The NRA, and the tactics of fear

[SecularMotion]

I recently received a “Dear Mr. Plum” letter from the executive vice president of the NRA. Had it not been for the obvious marketing design of the envelope, I may have thought that he was writing to me about my monthly appearance outside his office as part of our End Gun Violence Vigil. No, he was writing to invite me to become a member of the NRA! The mass marketing firm responsible for the mailing may have lost their contract after sending a letter to me.

And if that was not enough, the letter went on to explain in bold type with underlining and capitalization that “They’ve vowed to fight on and never surrender…Not until they BAN tens of millions of commonly owned firearms…SHUT DOWN gun shops and shows…Impose crippling TAXES and FEES on firearms and ammunition…REGISTER gun owners…and DESTROY your right to defend yourself, your home and your loved ones.”

The tone of the letter was disturbing with its repeated references to “fight, defend, destroy, war, muscle, defeat.” All the bluster and loud noises are attempts to distract from the efforts on the part of many organizations to have common sense gun safety measures passed that leaves the Second Amendment in place but enhances safety in our homes and community. I continue to introduce a bill to close the gun show loophole as a way to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and persons who are violent.

The purpose of the signed petition is explained later in the letter again in bold type: “When NRA is fighting gun control legislation and regulations, we can point to these signed petitions and tell your Virginia politicians that there are thousands of gun owners standing ready to elect the Second Amendment’s allies and defeat her enemies!” Unfortunately this fear tactic works with too many elected officials.

http://augustafreepress.com/the-nra-and-the-tactics-of-fear/

[blueridge3210]

1. More Google Dump.

Was there anything you wanted to actually discuss?

[oneshooter]

8. SM is a master of the cut and paste,

Not that it means anything.

[blueridge3210]

10. His skills are epic.

Truly the stuff of legend.

[Duckhunter935]

20. one of the best

[Fred Sanders]

2. I have come to the conclusion it is not guns gun lovers love so much - it is fear and violence. Guns are a

merely a symbol that represents this delusional but proudly owned paranoia, openly used and displayed to ward off the fear and evil they see everywhere....kind of like the folks who use garlic to ward off vampires.

Kind of silly to wear garlic.....if there are no monsters. Kind of silly to own guns when there is nothing to fear.

Sad bunch, essentially a cult.

[blueridge3210]

4. I've come to the conclusion that gun-controllers

are willing to blame anything other than the bad actor for criminal misuse of firearms; the cognitive dissonance is breathtaking.

[beevul]

16. "the bad actor"

"the bad actor"

Well, asking them to blame bad actors is...um...it...er...just this:

In an exclusive, the Shooter’s Log has learned that actors were used to portray customers in a fake gun shop “public service announcement” produced by States United Against Gun Violence earlier this year.

The New York City Mayor’s Office of Media has confirmed these facts in its response to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request submitted in March.

“States United To Prevent Gun Violence opens a ‘gun store’ in NYC as a hidden camera social experiment to debunk safety myths,” the CeaseFire USA project claimed in its description of the video. The “social experiment,” like the “gun shop” itself, was pre-arranged, permits approved by the city indicate.

“Actors are interviewed on camera in a fake gun store,” the permits’ scene descriptions reveal.

http://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/group-actors-nyc-gun-store-facade/

Clearly they find actors of all sorts useful.

[blueridge3210]

17. Heh.

They certainly do. That's because "the tide is turning!".

[Shamash]

7. A cult? Hmm...

• Unswerving devotion? Check.

• Beliefs cannot be explained rationally? Check.

• Exclusive rather than inclusive? Check.

• Can only survive where its members are isolated from outside knowledge? Check.

• Waiting for a prophesied paradise to drop into their laps? Check.

Oh wait, I was thinking of a group that wasn't "gun lovers". Never mind.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

9. That's a lot of projection.

Guns are a merely a symbol that represents this delusional but proudly owned paranoia, openly used and displayed to ward off the fear and evil they see everywhere....kind of like the folks who use garlic to ward off vampires.

Consider the following facts --

* approximately 70% of violent gun uses come from persons with established criminal records or previous criminal encounters with law enforcement

* gun control doesn't focus on people of malicious intent it focuses on the guns owned by the overwhelming majority of people who have peaceable intentions

I suggest it is the Controllers who have fixated on the symbolism of the gun and hide behind the totem of the "gun free zone" sign

Kind of silly to wear garlic.....if there are no monsters. Kind of silly to own guns when there is nothing to fear.

Rapists don't exist? Stalkers don't exist? Home invaders don't exist? Robbers don't exist?

But we have to disarm those protecting themselves from rapists and stalkers because they are the monsters responsible for all gun crime.

And if the world is so safe why the mania to ban guns?

This is the level of self-mocking parody in which the Controllers have lowered themselves.

Sad bunch, essentially a cult.

Chant for us again about how banning guns will bring us peace and security.

[beevul]

19. Not only that...

I suggest it is the Controllers who have fixated on the symbolism of the gun and hide behind the totem of the "gun free zone" sign

Not only that, they DEMAND that everyone worship at their altar, and woe be to they that voice the slightest utterance of disagreement, no matter the reason.


Fact is, they're the real extremists here, by any objective measure.

[beevul]

18. But its just fine when you do it, amirite?

. I have come to the conclusion it is not guns gun lovers love so much - it is fear and violence.

But its just fine as long as its YOU who are spreading the fear, amirite fred?

Think really hard:

Americans have been well conditioned to have the right kind of fear of 340 million civilian guns......when they should all be feared.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172170724#post8

Remember who said that, buddy?

[ileus]

3. gunshow loophole....Still using that old lie that didn't fly.

Seems like this writer is some years behind the banner propaganda, how am I supposed to take them seriously???

[clffrdjk]

5. So wait he is doing the exact thing the NRA is claiming

SHUT DOWN gun shops and shows

I continue to introduce a bill to close the gun show loophole as a way to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and persons who are violent.

And yet her refers to it as a fear tactic.

[Shamash]

6. I guess it is a good thing that gun control never uses fear or other emotional appeals

And thank goodness a search of Everytown.org comes up completely blank when you search for gun control rhetoric using "fight", "defend" or "defeat". And using all caps is something Moms Demand Action would never do:

Join the tens of thousands of American moms who are saying ENOUGH to gun violence.

And I sure am glad courageous non-gun owners are not portrayed as being as fearful as NRA members are:

All Americans are entitled to live free from fear of gun violence

Or that Shannon Watts (Moms Demand Action) doesn't use fearmongering:

Because America = our 30K shooting deaths per year have made us afraid every armed person is a gunman.

No fearmongering at all from Moms Demand Action, no sirree!

So, was your point that the gun control advocates are bad because they use fearmongering, all caps and emotionally charged buzzwords, or that the NRA is good because they do the same thing? Because a simple cut & paste doesn't really tell us which of those two you meant.

[friendly_iconoclast]

12. The ability to fisk at leisure is why I actually *like* Googledump/hit & run OPs

Given time to explore, we can expose the half-truths, contradictions, and outright mendacity
that gun control culture warriors are wont to use.

In contrast, reading through this thread in GD...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026929143

...made me think: "You know, if Sarah Palin somehow got the idea into her tiny little mind
to oppose guns, she'd sound just like a few of these posters"

So, to my fellow RKBA advocates, I say:

Embrace "dump and run" OPs as the opportunity they are. Fisk them thoroughly
Make the other guys words work for *us*, not them

[Duckhunter935]

13. I like it

It also tends to prove our point when they run away and fail to argue the point of view they are trying to push on us.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

11. Remind us why we need gun control. Oh right, we need to fear people having guns.

[benEzra]

14. So, you no longer want to ban "assault weapons" then?

"Not until they BAN tens of millions of commonly owned firearms…SHUT DOWN gun shops and shows…Impose crippling TAXES and FEES on firearms and ammunition…REGISTER gun owners…and DESTROY your right to defend yourself, your home and your loved ones"

Since you consider this abject fearmongering, then I take it you no longer want to ban "assault weapons" then?

You oppose the Brady Campaign's efforts to shut down gun shows and put ammunition vendors out of business?

You no longer wish to impose insurance requirements for ownership, or exorbitant fees for training or carry licensure?

You no longer wish to mandate "smart guns"?

You no longer support Bloomberg's efforts to impose point-of-sale registration for all gun sales?

You oppose requiring gun owners to store guns unloaded?

I'm glad to hear it.

Of course, if you actually do still support the above bans and restrictions, then the quoted statement would actually be true, wouldn't it?

[Eleanors38]

15. You don't need to join the NRA to see that the measures it cites have been advocated...

by the controllers, or at one time were the law.



What amazes me is that with foreknowledge of these "tactics of fear," there are some controller banners who nevertheless gladly step onto the tracks in front of that honking locomotive.