Tagged: Gun Rights RSS

  • Tony 8:40 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Gun Rights,   

    The Arenas Effect (and Gun Control) 

    Gilbert Arenas has made a complete ass of himself, the Wizards and the NBA by knowingly taking guns to “work” as a “joke”. The fact he made an ass of himself doesn’t bother me. People do it all the time, but when their dumb decisions have an impact on me that’s where I draw the line. How did Gilbert’s poor judgement impact me? In two ways: 1) it digs up the gun control issue out of context and 2) perpetuates the notion that blacks, through the misguided judgements of professional athletes, idealize the thuggish lifestyle.

    The gun control issue is the one that burns me the most. Gun control advocates are already a motivated group and they will no doubt take Gilbert’s actions, in one of the most anti-gun cities in America, out of context and use this as further motivation to ban guns. This is my “Turn them into Monsters” reference on my post earlier on How to Stop the Hunting Tradition. Arenas will be turned into a monster that represents the hunting culture, though, I can say with virtual certainty that Gilbert knows nothing of the lifestyle. Don’t believe me? With public support for tougher gun control at an all time low, anti-gun rights groups will try to seize the moment. You only need to see some of the comments pouring in already (here and here).

    The sad part is Arenas isn’t alone. You have Plaxico, P. Diddy and a host of black entertainers turning up with firearms in situations that impact not only gun control but the hunting lifestyle I hold so dear. It is important that anyone reading this still objective on the gun control issue, understand that people like Arenas do not represent gun owner (generally) and hunters (specifically).

    The second impact this Arenas situation has on me is the fact he is black. Stereotypes are already ripe and, trust me, living in Iowa with hobbies that take me into rural settings I know what they are. It is on this issue I find myself agreeing with Stephen A Smith. I say throw the book on him. No, not with just unpaid leave for the rest of the season…what will that do? The guy has a $100 million contact so if you sit him out now when he’s already made roughly $7 million, he’ll only lose around $9 million dollars, or 10% of his contract. Me, if I tote heat to work – joking or not – they put me under the jail. Furthermore, my real rage comes from the parent in me. Children, including black kids, look up to professional athletes. Sure, bring out your Charles Barkley “I am not a role model” mantra. But even Sir Charles didn’t mean it in this bad of a context. Apparently I’m not the only person of color taking this stance. Reverand Al would just assume throw the book at Areans, too.

    To many I am probably just an anomoly…a black, legal gun-toting American living in Iowa with a thirst for the outdoors and the lifestyle it affords me. Maybe so, but being responsible regardless of context is something I expect of my family, friends and of all Americans across gender, political and racial lines.

     

    • Cory Glauner 8:51 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink

      I totally agree. Everytime some jackass pulls a stupid stunt with a gun, it’s just another chink in the armor. I think that most people are neutral on the gun control issue but the trend is going the wrong direction. Everybody needs to wake up and be a bit smarter.

    • Tony 8:54 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink

      Cory, what’s sad is Arenas played in that game last night. Any spine I thought Stern had flew out the window…same for the Wizards coaching staff. How do you *not* bench him?

    • Ken 9:33 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink

      To me the telling line in the article is “Devin Harris of the New Jersey Nets has said he believes 75 percent of NBA players own guns. ” Guilt by association. If you own a gun, you must be a threat.
      Tony, you hooked up with Rev Al on Facebook.:-)

  • Tony 3:37 am on January 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Gun Rights, ,   

    How to Stop the Hunting Tradition 

    Hunting is an archaic activity that does nothing other than give its participants an excuse to bear arms and hurt nature’s creatures. Stopping these senseless traditions is as easy as exposing these people as the brutal, animal hating, gun toting rednecks they are. How do we do this?

    1. Start Small – Before trying to destroy hunting in a large country like the United States which is deep with outdoor traditions, start with a smaller country such as the United Kingdom. Using the Scientific Method, establish it as your control and try out a number of ideas you feel can lead to outlawing the barbaric outdoor lifestyle. Start by seeking the outran ban of a very specific species of animal that people are sympathetic to. In the case of the UK, for example, you can use the medieval class system and how it ties to oppression as a great reason to ban fox hunting. If that doesn’t work, throw in the fact the foxes will die in a brutal manner because of the use of dogs since, as we all know, mother nature is the most humane of all killers…not people nor pets.
    2. Divide and Conquer – This concept is nothing new. Take a large group such as outdoors enthusiasts and divide them into increasingly smaller groups. Start by dividing them into hunting and trapping camps. Then move on to dividing hunting into deer hunters, turkey hunters and the like. Then do your best to turn those groups against one another by suggesting whitetail deer are much more of a challenge to hunt than turkey. Encourage the proliferation of region and species specific online communities. In this manner, mis-information they give about us so-called “antis” will be limited to those communities. Be sure to perpetuate the stereotype that hunting is an activity for only the manliest of white, anglo-saxon protestants. The last thing we need is the additional contention that women, blacks and Mexicans could bring to the table.
    3. Turn Them into Monsters – It’ll be much easier to outlaw outdoor activities if the participants are looked upon negatively by the general public. The best part of this is you can often profit off of this activity by making things like stickers of the Confederate Flag, bullet holes or of phrases like “if it’s brown it’s down”. Then make sure others take note during hunting season as these hillbillies sport the elk or deer they shoot uncovered in the back of their pick-up or trailer. After that, find a few sensational idiots in the outdoor community such as felons and poachers and create as much publicity around their situations as possible. When that doesn’t work, hit the public with obscure facts or outright fabrications of so-called “scientific evidence” that clearly show that hunting does nothing to curb wildlife populations and even exposes those populations to hard hitting diseases that could decimate their already “managed” populations.
    4. Find Sympathetic Businesses and Organizations – When the above doesn’t work, get a few so-called “non-profits” who can fight these barbarians using public donations. If you can, do some clever things like get companies that provide common, everyday products like dog food to donate part of their revenues to those same non-profits. Outdoorsmen are pretty dumb and won’t dig deep enough to find out that the product they just bought is actually working against them. These non-profits also bring the added benefit of having Washington D.C. lobbyists at their disposal. These groups are great at working the political circuit and the art of the amendment. That’s right, our lobbyist friends have found crafty ways to attach anti-hunting legislation to bills that have nothing to do with hunting or the outdoors! While all that is going on, we need to point out at every chance we get that our non-profit partners and leaders in business are responsible for the massive turn around in game populations throughout the country. Hunters will lie and suggest the government – through hunting and fishing licenses – are responsible which, of course, is a lie.
    5. Hit Hollywood Hard – Let’s face it, there is no denying the influence that Hollywood and celebrity actors have on the general public. Many of these same celebrity actors tote around their pets and even dress them up like real people. Find the biggest names in Hollywood you can to take up our cause and publicly humiliate these neanderthals. Don’t forget, these same celebrities have deep pockets and relationships with influential people such as judges and politicians. If Hollywood can get Obama elected, damn it, they can help us outlaw hunting!
    6. Outlaw Their Tools – Fact is these bozo’s can’t kill or harm an animal if we take away the very tools they depend on. First try hitting them where it hurts most by taking away their guns. If you can’t ban firearms outright, first try to outlaw automatic weapons. Turn it into an issue of public safety deflecting the issue of hunting. Be sure to point to the escalating crime in your area as a reason to get rid of these radical firearms. Once you get automatic guns outlawed, just start climbing the ladder to handguns, shotguns and rifles. While you work on the firearms bans be creative and consider trying to obtain the outright ban of ammunition. Maybe even sue a firearms or ammunition manufacturer for the death of some pour soul in some big city…it doesn’t matter that hunting wasn’t involved.
    7. Give Them Something Else To Do – If all of the above fails, one thing we have in our hip pocket is that hunting is on the decline. We need to continue pushing distractions such as mobile phones, the Internet and gaming devices like the Wii and Playstation 3. Fact is, kids would rather text, update their Facebook status, or play computer games against each other. This is our Plan B. These hunting fools are too stupid to realize how drastic the decline in hunting licenses are and the positive effect it will have for us moving forward.

     

    • Cory Glauner 8:55 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink

      The divide and conquer method drives me nuts. Elitists who hate other sportsmen because they don’t agree with their methods don’t do any of us any good. If it’s legal I’m for it. Just because I think Noodling for catfish is a little weird doesn’t mean that it should be shut down. Let’s stand up for each others rights folks.

    • Tony 9:01 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink

      Yeah, that’s the point I hope more of us take home. Trappers take heat, Fly Fishing anglers come off as snobs (yes, a generalization), but that the more we see our selves as different the easier it is for anti-[whatever] groups.

  • Tony 3:19 pm on May 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Gun Rights   

    Georgia Loosens Restriction on Concealed Carry 

    Gun control is a hot issue and those of us who hunt and fish follow it closely. That said you had better check out how Georgia loosened their concealed carry laws. Specifically they now allow concealed weapons by individuals holding a concealed carry permit in places like restaurants, public transportation (e.g. buses) and state and local parks to name a few. I should make it clear the law does outlaw having a concealed weapon in a restaurant when drinking alcohol. While I agree on the whole, it does raise some questions:

    • Should restaurant wait staff have to ask if a patron is packing heat before serving alcohol?
    • Does it make sense to allow guns in state parks where you can camp and be drinking alcohol?
    • What about the situation where a person goes into a restaurant without a gun, has a few drinks then moves on to another restaurant where they don’t drink?

    This, as always, is a hotly contested issue and one I encourage everybody to get educated on. While I do believe in the issuing of concealed carry permits, it isn’t without some concern and I’m going to be interested in how other states will react to this news.

     

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