So now the companies that manufacture the AR-15 assault rifle have a new champion who is touting the value and importance of this kind of gun. It’s none other than Lindsey Graham, the second-ranking member of the GOP Senate caucus, who came out and said he was happy to have an AR-15 in his house to protect himself against a “roving gang.”
Graham’s house in South Carolina is located in the town of Seneca, which is located in Oconee County, the foothills of the Appalachians in the northwest corner of the state. Know how many people live in Seneca? Nobody. Know how many ‘roving gangs’ are floating around Oconee County? None. But Graham needs an assault rifle to stay happy and healthy in his home.
Back in 2013, Joe got in a lot of trouble when he told Field and Stream Magazine that he kept a shotgun in his house which Jill would use to shoot anyone who tried to break down the front door. He made a point of saying that his house was located out in the woods, that he was often away from home and Jill was by herself, and that teaching her how to use a shotgun for self-defense had been a good thing.
This was the first time that a national politician ever advocated armed self-defense. You would think that the NRA and the entire Gun-nut Nation would have jumped for joy. You would wonder how come the owners of Mossberg, or Browning, or some other company that made shotguns didn’t immediately show up at Joe’s office and present him with a new gun.
You can think all you want, but what happened was that the entire pro-gun noisemaking industry came out against what Joe had just said. He was reckless, he was breaking the law, he was telling people to do what they should never do. One idiot even said that if you shot a shotgun into the air, the pellets would fall down and kill someone when the pellets hit them in the head.
The reason that Joe’s comments were universally condemned by the movers and shakers of Gun-nut Nation is that Democrats aren’t supposed to ever say anything positive about guns. That’s a narrative which has always been owned by the GOP. If Democrats were all of a sudden to come out in favor of guns, it would be tantamount to Republicans calling for an increase in funding for food stamps.
Yesterday my little petition to ban assault rifles, which went up last Thursday night without any publicity at all, went over 2,500 names. As of this moment, the petition is up to 2,730 signatures. When I started this petition I was hoping that maybe, God willing, I would wind up with a thousand names. I suspect the petition will hit 5,000 names by this time next week.
I’m going to send a link to Lindsey Graham’s comment out to everyone who has supported my gun-ban idea because there’s nothing that makes people get behind an idea when someone who disagrees with them says something as dumb as what Graham has just said.
I think this country is in a much different place right now than it has been for the last four years. And I think that we need to be careful if we make any assumptions about the current political scene based on what went on between the 2016 election and what is going on today.
If you haven’t signed the petition to ban assault rifles, please do it now. And please send the petition to everyone you know. Thank you for your support, your comments and your good cheer.
Apr 01, 2021 @ 11:10:03
Joe caught so much heat for his comment because what advocated doing was stupid and dangerous. He showed just how ignorant he is on guns. Joe is a gun grabber through and through. His “buy a shotgun” speech was just a sad attempt to convince gun owners that he’s on their side.
And seriously, what kind of “gun guy” would want to ban and confiscate modern sporting rifles?
Apr 01, 2021 @ 12:03:27
Interesting, almost sounds like an NRA-certified firarms instructor supports shooting guns into the air.
As for this country being in a different place right now than the past four years, it is. A much different place, I’m reminded of it every time I go to the gas station and pay an extra dollar for gas. At this rate I’ll be applying for food stamps.