10 things the gun industry will not tell you.

[gejohnston]

40. Like I said, I have positions on other issues

Last edited Tue Mar 25, 2014, 12:25 PM - Edit history (5)

and I'm not a single issue voter. Everything goes on the scale.
Also, if I don't have anything of value to add in GD or any of my subscriptions I read, I don't say it. If I do, I do. I'm not a one liner kind of guy. If a post in GD mentions something about something stupid Bachman said, I don't type "what an idiot" although I would be thinking it simply because I don't think it would add anything to the conversation.
Does the fact that I prefer Ethics Alarms over either Think Progress or its conservative equivalent make me a reactionary or a progressive? It makes me a liberal in the truest sense of the word, open minded and free from dogma.

It just seems like anyone I know that has your position on guns would never ever vote for any Democrat I know.

Which has nothing to do with me. BTW, I think that is an ecological fallacy.

I mean you have as radical an agenda on guns as Wayne LaPierre.

I seriously doubt that, although I don't know what his views actually are, since I'm not on his mailing list. I do think he and Nugent the cause more harm than good enough to make me wonder if they are Brady moles. I do know that his scapegoating of the mentally ill was pretty disgusting, and was pretty appalled, but not surprised, when gun control activists jumped on his bandwagon.

With your views on guns I can't picture you voting for Nancy Polosi, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton or even Joe Manchin. They are all gun grabbers to the NRA.

Around here, the Democrats are pretty pro gun. I have read about a Republican in Goshen County being anti gun. I figured Romney and McCain as gun grabbers too. They had the added faults of disagreeing with me on pretty much else too, not to mention having really poor choices VPs. Ryan is still clueless about the real world beyond Daddy's McMansion and Palin is still profoundly intellectually lazy. I voted for Bill Clinton twice, Obama twice, Al Gore and Kerry as well. The other three are not in my districts.

I support current federal laws, although there are a few provisions in the GCA and NFA I would tweak. For example, it doesn't make sense have a single shot .22 rifle be regulated the same as a machine gun if it has a 15 inch barrel, yet have an AR as a Title I weapon with the longer barrel. Can we agree that's not really "common sense" or "sensible"?
I support UBC, although not some specific mechanisms. Some means are better than others. In the past, I have said that I would also support each state having a FOID. I don't think Wayne does. I oppose registration for the same reason New Zealand dumped it in the 1980s, a lot of cost with no benefit. Unlike Wayne, I oppose forced national reciprocity because I think it would violate the 10th Amendment. If you do a search, you will find where I said it.

If it does as advertised, I would support it. If it is some irrational bullshit pushed by Popvox Public Relations LLC (you know them as MDA) and their client Bloomberg, or something written by someone who doesn't know what he is talking about, then no. That isn't being conservative or progressive, it is critical thinking. That is what a voter and citizen is supposed to do to make any democracy work.

CCW, either shall issue or not at all. How stringent or liberal the requirements are isn't that important, just that they spelled out in the statute and not give some cop arbitrary power. My take on guns is the same as it is on pot or anything else. It is up to those who wish to restrict it to prove that it will do as advertised. They failed to do that. My views on guns, and anything else, on my basic values, that are quite rigid, and what empirical evidence says. If it conflicts with my first impressions were or belief I had, I change the belief to match the facts. The empirical facts from most criminologists and the National Academy of Science, and even the most recent CDC study under Obama, says gun laws don't save lives. Liberalized CCW has not caused blood to run in the streets. Those are the facts. That's not Republican or Democratic, that's simply reality based on the data. In fact, I see a lot of parallels between breed specific legislation and and gun control
http://ethicsalarms.com/2013/03/08/beyond-the-myth-disturbing-and-revealing-lessons-about-more-than-pit-bulls/

Basic values: consistency in all things. I detest hypocrisy. I detest assholes and bigots regardless of their party ID or what network they happen to work for. We all called out Glen Beck for his Islamaphobia, and rightfully so. But where were you when Larry O'Donnell went on his equally disgusting and bigoted anti Mormon screed? I don't care if he is MSNBC instead of Fox, he is still a bigoted POS just like Beck. The fact that I agree with him on more things than not doesn't change that. He is still an asshole and a bigot. I detest them both equally. If I applauded O'Donnell because "he was my guy" then I wouldn't actually have set of values. Why point that out? Partly it stood out, and partly because Harry Reid is a Mormon. So was my dad. Clear?

Intellectual honesty: it either is or it isn't, and it trumps all other things. Simple as that. See above. That is the biggest problem the gun control movement has. I am not convinced by strings of appeals to emotion, name calling, false statistics, and various other logical fallacies. If I came here agnostic on the issue, I would land up being pro gun simply because of who has the most rational arguments. That's how the chips fall.

The Democratic Party reflects my views and values more than the Republican Party, that is why I vote for the Democrats. That does not mean that I agree with the party , or any individual in it, on every issue. Just most of them. That also does not mean I will applaud O'Donnell's bigotry, Martin Bashier's disgusting personal attacks or Bill Mahar's Misogyny. It is as disgusting when it comes out of their mouths as it would be out of Beck, O'Reilly, and Rush. Sometimes I support the ends, but might have doubts about the means. You are going to think whatever you are going to think. One thing I don't like about either party is the cafeteria approach to rights and civil liberties. You can't be for someones right to self defense and be against abortion when the mother's life and health is in danger, as some extreme anti choice people do. Conservatives don't view health care as a right. I say bullshit. I say it, like food and clean water, is a natural right that should be protected under the ninth Amendment.
How much of what I have shared like the other "radical" pro gun people you know?
Your interest in this is what exactly?