I'm not going to try and winnow out where all of this has come from. It's here, and it's in our faces; deliberately so. It's provocation, and provocation always shakes out the confused and fearful. That's no small part if this issue.
For as long as the populace fears gun owners, they will put enough support behind the thugs to keep them at the top. That's how bullies and thugs work; they sew the fear, and then they get their subordinates to do the real dirt.
When gatherings of folks show up in prominent locations, the more their appearance stands out from the folks you're trying to reach, trying to get to vote on your behalf, the less traction your message receives. We aren't the gun toting thugs; that's who the banners really are.
The most effective program the NRA ever devised was the "I'm the NRA" campaign. It depicts the gun owners as not only among 'the normals', it depicts them as they actually are. They are the normals right along with, and among the folks who don't choose to own guns.
The 2A is not a mandate; it is an option to exercise a universal right. People cannot be compelled to own guns, and nobody should try to make that happen. We're not a draft board.
We're not Switzerland, either. Even Switzerland isn't Switzerland anymore, and that's the fate we must avoid. We must think beyond the current strategy. It's not about checkers, it's chess.
If you don't think appearance counts, ask yourselves how your opponent appears. You're trying to take their jobs, at least dress the part. Appearance counts a whole lot in this impasse. Dressing like a final defense force scares Hell out of the very folks you need to come to your support.
Don't allow them to run unopposed. Bring your own statesmen to the political arena. Not Zealots, not firebrands; but honest, sensible, and appealing common men and women who honor individual freedoms; and who do all the other things that it takes to bring order and decency to legislative and executive positions.
My message isn't that I'm scared somebody's coming to take my guns. My message is that gun owners are defending everybody's right to have our choice. Anything off that theme, and we look like a pack of spoilt kids demanding our candy.
The true facts are that in Virginia, the government denies the right of civilians to make serious and meaningful self defense decisions for themselves. It's about choices and who gets to make them; the government, or the voters.
I never did, and never will, elect a candidate because I want them to do my thinking for me.
Furthermore, the Constitution and 2A clearly and definitively binds government against usurping that choice. They know that and they deliberately set themselves in opposition. They are true criminals whose beliefs demand that they tear down the very things that make America America.
Do not bow before them. Gandhi defeated the entire British Empire. He didn't use guns, he laid himself down in the path of the Imperial Dragoons. Courage is not about firepower. Ask yourselves how many guns does God have? Gandhi was never a pacifist, and understood that beyond an interminable point all options must be realistically considered, as did our own founders. Gandhi knew that for his situation the best tools were appearances and shame, and we need those arrows within our quiver as well.
Finally, OpSec. Do you have the sense that your overt actions are anticipated? Bet you do. Infiltration/deception is always there. If your ships are vulnerable, mind the loose lips.
Or, have you found that some folks within your ranks are overly eager to step outside the legitimate box? That's how we define malcontents. Benedict Arnold was a malcontent. He came within hours of defeating the Revolution.
Or, can any of your people be bought? There's a lot of money on the other side. Just ask their party's candidates who's funding them. I'll bet you already know that answer.
The problem with all of this is the matter of mistrust. It's there, they want it there, and they most decidedly have put it there. Don't be burning the tablecloth with the kindling.
Oh dear me, I must wring my hands. Not.
Nothing to do?
Start small, start local; enlarge your close circle of friends to include non gun owners. It's not the gun owning message that folks need to hear from you. It's the message that you're standing with them in all things, and that yes, you have guns, but they there to protect them as well.
That's what I do, every chance.
I've been trying really hard to make a positive impression here. It has come at some personal cost this weekend. My BP has spiked over 200, my breathing has had several episodes where I can't get air into my lungs, and my Wife has had to call the EMT's to help me get my Cardio Pulmonary system back in step. It's all very scary, but it's not new. When you're my age and you have my flaws, it happens occasionally.
My take is that it means this subject is very close to my heart, I'm straining my capacities in order to impart something helpful, and that I'm actually scared that I might wink out and miss the grande finale where all wrongs are righted and freedom still has a home in Virginia.
We are not screwed; rather, we are free men. Free men are mean and women who have, always have, and must always have the option to say "NO" to oppression. Never bow your heads and say, "We're screwed". Freedom can never be taken; it can only be surrendered.
Rest assured; free men will not be denied their freedom by subversion. This is the repetitive message borne within this Nation's history. Those same free men are and must be hesitant to rise up and throw off the yokes of oppression. But the throwing must always be an available option.
That's the purpose of 2A. That's why it's worth defending no matter what. Our fortunes and our very lives depend on it; all our lives, of all Americans. It has never been just about us. When the other folks, especially the sensible folks, are joining your ranks, that means you're winning. Make it so.
This is not an age when guns are less needed. There is no such age. For as long as governments insist that the electorate cannot be trusted with the means to assert their collective determination; guns will have a valid place in our society as a deterrent to tyranny; as is every human's right
Decide; serf or citizen?
I think the operative message here should be that we defend a universal right, your right as well as ours. When you support us, you support yourselves; and when you don't, you support oppression and tyranny.
Sic Semper Tyrannis! Non lingua mortua est!
Greg
For as long as the populace fears gun owners, they will put enough support behind the thugs to keep them at the top. That's how bullies and thugs work; they sew the fear, and then they get their subordinates to do the real dirt.
When gatherings of folks show up in prominent locations, the more their appearance stands out from the folks you're trying to reach, trying to get to vote on your behalf, the less traction your message receives. We aren't the gun toting thugs; that's who the banners really are.
The most effective program the NRA ever devised was the "I'm the NRA" campaign. It depicts the gun owners as not only among 'the normals', it depicts them as they actually are. They are the normals right along with, and among the folks who don't choose to own guns.
The 2A is not a mandate; it is an option to exercise a universal right. People cannot be compelled to own guns, and nobody should try to make that happen. We're not a draft board.
We're not Switzerland, either. Even Switzerland isn't Switzerland anymore, and that's the fate we must avoid. We must think beyond the current strategy. It's not about checkers, it's chess.
If you don't think appearance counts, ask yourselves how your opponent appears. You're trying to take their jobs, at least dress the part. Appearance counts a whole lot in this impasse. Dressing like a final defense force scares Hell out of the very folks you need to come to your support.
Don't allow them to run unopposed. Bring your own statesmen to the political arena. Not Zealots, not firebrands; but honest, sensible, and appealing common men and women who honor individual freedoms; and who do all the other things that it takes to bring order and decency to legislative and executive positions.
My message isn't that I'm scared somebody's coming to take my guns. My message is that gun owners are defending everybody's right to have our choice. Anything off that theme, and we look like a pack of spoilt kids demanding our candy.
The true facts are that in Virginia, the government denies the right of civilians to make serious and meaningful self defense decisions for themselves. It's about choices and who gets to make them; the government, or the voters.
I never did, and never will, elect a candidate because I want them to do my thinking for me.
Furthermore, the Constitution and 2A clearly and definitively binds government against usurping that choice. They know that and they deliberately set themselves in opposition. They are true criminals whose beliefs demand that they tear down the very things that make America America.
Do not bow before them. Gandhi defeated the entire British Empire. He didn't use guns, he laid himself down in the path of the Imperial Dragoons. Courage is not about firepower. Ask yourselves how many guns does God have? Gandhi was never a pacifist, and understood that beyond an interminable point all options must be realistically considered, as did our own founders. Gandhi knew that for his situation the best tools were appearances and shame, and we need those arrows within our quiver as well.
Finally, OpSec. Do you have the sense that your overt actions are anticipated? Bet you do. Infiltration/deception is always there. If your ships are vulnerable, mind the loose lips.
Or, have you found that some folks within your ranks are overly eager to step outside the legitimate box? That's how we define malcontents. Benedict Arnold was a malcontent. He came within hours of defeating the Revolution.
Or, can any of your people be bought? There's a lot of money on the other side. Just ask their party's candidates who's funding them. I'll bet you already know that answer.
The problem with all of this is the matter of mistrust. It's there, they want it there, and they most decidedly have put it there. Don't be burning the tablecloth with the kindling.
Oh dear me, I must wring my hands. Not.
Nothing to do?
Start small, start local; enlarge your close circle of friends to include non gun owners. It's not the gun owning message that folks need to hear from you. It's the message that you're standing with them in all things, and that yes, you have guns, but they there to protect them as well.
That's what I do, every chance.
I've been trying really hard to make a positive impression here. It has come at some personal cost this weekend. My BP has spiked over 200, my breathing has had several episodes where I can't get air into my lungs, and my Wife has had to call the EMT's to help me get my Cardio Pulmonary system back in step. It's all very scary, but it's not new. When you're my age and you have my flaws, it happens occasionally.
My take is that it means this subject is very close to my heart, I'm straining my capacities in order to impart something helpful, and that I'm actually scared that I might wink out and miss the grande finale where all wrongs are righted and freedom still has a home in Virginia.
We are not screwed; rather, we are free men. Free men are mean and women who have, always have, and must always have the option to say "NO" to oppression. Never bow your heads and say, "We're screwed". Freedom can never be taken; it can only be surrendered.
Rest assured; free men will not be denied their freedom by subversion. This is the repetitive message borne within this Nation's history. Those same free men are and must be hesitant to rise up and throw off the yokes of oppression. But the throwing must always be an available option.
That's the purpose of 2A. That's why it's worth defending no matter what. Our fortunes and our very lives depend on it; all our lives, of all Americans. It has never been just about us. When the other folks, especially the sensible folks, are joining your ranks, that means you're winning. Make it so.
This is not an age when guns are less needed. There is no such age. For as long as governments insist that the electorate cannot be trusted with the means to assert their collective determination; guns will have a valid place in our society as a deterrent to tyranny; as is every human's right
Decide; serf or citizen?
I think the operative message here should be that we defend a universal right, your right as well as ours. When you support us, you support yourselves; and when you don't, you support oppression and tyranny.
Sic Semper Tyrannis! Non lingua mortua est!
Greg
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