One of the Interweb greats - KB - has written out another long read, but damned well worth it. I wanted to respond on my own blog because, well, comments aren't always read especially after such a lengthy post.
The article revolves around the infamous Mike Vanderboegh letter to the editor. I've not written much on it because I'm in an odd spot. I understand, sympathize, and even partially agree with Mike, but I disagree that his letter was effective, and Kevin's post really nails home why.
Kevin brings up a very, very uncomfortable fact, and something I've said privately many times. Waco. Ruby Ridge. The Katrina Gun Grab. The response to each of these events should have been hundreds of thousands of armed citizens fighting back. But they didn't.
Apparently, the "If you come for my guns, I'll shoot you" attitude only applies to your guns and not your neighbors. And that, my friends, is why telling the public in a letter to the editor that 3% of gun owners will rise up is a load of hogwash and does nothing to advance our cause.
Here's a fact - the gun rights movement has been making positive strides. Heller is just the first salvo in a long, drawn out war against those who would disarm us. But the problem is that gun rights are a small part of a massive battle, one that I think we're losing.
More people are concerned about freebies from the government than they are at working hard to secure their own futures. Social Security is considered 'retirement planning'. People buy more than they can afford because Uncle Sam has repeatedly shown he'll simply take other's money and bail them out. Instead of reducing the size of the government, even Republicans are growing it at an exponential rate.
None of this is good for freedom. And without a strong sense of individuality or the ethos of hard work that built this country, all the guns in the world aren't going to matter when 80% of the populace simply votes to take them away. Sure, 3% of us will fight back, but without the support of our fellow Americans, all that will do is reduce the population by 3%.
Kevin's point is salient. Without popular support, we're expendable, nothing more than whacko gun nuts that rate a quick mention on page 18B in the newspaper, right under the Penny's ad for ladies' hosiery. Until you can get your friends and neighbors to understand their rights and why it's so important to protect them, and I'm talking all rights, not just guns, you're pissing in the wind and right now, the wind is only partially at our backs.
A theme I like to pound on is the concept that freedom and liberty aren't easy. You don't earn freedom by restricting what others can and cannot do. Freedom is never given by governments and in fact, governments can only function by limiting liberty. Servitude is much safer, but less fulfilling and has the unfortunate side effect of making others miserable so that you can feel better about yourself when you vote away their rights.
Until we can change the populace's views on what liberty entails and the benefits it provides over shared misery 'progressiveness' and socialism, rights in general are going to be in danger. That's why I applaud the efforts of Bitter and Sebastian and even David Codrea. Each has their own style, and sometimes they're each other's worst enemy, but they're fighting to get that spark of freedom and liberty back. I hope to do the same.