A widow who lives alone in a Wiltshire farmhouse has taken to sleeping with a Smith & Wesson Saturday Night Special under her pillow. It belonged to her husband and is more than capable of stopping an intruder, of which she has had three in the last two years...Defend yourself with a weapon. You'll see a police car soon enough.
Owning a weapon is becoming a habit for rural homeowners who feel unprotected now that so many police stations have closed.
I have never seen a police car in my village and violent crime in the county, of course, is up.
It's heartbreaking to see the odds stacked so high against those in the UK who would retain the rights of freemen. And it ought to be apparent that our fate will closely follow theirs should we not act now with everything we've got.
[Via 1894C]
Should we not act, how, David? What do you want to do? What are you prepared to do?
ReplyDeleteI thought what I was doing was obvious. I'm doing what I'm prepared to do, every day, for several hours a day. And I did it with GunTruths and with the Citizens of America national ad campaign and with the Silveira lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteI got a similar inquiry via email, so I'll copy that response here:
I wish I had an answer. Me, I’m doing my best to try and attain a critical mass of folks who see what’s going on, because I believe that’s the best insurance policy against TOTAL tyranny—when the govt has to reach too deeply into society to where oppression starts arousing those who have previously been silent.
The problem with actual insurrection is that it can only be random and sporadic lone acts, easily dismissed as terrorism, and it will be used to rally public sentiment against freedom fighters—which is exactly the opposite effect needed.
I wrote this several years back that kinda sums up the difficulties of a militia uprising.
(You need to access it via WayBack Machine because Gottlieb sanitized KABA after he bought it, and removed the icky stuff that makes access to politicians problematic for him—I need to repost this on WoG).
What I hope this results in was expressed in "You Say You Want a Revolution?," an essay published in GUNS & Ammo several years back (I can't post the whole thing because I sell the copyright along with the article):
The seemingly paradoxical truth is, if you want to create a stable, peaceful and free society, where a Chechnya-style conflict becomes the unlikeliest of possibilities, you must guarantee that the whole people can arm themselves to the teeth. For only by making the cost of infringing our rights too high can we make those who would abridge them afraid to act. Just as, at the individual level, a criminal avoids a potential victim who may be armed, so too does this work on a societal scale.
Now you can dismiss this if you want, and say it's all words, but I'm not prepared to publicly tell people to go out and start shooting for the same reason I'm not prepared to stick the gun in my mouth. Most gun owners won't support easy and minimal efforts--how many of you have even written a letter of encouragement to Wayne Fincher--who incidentally may have been ratted out by an embedded informant?
If anyone who wants to dismiss me for that does think now is the time to action, I don't see it happening. No one elected me leader, so if there's an example I need to be following, where is it?
I would suggest to such a person that publicly leading the charge may result in a moment of self-perceived glory, but it will neither effect change nor advance things for the better.
Smith & Wesson Niggertown
ReplyDeleteSaturday Night Special
There - fixed lest we forget the racist roots of gun control.
Besides, does S&W even make an inexpensive firearm? When they start right out with lies, the rest of the column reads like the type of propaganda I see even in our rural newspaper...
Peet in W. Mass.
I well understood that you daily work for change, and that you are not fomenting revolution, nor urging anyone else to do so. I also believe in the part you said at the end about not doing anything or anyone any useful service, or effecting change. Please try not to use the gun-in-my-mouth phrase a lot, my brother did that and we had to take his stuff away and put him in an institution. I think you know we are being led down the primrose path by a lot of politicians, and they, their enablers, and the general sheep masses are pleased to let us have a spirited debate in the confines of civil discourse. As long as they, the judges they own, and the media, have their claws on the levers, we are just one incident, one SCOTUS, one federal judge decision, one media blitz, one vote in the Congress away from being rendered legally, if not actually, disarmed. I think most gun owners that sit on the sidelines are with us in spirit, but think that it makes no difference what we do collectively with money, politics, or effort, the powers that be have marked us for powerlessnes, and that in the end, we are marked for ruin. They and we, know that the prarie dog who sticks his head up first is the one who gets whacked first. So, it's just sit and train and stockpile and wait, and hope you got a few comrades when the stuff hits the fan. Only it ain't gonna happen. The anti's know they will grind us down a little at a time, that age, time, and loss of vigor will result in almost no one left to resist, when they do make their move. So, contributing money, making calls, joining organizations, writing letters, spirited debates, it all winds up being one thing. Pissing into the wind while our enemies pass law after law, judgement after judgement, ordinances, guidelines, policies, films, articles, op-eds, ad nauseum, and the truth never gets heard or ever matters, and everyone is just tired of the whole damn thing and they just want to go home, eat dinner, and go to bed. This isn't, oh well, what the hell, forget the whole spiel. This is, what we're doing is not working. We need a new dynamic, a new plan. Not another damned gun-rights organization and speeches and articles and fingers poking in the air. Something with teeth and hair that scares the bejabbers out of it's enemies and provokes them into making mistakes and blunders that put the whole thing on the top of the stove. I want to see people afraid to sleep at night, and nervous and jumpy in the day. I want to see the cretins exposed for their idiocy and treason in the light of day, with bile on their lips and running for the hills with their asses on fire. I want justice, comeuppance, revenge, and redress, and I don't see it happening with what we're doing now. We are being systematically murdered, raped, robbed and enslaved by the "authoritahs" and they're laughing in our face while they do it, and telling us to play by the rules. So what are you prepared to do to get Capone?
ReplyDeleteFirst, I think we are nearer to that critical mass than you give credit for, and the stuff we have been doing reflects that, in other words, has not been the total failure. I don't cede the point that we're insanely doing what doesn't work over and over again, because there are still a hundred million gun owners in America, and disarming us is logistically improbable.
ReplyDeleteBut if you have a better way, I'm all ears. I've told you what I'm doing.
What are YOU doing to get Capone?
Sean, you're off your nut!
ReplyDeleteDavid is "walking the talk" as much as anyone out there regarding the RTKBA!
As far as what you are saying
"I want to see people afraid to sleep at night, and nervous and jumpy in the day."
"I want justice, comeuppance, revenge..."
That is decidedly NOT what a free and open society where the RTKBA is respected is all about.
If more people joined GOA, NRA, JPFO, etc. more positive action would result.
How do you think the brady bunch get results? They organize, write letters, contact congress, work through the courts, bombard the media with their message. And they are damn good at it too!
If most (not even all just most)gun owners were a tenth as committed to the RTKBA as the brady bunch are opposed to it we would have major improvements to the current situation.
You suggest and desire a course of action that would certainly guarantee the END of ALL legal private firearms ownership in the United States. What do you think would happen if people started "voting from the rooftops" and taking pot shots at senators and cops?
Would that make things better or worse for the average gunowner?
I think you certainly owe David a vote of thanks for his tireless efforts to bring to light the "War On Guns" currently taking place in this and other countries. He endures barbs for many gunowners for holding "extreme" positions already.
An apology for the implied slight questioning David's commitment is in order as well as far as I'm concerned.
I'm certain David can stand up for himself but I believe he is too much of a gentleman to point out the foolishness of your remarks, and too humble to blow his own horn and acknowledge the valuable contribution he has made to the Republic.
1894c, I have never questioned Davids' commitment, and if you want me to apologize, then I apologize without reservations. Yes, I am off my nut. I accept that you deem my remarks foolish. Davids' contribution to the cause is without contention. What I am doing to get Capone is,... something. You don't want to know. My point is that what is being done has worked to some extent, but will not ultimately succeed. That doesn't mean it is without merit, and it does help. Remember, when it looks like they will lose, they'll change the rules. I'm all for legal and peace and love n' all that jazz.But we are not fighting with people who are law-abiding citizens. They are one-half step from animal. They will not consciously allow us to win. We can't win with these tools. Sorry I brought it up. David, you're fine, I got no complaints with you. I just wanted to know if there was something else to do. 1894c, sorry if I gave you a rash, but we do not live in a free and open society where the RTKBA is respected by all. More like about 10% of those that are aware of it. But I have always admired gentleman like you, and pay you heed. I am not a gentleman.
ReplyDeleteThe ONLY way to regain our Right(s), as they were intended. Is to stand up and utilize the necessary steps spelled out by the framers of the Constitution. If petitioning for redress of grievances is ineffective, we then have but two other alternatives; ballot box, or ammo box. No court in the land can legally refute those.
ReplyDeleteI hope no one thinks I'm also not frustrated.
ReplyDeleteI also advocate and (may) have practiced civil disobedience, that is, resistance and defiance, with the caveat that those getting caught can expect no support--and will most likely be condemned by many in the so-called "pro gun" community for making them look bad. And no, I won't specify with details.
I believe if one is going to go beyond that, it is best to be perceived as a gentleman along the lines of Don Diego.
But I don't believe our society is ready for those steps, and think something extreme, devastating and culture-shaking would need to be the catalyst. As for who would support that, who can say. Right now, my expectations for support from any quarter is pessimistic, and I must remind everyone of these words from Churchill:
If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
1894C, thank you for the kind words, and you as well, Sean. I don't need any apologies because its a fair question to put to someone who does what I do.
Also everyone understand--we've had several high profile home invasion executions recently--do you doubt for a moment that a judge would deem me a risk and happily sign off on a no-knock warrant if I made self- incriminating public statements? Sorry, but I have children, and they have been known to hold game controllers on occasion...
I'll not volunteer on those terms.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteWell said sir. We each support and defend the Constitution in our own way.
E. David,
Excellent point. I recall that the framers sent the "Olive Branch" petition to George III prior to issuing the Declaration of Independence. Of course they started forming the continental army while waiting to hear back from George III; they were nothing if not pragmatic. I'm sure there are lessons there for us in our own lives.
David,
As a father of 4 I share your sense of prudence and trepidation. I loved the Zorro reference by the way, very appropriate.
All,
ReplyDeleteI know it's discouraging, but try to remember that since 1994 it's been two steps forward and one step back. And to put a fine point on it, that's a net gain. We have shall issue CCW now in 38 states and may issue in ten more. Ohio just now bitch slapped their anti gun governor with a veto override to clean up their concealed carry laws and make them standard statewide.
Castle doctrine is spreading. The bill protecting gunmakers from frivilous lawsuits passed, though it is being defied in the expected jurisdictions.
Ain't all skittles and beer though. Brady continues to spread their lies and the MSM eats it up. NY's Bloomie continues to entrap gun dealers and violate their rights with apparent impuny. NOLA cops still have not returned confiscated firearms from over a year ago. But the time for a berserker frenzy is at the turning point in a full blown battle, or when you're cornered and have no other recourse. Not today when they can isolate you, brand you a "gun nut" and kill you with impuny.
So, take heart, celebrate our small gains, proclaim loudly the hypocrasy inherent in our setbacks, and march on.
As a final comment, I used to keep a pistol handy at home at night. Now alongside it is a main battle rifle with FMJ that will defeat anything short of ballistic plate armor. It pays to read the news, especially that on KABA.