"As a direct result of the Columbus City Council decision to ban semi-automatic firearm ownership for law-abiding citizens, the National Rifle Association (NRA) announced it will move its 2007 Annual Meeting and Convention from Columbus, OH...
"The City Council’s decision will have a negative economic impact on businesses in the greater Columbus area. Earlier this year, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce said it estimated $20 million in revenue from hotels, restaurants, entertainment and other NRA convention related spending."
Good for NRA. That's the right move.
Unfortunately, Wayne LaPierre didn't end his statement there.
“'The NRA is going to work with the people of Columbus and the Ohio Legislature to pass state preemption legislation and restore freedom to the people of Columbus,' continued LaPierre. 'When the Ohio Legislature enacts preemption, freedom will be restored to the people of Columbus.'"
We don't let the antis get away with naked hyperbole, and we shouldn't let it pass from "our side" without comment, either.
Preemption is, at best, a two-edged sword. True, having each and every municiple jurisdiction passing "gun control" laws could create a hodge-podge of edicts that would be impossible to comply with. But preemption, as practiced in states like California, results in statewide bans and edicts designed to stamp out gun ownership.
Preemption is not the Holy Grail of gun rights. Too often, it is used to codify and institutionalize statewide assaults against liberty.
Preemption will not restore freedom. Lobbying will not restore freedom. Legislation will not restore freedom. Judicial rulings will not restore freedom. Not unless and until they are backed up with a no-nonsense "or else" from We the People should government at any level usurp its powers and abridge our rights.
To believe otherwise is to hide from the harsh reality that you can't count on someone else, and a smooth talker at that, to take your turn on the wall. Only the unwavering resolve of free Americans determined to defy and resist tyranny at all costs will restore freedom--and there aren't even any guarantees that that will be enough.
No one actually thought it would be easy, and without personal costs and risks, did they?
The sooner we realize and accept that, the sooner we can quit deluding ourselves that evil--and that's what tyranny is--fears anything other than force sufficient to drive it howling back into the darkness.
3 comments:
I disagree. Preemption protects gun owners who live in big cities. Preemption doesn't facilitate state gun control laws in any way, it just prevents gun grabbers from forcing us to play Whack-A-Mole as they try to sneak laws in when we're not looking.
You're free to disagree, but it IS a two-edged sword. For example, in California, which has a new statewide ban on .50 cal rifles and two older ones on semiautos, no smaller town with a more conservative populace is free to allow them.
I agree that it can help prevent Whack-A-Mole, but if a state just enacts blanket bans, that's small consolation.
My point is not to disparage preemption as a (sometimes) useful tool in the kit, but it can also work against us--and to credit it with restoring freedom IS hyperbole.
I do not particularly care for it either, and it is Wayne, again preaching to the choir and drawing a saber (finally). As a Life Member, I am glad to see that this happened.
However, I do not know if you are aware of the exactly how a number of us dumped on the NRA for the stupid mishandling of the Houston convention that just occurred a few months back.
The Houston Convention Center was still improperly posted nearly two years after state pre-emption happened in Texas. Further the NRA weasel-worded E-mails to those attending that CC would not be allowed due to the HCC being posted.
The SHTF and a number of us called them on the carpet and went so far as to tell them that we should have cancelled with the City of Houston because of it and it appears this time, with Columbus, Ohio, they remembered.
I will E-mail you some links to a few gun boards and tx.guns if you want- just let me know.
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