When TFL restarted years ago I posted this to remind everyone why we are here and what this fight is all about.
I titled it "A kick in the pants to kick start TFL"
Perhaps it is time to post it again.
I titled it "A kick in the pants to kick start TFL"
Perhaps it is time to post it again.
Someone reminded me of this post that I had posted a long time ago. I thought I'd repost it here to remind everyone, newbie and oldie alike, why we're here; and why we can never compromise and what the compromises of the past, and the laws those compromises created, have wrought against us.
Posting boards are fun and informative but we must never forget our primary mission.
What did we gain when they demanded that our magazines be limited in size?
What did we gain when they demanded that our firearms of military pattern (speciously called "assault weapons") be registered?
What did we gain when they demanded that some of those firearms should be turned in as illegal after we registered them pursuant to the law?
What did we gain when they demanded that certain firearms be banned as "Saturday Night Specials" (a racist term)?
What did we gain when they demanded that we have to pay to get FOID cards in some states?
What did we gain when they demanded that we have to pay for fingerprinting and mug shots to get an FOID in some states?
What did we gain when they demanded that we strip off the cosmetic features from our firearms of military pattern?
What did we gain when they demanded that we undergo background checks that we have to pay for?
What did we gain when they demanded that certain firearms should not be imported?
What did we gain when they demanded that we should have to wait to a certain period of time before possessing property we had already paid for?
What did we gain when they demanded background checks at gun shows even for personally held firearms being sold by non-dealers?
What did we gain when they demanded that we pay a $200 tax to own certain firearms?
We gained nothing! We have compromised and compromised and compromised until we are tired of being the ones who always give something up.
They always speak of the "Good first step". The Brady Act was a "Good first step". The Assault Weapon ban was a "Good first step". The magazine ban was a "Good first step". The ban on imports was a "Good first step". THERE IS NEVER A SECOND STEP FOR THESE PEOPLE AS THE LAST STEP IS THE GOAL; AND THAT GOAL IS THE UNILATERAL BANNING OF ALL FIREARMS OF ALL TYPES.
So, what will we gain when they:
Demand that we register our firearms and have to pay for that "privilege"?
Demand that we register ourselves and have to pay for that "privilege"?
Demand that we have to have a permit to move our own property from place to place and we have to pay for the "privilege"?
Demand that we pay outrageous taxes on firearms and ammunition?
Demand that we have to keep our firearms locked in expensive "approved" safes or at expensive gun clubs?
Demand that we have to buy an "arsenal permit" when the number of firearms we own exceeds a certain number?
Demand that we have to buy an "arsenal permit" when the number of rounds of ammunition, or components thereof, exceeds a certain number?
Demand that we have to keep special insurance policies if we own a firearm?
Demand that we only be able to buy one firearm in any given period of time -- month, year, lifetime?
If any of you think that what I have posted is untrue, it is not. All of these have been proposed by various state and federal legislators. The anti-firearms faction NEVER gives up ANYTHING! They just keep demanding that we compromise away our rights, our liberties, and our property; and that we should accept this as "common sense". In the same breath they tell us that they are not anti-firearm and that they don't want to disarm law abiding citizens.
The same people who say that "Saturday Night Specials" should be banned because they have no militia purpose are the same ones who say that "assault weapons" should be banned because they are "weapons of war".
So tell me about "compromise" and "common sense" and how they don't really want to disarm us. Then ask yourself this one simple question:
If it is, as the Founders stated, that firearms in the hands of the citizenry are the last bastion against government tyranny; why is that same government so anxious to disarm that citizenry -- especially those firearms of military utility?
It's not about safety. It's not about common sense. It's not about "the children". It's about POWER; raw, unbridled power. Make no mistake about that. The power to regulate is the power to deny.
The point is, people, to never take your eyes from the goal ... not ours -- THEIRS. We know our goal as well as we know theirs. Our goal does not endanger freedom, justice, or the Constitution.
The anti-firearms movement is made up of the fanatical faction of the anti-firearms genre who have a common goal. The persons who are mildly interested in the gun control debate are not their members. They band together in that common goal.
We, on the other hand, are made up of several factions who are, in many instances, fanatical about their particular niche. We have the compromisers, the non-compromisers, the hunters, the wingshooters, the militia types, The cowboy shooters, the home defense types, etc. and they are never on the same page the way the antis are. Most own a particular firearm and couldn't care less about those who own anything else. "I don't own any of those <insert evil firearm of the moment>. They'll never come after my <insert currently "acceptable" firearm>."
When is the last time you saw Larry Pratt, Wayne LaPierre, Aaron Zelman, and Alan Gottlieb on the same dais together?
Now, when was the last time you saw Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer, Sarah Brady, Pete Shields, and Josh Sugarman on the same dais? That is the difference -- unity. They not only appear together but hold hands and mug for the all-too-ready press. They are united, we are fractured.
This is why our vigilance at this time in history must be our highest priority and compromise should fall from our vocabulary.
