Thanks Epyon. And I also hope for the same. But when I visit some other gun forum sites, I am not at all encouraged. I don't want to bash the site, however suffice it to say that the biggest one of them all, having a title of a major gun manufacturer as part of its name is filled with the most reactionary, Republican party-line followers you could ever have the mispleasure of encountering. Not all of the users are so indoctrinated, but the most vocal ones are. I used to debate them from time to time, but my buddy talked some sense into me and I finally refrained. He also encouraged me to come back to such sites as TFL and THR, along with some gun manufacturer-specific sites. Very sound advice. Already, I notice the difference in quality. That other site is handy at times, but I mostly stick to strictly gun-specific threads...which is difficult because it is so filled with forums that have nothing to do with guns.
But I digress. The fact is that even Orwell would be doing cart-wheels in his grave over all of this BS we are encountering. All too often, I hear about the argument by wannabe leftists that such government intrustions are necessary. I'm here to say that no true leftist believes in it. Furthermore, it is argued just as vehemently, if not more so by self-declared so-called patriotic, Red-state dwelling, Bush-backing neo-cons that it is "unAmerican" to challenge the Orwellian "security" measures being done to protect us from terrorists or whatever bogeymen are allegedly lurking about. Additionally, it is conveniently ignored by these same people that as Bush and others have done everything they can to undermine the goals of agencies assigned to protect such things as the environment, worker's rights, patient's rights, etc, by infiltrating them all the way to the top with industry insiders who for years fought against these same agencies, he has NOT done that with the ATF. Add to that the fact that he would absolutely sign any anti-gun bill that comes across his desk, by his own admission. The fact that they don't come across his desk has more to do with legislators who have to answer to their constituencies than it does with any sort of real official pro-gun GOP stance. Plus, why blow votes if your idiot opponents (Democrats) so willingly continuously shoot themselves in the foot with their openly anti-RKBA platform?
Anyway, sorry if I accidentally come across as confrontational...That is not my goal.