Yes, yes, you're on to the plot. It was actually a gun dealer who killed those 26 people in Connecticut. And, I have it on the BEST authority that no one actually died -- those kids and adults were spirited away and are being held in the same super secret facility where all of the people from the supposedly hijacked 9-11 jets are being held.
Don't be obtuse. You know, or should have known what I'm getting at. The point is that under the threat of a gun ban, weapons manufacturers and dealers are making money like the treasury is printing it up for them in the back room. Either it is likely that guns will be banned, or it is unlikely guns will be banned. If it is likely that guns will be banned, the NRA has been doing a lousy public relations campaign up to this point, which many here agree with. For all the money they receive, they should have a professional face to the organization who can connect with the general public. Firearms manufacturers have a perverse incentive for their client base to think that popular guns are going to be banned; it leads to hand over fist fire sales at gun dealers. Given this incentive, it's not unreasonable to believe that gun manufacturers want to milk this quasi-(even, artificial?)crisis for everything it's worth. In any event, it's highly unlikely that we're going to lose our individual right to keep and bear arms. Regardless of what President Obama says, the
Heller line of cases are settled law and the individual right to keep and bear arms is entrenched to our body of Common Law. In addition, the Republican Congress is going to continue to oppose everything that President Obama proposes. As a consequence, it is clear that we're not going to lose our rights for the foreseeable future.
Now, if our rights were being threatened, I wouldn't feel comfortable with Wayne and the boys on our side given the lousy public relations campaign they've put up so far. On the other hand, if they're just milking the donations for everything their worth and taking advantage of perverse incentives then they aren't worth giving money to in the first place.
Personally, I believe that the best defense of gun rights comes though cultural conditioning; the promotion of healthy, fun and good natured shooting sports like trap, skeet, rifle and pistol shoots. The 2nd Amendment isn't about sports, but the more people get involved with shooting sports, the more entrenched gun rights become. People have to be comfortable with being around guns before they feel comfortable supporting gun rights. The NRA used to get lots of kids involved in shooting sports; they should be doing more of that throughout the country and look to develop new markets for shooting sports. An organization that primarily serves older, white people is going to die out when they do.
