On Monday, Rolling Stone Magazine released a bevy of articles on gun ownership in America. Not surprisingly, many of the articles attack the Second Amendment and push a pro-gun control agenda.
Included in that list is Tim Dickinson’s “How to Beat the NRA In 7 (Not-So-Easy) Steps.”
Here are some of the highlights, err lowlights, of the article:
1. Commit to a Generation-Long Battle
“By and large, the NRA doesn’t win with flashy, high profile political fights. The gun lobby wins like the Baltimore Ravens of the Ray Lewis era, marrying competent offensive execution to a punishing defense that keeps opponents out of the red zone.”
Public Opinion poll on NRA. (Photo: Gallup)
2. Think Federally. Act Locally.
“The promise is that federal flank is well defended by Obama and his veto powers — and that gun-control advocates can focus where the NRA is most vulnerable: In blue states big (New York, California) and small (Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware) — and even in purpler places, like Colorado, that have been scarred by gun violence.”
3. Politicize Disaster, Unabashedly
“This isn’t complicated: Making a political issue of the tiny coffins of dead children in the wake of a school shooting isn’t just a thing that helps pass strong gun-control, it’s practically the only thing in the last quarter century that’s moved the needle on anti-gun-violence laws.”
4. Act, Don’t Dither
“Contrast this federal fecklessness with the approach Cuomo took in New York. The governor didn’t study or ponder or task force. He moved as aggressively as the political moment allowed. And within a month of Newtown, Cuomo had signed tough new laws stiffening New York’s gun-control regime, improving the state ban on assault weapons, limiting guns to seven bullets, and creating a new mental health reporting requirement for doctors whose patients threaten violence.”
5. Bring Big Money to the Table
“But the emergence of billionaire Michael Bloomberg as the gun-control movement’s money man has been a game changer. Last year, on the strength of $12 million from Bloomberg himself, gun-control advocates outspent gun-rights groups on television by a margin of 7-to-1.”
6. Think Bigger than Mayors, Moms, and Martyrs
“It is with great promise that Bloomberg and Moms Demand Action have joined forces under a new umbrella — Everytown for Gun Safety — with an expansive, no-nonsense mission:’to end gun violence and build safer communities.’ Launched in April with $50 million in backing from Bloomberg, the group already claims two million members.”
7. Prepare for Setbacks — and for Payback
“The gun lobby loves to take political scalps — they add to its aura of invincibility, and help keep other politicians in line. But here’s a premise that any politician committed to public service ought to accept: Protecting kids from gun violence is one of those rare things that is worth losing your job for. As ousted Colorado senate president John Morse said after the recall: ‘I leave the legislature with no regrets.'”
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My initial reaction:
“Not so easy,” HA! That’s the understatement of the century because to defeat the National Rifle Association one has to defeat the 100 million gun owners in this county, not just the 5 million or so who are NRA members.
Public Opinion Poll of the NRA (Photo: Gallup)
Seriously, the end game of gun control is complete civil disarmament. It’s European-style gun laws that virtually deprive one of their fundamental right to keep and bear arms for self-defense from low-level criminals and lawbreakers to government tyrants and despots and everything else in between.
Are 100 million gun owners simply going to stand by and watch as politicians, bureaucrats and gun-control activists gut their Second Amendment rights?
Hell No!
Although they may not always express it, the majority of gun owners recognize that a beat down of the NRA would be tantamount to a beat down of the very Constitutional right that secures our individual freedoms, protects our independence and guarantees our sovereignty in a world that is in a constant state of upheaval and civil unrest.
From my vantage point, that’s why the NRA has consistently high approval rates in public polling. People understand that although it may make a controversial statement every once in awhile, at the end of the day the NRA will always stand and fight for the Second Amendment and, by extension, the American way of life. And that, my friends, is a recipe for enduring success that doesn’t require a political playbook, despite what the author of the Rolling Stone’s article suggests.