Because freedom!
What can I say, it's the weekend and I feel like mercilessly mocking some gun enthusiasts for going Godwin, issuing threats, and hoping for the rape of children. The alternatives to mockery that I'm considering seem like bad ideas.
I can't help but be amused just a little, though, when even Republicans are forced to speak out against the threats and abuse, when they fail to pay the requisite fealty to the 2nd Amendment and then they start getting some flak.
Freedom loving, lawful and responsible gun owners, all, I'm sure.
So a few days ago, this story broke about death threats and racial slurs delivered against two Democratic state representatives in Colorado. One of these Democrats, Rhonda Fields, represents the district where the mass shooting in Aurora took place last July. It seems reasonable that she's playing a central role in the push to enact new gun laws in Colorado.
Fields, a Democrat who represents the district where 12 people were killed while watching a movie, is a leading proponent for new gun restrictions, and her role has thrust her into the spotlight.
"I will not be deterred by threats," Fields said in a statement.
Steven D's diary from Feb. 26th goes into the details of the profanity, slurs and threats sent to these Democrats, and also mentions that Rep. Fields' son was a victim of gun violence. So, yeah, I bet it'll take more than that to stop her.
Unfortunately, they're not alone. While gun enthusiasts in some states continue to push for ever more unfettered freedom to take their guns anywhere, many others have fought to pass new restrictions intended to make their states safer from gun violence. And so the diehard supporters of the NRA have spoken up across the nation.
In California, police arrested a man suspected of threatening a state senator over a bill to limit the rapid reloading of assault weapons. In Minnesota, a lawmaker who sponsored an assault weapons ban said she's received threatening emails and calls. During hearings on gun bills this year, armed Minnesota State Patrol officers have been present, which is a rarity.
These examples demonstrate why the notion of 'second amendment remedies' isn't so much of a joke, and why that contributed to
Sharron Angle's spectacular flameout in Nevada. In addition to these examples, the news piece cites Republicans in Wyoming, who are being threatened for refusing to bring up a bill intended to exempt the state from any assault weapons ban.
Apparently, some Republicans have heard of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which makes such laws pointless and unconstitutional. Not that this has stopped all manner of local sheriffs and state legislatures, mind you. This article is worth citing for the irony alone.
From Oregon to Mississippi, President Barack Obama's proposed ban on new assault weapons and large-capacity magazines struck a nerve among rural lawmen and lawmakers, many of whom vowed to ignore any restrictions -- and even try to stop federal officials from enforcing gun policy in their jurisdictions.
"A lot of sheriffs are now standing up and saying, 'Follow the Constitution,'" said Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson, whose territory covers the timbered mountains of southwestern Oregon.
Yep, follow that Constitution, fellas. Read that Supremacy Clause and weep.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
Honestly. I can understand pushing for laws at the state and federal level in support of gun rights, if that's your bag of tea. But defying the feds, and demanding that they 'read the Constitution' -- this stuff writes itself. Lest I leave out my charming home state of Arizona, this nullification rush has struck here, too. In fact, the proposed law here was so bad that
the NRA spoke out against it...
And the Constitution isn’t Smith’s only problem; he’s catching some friendly fire too. Todd Rathner, an Arizona resident who sits on the board of the National Rifle Association, told the Capitol News Service that he doesn’t like the bill because of what it would do to gun dealers, who must receive federal licenses and comply with federal regulations.
“I worry about putting federal firearms licensees in the middle of a fight between us and the federal government,” he said. “It puts them between a rock and a hard place because they worry about committing a federal crime or a state crime.”
...ok, so you knew it wasn't going to be an objection to the law as a constitutional violation, but that it might hurt gun dealers. Right? I mean, this is the NRA.
And for going Godwin, I can't forget the NRA rally in New York yesterday, with posters equating Governor Cuomo with Hitler. Of course, the NRA president David Keene was out there defending it, too.
I'm guessing the answer was no.
Asked about the Nazi imagery during an appearance on the AM 1300 radio show "Live from the State Capitol," Keene told host Fred Dicker that the signs were in reference to the fact that dictators have historically limited citizens' gun rights.
"Folks that are cognizant of the history, not just in Germany but elsewhere, look back to the history and say we can’t let that sort of thing happen here,” Keene said.
What gun enthusiasts are cognizant of is NRA revisionist history, and it's popular stuff, as
this piece from Salon has found. The actual history is interesting; the Nazis deregulated guns and ammunition and exempted many people from gun ownership regulations, while banning prohibited classes of people from owning guns. Salon quotes Omer Bartov, a historian at Brown University who studies the Third Reich:
He continued: “Their assertion that they need these guns to protect themselves from the government — as supposedly the Jews would have done against the Hitler regime — means not only that they are innocent of any knowledge and understanding of the past, but also that they are consciously or not imbued with the type of fascist or Bolshevik thinking that they can turn against a democratically elected government, indeed turn their guns on it, just because they don’t like its policies, its ideology, or the color, race and origin of its leaders.”
Which brings us back to the Cuomo-as-Hitler posters, the abuse and death threats heaped upon any politician -- Democratic or Republican -- who steps out of line, and the president of the NRA preaching to his choir that they'll do
whatever it takes to get rid of those politicians.
“Because of the fact that we, as believers in the Second Amendment, are willing to do something that most people in this country are not willing to do, which is not just to stand up for our rights, but to support those people who stand with us and work to get rid of those in public office who do not,” the NRA president told the crowd.
“So we’re with you,” Keene added. “We’ll help you defeat the politicians that would deprive you of your rights. We’ll help you overcome these statutes in court. We’ll do whatever’s necessary to make certain the Second Amendment rights that we have had passed down to us are are going to be passed down to future generations.”
Did this NRA brochure come with a tinfoil hat?
It's interesting to contemplate the jarring difference here, between the NRA leadership and various gun enthusiast cranks across the nation -- the threats, the revisionist history, the abuse -- and what they perceive to be such grave threats to them. While the President and various Democrats take great pains to assuage these anxious gun owners and accommodate their paranoia, what do we get for our trouble?
Well, I did mention that rape comment at the top...so I will finish where I began, in Colorado.
"There is this extremist element where it does feel dangerous to stand up," said Colorado state Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, a Democrat who will be voting on the bills Monday. Ulibarri received a letter from someone who said they hope the senator's daughter is raped. Ulibarri has a 2-year-old girl.
Gun enthusiasts need not ask why they now reap a whirlwind. After years of spending their money and time attacking Democrats, getting Republicans elected, and bullying anyone who dared defy them, things have changed. But this change needs to be realized in legislation -- something to begin to address the plague of gun violence in this country. Our representatives endure having their lives and the lives of their children threatened. Don't ignore their courage; speak up, and
demand a vote.
(Cross-posted at The Tytalan Way on Wordpress.)