress in all the blood of victims of the War on Drugs?

How about just the DEA?

Oh, wait, but most of those drug-related murders were done with guns. I guess we should drown the DEA, Congress, and the NRA in the blood of all the shot-to-death gang members?

[truebluegreen]

11. Why stop with the shot-to-death gang members?

Why not add in the blood of all the innocent victims too?

Or why settle for drowning? Why don't we make the DEA, Congress and the NRA burn in Hell for All Eternity?

I mean if we are going to indulge in over-the-top caterwauling, why not go whole hog?

Or maybe we can settle down and have an actual serious conversation about a serious problem.

[Pholus]

14. Dead horse, meet stick (again).

Your responses seem fairly standard for some reason...

1) Bash a "liberal" organization like the ACLU. CHECK.
2) Bag on a branch of evil gub'mint. CHECK.
3) Go hyperbolic and stop making sense. CHECK.

You'd have done better to stop with "the DEA" because while you took 45 minutes to make it that far this particular false equivalence it actually gets close enough to look relevant.

But then you bring in the "shot-to-death gang members" for no reason that makes logical sense. When I think of "victims of the War on Drugs" I don't think about gang members but instead about small time offenders rotting in the Prison Industrial Complex. But here you are obsessing about the blood of "shot-to-death gang members" who by your labeling don't seem much like victims to me.

Then again, I get your analogy maybe. While the NRA plays at being a victim, like "gang members in the War on Drugs " they actually brought their problems on themselves...

[socialindependocrat]

27. Who needs a car that can go over 100 MPH?

Why don't we have commuter cars that cost $5000
without all the electric windows and add-ons?

Why does it take a presidential order to get manufacturers to make a car that will get over 30 MPG?

Why don't they put breathalizers on cars of DUI drivers after the 1st or 2nd conviction?

Why do these DUI drivers have 5 convictions and are still driving when they kill somebody?

It's all the same crap - They make laws and then
bargain them away.

Why do we have police who come to your home to take a report
and then see if they can find the criminal? Even if we add more police they still can't prevent crime...

Now see what you did? You got me started!!

[southernyankeebelle]

3. Well there are some liberals who own guns and probably are members of the NRA.

So what? If you can't take the heat when you disagree with a person I hate to see what he would do if he gets mad because he didn't win an argument. Just saying.

[holdencaufield]

15. I can see where he might get confused.

I myself am confused by the attitudes of persons who call themselves liberal but then go on to demand mandatory sentencing, one-strike rules, and punitive taxes on things they don't personally enjoy.

I was raised in a VERY liberal household -- My Grandfather was a Wobbly. My great-Grandmother a Suffragette. My grandparents and parents were union folk. And I was raised to believe that liberals don't ban ANYTHING ... books, drugs, smoking, acts between consenting adults, fast food, anything. The liberalism of my parents believed that people were free to do what they wanted -- and also free to suffer the consequences when they act irresponsibly.

The liberalism in which I was raised was about just that, LIBERTY. Reacting to the unknown or scary with fear and loathing was something conservatives did. I guess my kind of liberalism -- and that of my parents -- is no longer valid.

[gejohnston]

18. you just hit on the difference between liberalism and modern progressivism

which are not always the same thing. Liberals are open minded, tolerant, and still believe in the foundations of the Enlightenment.

[holdencaufield]

21. So ...

... it's basically just "Reefer Madness" -- but with guns?

[gejohnston]

22. Yeah,

I'm old enough to remember government researchers saying pot was the gateway drug to heroin.

[holdencaufield]

23. It's NOT?!

[jeepnstein]

38. Jazz music, nylon stocking, and marijuana...

It's leading to the total destruction of our society. If you don't like that list of evils just substitute your own. Or you can tune in to the 24/7 cable news outlets and they'll tell you what to hate and you won't even have to think for yourself.

[southernyankeebelle]

30. You come from good stock there friend. Wear it with a badge of courage. I have always

called myself liberal even when it wasn't fashionable.

[holdencaufield]

31. Well, I feel pretty out of place here ...

... what with the talk of banning, shunning, mandatory imprisonment and the talking about drowning people in blood *. Doesn't sound all that liberal to me.

But, what did Bob Dylan say? "The Times, they are a-Changing"

* Note to jury -- those are things actually posted on DU on gun related OPs

[southernyankeebelle]

32. Well I am not into guns. I don't believe in spilling peoples blood. Of course I wouldn't

put myself in a place where I felt I was unsafe. Your right times are changing. My granddaughter who is 7 yrs old and her half brother who is 11 yr old and a hunter were over at the house yesterday. They had no school. But anyway she had her little pink backpack and she went to get something inside of it and she pulled out a play toy gun. I wasn't happy to see that. I had a talk with her about it and reminding her playing is one thing but guns can kill people. I tried not to make to big a deal about it because when I was a little girl it was nothing for all of us to play war. All of the kids boys and girls we played pretent war. We were living on the base and that is what us kids did. We had lots of fun. Many of us used sticks as guns. It never effected me as I have grown up. I don't have any guns in my home. I don't care if people have guns for protection or hunting.

[holdencaufield]

33. I grew up hearing stories about Matewan ...

... Anaconda Road and the Lattimar Massacre. My Grandfather would go on for hours about fighting company thugs on the picket lines. We always had guns in the house -- and I have several. My daughter grew up with them and is a pretty good shot on targets and clays but she doesn't like to hunt.

[southernyankeebelle]

34. I see no problem with target practice. I am with her about not liking to hunt. But

I have no problem with hunters as long as people who hunt eat what they shoot.

[jeepnstein]

39. We don't have realistic toy guns in the house.

Never did. We have real guns and they are handled under a very specific and rigid set of rules. Honestly, my kids aren't even that interested in toys guns. Never were. Both my sons shoot very well and enjoy it quite a bit. Why would the want a toy when they can shoot the real thing?

I will say we have Nerf shooters but they don't really get used all that much unless we're snowed in and restless or something. The cat likes to chase the darts as we skip them across the floor.

Even though I carry a gun I don't really care much for all the violence and hatred in our popular culture and media. We avoid violent action films. Nobody watches cop shows in my house. And we both preach and practice non-violence in our daily lives. I prefer our home to be a refuge from the horrors that surround us daily. And if that means I must bar the door against someone who will do my family or guests harm, well, I'm well equipped in every way to deal with that. Monsters are real and they look just like you and me. And our society feeds them constantly.

[southernyankeebelle]

40. I don't like guns period. I wouldn't have them either. But like I said I don't care if people

have them in their home for protection. I did visit a friend and his family and he had a rifle out in plain site in the corner. I was extremely uncomfortable with it out with little children around. I don't care what kind of an expert a person is and even some kids are an accident can happen. I didn't stay to long and I never went back. We weren't that close of friends.

[jeepnstein]

43. I'm the same way, kind of.

A gun sitting in the corner is just not a good thing. Human beings have accidents all the time. The smart ones at least take efforts to avoid them. I also unplug my table saw, don't put knives in the sink, and almost never start fires with a cup of gasoline while saying "Hey ya'll, watch this."

[southernyankeebelle]

44. Oh my did you know an idiot that did that with a cup of gasoline? Jeepers are stupid.

[Callisto32]

41. I imagine cop shows to you must be like lawyer shows to me.

We can seethe over Law and Order together, I suppose.

[jeepnstein]

42. I can really get my sister-in-law going on that one.

She's a former prosecuting attorney with a rabid attention to little details.

[southernyankeebelle]

45. I bet she can solve the case before the show is over, huh? I'd hate that.

[bluerum]

8. I will likely never join or support the NRA but the irrational blather, naked fear

and revengeful rhetoric from otherwise reasonable people is making me reconsider my political thinking.

I have never been a one issue voter, but I can understand those who are. I also understand the need to take some decisive meaningful action.

But what I am hearing and seeing is a stampede of ignorance, fear and hate. And I want no part of it.

[lastlib]

12. OOO-ooo-ooh, the scary "liberal left"!! As opposed to what other left??!?

Non-liberal?? (huh??) this guy's penchant for tautology marks him as a true genius among his kind---liverworts!

[hrmjustin]

13. The NRA has shown itself to be evil. Why would anyone want to join an evil organization?

[holdencaufield]

16. Because EVIL organisations ...

... get the best clubhouses.

[hrmjustin]

17. I doubt that.

[DemDealer]

24. So four million people are "evil"?

I joined the NRA in the 90s because, as much as I dislike the doomsayer rhetoric their executive board likes to pump out, they are in fact the biggest positive force in the gun rights movement. If it weren't for the NRA, gun rights would have been eroded down to an ineffectual nub decades ago. They are not an exclusively Republikan institution.

Because I want to preserve the current middle-of-the-road compromise on gun rights and not see it eroded, I am evil? Is that what you are saying? And if so, may I ask what you would like to see happen to me, my life, and my family?

[hrmjustin]

29. No I am not saying you are evil and I wish happiness for you and your family.

I do believe that the NRA's leadership has shown themselves for what they truly are. They are greedy, power hungry, and vicious people that do not care at all for the people of this nation. Our president is trying to do the right thing and put in meaningful measures that can help fight gun violence in this nation, and the NRA is trying to block him at every chance they get. They have ceased to be a 2nd amendment advocate group and have now become a power hungry lobbyist group that wants to control as many members of congress as they can. That is evil to me.
I am not talking about the membership, but I do not understand why anyone would want to be a member of that group.

[benEzra]

36. Because outlawing rifle handgrips that stick out,

outlawing adjustable-length stocks, and declaring 200 million magazines in U.S. homes to be contraband, are not "meaningful measures that can help fight gun violence in this nation."

I'm not an NRA member---I let my membership lapse some years ago because of their increasing coziness with conservatives---but since December I've been strongly considering re-joining, due to the proposals that Feinstein et al have put forward.

[hrmjustin]

37. Well I am sorry to hear you are thinking of rejoining that group.

We have to agree to disagree.

[shadowrider]

46. Careful, there's a thread in meta to ban any NRA member/apologist

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1240205874

[benEzra]

47. Sigh...this is 1994 all over again.

Same rhetoric, same echo-chamber "consensus" constructed by shunning anyone who disagrees. That's how things like the New York ban get put forward by people who seriously consider them reasonable and mainstream, and then ultimately get surprised by the shocked pushback after it passes.

When the consensus of the cloister is "all them hunters don't need more than 10 rounds in their huntin' guns" and anyone who dares point out that (say) most gun owners aren't hunters, or that >10 rounds has been mainstream for over a century, is labeled an "NRA apologist" and dismissed without consideration, then the discussion is likely to veer into the weeds.

[underthematrix]

19. I don't get why the NRA is so intimidating. It represents gunrunners - most of whom sell guns

ILLEGALLY. They are made because PBO is closing the loopholes (background checks) that allow NRA members to sel guns to criminals and crazies.

[gejohnston]

20. not a fan of the NRA

but do you have any evidence of this?

Name Calling: Propagandists use this technique to create fear and arouse prejudice by using negative words (bad names) to create an unfavorable opinion or hatred against a group, beliefs, ideas or institutions they would have us denounce. This method calls for a conclusion without examining the evidence. Name Calling is used as a substitute for arguing the merits of an idea, belief, or proposal. It is often employed using sarcasm and ridicule in political cartoons and writing. When confronted with this technique the Institute for Propaganda Analysis suggests we ask ourselves the following questions: What does the name mean? Is there a real connection between the idea and the name being used? What are the merits of the idea if I leave the name out of consideration? When examining this technique try to separate your feelings about the name and the actual idea or proposal (Propaganda Critic: Common Techniques 1).

http://mason.gmu.edu/~amcdonal/Propaganda%20Techniques.html

[frylock]

25. i think a large percentage of new memberships were for the sole purpose of sticking it to libs

[Historic NY]

26. He got the discount and a knife. BFD.

[xfundy]

28. Yes!

"I usedta be a democrat/member of the democrat party till this black fella showed up tryin' ta tell us white folk what ta do!"

Apparently this idiotic shit still goes on.

"I usedta watch th' librul meedja till Ah found Fox Noise and found th' truth!"

Tired tactic, x2 90000000000.

I don't even know what that equation means, but I know no teagaggers do either.

In other words, horseshit.

[jmg257]

35. If he's joing the NRA, most likely he likes gun companies, since, well - they make guns. nt

[Common Sense Party]

48. I could care less about the idiots at the NRA.

But all the hand-wringing hysteria over inanimate objects is leading MANY to side with the pro-2nd Amendment opinion.