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The Range
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What are the chances that congress passes a limit on magazine capacity
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<blockquote data-quote="tulsamal" data-source="post: 2084656" data-attributes="member: 571"><p>Good to see defeatism isn't dead!</p><p></p><p>I'll never understand all this pessimism on the gun side of the aisle. I'm 51, born in 1961. I was a child during the turmoil of the 60's that resulted in the Gun Control Act of 1968. And I remember the early 70's when I had relatives who were buying handguns "private sale" so they wouldn't "be in the government records when they were outlawed." It really did feel like an inevitable creeping of gun control. And handguns had their own "assault weapons" media label you heard every day. "We have to put up laws to stop all these Saturday Night Specials." Then the anti's would put out a list and basically include any handgun with a barrel less than 7.5" long. Things like Colt SAA's were supposed to be Saturday Night Specials. All two inch revolvers were evil things that only a criminal would use.</p><p></p><p>How things changed. The tide started to shift by the late 70's and early 80's. Carter lost, Reagan won. The profound shift to the left that the country had experienced after Nixon and Watergate turned the other way. We haven't won every battle since then but nobody in 1973 or so would believe where we are today. Nobody, absolutely nobody back then had concealed handgun permits. Not unless they were famous, had lots of money, or were politically connected. Or were licensed private dicks. We still don't have a 50 state shall issue nation but we are pretty darn close.</p><p></p><p>When I was in school in the 70's, I tried to argue with a teacher once about the 2nd Amendment. He totally dismissed me in front of the class. Ridiculed my backward ideas. And pointed out right there in the textbook that the courts had ruled that the 2nd Amendment was about the state militias, had nothing to do with regular people. It was an old and outdated piece of the Constitution. Now we have had Heller, hard for a government textbook to make that argument.</p><p></p><p>Sure, "we live in difficult times." But let's be a little more upbeat. A little more aware of where we have been and where we are today. And let's keep using our strongest weapons. Speak the truth, force the truth out when politicians try to lie or obscure it. And use the internet to form communities. Communities that did NOT exist in 1973. As a gun person in the late 70's, I used to read the Rifleman every month. And Shooting Times and G&A. And that was about it, about all the "gun community" that I came into contact with. Once a month. Now we are all interconnected, much to the dismay of our adversaries. They wish we would go back to our reality TV shows. It is a LOT harder to sneak something by us now.</p><p></p><p>Smile. Be optimistic. Let's try to be less of the "grumpy old men" that the antis try to portray. Smile and laugh when interviewed by the media. Be optimistic about the future. Here's something anybody of any age knows: the public likes to be on the winning side. The bandwagon effect. You see it in sports, you see it in politics. Once the efforts of the antis is seen by Joe Public to be failing, support for them will fade fast. Then they can look unhappy and desperate!</p><p></p><p>Gregg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tulsamal, post: 2084656, member: 571"] Good to see defeatism isn't dead! I'll never understand all this pessimism on the gun side of the aisle. I'm 51, born in 1961. I was a child during the turmoil of the 60's that resulted in the Gun Control Act of 1968. And I remember the early 70's when I had relatives who were buying handguns "private sale" so they wouldn't "be in the government records when they were outlawed." It really did feel like an inevitable creeping of gun control. And handguns had their own "assault weapons" media label you heard every day. "We have to put up laws to stop all these Saturday Night Specials." Then the anti's would put out a list and basically include any handgun with a barrel less than 7.5" long. Things like Colt SAA's were supposed to be Saturday Night Specials. All two inch revolvers were evil things that only a criminal would use. How things changed. The tide started to shift by the late 70's and early 80's. Carter lost, Reagan won. The profound shift to the left that the country had experienced after Nixon and Watergate turned the other way. We haven't won every battle since then but nobody in 1973 or so would believe where we are today. Nobody, absolutely nobody back then had concealed handgun permits. Not unless they were famous, had lots of money, or were politically connected. Or were licensed private dicks. We still don't have a 50 state shall issue nation but we are pretty darn close. When I was in school in the 70's, I tried to argue with a teacher once about the 2nd Amendment. He totally dismissed me in front of the class. Ridiculed my backward ideas. And pointed out right there in the textbook that the courts had ruled that the 2nd Amendment was about the state militias, had nothing to do with regular people. It was an old and outdated piece of the Constitution. Now we have had Heller, hard for a government textbook to make that argument. Sure, "we live in difficult times." But let's be a little more upbeat. A little more aware of where we have been and where we are today. And let's keep using our strongest weapons. Speak the truth, force the truth out when politicians try to lie or obscure it. And use the internet to form communities. Communities that did NOT exist in 1973. As a gun person in the late 70's, I used to read the Rifleman every month. And Shooting Times and G&A. And that was about it, about all the "gun community" that I came into contact with. Once a month. Now we are all interconnected, much to the dismay of our adversaries. They wish we would go back to our reality TV shows. It is a LOT harder to sneak something by us now. Smile. Be optimistic. Let's try to be less of the "grumpy old men" that the antis try to portray. Smile and laugh when interviewed by the media. Be optimistic about the future. Here's something anybody of any age knows: the public likes to be on the winning side. The bandwagon effect. You see it in sports, you see it in politics. Once the efforts of the antis is seen by Joe Public to be failing, support for them will fade fast. Then they can look unhappy and desperate! Gregg [/QUOTE]
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