Metcalf Out at Guns & Ammo After Column Calling For Regulation of Second Amendment
Guns & Ammo editor Jim Bequette yesterday released a statement announcing the termination of Dick Metcalf’s following his recent Backstop column titled “Let’s Talk Limits.” In the column, Metcalf compared the right to keep and bear firearms to the privilege of driving a car on public highways, saying that all constitutional rights, including the second amendment, must be regulated. This move places Metcalf among the ranks of Jim Zumbo, Recoil magazine staff, Reed Exhibitions and the like.
Unlike backpedaling that has been seen in some of the previous instances of public gun guys selling out the Second Amendment, Guns & Ammo responded quickly with the statement below: Continue reading
Is This Thing On? We’re in Good Company in the Fight for Gun Rights.
Our Team’s Still in the Fight
Earlier this week, while watching a well known radio host do his program, I drew some parallels between his monologue about his fight to further his political ideology and the way it can sometimes feel when it comes to advancing the Second Amendment cause.
The host claimed naïveté in believing that he was a part of a larger force working to support his political views and battle the policies and practices which he believes to be harmful. He recalled a number of anecdotes in which individuals and organizations which he had previously believed to be agents of political change turned out to be nothing more than mouthpieces, sitting on the sideline, riding the pine while occasionally cheering on another member of their team.
He spoke of an interview with an author who, in painstaking detail and with myriad examples, had demonstrated the opposition’s efforts and the disastrous results of Continue reading
Starbucks Reverses Position: “No Guns, Please.”
In a recent post on Voting With Your Wallet on gun rights, we lauded Starbucks’ use of common sense in in regard to their policy on firearm carry in their restaurants. This week, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz issued an open letter (shown below) to the American people to “respectfully request” that customers no longer bring firearms into the 18,000 outlets it operates in 62 countries, while stopping short of an outright ban.
It may not have been a surprising outcome, however, with many gun rights advocates pushing the envelope on the company’s policy (and, perhaps, the boundaries of common sense). The company’s previous policy was to defer to the law of the land – local, state and federal laws in effect at the restaurant’s location. Thus, if the law allows concealed carry then the restaurant allowed concealed carry. If the law allows open carry, then the restaurant allowed open carry. And this is where the story starts to come off of the rails. Continue reading
Vote With Your Wallet. No, Really.
Lots of people talk about supporting gun rights, but what do you really do on a daily basis to support gun rights. Whether online, at the shooting range, in gun stores or elsewhere, we hear people complaining about things like “gun free zones,” businesses who disallow concealed carry, businesses who support anti-Second Amendment causes, etc. But how many of those people back up those words with action?
Several years ago Starbucks was thrown into the spotlight of firearms carry policy. While not exactly a champion of Second Amendment rights, Starbucks described themselves as “carry neutral” and refused to be drawn into a political debate on gun control – rather, they deferred to local, state and federal law. (UPDATE: This policy has been reversed by CEO Howard Schultz in September 2013) If concealed or open carry is legally allowed in that area, patrons were welcome to do so.
Somehow, allowing customers to abide by existing laws outraged the always-logical gun control fanatics and warmed the hearts of gun rights proponents. However, inflation and current coffee prices aside, the saying goes “that and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee.” Despite the chatter that the situation sparked and goodwill among some in the firearms community, how many people stopped visiting other shops in favor of Starbucks?
Likewise, how many people simply grumble under their breath and Continue reading
NSSF Releases ‘Proud to Be a Firearms Owner’ Pocket Card
With its new “Proud to Be a Firearms Owner” pocket card, the National Shooting Sports Foundation® is arming the nation’s 100 million gun owners with facts they can use to demonstrate they are law-abiding, safe, passionate in their defense of the Second Amendment and major supporters of conservation through their purchases of firearms and ammunition.
“Firearms owners have been misrepresented and even maligned in the ongoing public debate over gun legislation,” said NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti. “Our goal is to remind gun owners they have many reasons to be proud. You should stand tall, and if someone takes an unfriendly shot at you for being a firearm owner, respond with the facts listed in our new pocket card.”
Among the 13 bullet points on the Proud to Be a Firearms Owner card are these:
- I am one of 100 Million firearms owners in the U.S.
- I am one of 35 Million target shooters and hunters.
- I am part of a great American tradition.
- I am a conservationist. Excise taxes on firearms and ammunition purchases combined with purchases of hunting licenses contribute more than $1 billion annually to wildlife conservation and firearm safety education.
We hope that you can state another Continue reading
Gun Control Advocates. There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute
It is difficult to tell whether gun control advocates actually believe the things they say, blindly parrot whatever they hear or just completely make things up to fit their anti-rights agenda. The answer to this should be clear for the top brass of gun control organizations – there is simply no way that they can not have the facts yet they still choose to disregard them to push their bogus schemes. Among rank-and-file anti-gunners there is likely a mix of the three, which sometimes makes it difficult to separate the shills from the truly brainwashed – the low information crowd, as it were.
Recently, after sending out a tweet containing a link to join NRA, we received an interesting response. As gun control zealots are often wont to do, this twitter user masquerades as something they’re not, claiming to represent NRA members’ opinions while using the TCOT hashtag and a picture of one of the founding fathers as their profile picture – presumably hoping that readers would blindly accept it as truth. Also in typical gun-control-zealot fashion, the user claims to Continue reading
