U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “[F]ormer Representative Gabrielle Giffords went to Minnesota to announce the creation of a gun safety advocacy group,” The New York Times publicized approvingly. “The group’s agenda is predictable … Its composition is not: The members are all gun owners.”
“Gun owners join the push for common sense gun laws.” The editorial board of the Minneapolis Star Tribune follows up. “Some are rejecting the NRA and making their voices heard in the state debate — and just in time.”
You see what’s going on here: Gungrabby Gabby et al. are attempting to make people, and especially politicians, believe gun owners support citizen disarmament. Some do. We call them “Fudds.”
The group, deceptively calling itself “Minnesota Gun Owners for Safety,” is the second state chapter to form so far, the first being in Colorado. For now, the goals are being presented to appear modest and reasonable, at least to the uninformed” universal background checks” and “extreme risk protection” laws. That the DOJ’s National Institute of Justice has concluded “Effectiveness [of UBCs] depends on the ability to reduce straw purchasing, requiring gun registration,” and that “red flag laws” allow the state to confiscate guns from citizens not even charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one, and presume “guilty until proven innocent,” is left unmentioned.
What’s clear from their web page is that they do nothing to promote actual safe practices for guns, but instead call for infringements and call that “safety.” For now, Giffords is enjoying the free publicity from supportive media, but keeping information about membership close to the vest, making it fair to question if they only have a handful of virtue-signaling Democrat “sport shooters,” oblivious to the reality that they’re being exploited as the useful idiots they are.
“It’s possible to prevent gun violence while also supporting the Second Amendment,” they claim, clueless that the way you do that is by not infringing on the right to keep and bear arms with gun bans and insane “gun-free zones.”
It’s not the first time we’ve seen gun-grabbers create what became known as “Astroturf” gun groups. We’ve seen them come and go over the years, and they all share two things in common: Outside special interest funding and a lack of any appreciable grassroots support.
One notable example of such a fraudulent operation was the now-defunct American Hunters and Shooters Association, a group bankrolled by a gun-hater that failed after five years because it couldn’t attract a critical mass of “sportsmen.” I wrote extensively about them at the time.
They had a list of positions they advocated, including: “AHSA is committed to supporting the right to keep and bear arms, protecting our homes, and preserving our liberties,” and “Hunting and sport shooting are American values AHSA will vigorously defend.”
That was out of one side of their mouths. Out of the other, they claimed: “an overwhelming majority of hunters support proposals like background checks to purchase guns, keeping military style assault weapons off our streets and the elimination of cop killer bullets.” They advocated that “the FBI should be given reasonable access to National Instant Check System (NICS) purchase records” and promoted “legislative efforts to regulate .50 caliber BMG sniper rifles in the same manner as machine guns.”
AHSA’s president John Rosenthal founded “Stop Handgun Violence,” and was as big a gun-grabber as you would find. Their Board of Directors included honchos from Crime Guns Solutions, ex-BATF careerists who supported suing gunmakers. AHSA had ties with a Democrat consulting group, DCS, whose clients included Nancy Pelosi and John Conyers.
That would be the same Nancy Pelosi who years later would endorse an incremental “slippery slope” for gun grabs. And that’s what Gabby’s gunkapos either fail to realize, or more likely, know full well but are hoping those they’re swindling out of their rights don’t catch on to.
Any hunter who truly believes they can throw EBRs under the bus and their scoped “sniper rifle” won’t be next is a fool. Anyone who believes “progressives” won’t be coming after their “blood sport” when the time is right has not been paying attention.
But don’t take my word for it. Instead, I’ll ask you to believe a committed anti-gun zealot (and a George Soros protégé at that), Rebecca Peters, who was Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) from 2002 to 2010:
“Peters states that civilians should not have ‘rifles that they can kill someone at 100 meters distance, for example. There needs to be a much greater degree of proportionality in the firepower that’s available.’ Clearly, she said ‘single-shot rifles and shotguns’ are all anyone needs to go hunting, one of the few lawful uses of firearms which she recognized. During the debate, she showed little concern for the Britons who had lost their right to compete with modern rifles and handguns. That’s just too bad, Peters said. ‘So get another hobby,’ she advised.”
For some of us, it’s not a hobby.
By dividing gun owners, those bent on disarmament are trying to conquer all, but in stages, one specialized gun owner interest group at a time. I’m reminded of a story from The Odyssey when the Cyclops Polyphemus promised he’d eat Odysseus last.
He still intended to eat him. The only way out was by banding together and fighting with everything they had, like their lives depended on it.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
On another note, I had a conversation with on of my far left friends from SF State (class of 1979). She is now an attorney working for the State of CA and lives in Sacto. In spite of our profound differences we remain friends. I even taught her to shoot years ago. My question to her was this: if you believe Trump is such a monster why do you feel safe limiting your personal defense options to a nerf bat? She could not answer.
The progressives have been forced to change the names to protect them from the innocent for over 100 years. They form these astro turf groups, funded by wealthy progressives and manned by professional community organizers and then they try to push an agenda as if it was a grass roots effort. When they tarnish their own names and are outed as elitist, progressive enemies of liberty they simply change their names and move on dot org to a new PO Box and a new Newspeak sounding name. Same old faces, same old agenda, new PO Box and letterhead. Look at… Read more »
Great article! And please keep it in mind prior to casting your vote in the up coming elections! Additionally, we need to teach our children how to smell out rats?
Anti-gun groups have a lot of money on their hands, since they are bankrolled by billionaires Bloomberg, Soros, Steyer etc. The appearance of such a group indicates that they also have a lot of time on their hands to conjure up nonsense. As usual with them, it’s all top down. They can lie about issues and buy some influence, but they do not have the grassroots backing like the gun rights movement.
Their purpose for gun confiscation here in Colorado is because they are turning the energy off and they don’t want armed resistance. No vehicles, electricity or heat in the homes, no industry, no jobs, full blown immigration sanctuary, legal camping on city streets. All going away inside of 10 years for U.N. Agenda 21, 2030 & 2050 depopulation. Only gov will have energy not civilians. Shutting it all off right now at the legislature.
The rubber gun squad says surrender your firearms and use fake plastic toy replicas to scare off your attackers. Governor Polis has thrown the constitutions in the trash, they no longer exist here. No such thing as the bill or rights now in Colorado and because we’re the model for the new world order this is intended to be spread throughout all other states. Though you won’t hear this on your news. You also won’t hear we have socialist assasin teams at work here. Nah, the fake news network would never reveal such things. NAZIS in costumes come to your… Read more »