Something we see tossed around pretty often in gun control propaganda is the idea of the “reasonable sportsman.” He’s a good man who wears excessive amounts of orange, a hat with ear flaps, and is frequently seen posing with a breakopen shotgun laid awkwardly over his shoulder.
Sometimes, he’s also holding a bird or something. But, unlike normal hunters, you know this guy is for “common sense gun control.”
A 2- or 3-shot shotgun or a bolt action rifle is all he needs. And even then, only when he’s out hunting. So he doesn’t mind bans or strict regulations on things like pistols, “weapons of war,” and other scary objects. He doesn’t mind if his guns are required to be locked up between hunts, either.
The rest of us — those with a clue — refer to this guy a Fudd. Often he’s a fake. Pure Astroturf. Sometimes anti-gun politicians like to pretend to be gun owners and hunters, or just cosplay as one in front of a camera to try to make themselves look “reasonable.” Frequently, they’re gun control activists playing dress-up. Sometimes, they’re real hunters, and anti-gun groups seek these guys out to help them sell gun bans and magazine capacity limits.
This worked for decades because holding up an anti-gun hunter as an exemplar of “reasonable” gun ownership gives low information types a false sense of safety. It sets a theoretical floor for gun control. If the “crazies” would just shut up, get out of the way, and let the anti-gun crowd have their way, we’ll get to keep at least a few hunting guns.
The anti-gunners don’t expect all rural gun owners to join the gun control movement, though. They know that most rural hunters wouldn’t be caught dead working with anybody on the anti-gun side, with the possible exception of trade unions.
But that’s OK in the eyes of the Gun Control Industry. It’s enough if they can split the pro-gun side into different factions that can then be conquered individually. All they’ve really asked of the “reasonable sportsman” is that he sit the debate out while they go after cosmetically offensive rifles like the AR-15 and the implements of gang-banging and drug dealing (semi-auto handguns).
Some recent news out of Maine, however, shows that the Gun Control Industry is getting desperate. Instead of just hoping for hunters to stay out of their way, they’re now trying to press them into service with threats.
Speaking about Maine mass shooter Robert Card and the anti-gun laws Maine Dems want to see passed, the State Senate President Troy Jackson had this to say . . .
“We need to do more, make sure that people like Robert Card doesn’t get guns. I mean, if you’re a gun advocate, if you’re someone comes from a hunting tradition, I would say that the best way to make sure that you continue to do what you love and have done all your life, is to make sure…that people like Robert Card, doesn’t have weapons.” (edited for clarity)
In other words, if sportsmen don’t actively advocate for the gun control Dems want to start with, they can expect to lose their rights to hunt. So, they’d better Finlandize themselves.
What this illustrates is exactly what we’ve seen Dems do before. There’s really there’s really no limit at all to the gun control restrictions they want, up to and including civilian disarmament…if they thought they could get away with it.
Despite decades of calling for and supporting “reasonable” gun control during most of the 20th century, the next restriction on gun rights was always just around the corner, constantly turning the ratchet. It took until the 80s and 90s before a critical mass of Americans finally realized what was going on and began to fight back against creeping limits on Second Amendment rights.
More and more gun owners have leared that collaborating and cooperating with the gun-grabbers only means you’ve secured a promise to be eaten last.
5 Responses
The tools (laws) to keep people like Robert Card from having firearms have been and are already in place. Unfortunately, the people who were supposed to apply them (police, county sheriff’s office, US Army) didn’t use them. So why pass more laws? How about getting effective people instead?
Exactly! You hit the nail on the head!
I hope there’s nobody left who would still fall for that bullshit. Maybe in Maine since the upper northeast always seems to be living 40 years behind the current date eager to adopt policies that have demonstrably failed decades ago in other states.
The “common ground” is readily available in the U S Constituent.
Of course, they don’t desire “common ground” or “reasonable” anything.
They want ALL guns taken from POTG.
U S Constitution………….my error…..I’d like to blame the computer but can’t.