At the “Nation’s Gun Show” at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia, this weekend, law-abiding Americans that own, use, and respect guns gathered as they do there every couple months to buy, sell and trade guns and all the paraphernalia that goes with them. What struck when I went to the gun show wasn’t that there may be a mass murderer lurking in the crowd, but the kind of people who come to these shows and why they come. (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)
Filed under: Politics, 100-round magazine, AK-47s, American fire-arms industry, assault weapons ban, Aurora Colorado, Chantilly Virginia, Chicago, china, Cho Seung-Hui, Colorado, combat veteran, Congress, Department of Justice, drug cartels, Dulles Expo Center, Ed Ross, ewross, firing range, fully automatic weapons, gun, Gun Control, gun store, gun violence, guns of war, illicit international gun trafficking, Illinois, James Holmes, Jared Loughner, large-capacity magazines, law enforcement, law-abiding Americans, liberals, mass murder, Massachusetts, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, movie massacre, National Rifle Association, Nation’s Gun Show, New York, NRA, private security, reasonable restrictions on guns, russia, self-defense, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Feinstein, Smith and Wesson, sport, Springfield Armory, the Constitution, U.S. law-enforcement agents, Virginia, Washington D.C.
LinkedIn Group: US Army
Discussion: AMERICANS THAT OWN USE AND RESPECT GUNS
Glad to see some common sense, versus all of the emotion.
Posted by Roger Bradley
LinkedIn Group: Republican Professionals
Discussion: AMERICANS THAT OWN USE AND RESPECT GUNS
Good post Ed.
I add the following as tool for others to use when arguing for the 2nd Amend.
Thomas Jefferson and the founders did not craft the Second Amendment to protect the right of hunters and target shooters. It was included – right after the First Amendment guareenting political speech – to ensure the right of citizens to violently oppose a tyrannical federal government if need be.
Posted by Al Mount
LinkedIn Group: Politics on the Rocks
Discussion: AMERICANS THAT OWN USE AND RESPECT GUNS
Here is an “in the field” example of this:
http://lewrockwell.com/adams-m/adams-m23.1.html
Posted by Brad Fletcher
Brad, what a video! Unfortunately this would have been more difficult in Aurora, where the darkness contrasted with the on-screen movie, the tightly packed crowd, and the smoke / CS all hampered visibility and movement.
LOVE this senior citizen, though!
LinkedIn Group: US Military Veterans Network
Discussion: AMERICANS THAT OWN USE AND RESPECT GUNS
You would be surprised at the flack that I receive offering guns at my shopping Mall.
Posted by Patrick Frizzell
Great common sense article about our constitutional right to own firearms. The gun owners that I know are very responsible people that enjoy hunting, target shooting, and some collect them as an investment. It is so easy for politicians to purpose these “feel good” laws about gun control, especially in the aftermath of a tragedy like the recent one in Aurora.
Great analysis. I read that a “No Weapons Allowed” sign was at the Aurora theatre. Law abiding citizens legally carrying guns probably abided by it–obviously the killer didn’t. The NRA magazine, American Rifleman, cites nearly a dozen cases each issue where homeowners or citizens minding their own business foiled attacks by criminals by using their own firearms; if a concealed carry permit holder had been present, armed, I suspect the outcome would have been far less tragic. As the old saying goes, “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away…”
LinkedIn Group: POLITICAL WORLD
Discussion: AMERICANS THAT OWN USE AND RESPECT GUNS
Guns are ok in their place, but not in the market place, political rallies, art shows, bars, and so on and on and especially in moving picture theaters. I have never been to a county fair where guns were nor rodeos.
It seems the gun nuts are everywhere and nowhere. They show up in the least logical places to kill, mutilate, and forever traumatize the victims and witnesses. This kind of thing happens only when there are weapon sellers willing to forgo the paperwork for sales. The sellers need a thorough check before they get a license, too.
The selling of assault weapons should be prevented as well as sniper rifles of any caliber.
Posted by Jim Hyder
LinkedIn Group: The Political Coffeehouse
Discussion: AMERICANS THAT OWN USE AND RESPECT GUNS
Thanks Ed, for your voice of reason… again.
Fearing the tool while ignoring the sub-human scum who used it, won’t stop other sub-human scum from killing. If Holmes had hijacked a bus and drove it through a park, killing 12 and injuring 59, could we breathe a sigh of relieve because “at least he didn’t use a gun”???
Is “gun violence” more reprehensible than other types of violence? If so, why? If not, why make the distinction? The answers are simple. Our government fears an armed citizenry. That fear stems from the fear of retribution for the way they treat that citizenry. In other words, the 2nd amendment is still doing exactly what it was intended to do.
Posted by George Daggett
Hi Ed! We visited the gun show too, I think it’s one of the biggest I have seen – at least attendance-wise.
Glad to see, for once, both political parties announce no need for new laws in the wake of a major incident. An incident which, however spectacular, is an aberration. Policy should never be based on aberrations.
Robin, Sorry I didn’t run into you there. I go to just about every one at the Dulles Expo Center. I’ve taken up gong to the range every couple of weeks and honing my marxmanship. Also have a new son-n-law who is a hunter.
As a CCW permit holder with CQB training, I find it a bit sad to realize that I, too, would have abided by a “no firearms” rule at the Aurora theater. It’s ironic that a law-abiding, rule-following trained firearms owner would not have been able to defend the audience if a clear shot presented itself. On the matter of the 2nd Amendment, CCW holders are, in some respect, already registered gun owners. If we can go about with our CCW permit of record for law enforcement, why not all firearms owners?