O.K.
ESCHEW HOPLOPHOBIA.
<http://www.gunweek.com/2007/hs081507.html>
DSH
Lux et Veritas et Libertas
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Hoplophobia Makes It Hard To Have Public Fun with Guns
August 15, 2007
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
Mention guns to some people and they instantly become totally irrational.
For many of these hoplophobes (a term coined by the late defensive pistol
guru Jeff Cooper), mention of the National Rifle Association or “NRA” also
sends them into incredible tantrums.
A few years ago, the NRA proposed opening a shooting s****ts-oriented
restaurant in New York City, and many in that center of hoplophobia, went
berserk. The Big Apple’s City Council even considered city ordinances to
keep the NRA out. The restaurant project was quietly abandoned by the NRA,
and, if memory serves, Rudy Giuliani was mayor at the time, not Michael
Bloomberg.
I was reminded of that brouhaha recently when The Philadelphia Daily News
re****ted that the hoplophobes had gone off the deep end again after the
NRA
offered discount tickets to children’s attractions for anyone donating to
the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA).
Sesame Place
“Put the gun down, Elmo,” began the Daily News article on July 13.
The article’s author, Gloria Campisi, said that was the war cry of
gun-control advocates who learned that an NRA website was offering
discounted tickets to Sesame Place and other kid-friendly theme parks—in
return for donations to the NRA’s political arm NRA-ILA.
“This is a very strange thing, the connection between guns, the NRA and
Sesame Place,” said Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire NJ. “It
looks to me like a PR nightmare,” the newspaper quoted Miller.
The paper widely quoted Ashley Varner, an NRA spokesperson, as saying
“There
is no conflict of interest by having the theme-park tickets available.”
Varner said the tickets, which provide discounted entry to the parks,
weren’t
purchased by the NRA, anyway, but provided by Anheuser-Busch. According to
The Daily News, besides making Budweiser and Bud Light, the beer magnate,
through a subsidiary, operates Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA; Sea World in
Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego; Busch Gardens and Adventure Island in
Tampa Bay, and Busch Gardens and Water Country USA in Williamsburg, VA.
The newspaper claimed that according to the NRA-ILA website, the donation
for two tickets is $50, about half of the regular price. The paper
re****ted
that other discount prices, according to the Web, are: four tickets for
$100, six for $150 and eight for $200.
Anheuser-Busch responded to the newspaper’s call seeking information with
the following statement: “We routinely offer these kinds of ticket
discounts
to national organizations whose members have an interest in visiting our
parks.”
In fairness, the newspaper did give the NRA’s Varner some ink. And perhaps
they ended up calling public attention to the NRA-ILA discount ticket
fund-raiser. Who knows for sure? But certainly the article demonstrated
the
gun-grabbers’ illogical concerns about guns and the NRA in any connection
with children. These are the same people who equate Eddie Eagle with Joe
Camel.
Marginalizing Guns
They’ll say anything to marginalize guns of any kind: shotguns as well as
handguns and rifles that shoot more than one shot.
The Daily News said “Varner strongly criticized gun-control advocates,
taking special aim at big-city mayors, including John Street, the current
chief executive in “the city of brotherly love” which is currently having
big problems dealing with violent crime.
Among actions Varner suggested that cities undertake to curb gun crime
are:
budgeting more money for policing; prosecuting every gun crime; refusing
plea-bargains, and insisting on mandatory sentences for gun crime.
“If they (mayors) were serious about lowering crime, they would stop
pointing fingers of blame at the NRA and jet-setting the country on the
taxpayers’ dime” to attend gun-control events, she said according to The
Daily News. “There are things these mayors could do if they wanted.”
Varner maintained that the NRA was a “family-friendly organization.”
“We’ve actually trained over 20 million children since 1988 in firearms
safety,” through an NRA program for kids from pre-kindergarten through
third
grade, called Eddie Eagle GunSafe, she said.
But mention of the NRA is not the only way to set the hoplophobic blood
aboil. A Republican fund-raising in New Hamp****re has also raised the
anti-gunners blood pressures
Machinegun Fund-Raiser
Reuters news service re****ted in mid-July that a planned Republican
fundraiser in the Granite State which “aims to promote gun owner****p in
America by letting sup****ters fire powerful military-style weapons—from
Uzi
submachineguns to M-16 rifles.” Emphasis on the word “powerful” is mine
because I wanted to highlight the intentional slanting of the story by the
Reuters correspondent. Submachineguns may offer firepower but not powerful
cartridges since they fire sub-caliber pistol ammunition. That’s why the
military in the US and other countries designated them submachineguns, or
machine pistols, to differentiate them from truly powerful machineguns
chambered for heavier military cartridges.
Anyway, according to Reuters, the Manchester Republican Committee is
inviting party members and their families to a “Machine Gun Shoot” where,
for $25, sup****ters can spend a day trying out automatic weapons, quoting
organizer Jerry Thibodeau.
“It’s a fun day. It’s a family day,” said Thibodeau of the fund-raiser set
for Sunday, Aug. 5, the day before this issue of Gun Week goes to press.
“It’s
quite exciting.”
According to Reuters, local Democrats say the event is in poor taste amid
a
spike in violent crime in Manchester and seeks to glorify the use of
machineguns for political gain. “The right to own guns has come under
heightened scrutiny since the April shooting at Virginia Tech where a
gunman
killed 32 people,” Reuters re****ted.
“It is downright offensive,” Chris Pappas, the Manchester Democratic party
chairman, told the Union Leader newspaper.
Thibodeau said he invited all the Republican candidates in the 2008
presidential race to the event at Pelham Fish and Game Club outside of
Manchester, the state’s largest city, but he said they declined. He said
all
shooters would undergo training.
Buying a gun in New Hamp****re, whose official motto is “Live Free or Die,”
is relatively easy.
The state does not require buyers to obtain a handgun license or undergo
safety training before buying a handgun, according to the Brady Campaign
to
Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control lobby group.
What Reuters and the Brady Campaign failed to mention is that while New
Hamp****re, like many other states, does not require a license or training
to
acquire and possess a handgun, it does mandate a license to carry
concealed.
Further, anyone buying a firearm of any kind from a dealer must be
approved
for the purchase through the National Instant Check System (NICS), which
isn’t
always instant.
But that’s a separate discussion. What fascinated me about the GOP
machinegun shoot fundraiser was how inexpensive it was. The large slate of
candidate for the GOP nomination—announced and unannounced—may not
recognize
a bargain-priced op****tunity to learn something about guns and gun people
while having loads of fun.
Such a machinegun shoot can be costly. I know. The Second Amendment
Foundation and Citizens Committee organized one for people attending the
1988 Gun Rights Policy Conference in Dallas. That shoot included a BAR in
..30-06 as well as a variety of subguns firing everything from .22 to .45
ammunition. I was amazed at the time to discover how many gunowners had
never shot full autos, or, if they had, had not shot the older variety,
like
the BAR, Thompson and MP40.
Under federal law, full autos are not illegal for citizens to own as some
journalists claim. They are prohibited in 11 states. The National Firearms
Act (NFA) requires their registration and taxation with local approval in
39
states. The 1986 ban on transfer of new full auto froze the existing
civilian inventory and sent prices skyrocketing. The rising cost of ammo
has
made their recreation use even more costly.
Frankly, anyone who missed the New Hamp****re fund-raiser should be kicking
themselves at missing a great op****tunity.
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DSH
"David J. Hughes" <davidjhughes.tx@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1214623796_362231@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> D. Spencer Hines wrote:
>
>> Americans simply have more money to spread around on such baubles.
>>
>> "hoplophobs" ???
>
> Hoplophobes.
> Those unfortunate individuals suffering from hoplophobia.
> "Hoplophobia, from the Greek hoplon, or weapon, is defined as the "fear
of
> firearms" or alternatively, a fear of weapons in general, and describes
a
> specific phobia."
> Wikipedia
|
