Gun grabbers always have some sort of hot take when it comes to firearms, and always miss the mark, but Excitable Noah Berlatsky at NBC News does get this partially right
Trump and Republicans don’t hate gun control because of the NRA. They just love guns.
American gun culture is driven by a complex mix of reactionary fantasies, racism and insecurity — not campaign donations.
“Democrats say we have guns in America because of ‘corruption,'” former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared on Twitter on Sept. 12. “No, we have guns because it’s our God-given right enshrined in the Constitution.”
The second part of that tweet is silly; God didn’t give people the right to own AR-15s any more than a divine entity gave Americans the right to own automobiles without seat belts. The first part of Sanders’ tweet, though, is mostly accurate. The National Rifle Association’s money doesn’t corrupt Republican legislators. Instead, Republicans oppose gun control because conservative political identity is today inseparable from guns. Identity is a deeper motivator than money, and, for those who want to end gun violence, a more intransigent one. (snip through all sorts of money talk)
So if money isn’t leading Republicans to stonewall gun control legislation, what is? The answer is straightforward: Gun ownership and Republican identity have become inseparable. The most passionate Republican voters see guns as a central part of who they are.
And Noah goes on to blame raaaaacism, anti-illegal alien fervor, and even having a religious meaning. But, he is right, the NRA is not driving the “gun culture”, they’re just protecting our Rights. Most of us have a firearm because we want to, because we can, and because we want protection. Because they’re fun to fire. Did I mention “because we are Constitutionally allowed and the government needs to mind their own business for the law abiding”?
This distinction is important, because it suggests what gun control solutions won’t work, and which ones might. Tightening campaign finance regulations or getting big money out of politics, as Elizabeth Warren has promised, is not likely to reduce pro-gun sentiment among Republicans. The NRA’s ongoing financial difficulties aren’t likely to affect Republican votes much either. On the other hand, fighting voter suppression and enfranchising poor and minority voters who lean Democratic, and don’t base their identities on guns, could change the playing field significantly.
Most of all, we need to recognize that on guns, the two parties are diametrically opposed. Many Republican politicians (and voters) see any kind of gun control — whether background checks or a ban on assault rifles — as an existential threat. If Democrats want gun control, they need to win elections. Republicans aren’t going to compromise
Strange, that almost seems like Excitable Gun Grabber Noah is saying that if Democrats are elected that they’ll come for our guns in violation of the U.S. Constitution. And then Gun Grabbers wonder why we won’t compromise on anything.
Porter Good,
We need to take seriously the right-winger threats that they’ll come out shooting if the Dems try to enact universal background checks or bans on particular firearms. tRump’s own DHS recently raised an alarm about white supremacist terrorism in the US.
The Democrat Socialists threats to take law abiding citizens 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 9th and 10th amendment rights away IS WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORISM.
A mans right to defend himself and his family are God given rights. So is free speech, freedom of religion and all the other rights we enjoy as Americans. Just because Noah Berlatsky doesn’t believe in God changes nothing.
Do you have a God-given right to an AR-15? Is that in the Bible, the Constitution, or both?
Do you have a God-given right to transfer an AR-15 to a lunatic friend with no restrictions?
Actually, white supremacist terrorism was Pittsburgh, El Paso, Christchurch, Charlottesville, Norway, Poway CA, Colorado Springs, US pipe bombs mailed, Charleston…
Even you have declared you would get rid of leftists “by any means necessary”.
In order
Constitution, but everybody in the Bible had a sword
Yes
Actually, white supremacist terrorism was Pittsburgh, El Paso, Christchurch, Charlottesville, Norway, Poway CA, Colorado Springs, US pipe bombs mailed, Charleston…
No, some were nuts, a couple Lefties, and Kaczynski was both.
Besides, outside the country doesn’t count. Murder when Zippy was in doesn’t count.
Even you have declared you would get rid of leftists “by any means necessaryâ€.
I don’t see your problem.
“Republicans aren’t going to compromise”. Looks like an admission that Democrats aren’t going to compromise either. The Democratic party agenda is always expecting the Republicans to cave in on issues to “compromise”, while Democrats give up nothing. But even the most dense Republican office-holder (looking at you, Romney) has to have figured out by now that your “reasonable compromise” will never be enough for the Democrats. It’s a losing game every time. So, stop doing it.
The GOP may wish to consider what the American people want. It’s clear that America has to take seriously threats from far-right extremists like Kye that they’ll come out shooting if assault weapons are restricted. But…
” …57% of American adults support banning “the sale of semi-automatic assault guns such as the AK-47 or the AR-15,†while 41% oppose it. Support for such bans was 62% among suburbanites, 74% among women in the suburbs and small cities, and 65% among white college graduates…”
Isn’t tRump counting on white suburban women?
If the GOP (Moscow Mitch) blocks all bills, e.g., expanded background checks, restrictions on assault weapons, restrictions on magazines), Republican obstructionism will get the blame.
https://hotair.com/archives/allahpundit/2019/08/08/poll-ban-assault-weapons-supported-55-republicans/
If the GOP (Moscow Mitch) blocks all bills,
he and Trump are both re-elected in landslides
Same old democratic activist talking points. Refers to “Moscow Mitch” when everyone knows Mitch is in bed with the Chinese. But the DNC decided that Russia was the country we had to link Republicans to. No reason to stop good marching orders just because they conflict with reality.
Funny how the Democrats care about “what the American people want” when it comes to a marginal gun poll, but are indifferent when 75% of Americans did not want Obamacare and 85% want to stop illegal immigration.
“If the GOP (Moscow Mitch) blocks all bills, e.g., expanded background checks, restrictions on assault weapons, restrictions on magazines), Republican obstructionism will get the blame.”
Who is blocking bills?
Remember the No Fly List bill a few years ago where the Dems wanted people on the no fly list to be denied the ability to purchase a firearm. The dems wanted the list included with NO checks or any due process. The GOP tried to add a provision that protected due process but the dems shot that down and even threw a hissy-fit on the House floor trying th blame the GOP for the bill not passing. Also remember that this no fly list included a lot of people who shouldn’t have been on it, including a couple US congressmen. There was no clear way that people were put on the list and no clear way to get removed.
Just this last Wednesday the Dems introduced a bill to encourage states to enact red flag laws. A republican tried to add an amendment to issue red flag orders to gang members that were on law enforcement gang databases as long as there was probable cause for them to be in that database. The dems denied this because these databases are often inaccurate.
That’s just two examples of gun control measures blocked by democrats. But you keep lying and saying that the GOP is the problem.
My mistake, I was convinced the GOP held the majority in the Senate.
Not all bills can be passed by simple majority.
Your boy, Terrible Tiny Tommy Daschle got a rule passed that some pieces of legislation could only be passed by 60 or more votes.
There’s also the issue that, unlike the Demos, Rs do not march in lockstep. There are differences of opinion, as well as (ahem) philosophical differences.
Chuckie Schumer has all Demos voting one way if he says so. Trump and Cocaine mitch sometimes have to do a little wheeling and dealing.
If the GOP (Moscow Mitch) blocks all bills, e.g., expanded background checks, restrictions on assault weapons, restrictions on magazines), Republican obstructionism will get the blame.
No, they’ll all be re-elected. You keep thinking those polls you see really count for something.
That ended 11/9/16.
After all the uncivil activity promoted by Democrats for the past three years one has to wonder just what they consider “reasonable”?
Lolgfy losers
They use the Commie definition. Reasonable is what they want.
Kind of like world peace was letting the Russkies do whatever they wanted.
I know whenever I buy a gun, I always look carefully at the race-based performance characteristics provided by the NRA. But then, I live in a White neighborhood, so I don’t even need to lock my doors at night, let alone need a gun to protect myself. I buy them like some people buy Hummel figurines. Is that considered an insecurity or a reactionary fantasy?
Teach does not carry a gun with him at all times even though he I believes that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun
Wyatt Earp was a gun grabber. He told those cowboys ” no guns here in Dodge City”
Sounds like a leftist to me.