[Update: The fishing incident mentioned below is from memory and not something I can verify. I'll leave it in since it's been up for a couple of days, and I apologize for not fact-checking.]
I don't have numbers on how many folks vote straight guns in Virginia, but it would be nice to know. I'm sure the Republicans NRA folks know. Guns are often bundled with crime and racism and wrapped in near hysteria to provide a Republican wedge issue when needed. We didn't hear all that much about guns and crime during 2006 since it's a wedge that works better when it's localized to rural areas.
Alice Marshall pointed out a post on a web site called Caroline County that made me regret not having finished my Jim Crow diary, but that's another story. I understand Alice's concerns. Hunting is tied to guns is tied to crime is tied to urban is tied to race. This string of cultural associations are deliberately maintained and manipulated, but there are a few people who don't understand that process and don't know that urban is code speak for African American. Others do know but pretend like they don't. It's a time waster to figure it out sometimes. It would be easier to have a good description of this process included in a FAQ somewhere.
Defining prejudice as having to do with inappropirate generalizations, the blogger brave heart's post reinforces the chain of stereotypes in the minds of progressives, and consequently we sometimes are led to another form of prejudice if we make the generalization that gun owner=racist.
If you must talk about Richmond to folks in places like western Goochland, you may very well see fear in their eyes for a split second, but that is not ordinarily a fear tied to much to do with race. The Times-Dispatch covers that area, so Richmond is little more than the Briley brothers, the Southside strangler, the murdering kids who were picked up at Maidens, the place where all the inmates at the state farm come from, and the place where the occasional kid runs off and goes bad. To a lot of people Richmond is simply the big evil.
Just never you mind the Fork Union sex scandal, or the guy who worked in a nearby funeral home and used his customer's body parts for catfishing in the James. On the other hand, Richmond was "Number 1 in murder 1" for a while. Compared to that, fishing with brains is creative recycling. However, murder rates tend to decrease when we have a Democratic president, and they go up when we have a Republican president. On and on..
Here's a question from the NRA's survey.
Question 4: Do you agree with politicians in Washington, D.C., who say that all gun owners should be licensed, and forced to register their guns with the government?
If there's anything worse than a criminal in Richmond, it's a politician in Washington, D.C. It's difficult to make it through a federal election without hearing the Republican candidate rail against the politicians in Washington, D.C. For state level elections, you'll hear about "those folks in Richmond." One sure fire trigger word is forced. Government is another. Yet another is licensed although that's a little weaker.
Question 9: Do you think law-abiding gun owners like yourself are in any way responsible for the actions of murderers and robbers who use guns to commit their crimes?
Those politicians in Richmond and Washington, D.C. think I'm responsible for the Briley Brothers. (But not MY politicians in Washington, D.C. They are different.)
But wait. I thought this was a blanket letter. How does the NRA know I am a gun owner? Do they have access to gun registration lists? Are those lists public? And not only am I a gun owner, check this out.
You have been specially selected to represent your fellow gun owners in the Massies Mill, Virginia area in the enclosed National Gun Owner's Action Survey.
When making campaign phone calls, I can now break the ice with this: "Hi! This is Kathy. I've been selected by the NRA to represent my fellow gun owners in the Massies Mill area."
This next question is a fun one.
Question 5: Using your tax dollars, the United Nations seeks to impose international gun control affecting you and other American citizens. Do you think this is a good use of your tax dollars?
-É-É-É-É-¥
using my tax dollars - impose - United Nations - affecting me - American citizens - back to tax dollars
Enough of the survey. Lie 4: Republicans Are The Party For Hunters Anglers And Outdoor Enthusiasts. That's the title of chapter 9 of Foxes in the Henhouse. Please read the chapter if you are able to get the book. This gives a taste of it. I'll try to type up the NRA letter and add it as an update.
It's also a fact that hunters, anglers, and wildlife watchers today face obstacles unlike any in our history. In the past fifty years they have seen their ability to practice and enjoy their culture face growing obstacles. They have witnessed unparalleled population growth and its inherent sprawl from urban to suburban and most recently to exurban population centers. They have endured unsustainable increases in our air, land and water pollution. They have seen government and industry saddle them and our nation with poor conservation, preservation, and habitat management practices. In short, they have encountered reduced availability of unspoiled places to hunt and fish and watch wildlife. These obstacles have also reduced the number of hunting, fishing and outdoor enthusiasts.
And from p 256
In fact, as the most prominent national organization promoting guns and hunting, the NRA is generally given carte blanche in setting the Republican campaign agenda when it comes to gun and sporting issues. Democrats don't seem to know how to get around this monopoly, and the media buy into the NRA's rhetoric that they are the barometer on anything that uses gunpowder.The NRA's record speaks for itself. In the 2004 elections, the association endorsed 251 candidates for Congress; of those, 241, including 20 freshmen, won. Their Political Victory Fund also targeted six U.S. Senate seats in 2004, winning five of them, including John Thune's victory over Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota. The NRA has to know they are supporting candidates whose conversation records ultimately damage gun owners' ability. In fact, the overall voting records of these NRA-backed members of Congress are for the most part devastating on the issues that matter most to hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts-- habitat protection and conservation and preservation practices.
And if the NRA is such a pro-hunting group, why do they let this happen, indeed, facilitate it by supporting bad candidates? We believe it's because of two important trends in the past generation. First, the NRA increasingly aligned itself with partisan Republican candidates who were more than happpy to carry NRA water on extreme gun issues in exchange for an endorsement. That endorsement then gave these candidates political cover on their generally dismal conservation and preservation records. Why did they have dismal voting records on conversation and preservatin issues? Because a significant portion of their campaign funds came from corporate polluters and industries who were poor environmental stewards. And if these Republicans did not vote for the interests of the corporate polluters, the polluters quit writing them campaign checks. A vicious circle.
The second reason the NRA has no problem endorsing candidates and members of Congress who maintain scandalous conservation and preservation records is that the association's primary mission is to raise money through its direct-mail fund-raising machine. Leaders of the NRA know that scare tactics make millions more than a pitch for better conservation practices ever could.
I have enclosed two copies of this critical document for you . Please, complete the top copy and return it to me in the envelope provided, and keep the bottom copy for your records. It will only take a few minutes of your time.
This National Action Survey is designed to get the attention of every Congressman, Senator, state legislator and appointed official, and let them know in no uncertain terms that we gun owners are sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens... That we are drawing a line in the sand against more gun bans... And, that we will FIGHT BACK against politicians who try to ban our guns and ammo.
As you know, our Founding Fathers gave us our Bill of Rights to protect all of our sacred freedoms.
But now, hundreds of powerful politicians have targeted one of those rights for destruction-- our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. That's why gun owners like you need to take a stand, and why I've chosen YOU to provide your answers on this special survey. Yours is a respected voice in the Massies Mill, Virginia area. When you speak up, your elected officials will listen.
So please, answer this Gun Owner's Action Survey today, and help me send a clear message to Congress, to elected officials in your state, and to the national media -- that we cannot and will not give up the rights that our forefathers died to defend. And, if you want to keep your guns, then please do one more thing. Please join the NRA.
The NRA is the one organizatin in America dedicated to defeating harsh gun laws and gun bans in Congress and the Virginia state legislature.
But the NRA is only as powerful as your personal commitment to keep your freedoms. We can't protect your rights without YOUR help.
Unless gun owners like you help support the NRA and participate in our fight, then your right to keep and bear arms could soon be legislated out of existence. That's why you'll use the enclosed Membership Application to join the NRA today.
As an NRA member, we'll provide you with the information you need to fight back against politicians like Senators Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy, media elites, and gun-ban organizations who have set their sights on your Second Amendment rights.
These powerful anti-gunners say that, because of violent crime, you should give up your freedom AND your guns.
The real truth about crime is that hundreds of violent felons are turned loose on our streets every day by our failed criminal justice system. And many of these criminals commit more crimes -- including murder, arson, rape, and robbery.
But instead of supporting tough laws to keep these thugs in jail, anti-gun politicians are demanding more "gun control" laws aimed at law-abiding citizens.
They say you should give up your right to privacy and allow the government to maintain detailed records about your personal life, including your fingerprints, your photograph and other information just like a common criminal!
They've proposed legislation in Congress which would require you to have a government license for gun purchases, force you to undergo mandatory "safety training" at the hands of anti-gun bureaucrats, and hold you criminally liable if a convicted felon steals your guns and uses them to commit a heinous crime.
And they've demanded that you register yourself and your guns, then give the government the power to decide whether you're "fit" to own a gun!
In other words, they're blaming you for the action of violent criminals. And they're demanding that you give up your guns to make up for the failure of our criminal justice system!!!
That's why you need to answer the enclosed National Gun Owner's Action Survey. You need to send these politicians a message to GET TOUGH ON CRIME and tell them to keep their hands off your guns.
And if you cherish your freedoms like I think you do, it's very, very important for you to join the NRA today.
In fact, because it's so important for you to join the NRA, I want to offer you a special, $10 discount off your membership dues. That means, instead of our regular dues rates of $35, you can join the NRA today for just $25. Or you can save even more by choosing a two-year membership for $50(normally $60) or a three-year membership for $70(normally $85).
Plus in addition to your discount, you'll receive a number of excellent benefits to make your membership even more valuable and worthwhile.
These benefits include:
A subscription to one of the NRA's great magazines: American Rifleman, American Hunter or 1st Freedom (your choice!)
Members only DISCOUNTS at participating gun stores, sporting goods stores and other retailers.
Special NRA hotel, motel and rental car discounts -- with UP TO 30% SAVINGS!
Access to NRA's hunting, shooting and safety programs. And, invitations to NRA events, including the famous "Friends of NRA" events near your home.
A personalized membership card and window decal.
And, if you join today, you'll receive a special bonus gift--the NRA three-compartment duffel bag--as our way of welcoming you to the NRA family.
Most important, as an NRA member you'll receive the informatin and tools you need to play an important grassroots role in defending the Second Amendment. And you'll get this information absolutely free.
But if you don't join now, tomorrow may be too late to save your guns.
During the past two years, we have seen gun bans and confiscatins on a worldwide scale, including Canada, Australia and Great Britain.
Now, here in America, the anti-gunners are using the same strategy to ban YOUR guns that they used in these other countries -- by turning your fellow citizens against gun owners and placing the blame for violent crime on you.
As I write, they're trying to convince your fellow Americans that, because you own a gun, you're a "kook" and a second-class citizen who doesn't deserve the same rights as other Americans.
This may sound like something that could only happen in Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union, or Mao Tse Tung's communist reign of terror in China.
But it's happening right here in the USA with anti-gun Congressmen, the gun-ban lobby, and the gun-hating media attempting to take away virtually all of your Constitutional Rights...
...And they want to discriminate against you and treat you like a second-class citizen...Simply because you own a gun.
To me, that's not right.
As Executive Vice President of the NRA, I know that the overwhelming majority of gun owners are law-abiding, patriotic citizens who are leaders in their communities and fine role models for our children.
That's why I need you to answer the National Gun Owner's Action Survey.
Your Survey answers will enable me and the NRA to tell Congress and the media where you stand on firearms issues and crime issues, and put them on notice that we're serious about keeping our GUJNS and our FREEDOMS.
For your rights to survive, you must let them know where you stand.
So please, answer this critical Survey today. Return the top copy to me in the postage-paid envelope I've enclosed. And keep the bottom copy for your own records.
And please, join the NRA today.
These two actions--signing your Gun Owner's Action Survey and joining the NRA -- will put the politicans on notice that you cannot and will notaccept the further destructin and chipping away at your fundamental freedom to hunt, shoot, and own a gun for the defense of your home and loved ones.
Our ancestors paid the price of freedom with their blood. Now, unless you and I stand firm under one banner to defeat gun bans, it's only a matter of time until we lose our freedom, our heritage, our rights, and our guns.
That's why I'm calling on you to answer the enclosed Natinal Gun Owner's Action Survey, and return it right away with your NRA membershiop dues.
Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Wayne LaPierre
Executive Vice President
P.S. In the wake of terrorist attacts, gun-haters are cynically trying to use the Homeland Security issue as a new lever to restrict your personal right to own and use firearms.. making your Survey answers and your membership in the NRA more important than ever.
P.P.S. Rember, when you join the NRA today you'll receive a FREE bonus--the NRA duffel bag--and special discounts on membership dues. Whether you choose a one, tow or three-year membership be sure to return your completed Gun Owner's Action Survey today.
Thanks again.
But it's happening right here in the USA with anti-gun Congressmen, the gun-ban lobby, and the gun-hating media attempting to take away virtually all of your Constitutional Rights...
Kathy, the 'Massie's Mill' on your letter was taken right from your address line. Sounds like mass marketing 101 to me. The fact that Thomas Road is also sending you mail is interesting. I think there is a huge carpet bombing of rural areas with this kind of stuff. I have not received any of the latest, but we did receive 'urgent' questionaires from Dennis Hastert twice this year, addressed to Lisa, who has a long record in this area of voting Democratic.
I agree that we should already be doing something about the next two elections now.
I bought a rifle 2-3 years ago new. As the only registered gun owner in this household, the mail was addressed to me. Most mass mailings to this household do NOT come to me unless there's some plausible association.
So those two possibilities are both causes of concern.
-- NRA is sending mass mailings
-- NRA has Va gun reg lists
Another possibility is that they got it from some other source entirely, but I doubt it.
Because of the first point you make.. what can be said? The NRA is a de facto ally of those who make amendments to take away Constitutional Rights.
Would disclosing the private and potentially damaging information of registrants (by looking further) be a violation of Federal law? I would think so, but other public information is routinely harvested from public agencies, a case in point, our own DPVA Prevail system. DPVA purchases the information from SBE, and then it is input into our database.
This is going to lead me in a direction I hadn't thought about. Do Republican/Libertarian privacy advocates know that gun registrations are being used for targeted mass mailings? Is this the equivalent of a single-issue (think CTG) problem for the Republicans?
They are normally very unified in their quiet support of the portions of their party's idealogy they disagree with.
This situation also brings to mind another problem: how many mistakes would we find in the 'gun registration database'?
Lots of questions.
I got Al's answers from his campaign and they were good sound answers, but as usual a person cannot answer those questions. R's twist any answer into hightlights that fit their cause and make the candidate look against guns.
In my opinion politicans should not answer written questions from the IRA because they are coming from some Republican headquarters just looking to smear the candidate.
Personnally I would like to see a program to destroy/expose the NRA and R's for what they really are.
Get out of the republican framing. I agree, too, that Democrats should stop patting themselves on the back, get off their behinds and get back to intense neighborhood proselyting, like the Republicans, or their goose too will be cooked in '07 and '08.
And, Kathy, tell us more about fishing with brains and body parts? Is this for real? It sounds more like a sort of parody on Bush in Iraq.
Maybe this will give you an idea, one of the old RTD articles starts with "Jurors in a civil case pitting a former funeral home worker against the business and its owner heard allegations of lurid embalming room activities, death threats and attempted seduction.." The jury did award the employee 41K damages for less dramatic reasons like back pay, but there was no conviction or award for any of the wierd stuff.
This is all just the tip of the iceberg, and while Dems re-parse a 10 second conversation that we didn't even hear for the thousandth time, the Republicans are doing massive outreach via their affiliates. Smart folks.
I agree with you 100 percent on the R organizing. They have done such a great job, our constituants stay home on election day. Most will just say their vote does not count, but I get a deeper feeling from the people who say that. Brain washed, fear, resentment, disappointment and a lot more negative issues. Mostly they have to work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet and do not have time for the smoke screens of politics.
Here in Nelson we had over a 58% turnout this election, but yet we did not do some of the great stuff done in 2004 and 2005. One was Pete Perdue, a great speaker, was going to church congregations and pushing the GOTV. I did not hear of any of that this time. It seems the D's come up with things to do but drop them after a short time period. We seem to get our own thing to do, get tired, and no one else picks up the slack.
Later on the rest.
To end the digression....
It was super sweet to be able to sound "liberal" and then be able to answer YES to all of the following questions;
Are you religious? Do you own or drive a pick-up truck? Do you have a gun(s)?
Oh, it was beautiful. I wonder if they decided it was too much of an outlier to remain within the trimmed data.
Was it possible that a female 1 ton dually driven' who enjoys routinely blowing things up from clay pidgeons to rattlesnakes (no lawyers yet) who says "buzz off, its my private choice" exists?
Ok, ok, I admit I do have a European car for most of my routine transport needs, but they didn't ask about that.
How will the United Nations "imposing gun control regulation" affect any Americans at all? These gun control regulations are geared toward African nations in the midst of, or about to be in the midst or, civil war. The only way I'd be affected is if I owned, or had stock in, a gun manufacturing factory.
Yeah. Always follow the money.
2. Do you think the governement should be allowed to store personal information on you just because you are a gun owner?
3. Do you think the government should have the power to limit the number of guns you can own?
4. Do you agree with politicians in Washington, D.C., who say that all gun owners should be licensed, and forced to register their guns with the government?
5. Using your tax dollars, the United Nations seeks to impose international gun control affecting you and other American citizens. Do you think this is a good use of your tax dollars?
6. Do you support the passage of a new law, which would mandate the use of "trigger locks" and hold gun owners criminally responsible if their gun is used in a crime, even if the gun is stolen?
7. Do you agree with certain government officials who want to ban hunting on public lands?
8. Do you believe that gun owners should be required to submit to "safety training" by government bureaucrats before they're allowed to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms?
9. Do you think our criminal justice system has done a good job in keeping repeat violent offenders out of our communities and off our streets?
10. Do you think our criminal justice system has done a good job in keeping repeat violent offenders out of our communities and off our streets?
11. If law-abiding citizens were forced to give up their guns to the government, do you think crime rates in your community would go up, go down, or stay about the same?
12. Do you agree with anti-gun extremists who claim that gun registration, gun-owner licensing, and outright gun bans would help prevent future terrorist attacks on our nation?
13. Will you authorize the NRA to use your Survey answers in our compiled results to be released to Congress, Administration officials and state legislature?
14. Will you join the NRA today?