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As Americans move through the first nine months of the Obama Administration, we’ve seen some tremendous events happening on the “firearms” front-line; most of which may be self-inflicted by our own rhetoric regarding Leftwing politics. If you haven’t been in a sporting goods store recently, you’d be surprised to know that ammunition is a highly valued commodity. The manufacturers are having difficulty keeping up with the demand and firearms—from .38 Special to AR-15’s—are flying off the shelves. Many attribute this to President Obama’s position on the Second Amendment. Though he says he doesn’t plan on coming after gun owners, his own voting record in Illinois betrays his disdain for firearms. This link shows a summary of President Obama’s voting record beginning with his days in the Senate. Judging from the record, the concern of gun owners is founded in fact, not rhetoric.
In an October 2008 Washington Times Op-Ed piece, Chris Cox writes
In speech after speech, Barack Obama has claimed he would “uphold the Second Amendment.” Mr. Obama, of course, is a polished speaker who says “words matter.” But records matter more. And while Mr. Obama is short on experience on most issues, he’s long on anti-gun votes and even longer on rhetoric. Now’s a good time to review both. One of Mr. Obama’s first statements on the issue really said it all. During his first run for the Illinois Senate in 1996, Mr. Obama said on a candidate questionnaire that he supported legislation to “ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns.” When challenged about the questionnaire earlier this year, Mr. Obama blamed others, saying his campaign staff had filled out the questionnaire incorrectly. (Unfortunately for that story, a version of the questionnaire later appeared bearing Mr. Obama’s own handwriting.)
It’s clearly the “long on votes… longer on rhetoric” that has the gun owner—and potential gun owner—population on edge. It isn’t just President Obama’s words that are causing a stir. It’s the language coming out of his administration as well. The combined effort is causing the stir to hit us at home. An April 23rd Austin American Statesman article reported
A nationwide bullet drought has hit Central Texas with a vengeance. Beginning around the time President Barack Obama was elected, the shortage has made some .380-, .45-, .357- and .38-caliber ammunition as rare as an Austin snowstorm.
Longtime gun dealers say the current ammunition shortage is historic. “We’ve seen runs on various things before, but never this sustained or this lengthy,” said Chuck Wagnon, whose family owns Tex-Guns in South Austin. “It’s been a buying frenzy.”…
The Austin shortage is just part of a nationwide paucity of ammunition that most agree began with fear that the Obama administration will regulate, ban or tax guns and ammunition.
Worry has centered on a suggestion by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that Obama will push for a revival of an assault weapon ban that expired under President George W. Bush. And Internet rumors have run rampant, warning, among other things, that Obama plans a 500 percent tax on ammunition.
What’s a gun owner to do?! While it’s easy to sit back and wring our hands at the possible problems we’re going to face, we really need to get off the couch and take some action. Think of it this way, if the Founding Fathers would have sat idly by in 1776, we’d still be paying our bills in Sterling. Mr. Obama and his like-minded associates have been too busy taking over the banking, auto, and health care industries to be focused on our guns, but don’t consider it off their radar screens. If I can throw a little more fuel on the rhetoric fire, just because you’ve spent $1200 on a new AR-15 doesn’t necessarily mean the current administration will allow you to keep it. Heller v. Washington, DC narrowly affirmed the Second Amendment extended to an individual’s right to bear arms, so the focus will be on bullet control rather than gun control. The Democrats are firmly entrenched in the Executive and Legislative Branches and it would be possible for them to attempt what Australia did with its National Firearm Agreement, and confiscate all guns and ammunition from their rightful owners. Since their focus is on other things, in a sense, this has bought us a little time to better organize.
I’m not suggesting that buying ammunition and weapons is a bad thing, just the hyper-concern that it’s all going to be taken away at a moments notice. It’s the hording that makes it difficult on every gun owner and manufacturer. A regular schedule for buying ammunition is much better than scouring the shelves one Saturday hoping you’ll find your caliber. In case you haven’t noticed, even when you can find the ammunition, it’s been marked up due to the demand. Instead of this approach, let’s spend some of our hard earned funds on supporting the organizations that lobby for gun rights.
Three organizations have done great things for gun owners to one degree or another. The National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, and the Texas State Rifle Association. The NRA was formed in 1871 to promote marksmanship among the Union troops, and in 1903, the NRA began promoting the firearms sport to America’s youth. There are now over 1 million youth in 4H, Boy Scouts, and other organizations involved in NRA sponsored marksmanship programs, according to the NRA’s web site. Education, political action, and firearms training are the primary focus of the modern National Rifle Association. Membership with this organization is an excellent way to not only improve the sport for everyone, but also to get our issues in front of our legislators at a national level.
While the NRA is a little more “moderate” when it comes to political action, Gun Owners of America may be considered pit bull conservatives. In many ways this can be a good thing. Such a Second Amendment bullwark is needed to keep our legislators’ feet to the fire. While the NRA may have the view that gun rights advocacy is best handled incrementally (after all, we lost many of our freedoms from liberal incrementalism), the GOA is firm on getting back our freedoms and rarely yields for the sake of bipartisanship. The immortal words of Ted Nugent (see video below) can sum up the GOA’s position on gun rights; “The Second Amendment is my concealed carry permit. Period.” Locally, the Texas State Rifle Association is a statewide political action group that advocates Texans rights to own firearms. In the 2008 Texas legislative session, the TSRA was lobbying for the right to carry firearms on school campuses if citizens were a concealed handgun license holder. Each of these organizations charge an annual membership of $20 (GOA), $25 (TSRA) and $35 (NRA); a simple and inexpensive investment in your gun rights future.
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While contributing to a lobby group is a great thing, it’s still not enough. Sending money pays for them to advocate on your behalf, send information to their members, and keep their office lights on. There are plenty of things we as members could, and should, do on behalf of these organizations. It starts with introducing others to the sport of marksmanship. Train kids to enjoy the same dedication, focus, and commitment to safety that you do. Take an afternoon with your work colleagues and spend time at the range. When 2A issues arrive, call your congressman and let them know what you think and encourage your friends and family to do the same. We have a great privilege in this country where we can participate in the political process at every step of the way. We’re not limited to the ballot box! We have time to get organized around the issues affecting us.
In the war between the Spartans and the Medo-Persians, the General-King Leonidas with a small band of around 400 Grecian warriors faced down Xerxes of Persia and his 600,000 soldiers. Xerxes had his mind set on conquering the Spartans and their small Greek island. When Xerxes offered to spare his men along with the Thebian volunteers if Leonidas and his company would lay down their weapons, Leonidas shouted two simple words; ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ (malone labeh). Simply translated, it means “come and get them.” This small band of Spartans were committed to a cause. They were committed to their country, way of life, and ability to rule themselves. In modern days, we as gun lovers, and more importantly, Constitution lovers, should follow this defiant statement. Peacefully assemble and participate in the process, and dogmatically hold to our Constitutional rights. If a political party is determined to take away our freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, defiantly shout, “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!” and vote them out of office!