Off the Fence

For many years, I've maintained what I felt was a rather stalwart neutrality on the issue of guns and the Second Amendment. I believe reasonable people have a Constitutional right to reasonable hardware; i.e., no AK-47s or RPG launchers or flamethrowers. Universal background checks. Domestic violence convictions and violent felonies cancel out those rights for at least ten years, if not permanently. Mandatory insurance on these fetish objects might be an option worth pursuing.

I have generally supported and voted for politicians who maintain an essentially "moderate" stance on the subject. I am put off by the little-boy dick-grabbing "gun culture" as such, but I personally know enough responsible gun owners who are just as mortified by mass shootings and random violence as Gabrielle Giffords is.

I have a shotgun and a handgun that I rarely take out to the range, but are handy to have in an area where it can take the sheriffs a half-hour to show up in an emergency. I don't consider myself a serious "gun owner," when most of the real gun owners I know have over a dozen. Gun owners don't feel like their rights should be abrogated because of some random whackjob shooting up a mall, any more than any of us think that everyone's cars should be taken away because of a handful of drunk drivers.




However (he hastened to point out), driving motor vehicles is heavily regulated and certified, so obviously it's not anywhere near the apples-to-apples comparison some people seem to think it is. Still, on basic principle, I am loath to rescind the rights of responsible people because of a very small percentage of irresponsible people.

But after watching these useless, pathetic camo-drag losers "march" on Richmond this morning -- an implicit rebuke to blacks as well as an assertion of some imaginary, absolute right to foment armed insurrection -- I am going to have to rethink my stance on this issue. I've fucking had it with these assholes, and the refusal of the responsible majority to figure something out to shut them down.

Arrested Development reunion has rewrites.

I'm not worried in the least about their "civil war" blather, or their RWDS (right-wing death squad [rolls eyes]) patches, or any of that. Look at any given photo from the rally. Most of these assholes can be defeated with a box of donuts and a flight of stairs.

When pressed on what their Red Dawn fantasy would actually entail, in a practical day-to-day sense, they have no answers. You gonna shoot back at National Guardsmen? You gonna kill cops? You planning to go door to door and murder your neighbors because you think they voted for Hillary? Really? Then what?

(Of course, the fact of the matter is that as anti-gubmint as they pretend to be, what they want is a return to the days when they were the gubmint. It is not a coincidence that law enforcement is just letting them do as they please, including wearing full masks, which is a felony in Virginia. If this crowd was a few score of antifa types with milkshakes and sticks, the cops would be cracking skulls. Make no mistake, if push comes to shove, it will be with the full cooperation of some number of rogue law enforcement officers who have actively chosen to reject their oath and duty. As the man said, some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses.)

But now they're marching on state capitals, in order to threaten and intimidate. The fact that nearly 100% of them are white middle-aged men is obviously not a demographic fluke. Imagine if a black or Hispanic person muddled into that situation. They want absolute gun rights for themselves, not for everyone. Any responsible journamalist that actually bothers to talk to these bozos, needs to make that the first or second question. They get away with this, it's just the beginning. I don't guarantee much in this life, but that one's a slam-dunk.

So personally, I'm done with them. From now on, I have no problem with voting for full registration and even confiscation of everything but shotguns, hunting rifles, and maybe handguns. They've lost me permanently.

I don't trust Meal Team Six with anything more dangerous than a can opener. They have proved time and again that they cannot be trusted, that they would love nothing more than an excuse to kill, to assassinate, to murder for fun. Virginia's governor had to declare a state of emergency for the weekend, after a white-power cell literally called The Base (you know, like fucking Al Qaeda) got busted harboring a fugitive from the Canadian military who was helping them assemble an arsenal and prepare for a mass slaughter.

They should have just shut the hell up and stayed out in the woods with their granola bars and cans of spam and cases of Keystone Ice, shooting up their Obummer effigies like the hopeless shitheads that they really are. But they've been spoiling for a fight. Well, now they have one.

Remember, there are more of us than there are of them. Vote against them with your ballots and your wallets, every time. When you see someone you recognize at these things, post their place of business, and boycott those motherfuckers, and let them know. You want this to end, this is how it ends, with the majority committing to not taking this shit anymore. Otherwise, it will get worse.

If you have a few bucks, consider donating to Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action, and any legislator who promises to crush the goddamned NRA, once and for all.