Posted by … or I am the NRA and I’m a Liberal (damnit)
This time last year, the National Rifle Association had its annual conference here in lovely blue Pittsburgh. Not surprising really given that at one point, if not still true, Allegheny County (or Butler County?) had the highest per capita number of conceal-and-carry permits in the country. Many high schools schedule in-service days on the first day of buck season making it akin to a local holiday in these parts. So I called up a friend known for his strong gun-rights position and asked if he wanted to go to the convention. Well, duh, of course he did!
The price of admission included a one-year NRA membership and a complimentary subscription to American Rifleman magazine. Let me tell you the convention was a trip and a half. Booth upon booth upon booth of gun manufacturers, scope manufacturers, bullet manufacturers and clothing manufacturers all hawking their wares. We waited in line for 2 hours to meet and shake the hand of R. Lee Ermey, the actor who played the gunnery sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. The sheer variety of handguns, rifles, semi-automatics, automatics, bullet types, scope types and camouflage gear simply beggars the imagination. Americans spend over $5 billion on guns each year. (Incidentally, we spend almost three times that much on porn).
When it comes to politics, I tend to focus on social issues and foreign policy. These opinions place me pretty comfortably as a liberal and so I tend to vote for the Democratic Party. I can find common cause with both parties on economic issues but I believe in the efficacy of neither party’s policy prescriptions so economics doesn’t usually guide my voting choices on the national stage… but I digress.
‘Tis a simplistic point but the same social libertarianism that leads me to question the government’s role in deciding the definition of marriage also leads me to question the government’s role in deciding how people should defend themselves. Some people say that all a person needs is a handgun for self-defense and a rifle for hunting…
Riddle me this – automatic, semi-automatic, with or without a built-in site, attachable silencer, no silencer, built-in silencer, what type of grip, weight, what calibre of bullets, non-exploding bullets, bullets that explode into shrapnel, rubber bullets, bullets that won’t go through a certain thickness of wall, bullets that will go through very thick walls? What type of scope for hunting, night scopes, day scopes, infra-red scopes?
I don’t own a gun. I’ve only been to a firing range once (in lily-livered liberal San Francisco, no less!). I don’t know if I’ll ever buy a handgun. And I certainly don’t like how the NRA tries to appeal to the demons of American’s conspiracy fears rather than the better angels of our nature. I barely have a clue what I listed above but that doesn’t mean that I or the government should decide what’s right for you.
