"Give up your guns, America!" America: "Nuts!"

Gun rights have been on the upswing in recent years and now it seems a little odd how quickly gun control seem to be back on the offensive. Maybe it's because gun owners have gotten a little complacent and thought that things would always be going our way. Maybe it's because the gun controllers are running such a coordinated campaign with the aid of legacy media talking heads...possibly a campaign that was planned to coordinate with a gun-hostile White House whose election was forestalled.

In any case, we're in the middle of one of the most ferocious gun control battles I've seen in the past 30 years.

But I can't help but think that there's an air of desperation to this battle. The gun control movement really hasn't been doing so well in recent years and there's been every sign that their fortunes were going to decline past the point of no return. Concealed carry has gotten so widespread in recent years that a number of states have just decided to allow the carrying of concealed pistols without any license. AR15s that were moderately popular around 1990 before the Clinton Assault Weapons ban are now everywhere....they are called the most popular rifle in America for good reason and they have been flying off the shelves. Factors which could render gun control completely toothless are the increasingly diverse demographics of the gun owning public and the likelihood that we aren't very far off from completely untraceable 3D printed guns (not to mention magazines).

In fact, it strikes me that this isn't so much the sign of gun control taking over again as their last, desperate attempt to render themselves relevant. It reminds me of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, when Hitler threw the bulk of his remaining forces into a last ditch offensive. It certainly did some damage but in the end it was futile.

Determined, unflinching resistance stopped that offensive cold and I have no doubt that gun owners have the ability to fight back decisively and stop this offensive cold too. Support gun rights groups, contact your representatives, talk to friends and family....and if you can, attend gun rights rallies and use your fury at being called potential criminals and murders as fuel to stuff those words right back down their throats.

This Saturday (April 21), Washington state is holding a gun rights rally that could be big. Expectations are for good attendance and it could be the largest gun rally Washington state has seen in recent years. I'm going, of course, and have been wondering whether to open carry a rifle this time instead of just the usual concealed pistol.

But instead of bring an AR15, I'm thinking I may just bring the M1 sold to me by the government 20+ years ago. It may have even been at the Battle of the Bulge, so the idea of bring it Saturday is fitting.

Bloomberg and his new little muppets are telling us to give up our guns. A furious America is answering, "Nuts!"

N.B. The M1 actually loads with clips...8 rounds of .30-06 that make AR15 rounds look anemic.

Notes for Olympia Testimony

Hello.

My name is Don ****  and I live in Snohomish county in Washington state. I am a husband and father and work as a software developer.

Politically, I consider myself an Independent. I was a party line Democrat until I realized about 25 years ago how hostile the party was...and still is...towards gun owners.

I don't think party insiders understand how much damage the party has done to itself by opposing the vital civil liberty of gun rights. Absurd laws are developed and pushed by Democrat legislators in cooperation with technically ignorant gun control advocates. Our current Attorney General, when he is not fund raising for his future bid for Governor, is currently responding to reasoned letters with ridiculous quotes from Mike Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety. Gun owners have the real knowledge to inform legislators about the effects and realities of gun controls and technical realities to gun topics and the Democratic party treats us like pariahs.

I recently blogged about how badly the party is misjudging the politics in our state. We are a very moderate state...and a VERY gun friendly state. We have a higher percentage of concealed pistol licenses than *many* states that voted for President Trump in the 2016 election.

Most of the pistols those licensees carry can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and may expected to renew an "assault weapon" license EVERY year under one proposal being considered. In a state of 7 million people, we probably have a couple million semi-automatic rifles and have used them with exemplary safety and responsibility.

Every gun control being considered has some subtexts that are rarely discussed. Complying with "Assault weapon" license laws mean that I am expected to request PERMISSION every year to keep a firearm that I have owned responsibly for some time...and accept the possibility that permission might be denied. We do not.

Registration means that I accept the possibility that the firearm may be banned in the future. We do not. If New York and Connecticut gun owners will refuse to comply with registration requirements en masse, what compliance with extreme gun laws can be expected HERE?

Gun owners have a large investment in being law abiding members of society. Adopting a California model where we become whipping boys of every legislature is an awful idea and jeopardizes the civility which generally exists in our state. It also jeopardizes the Democratic party control of the legislature. Tom Foley could have told you that after he lost his job in the United States Congress...the first Speaker of the House to lose an election in over 100 years. Gun owners fired him from what is usually a secure job because of the contempt he showed them.

We have a large investment in remaining law abiding and with being cooperative. I do not like to think what the result would be if the line in the sand of excessive/punitive gun laws is crossed.

Will A Delusional Narrative Cause Washington State Democrats To Throw Away Control Of The State Legislature In 2018?

The November 2017 election flipped a seat in the Washington state Senate, giving Democrats a 1 vote majority. Democrats also control the state House and the governor is a Democrat. What will the party do with the razor thin degree of control with which they control the legislature? One possibility is that they will seek common ground with non-Democrats and work together on common goals. The other possibility is that they will try to enact extremist legislation and possibly even succeed.

A few Democrats are crowing that they will take the opportunity to enact the harsh gun controls that they have been unable to enact in recent years. If this is attempted, they will probably fail. Whether they succeed or fail, rest assured that the political retribution for the attempt will be BRUTAL.

Let me explain why.

1) Washington state, while tending towards being politically moderate, is a VERY gun friendly state

Recent years have seen marijuana legalized and gay marriage equality achieved. One school of thought is that this indicates that the population supports the entire Democratic party agenda. Rather, I maintain that it indicates we are "live and let live" moderates. We are also a very gun friendly state.

A very graphic illustration of this can be obtained by looking at a Concealed Carry statistics web site, Guns to Carry (link).  This site researched concealed carry trends across the US by obtaining statistics about concealed carry from the states’ licensing departments.

This illustration looks at the states with the highest percentages of the population holding carry permits, showing their percentage in descending order. Alabama tops the list with over 20%. Washington state is #10 with well over 10% of the population licensed and the 4 immediately above Washington state are only about 1 percentage point higher.

The state immediately below Washington is West Virginia. Yes, Democrat-heavy Washington state has a higher percentage of legal concealed pistol carriers than a traditionally Conservative state where 68% of voters voted for President Trump in 2016. And we are one of the leading states for concealed carry in the entire nation. A large number of very conservative states have a lower CPL density in the population than Washington state does.

Note that many or perhaps most of those CPL holders carry handguns whose magazines would be banned under some proposals Democrats are bandying about. Yes, if you legally carry a Glock or Beretta handgun, some legislators want to declare it an assault weapon and require you to renew a license for it EVERY YEAR. This will needlessly antagonize those licensed, responsibly armed people.

I know dozens of people with a wide range of political views, diverse ethnic backgrounds and of both sexes who own several firearms. AR15s are ubiquitous. And we often vote on that basis. Which brings me to my next point.

2) Washington state’s gun control advocating minority ALWAYS overreaches badly and does not try to work with the gun community

In 1997, the year that I moved here, Washington Ceasefire ran an initiative which was basically a nasty handgun licensing scheme ineptly disguised as a trigger lock and bill. The final vote was over 70% against it and it even lost in King County, the most liberal county in the state. A Seattle Times reporter said at the time that the initiative had set gun control in the state back 20 years.

Now state Democrats are casually discussing even more extreme ideas which could set back the party and numerous liberal causes even further.

"Assault weapon" bans (pointless legislation which caused enraged Washingtonians to De-Foley-ate Congress in 1994), magazine bans (which are pointless and also politically toxic) and also a proposal to revoke the state's Preemption statute.

That last idea really needs to be thought through. I know Seattle wants to enact its own gun control laws but do we REALLY want to make gun laws so confusing that they are difficult to comply with? Why would it make sense for gun owners to have to research gun laws any time they venture out of their towns?

3) Serious attempts to enact punitive laws will create a terrific backlash 

I have already mentioned two instances of backlash against  gun controls in this state in recent memory:

• 1994: House speaker Foley removed from office for supporting the 1994 Federal "Assault Weapon" ban

• 1997: Initiative 676 essentially killed gun control in Washington state for 20 years. 

Another example:

• 2014: Following passage of I594's mandatory background check initiative, between 1,000 and 3,000 people showed up in Olympia and staged what may have been the largest action of civil disobedience in US history. Notice was given that people would be exchanging and even selling firearms in direct violation of the new law. No permit to assembled was requested or given. Several legislators even attended, at least one of them armed with an AR15. (link)
  
  No attempt was made to arrest anyone there.
  
  (Note that gun owners in New York state and Connecticut have largely ignored requirements rammed through in midnight sessions that they register their "assault weapons". If two states used to tolerating severe gun controls are refusing to obey because they have been pushed too far, what will happen here??)

I see two possibilities for 2018. Either no serious attempt will be made to pass "assault weapon" bans or licensing, magazine bans or to revoke firearms preemption or serious attempts will be made...and the backlash will be FURIOUS in the next election. As in the aftermath of the Federal ban, electoral retribution will be harshest against moderate Democrats who had previously supported gun rights. I sincerely hope that Democrats in the legislature are not foolhardy enough to doom their control there to enact foolish laws instead of focusing on the positive aspects of their party platform.

If strict controls are enacted, civil disobedience will be rampant and attempts to actually enforce the laws spotty or non-existent. Respect for the law and for officers enforcing it will plummet.

And God help us all if someone gets hurt trying because such laws ARE being enforced.

Gun Appreciation Day - January 19, 2013

 Washington state was one of almost 50 states today that

staged huge gun rights rallies, under the Gun Appreciation

Day rubric. New channels are reporting that a couple

thousand people showed up in Olympia and I believe it!

 

Had to get a shot of my last minute sign.

As you might expect, this gal and I had a big old fist bump 

when we noticed each others signs.

A few pictures of this big and very awesome crowd.