Why I'd Join the National Rifle Association

[Jonathan Wolfman]

     I'm sure you've heard of Larry Ward, the Washington, D.C.-based NRA member/apologist and right wing marketing master whose stellar idea it is to hold a National Gun Appreciation Day roughly to coincide both with President Obama's Second Inauguration and with what would have been Dr. King's eighty-third birthday celebration.

 

                                

 

     And that's hardly Mr. Ward's most stellar idea.

 

     The man brims over with them.

 

     On CNN late last week, Mr. Ward with a straight face said that general gun ownership among African-American slaves would have been the answer to captivity. Four million slaves, Mr. Ward told an incredulous interviewer, would have, had they just not forgotten to amass millions of rifles, handguns, and tens of millions of rounds...slaves would have been able to free themselves from brutal Plantation-Class rule.  

 

     Let that one sink in.

 

     And allow me to share with you a suggestion I took from a South Carolina caller when I was interviewed about my gun-related writing on a radio station Saturday afternoon. Eric Smith (he's pleased for me to name him here) suggested that the NRA should ditch its American Eagle-with-the-rifle-in-its-beak logo.

 

     In line with the NRA's and Mr. Ward's concern for African-Americans who forgot to arm themselves while they were slaves, Mr. Smith suggests a replacement logo for the organization, a portrait, really. This portrait:

 

                                                 

 

 

     This is Nat Turner. Mr. Turner, a slave, remembered he needed firearms and this emboldened him to become the architect of the most successful slave rebellion in the ante-bellum period, in August, 1831. Numbers of Virginia slaveholders were killed, as were, of course, many rebelling Black men (and many, many hundreds more were, most of whom had not participated in the uprising, beaten regularly for the rest of their shortened lives).

 

     For slaveholders were, it turned out, not inclined to look favorably on Black Men With Guns, and Mr. Turner, of course, was executed. In addition,

across Virginia and other southern states, state legislators passed new laws prohibiting education of slaves and free blacks, restricting rights of assembly and other civil rights for free blacks, and requiring white ministers to be present at black worship services. [Wiki]

 

     I'd take Mr. Smith's suggestion a bit further.

 

     If the NRA is concerned about the plight of Nat Turner, John Brown, and countless other potential  insurrectionists, most of whom forgot to arm themselves and their four million brethren in violent rebellion, the organization should give strong consideration to hanging Mr. Turner's, Mr. Brown's,

                    John Brown.

and this man's portrait in every NRA office.

 

                                         Black Panther Huey Newton

 

     Heck. If they do, I'll sign up.

 

 

 

 

 

[JMac1949 Today]

I can't remember if it was George Carlin or Bill Hicks who went off on a rant about wimpy gun control liberals and the NRA with the conclusion that instead of whining about it, we could do something about it by spending $25, joining the NRA and voting in a President and Board that favored coherent gun control legislation.  Democracy, what a concept!

[Jonathan Wolfman]

Reagan introduced gun controls in CA precisely bc the Panthers used then-existing gun laws to make their points.

[Raymond Isser]

me too!

[Jonathan Wolfman]

Ray!  You, Me, Huey, and Bobby! Let's Get The Band Back Together!

[David Kinne]

Something to keep in mind is that the NRA leaders do not express the opinions of their average membership, which are more moderate on nearly everything. The majority of NRA members, for example, support more extensive background checks, closing the gun show loophole,  and registration of guns. NRA leaders, on the other hand, want to remove current restrictions on fully automatic weapons (machine guns) and on silencers.  Ever since the NRA leadership was taken over by extremists in 1977, they've strayed farther and farther away from mainstream values, and have made great achievements in their radical agenda by being more committed to their view than any of their opponents are. They simply wear people out with their incessant, no-compromise positions.  

[Jonathan Wolfman]

DAVID  THAT'S WHOLLY CORRECT. 74% of its mbrshp are for background checks. They don't want to be associated w the deranged who too easily get guns.

 

It's also a reason why My Son the Marksman won't join.

[Dicky Neely]

Yes, it's too bad the slaves didn't bring their automatic assault rifles when they were kidnapped out of Africa. And remember Sarah Palin's miserable grasp of history. It seems many of those on the extreme limits of the right wing have no idea of the history of this country, much less of the rest of the world, or any idea of what the constitution actually says or how it came into being.

[Jonathan Wolfman]

David    well   people such as Ms. Palin have written one more book than they've ever read.

[Lyle Elmgren]

Cudos. Your comments make way to much sense!

[Jonathan Wolfman]

thanks, lyle!