We can not afford to be divided.

[Mindflayer]

I had a few friends over this weekend, and as usual, the topic of guns came up. We had a lively discussion about gun rights, and some old friends surprised me with the admission they owned guns. They lean left on the political spectrum and I just assumed they were anti-gun. My friends then mentioned they don't talk about guns with their friends, as most of them are vehemently anti-Constitution. I nodded, understanding that this issue was divisive, even among close friends.

Yesterday, a Log Cabin Republican sent me a few links about the idiocy going on in California with respect to our gun rights. He told me he hopes that the GOP is not so foolish as to nominate anti-guns rights New Jersey governor Chris Christie. I nodded, agreeing with him.

This morning, I thought about these friends and our love of the Second Amendment. I thought about how spread across the spectrum we are politically, but how united we are in our belief about firearms. I remember all the times I've heard gun people - our people - toss aside allies because of their political beliefs, their sexuality, their race, their creed, their religion, and even their gender. Why?

We can not afford to be divided.

We are not winning the "War over gun rights". Oh, sure, people are trumpeting this win or that win. You look at how many states have had their anti-gun owner laws struck down, and it's easy to think we're winning. We are not winning. When you win a war, the battles are over. Our battles are far from over.

We can not afford to be divided.

We may not agree with someone's stance on abortion, on religion, on gay rights - the list goes on and on. It does not matter here. We must first and foremost unite under the issue of gun rights. This must be our baton across the other political lines. "Why?" you ask. Why? If we unite as a common front across the political spectrum on this issue, we can better ensure the wrong people are not elected into office. It does not matter if we elect a Republican if he is anti-gun rights. It does not matter if we elect a Democrat if he is anti-gun rights. What matters is that our rights, as a single gun-owning bloc, are not infringed.

We can not afford to be divided.

The Supreme Court was split 5-4 on Heller vs DC. The Court was split 5-4 in McDonald vs Chicago. Our essential liberty is being determined by one Justice. We can ill afford to alienate our fellow gun owners when so much rides on such a thin margin. We need them to ensure their candidates are absolutely in step with ours when it comes to gun rights. Everything else is secondary.

We can not afford to be divided.

We live in a world where the message of the rich and connected is the drum beat of mass media. We are bombarded with the anti-gun rights message on the news, in social media, in advertising, in our TV shows and movies, and in our children's text books. It does not matter if we agree with our neighbors on the current "political crisis" of the week. What matters is they unite with us on our individual, fundamental American right to own and bear arms. We need the grassroots support to overcome the billions and billions of dollars spent every year on the anti-gun rights agenda.

We can not afford to be divided.

I've gone on long enough. It is my hope that before you dismiss someone due to their stance on some other issue, that you say, "Look, I can't talk to you about this, since we disagree, but let's talk about guns." The storm is coming, my friends. We can not afford to be divided.

[Kreutz]

I'll drink to that with these beautiful madchen!

[OakRidgeStars]

Oktoberfest will be here soon! Nothing to be divided over there!!!

[Mindflayer]

I married a German woman and we honeymooned in München during Oktoberfest. Yeeeeehawww!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[BertMacklin]

All valid points, especially about how the fight is being lost despite appearances. The hordes of NOVA are still strong.

[MarcSpaz]

All valid points, especially about how the fight is being lost despite appearances. The hordes of NOVA are still strong.

What I don't get is, how anti's even exist in high crime areas? You would think it would be the inverse.

I love my wife to death, but she is one of these people who thinks I am batshit crazy because I own and carry a gun. She lives in the same house as me. She hears about the home invasions, people getting jumped, stabbed, beat to death, etc. She was with me when I saved a guys life who was getting stabbed by his ex-girl and her new boyfriend in the Potomac Mills parking lot. Just the other day, one guy shot another in the face at the McDonald's up the street from my house, and during his escape he ditched his car in the middle of the road, carjacked some lady taking her hostage... and this is normal stuff around here... but honest, law abiding gun owners are crazy and can't be trusted?

NOVA should be made their own state. I'll move further south in a heartbeat if that happens.

[Kreutz]

All valid points, especially about how the fight is being lost despite appearances. The hordes of NOVA are still strong.

Can't beat em? Outbreed 'em. The lower cost of living and increased living spaces outside NOVA support larger families.

[Mindflayer]

I love NoVA for all the different cultures that bring in good food. I love the job market. Hate the political spectrum.

Marc, when my wife and I were still just friends, she asked me one day what I was doing, so I sent her a picture of the guns I was cleaning. She was SHOCKED that I had "so many" (two, albeit it probably looked like more in parts) and even more surprised that I carried. After talking to me, she kinda got it. Then she went shooting with me when she came to visit and... well, she's absolutely a gun person now. (And she's also my wife now, too, so that's a double win.)

We are not winning. I have converted a few people that fall into the left side of the spectrum, and they get it, but a lot of people refuse to get it. For some reason, the Second Amendment is the one that just doesn't click with them. If we trampled all over their First and Fourth Amendment rights, they'd be ma- oh wait, that's right, they don't.

We must keep fighting the good fight. We must make allies. Some of us want to be the Grey Men and I respect that. However, some of us must continue to reach out and win people over. The Mass Media Agenda is not a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory - it's a real force, and the agenda is to eliminate our gun rights. They will continue to paint us as the devil, so it is up to us to prove them wrong.

[Swampman]

Tough fight brother. I'm with ya.

[BertMacklin]

All valid points, especially about how the fight is being lost despite appearances. The hordes of NOVA are still strong.

What I don't get is, how anti's even exist in high crime areas? You would think it would be the inverse.

I love my wife to death, but she is one of these people who thinks I am batshit crazy because I own and carry a gun. She lives in the same house as me. She hears about the home invasions, people getting jumped, stabbed, beat to death, etc. She was with me when I saved a guys life who was getting stabbed by his ex-girl and her new boyfriend in the Potomac Mills parking lot. Just the other day, one guy shot another in the face at the McDonald's up the street from my house, and during his escape he ditched his car in the middle of the road, carjacked some lady taking her hostage... and this is normal stuff around here... but honest, law abiding gun owners are crazy and can't be trusted?

NOVA should be made their own state. I'll move further south in a heartbeat if that happens.

Reductionist rather than systems based thinking. Most people only see little short straight lines connecting actions and consequences rather than long strings per se. Thus they draw simplistic conclusions based on their mindset. I'm assuming since you married someone with ideals counter to your own you've adapted a non-compromise reasoning. I say this as I am in a similar situation and have done the same. My girlfriend is deadly afraid of the contraptions, though I have taken her shooting and she is proficient within our means, both monetary and physical. But really its a dream world, a false paradigm of what is and shall be for both her and others. I can't change it, I'm sure others have some luck but me trying to convince one of these Jersey Expats is really a waste of time, and too much a risk on my part. In my eyes there are only two kinds of people in this world, cattle and butchers. Of course there's always more cattle than butchers. I know what side of the line I'd rather be on regardless of any and all circumstances, so I make no compromises.

[Taggure]

Without the Second the First is not worth the paper it is written on

Just Sayin!