Remember Virginia!
At any given time, all of us are basically ONE election away from what happened this past year in Virginia. Why is that important? Because when the leftists got control in that state (Governor and both legislative houses) the very first thing that they did was pass draconian gun control laws.
We can celebrate the fact that four Democrats refused to support a semi-auto gun ban. That turned out to be too extreme for even them. But that’s not all that happened.
The efforts of VCDL and 28,000 people showing showing up with guns peacefully at their general assembly may have made their point and had their effect, and 91 of 95 counties declaring themselves “Sanctuary” for gun owners may have made their point, but the simple fact is that today FIVE new gun control laws are on Governor Northam’s desk and ready for his signature, or already signed.
This includes another state that is falling to the folly of Red Flag gun confiscation legislation.
This is called “LOSING” your rights through encroaching infringement. It’s not victory. You can’t stand as a minority (gun owners) in a democratic republic like ours and expect to defend your rights.
We can rail against the influence of Soros’ and Bloomberg’s money, but the simple fact is that we blew it. Now that we know how to lose, lets start talking about how to win.
It was interesting to see the unvoiced prejudice and discomfort among the Democrats, and the language they sometimes used about Pete Buttigieg. In private it was sometimes base, coarse, crude, offending language.
Let’s think a bit about why this all came about, and how it affects us as gun owners trying to win re-election for conservatives.
I should mention that based on my life experiences, the people I’ve met and the institutions I’ve supported I am a fiscal conservative and social moderate. I think that HATE and HATRED is one of the least useful human emotions. My mother was abused as a child, and instead of becoming an abuser herself, she became a protector and nurturer. She taught me not to hate, but to listen and learn.
The vast majority of American are born heterosexual. A US Department of Health study done in 2013 found the numbers and they are somewhat consistent with long term work done starting in the late 1940s. This makes people like Buttigieg a clear minority in Americans.
Anyone that thinks that being a widely hated and discriminated against minority is a voluntary choice needs to check their reasoning. I can’t imagine someone choosing to subject themselves to ridicule, physical attacks and the most vile of name calling.
It’s equally interesting that while we condemn religions like Islam for condemning and motivating the murder of people (including gay people), many of us feel it’s our righteous duty to do the same thing. The Bible teaches us to discriminate and destroy many things. Today, we selectively choose to only condemn a few of them because we now know why things like pork spoil and become deadly, and that some marriages can never be reconciled. Do we eat pork and get divorced? Why does religion teach us to hate homosexuals and murder Jews?
Today it’s understood that sexual orientation is something that is born into people, not learned or effectively changed. It’s the same for other things like right or left handed preferences or left or right eye preference. It’s also something that isn’t considered all or nothing, and is thought to exist on a continuous range with people falling somewhere between completely heterosexual to completely homosexual.
Some babies are born “intersexed” They can be physically born one sex on the inside and one on the outside. Years ago, I knew a doctor named John Money who specialized in “correcting” these extreme rarities in nature. You can’t imagine the lives he destroyed when he picked the wrong sex for his surgery. While some consider him a pioneer, I saw his re-assignment of some patients as monstrous. In truth they were experiments on living human beings. Should we hate these people?
It’s the nature of some rare individuals that they are born with a sexual orientation that doesn’t match their body. Should we hate them?
Gay people like Pete Buttigieg are invisible if they choose to be. Many that help you and make a difference in your life will never trust you enough to discuss themselves with you. This is because of prejudice. It can extend to even the relationship between father and son, mother and daughter. Sometimes they can’t live with you, and can’t live without you. It’s a major cause of suicide in young people.
OK… I get it. Hate is a real emotion and generally something that is taught by parents, religious leaders, peers, or some other institution. How useful has hate been in your life? And if it’s based in your religious belief system, it may be time to ask yourself why. People are different in many ways. The human animal survived in pre-history by instinctively selecting members of it’s tribe carefully, and violently driving other tribes away. Much of that selection was done on visible characteristics, and yet the invisible ones were more threatening. Something as basic as sexual orientation is both invisible and very difficult to understand, so it’s easy to build hatred on that. Never forget that the most potent wars place God on both sides.
Do the people we are taught to hate have a right to defend themselves from physical attack and harm? When I teach a student gun safety in a NRA class, I don’t ask them if they’re gay or have certain religious beliefs. I do make sure that they comply with the laws of our nation, and turn away anyone that doesn’t. That includes illegal invaders – not because they are foreign, but because they flaunt and violate our laws (many of which are bad laws).
I’ve taught classes that were all women. I’ve taught classes that were all black citizens. For all I know, I’ve taught gay students how to defend themselves. I frankly don’t care. It’s not my job to hate any of them. They all have a right to self defense, and many of my students need to exercise that right every day. As you can see, I’m socially moderate.
As gun owners, we’re literally fighting for our rights, and one election away from losing them big. REMEMBER VIRGINIA!
If you really want to win, it’s time to stop hating people and start building coalitions. Starting back in the 1960’s civil rights movement, the Democrats have been smart enough to build up their power in this way, and have been doing it now for decades. In fact, every conservative social policy I’ve seen our Republican party lead with has driven people into the Democrat coalition, all while we watch them destroy our nation economically and in international position. Embrace legal immigrants, embrace Black citizens, welcome the gay citizens – many of them are actually quite conservative too. Many support gun owners and our Second Amendment for very personal reasons.
If gay people represent 8 to 10% of our population, why would you voluntarily drive them away and give up their votes to the Democrats? All because you were taught to hate them? That’s not rational. It may be comfortable, and safe, and something friends approve of, but it’s not how to win the election. That 8 to 10% of the population (many of whom are, I expect, politically active and actually vote) could make the difference in electing conservatives this fall.
We all have a choice in November. We cannot stand alone in a country like the USA. And don’t think for a moment that we can continue to divide and somehow win.
Skilled Shot Blog 