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Winning the War on Guns
Gun owners are winning the war on guns. There is no Federal Assault Weapons Ban in place anymore and there is no reasonable chance one will return anytime soon. Concealed carry (in some form or another) is, in theory, the law of the land in all 50 states. Things are calming down on the legislative front and some of my friends in the gun industry talk about how they look forward to the market getting back to “normal” after the panic-buying of guns and ammo during the Obama administration.
But what is normal? “Normal” certainly wasn’t the time before the Assault Weapons Ban, when “Gun Culture 2.0” was just an idea and “shall issue” concealed carry was the exception, not the rule. For over 20 years, the gun owners of America have either been dealing with the effects of an Assault Weapons Ban, feeling an urgent need to buy guns in fear of another ban being enacted in the near future, and their ability to carry a gun for self-defense was outright banned in a large number of states. Today’s environment for gun owners isn’t “normal,” it’s unlike anything we’ve seen since the Sullivan Act was first passed.
On a national scale, over the last few years, the NRA and other organizations have done an admirable job of defending our natural right to defend ourselves. In the wake of the horror at Sandy Hook, the forces of gun control made a full-court press to re-enact an “assault weapons ban” on a national level, and it failed spectacularly. A bill to validate a concealed carry licenses across state lines has passed in the House, and while its future in the Senate is a little iffy, we’ve started the process of having concealed carry licenses act just like marriage licenses and driver’s licenses do.
The dam broke on Thursday and now everybody and their brother is now in favor of a ban on bump stocks. Word went out to politicos in DC that it was “safe” to support such a ban, and now everyone loves it.
Over the last 24 hours, I’ve been doing something I don’t normally do: I’ve been debating the right of self-defense with gun-control advocates on social media. I don’t normally do this because I find most gun-control arguments rather tiring. However, it’s been interesting to note the assumption of guilt in the minds of a great number of gun control supporters, and the National Rifle Association in particular as the source of their wrath, as if the NRA itself gave somehow gave tips to the Las Vegas murderer on how to perform his horrible deed.
Imagine how popular boxing would be if there was no such thing as shadow boxing, the heavy bag, or the speed bag. Instead, rather than have future boxers prepare outside the ring, boxing trainers would plop a pair of gloves onto anyone remotely interested in the sport and toss them into the ring for three rounds the first thing someone set foot in the gym.
Let’s begin with the obvious: 
The National Rifle Association annual meeting 
