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Armed and Safe is a gun rights advocacy blog, with the mission of debunking the "logic" of the enemies of the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms.

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Monday, May 18, 2009

NRA convention: presumably, a couple of the speakers have been consistent advocates for gun rights

At least I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, by making that assumption.

But let's look at a few of the speakers we know were there.

While many old-school beat reporters stayed in New York or Washington this weekend to write about conventional political and social events, the pseudonymous “Sebastian” live-blogged GOP head Michael Steele’s fiery speech from the press box at the National Rifle Association convention in Phoenix.
If Steele's speech about gun rights was "fiery," I can only assume it was because his pants were on fire.
Q: Should people have access to buy assault weapons?

A: Society should draw lines. What do you need an assault weapon for, if you're going hunting? That's overkill. But I don't think that means you go to a total ban for those who want to use gun for skeet shooting or hunting or things like that But what's the point of passing gun laws if we're not going to enforce them? If you want to talk about gun control, that's where you need to start. We've got 300 gun laws on the books right now. At the end of the day, it's about how we enforce the law.
Changed your mind, Michael? If so, have you owned up to your former (presumably) position? Have you explained what changed your mind, to help deflect the citizen disarmament advocates' inevitable (and rather justified) accusations that your new position is simply one of political expediency?

Also there was Senator John McCain, or as I like to call him, Senator John "I was so eager to pass a bill with my amendment to close the mythical 'gun show loophole,' that I voted for a bill that would extend the ban on so-called 'assault weapons' in an attempt to do so" McCain--it's not the catchiest name for him, but it's very accurate.

The apparent headliner, though, was none other than Mitt Romney (H/T War on Guns).:
Former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney was the final speaker and gave what may be a prelude to his stump speech for 2012. By appearing before the convention for a second straight year there is no doubt that he is currently the favorite son of the NRA going forward.
You know--this Mitt Romney:
Governor Mitt Romney has signed into law a permanent assault weapons ban that he says will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on these guns.

“Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” Romney said, at a bill signing ceremony on July 1 with legislators, sportsmen’s groups and gun safety advocates. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”
I can kinda understand the argument that "the perfect is the enemy of the good," but if that's true, can't we agree that "the mediocre is the enemy of the truly abysmal," as well?

5 comments:

Jay21 said...

Being on the floor for hours it wasen't the "guest speakers" who were setting the tone, but the citizens. Together en masse I cannot state how often an prag was out spoken at out knowledged by a threeper atate of mind. It was a beautiful thing to see so many eyes opened. Yes there were plenty of sheeple, but the sheep dogs were well represented across the board and represented well. Just my observation.
Jason
III

Kurt '45superman' Hofmann said...

That's good to hear, Jason.

I didn't mean to come across as being critical of the attendees--just making an observation about the politicians the NRA leadership seems to be courting.

Romney, a "favorite son"? It's hard to type while vomiting.

ReverendFranz said...

Agreed, i almost vomited myself when i saw john mccain was invited back after his stupidity last year in calling for the closure of the gun show loophole, during his NRA speech.

Something is wrong with the NRA, i just cant put my finger on it.

That being said, Jay is correct, it was a bitchin show, all three days, tons of good people, (old friends even) and alot of cool stuf.

Jay21 said...

Kurt,
You essays was point taken, I just wanted you and your readers to know that the NRA got more than a few crooked stares, and comments similar to your own. I had a great Constitutional discussion with a NRA exec who was walking around. Some of them are getting the message, slowly but we are making progress.

Kurt '45superman' Hofmann said...

That's good news, also, Jason.

Hell--I guess it could have been worse--at least Lindsey Graham wasn't one of the speakers (was he?).