When it comes to guns in America, advocates for gun control often present themselves as even-keeled, everyday Americans wishing to strike a balance between the rights of individuals and the safety of the public. But truth be told, the leaders of the gun control movement are a colorful bunch, often duplicitous, some times dangerous, and not all representative the American public.
The difference between the things they say and the things they do can often be downright hinky. Take for instance Josh Sugarmann, executive director and founder of the Violence Policy Center and supporter of the now overturned handgun ban in the District of Columbia. For years, Josh Sugarmann has held a Federal Firearms License in D.C. making it legal for him to buy and sell firearms, the only exemption for civilian handgun possession under the old D.C. handgun ban. There's also Sarah Brady, namesake of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. In 2002, Sarah Brady published a book wherein she described her purchase of a high powered rifle for her son, a hunting rifle that is often mislabeled as a "sniper" rifle by some gun control activists. Brady described in detail the background check conducted by the Delaware gun dealer, pointing out that the dealer was shouting her name over the phone in an effort to embarrass her. While potentially embarrassing, Brady may have broken Delaware law by not also providing the name of her son, the intended recipient of the gift.
Back when the Brady organization was known as Handgun Control Inc., one of its prominent members, Joseph McNamara, wrote a book in which he espoused the idea that only corporate executives and Hollywood celebrities should be allowed to own firearms. This "rights for me but not for thee" elitist attitude isn't just restricted to activists; many anti-gun politicians seem to believe they are uniquely special as well (alright, that's likely not much of a surprize to many people). Former New York Rep. Mario Biaggi stated that only police should have guns, yet he owned two handguns which he had to surrender after becoming a convicted felon. Senator Diane Feinstein has said that if she could muster the votes in Congress she would ban all guns, yet she had one of the few concealed carry permits in the city of San Francisco and testified that she carried when visiting her husband. And Senator Chuck Schumer recently led the effort to defeat national concealed carry reciprocity, yet he currently holds one of the few unrestricted gun permits in New York.
Unlike Schumer and Feinstein, some gun control advocates prefer not to get their own hands dirty. The late Senator Ted Kennedy spent many years legislating for stricter gun control, yet he had a privately-hired armed bodyguard. Michael Moore, whose film Bowling for Columbine criticized American gun culture, also has an armed bodyguard -- who incidentally does not hold a gun permit for New York City, the primary residence of Michael Moore.
And then there's the troubled Million Mom March started by the Brady Campaign. After advocating for taking guns out of the hands of common people, it was discovered that their boisterous spokeswoman, Rosie O'Donnell, had an armed bodyguard. More rights for me but not for thee. Annette Stevens, the president of the Springfield, Illinois, chapter of Million Mom March was found to be in possession of an illegal handgun when her home was searched for drugs by the police. Wait, it gets better. Barbara Graham helped organize the Million Mom March in DC and even spoke at the event in support of DC's then-handgun ban. Just months after the march, she violated that very law, acquiring an illegal handgun to shoot a young man whom she thought had killed her son. She is now serving a 50 year sentence for permanently paralyzing the man who turned out to be innocent of the crime she avenged (police ended up arresting another individual for her sons death).
Violating DC's civilian handgun ban also didn't concern Carl Rowan, a Washington Post columnist who opined that only police should be allowed to possess and carry handguns. In 1988, Rowan shot a teenager with an illegal handgun. The teenager trespassed in Rowan's yard and had been using Rowan's swimming pool. In true elitist fashion, Rowan was never found guilty because authorities lost interest in the case.
You may have noticed a thread of gun control hypocrisy with respect to the District of Columbia. That thread continues with the story of Ben Gelt, son of a noted Denver politician. With the Columbine tragedy as a pretext, Ben Gelt organized a demonstration against the National Rifle Association in hopes of preventing their meeting in Denver. Gelt also met with President Bill Clinton to discuss gun control issues, and even delayed his entrance into college for a year to advocate for stricter gun laws. His college of choice was American University located in DC. Gelt continued with his anti-gun activism in college, sparring with congressmen and appearing with Secretary of State Collin Powell in a Rock the Vote event. One week after his appearance with Secretary Powell, police raided his dorm room and found $15,000 in cash and large quantities of marijuana, opium, Ecstasy and many other illegal drugs. Gelt was charged as a dealer in the illegal drug trade, which is linked to 4 out of 5 gun crimes in the District of Columbia.
This list of hypocrites could go on and on. There is former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois who advocated for strict gun control, that is before he was sent to prison. There is current Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois, also an advocate for stricter gun laws and a former member of a radical sixties group known for holding political protests with guns and charged with killing police officers. And then there are all the aldermen of the city of Chicago, who continue to hold an outright gun ban in their city yet exempt themselves from that ban.
There just seems to be a lack of moral clarity among many anti-gun people. They seem incapable of living by the rules they want to impose on others. And so let us close with an example of one of this nation's newest and perhaps least ethically bound gun controllers, Amy Fisher. She thinks guns are bad. Of course, she probably didn't think so when she pistol whipped and shot Mary Jo Buttafuocco so that she could have Mrs. Buttafuocco's husband all to herself. After serving only seven years in prison, she now goes around telling people that guns are bad... that is when she's not giving those people her sex tape to drive traffic to her Internet porn business.
Perhaps it is not the guns that are bad, but the people who advocate against them. Fight for your Second Amendment rights and your natural right to self-defense, because there are people trying to take those things away from you and they don't play by the rules.
This article has been cross-posted from my blog at http://hxr.us/LFS/Blog/Entries/2010/1/6 ... victs.html
Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share.
-(photo credit: NY Post)