My position on gun control has moderated over the past few years. 10 years ago, I would have been a strong proponent of Handgun Control Inc.
Over time, while I’m not personally a gun owner (or plan to be), I can recognize some reasonable arguments made by folks whose thinking is more in line with the NRA.
And then I see this, the enemies list
(a tiny sampling below)
American Medical Association
U.S. Catholic Conference, Dept. of Social Development
American Association of Neurological Surgeons
National Association of Chain Drug Stores
National Association of Public Hospital
YWCA of the U.S.A.
Blue Cross Blue Shield - Kansas City
Hallmark Cards
Kansas City Chiefs
Sara Lee Corporation
St. Louis University
and the list goes on…and on…and on
When you have such a diverse list of “enemies”…it kinda makes one wonder how “main stream” your ideas really are.
Well, I think you can have a lot of guns and still not support the NRA or Moses.
That part of “Bowling for Columbine” where Moore covered the NRA stuff in Colorado, where the NRA was asked to cancel or postpone and again in Flint, was just so incredibly distasteful/offensive/what have you.
Also, forget about Hallmark - Sara Lee???
NRA has got so much money and so much political clout and they must use - lets face it, guns in America are not going away but the NRA has got to spend those contributions and feeding the paranoia of gun owners is a good way to ensure their own continued existance.
Whereas Handgun Control Inc simply wants to take away the only “right” granted to you specifically in the Bill of Rights. Hell, let all of us LAW ABIDING CITIZENS just GIVE UP OUR GUNS because it makes us all warm and fuzzy inside. Then, when you’re faced with a home-invasion style robbery because the asshole’s who just came in your window KNOW YOU DON’T HAVE A GUN, you can say “But I did the right thing” right before getting shot.
Uh huh…no. What the NRA’s ‘enemies’ list shows is not how far from center their thoughts are, but how fucked up the majority of American thoughts towards gun control are. Knowledge of laws regarding firearms is minimal, even though large numbers of Americans favor gun control (or MORE gun control, or NO GUNS AT ALL.) UC-Berkley did a poll of 1,022 individuals with the question “Is a six day waiting period acceptable for the purchase of a fully automatic weapon?” Of that 1,022 individuals asked, 941 said “Yes, six days is an acceptable period.” 44 said “No, it is too long.” 36 were undecided. And 1, ONLY ONE PERSON replied “That’s too short, seeing as federal law requires a six month background investigation followed by a thirty day wait for fully automatic weapons, and even then you don’t actually own them.” Only one person out of 1022 knew the law?! So, tell me, with the average Joe not knowing jack shit about it anyway, why does the NRA, with its vested interest in firearms legislation, so far from center?
We, in theory, are an organization with a well-defined set of principles.
There are other organizations out there that have principles that are in opposition to ours, and have expressed them publicly. Here they are, in handy list form.
You may make decisions on whether you want to support these other organizations, companies, and individuals, because of the public stance they have taken on an issue you may care about.
Um, the question wasn’t about what the law is, but whether a six day waiting period is acceptable for purchasing an automatic weapon. And it appears that the vast majority feel that it is.
So the majority of people believe that if the law were changed to make it easier to get a fully automatic weapon, that would be acceptable.
Um, Mr. Moto, I think you may have missed the point. The point is that the list is so long, and so diverse, that it puts the lie to the NRA’s argument that the NRA represents the mainstream.
Why Mr Moto made the “sinister” quip is beyond me. I wasn’t claiming any sort of conspiracy or evil intentions regarding the NRA. I was observing that their “enemies” list seems to be made up of a fairly large and diverse segment of society.
And I’d like to see the NRA add to their list all those individuals, associations, corporations, universities, etc., etc., who have never expressed support for the NRA. By the time they were done, it would probably read:
I say, chill the fuck out, NRA. I ain’t so thrilled with Nestle, nor with Phillip Morris, and I daresay those assholes have done a lot more awful things to hurt the world than, say, the people who make SARA LEE POUND CAKE & THE WONDERBRA have done for gun rights.
But you don’t see me making a list of “enemies,” do ya? I mean, how threatened does the NRA feel? I feel like offering them a blankie. “Enemies” indeed. Such dramatic language.
Yeah, most Americans are morons about gun laws–what we have already passed, what has been working, etc. I’m grateful that some of the gun-rights advocates on the boards have taken the time to educate people like me. What the flying fuck does that have to do with how we feel about the NRA? I don’t have a big problem with guns. I do happen to think that the organization is histrionic and gives the political cause of gun ownership a bad name. That’s just my measly little opinion, of course…but the NRA doesn’t seem to care that it might not just be me who feels that same way. To bring my “n” to 2, I am pretty sure my gun-owning, rifle-collecting, hunting-enthusiast Dad feels the same way.
In short, for those who are still with me after my endless blather: You can laugh at the NRA–it doesn’t mean you’re a no-guns-EVER zealot.
Well, seeing as it is not an “enemies list”, but instead a list of “National Organizations With Anti-Gun Policies”, maybe you could put aside the bullshit rhetoric.
It is simply a list that allows those who read it to decide whether they will keep doing business with companies who have those kinds of policies. For example, before you read this list, you may not have known that Levi Strauss gives a load of money to an anti-gun organization each year. Now you do, and now you can make an informed decision as to whether to continue subsidizing such a policy.
Goddamnit Dave, I don’t need any help making myself look like a moron. I do that regularly here and do it just fine on my own, thankyouverymuch. Now you had to put your hand in it and use that ‘enemy’ term KNOWING I’d be too lazy to go look at their site myself.
Um, so anyway, sorry folks, I chastised the NRA too strongly.
I still can’t get over the fact that anyone could put the makers of the Wonderbra on ANY “Naughty list.”