I am glad that the large pro-gun rights rally in Richmond on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day ended without any violence as had been threatened by some people around the US. That is nice, but it does not end the unpleasant situation legal situation that has arisen here in Virginia. As of now 93 jurisdictions, mostly counties, have declared themselves “gun sanctuaries” where any gun control legislation passed by the Virginia government will not be enforced. The bills currently having received majority support in the Assembly and Senate with support from Governor Northam include requiring uinversal background checks for all gun sales (while allowing intra-family gun transfeers without that), a one-gun per month limit on gun purchases, and an especially controversial “red flag” bill allowing for a person deemed to be a danger to themselves or others to have their guns temporarily taken.
I am located in the Shenandoah Valley where this “gun sanctuary” movement got going, with neighboring county to the south of me, Augusta, getting highlighted in an article about this in The Economist recently. VA is the only state where cities and counties are distinct and separate from each other. So I live in the City of Harrisonburg, which is surrounded by Rockingham County, which supported Trump with over 70 percent of the vote. Rockingham County has joined Augusta in becoming one of these on a unanimous vote of its Board of Supervisors, although I know at least one of those not happy about this. But an angry gun-toting crowd showed up at the meeting. In Harrisonburg such a crowd showed up at the city council, but left angrily after the council refused to go along with this garbage.
Barkley:
Perhaps, I am mistaken? While a semi-colon can link two independent sentences; I also believe a semi-colon can be used to link a dependent clause to an independent sentence.
Barkley,
Never knew before that you are a fellow VA denizen. There was a lot more than just a fear of slave revolts feeding into the 2nd Amendment. Patrick Henry had his agenda shared by many rich white people, but a few rich white men do not a republican political constituency make, all the less before TV and consolidation of the press extended the reach of wealth into the general public sphere. On the frontier it was Injuns. I am 1/8 Cherokee myself, but Cherokees were mostly for Cultural Assimilation before the Trail of Tears. Revolutionary spirits wanted an available antidote to elite Federalism. Away from cities men hunted game animals for meat. Protecting one’s home from intrusion is a natural inclination. Dogs are best, but nowadays even a Rottweiler could use a man with a pump shotgun loaded with birdshot for backup.
What is important to me is that all of these purposes can be met by weapons that are not semi-automatic with huge magazines. As mentioned above, a properly loaded 12-gauge pump shotgun is the best weapon for home defense leaving faithful Fido as the alarm system. National security is best insured by bolt action 30-06 rifles, a huge step up from the muskets that the Afghanis began with. Large bore revolvers as a side arm are useful as a backup weapon when hunting large game or self-protection for couriers of bank deposits. Small bore revolvers are cheaper for target practice and convenient defending oneself against rates and snakes. Small bore lever action (or bolt action or pump) rifles are fine for small game and varmint hunting although before the leaves fall many prefer a .410/.22 over/under shotgun rifle combo. The 12 gauge double barrel shotgun is best for hunting fowl in flight. The pump shotgun is well suited for hunting rabbit and even deer now that much of the country prohibits the use of high-powered rifles for hunting.
Semi-automatic and full auto weapons should be limited to real military and LEO applications. Any other man that feels a need for one is either an awful shot and should not be allowed to own any guns at all or they are attempting self-treatment of their sexual deficiencies.
My dad, Riley Weakley, was born on Old Rag Mountain, an illiterate man and a crack shot. In my early childhood he owned both a semi-automatic .22 rifle and 12 gauge shotgun, both Remington. When he could afford better he got a lever action .22 Marlin rifle (which I inherited from him) and a pump shotgun. Later in life when his marksmanship began to flounder he got an Ithaca double-barrel 12-gauge for birds, which I also inherited. The only time in life that I carried automatic and semiautomatic weapons was my tour with the 101st Airborne Division in I-Core RSVN in the AO surrounding Camp Eagle and Phu Bai. The automatics were an M-16 and an M-60, the latter which I just let the Jeep carry between cleanings. The semi was a .45 sidearm.
Whenever possible with gun owners I make the case that all automatic weapons pose a danger to civil society and worse, that they are unmanly sissy weapons. Given my stature, physical not social, then people do not argue with me about that at least to my face. Shame is powerful with such people. Acting afraid just baits them, so I choose to intimidate intimidating people. The link below has a couple of comments posted by Ronnie Weakley (me) and establishes my redneck bona fides.
Ron:
Welcome to Angry Bear. First time comments always go to moderation to weed out spam, spammers, and advertising. Once approved, you are free to comment. Mostly we will not bother you.
What can I say? To my knowledge, there is nothing in Scalia’s opinion in Heller which rules out owning a semi-automatic rifle or pistol for that matter. The qualifier being, it can not be an assault type of weapon similar to what the military might use. Arguing otherwise with the gun nuts is kind of futile.
I am city-folk and taught how to shoot by my Scoutmaster when I was 13. Good enough to threaten the record at Edson Range in 68. I had no problem shooting semi-automatic accurately in rapid fire. My field weapon was an M-14 even though I was not an 0311. Did not spend a whole lot of time in field as my MOS was much higher. Chased prisoners in my last 6 months before going inactive till 74.
A little bit of recent info for you. “From 1999 to 2014 there were 497,627 firearm deaths or 10.4 per 100,000 person-years of which 291,623 (58.6 percent) were suicides and 191,531 (38.5 percent) were homicides. From 2015 to 20–17, there were 114,683 firearm deaths or 11.8 per 100,000 person-years which reflects a 13.8 percent increase from 1999–2014 in “per 100,000 person-years.”
The rate is going up from being relatively stable from 1999 to 2014.
Thank you for your comments.
Bill
Bill,
I was 95B (MP). As long as gun nuts can carry guns into civil public discourse and their intimidation is mute and de facto then gun nuts will be a tough nut to crack. That is probably why the nuts chose to hold onto to their guns and remain outside the enforcement perimeter in Richmond. BTW, my preferred means of intimidation is shame via provoking honest confrontation of ideas; e.g., automatic guns are unmanly sissy weapons. Even the nuts mostly choose to imply rather than revert to overt forceful intimidation which can come to unfortunate ends either via the law or an even crazier nut. Posturing as a noble defender of the vulnerable and innocent just marks us as fair game to these guys.
My dad taught me gun safety and shooting a rifle when I was eight, far too small to hold a rifle without using a my left hand up against a tree as a cradle. I do not have as much to say about economics now as I did when starting at EV (as just Ron) ten years ago, but I was raised on guns and rednecks. If there is a route to be successfully navigated on gun control then I would anticipate the greatest opportunities along a path delineated by the Isaac Walton League, i.e., safe family outdoor recreation and environmentalism.. I understand why IWL does not get involved in politics, but it is everyone’s loss that they do not. Unfortunately the level of political contention in politics puts political participation out of reach for any well grounded social organization. We are faced with hysterical and ahistorical opposition armed with guns in hand because they lack the words and ideas to participate in civil dialectic on public policy. Trump is an icon of the problem, but he is not the problem per se. Gun nuts cast a chilling shadow on political discourse in the US. Crying and whining in the darkness will not cast a bright light into that shadow of intimidation.
RC:
The resistance and demeanor of it has been so great and warped, I am sure when the rest iof the nation gains control the push back will be by far greater to include harsher measures than if they had agreed to something. They can threaten all they wish to. In the end they will lose.
You are more than welcome to hang around. We are a quiet and reasonably tolerant place with a bunch of smart people.
I know that these groups who showed up at the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors and the Harrisonburg City Council were viewed as intimidating with their guns and loud heckling by at least some on those bodies. It is frustrating that they have such sway, given how little support they actually have among the broader population. They are an angry minority.
Curiously, while I have been involved in some heated debates with some of the local strong gun rights advocates, I have actually made friends with a couple of them. I think while I annoy them with my arguments, they respect me for being able to hold my own with them.
As it is, I am an Eagle Scout and on the way to getting that I did get a marksmanship award. Back in those days that was sponsored by the NRA. That was the period when they emphasized safety and education, not lobbying about over the top gun rights. It seems that the shift to the latter came with getting too close to the gun manufacturers.
As it is, while I got that marksman award, I have never owned a gun. My family background was quite conservative, but there was never a gun in my family’s home. This was due to my father having had a half-uncle who died in a gun accident in a house at the age of ten. After that his mother banned guns in the house, and my father picked that up and it got passed on.
Oh, and Run, I think that properly a semi-colon separates two independent clauses.
Barkley:
I pulled out my 50 year old Watkins, Dillingham, and Martin, Fourth Edition, “Practical English Handbook.” My English Prof. insisted I get this when I was taking independent study with him so I could graduate. Page 105, “The semicolon is (a stronger separator than the comma) is used between coordinate elements not otherwise connected.”
Barkley, you are correct. For the Handbook, they are up to the Eleventh Edition now. Since they have minimized writing these days in college, sales must have plunged.
I passed that course with a “B” and a hand-shake. His insistence I write or fail, paid off for me in the long run.
Bill,
Thx. With EV gone now then I probably will. These days cooking and landscaping are more in my wheelhouse, but I did have a 47 year career in IT before retiring. Economics became a hobby for me after buying a house in 2004 as an offshoot of an earlier hobby in psychology, mostly Perls and Skinner and their Esalen crowd. Keynes had been imprinted upon by my New Deal parents long before I even knew who Keynes was.
RC
Ron,
Good to see you here. While we agree on many things, there were some disagreements between us at EV. What I appreciated about those disagreements was that they included honest information exchange despite different opinions.
You will be an asset to AB.
EMike,
Thx. To the extent that I participate then I will hopefully live up to those expectations. I got a lot to do now over the next five years both indoors and out. Mondays and Fridays now my wife still works from home so that I cannot make noise in the house on those days because she is on the phone most of the day. She just started going into the office Tue-Thu before Christmas then paused for the holidays. As long as the mornings are frosty out, then two days a week I will still have some time to kill online.
Good luck with elections this year. We really need some different outcomes at the polls on federal elections than we have had since 2008. Next year I get to see whether the turn of political tides in VA will hold. Take care.