http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_-G0syXu_w

“After donating $2.5 million to the Democratic Senate Majority PAC, former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg is signaling that his great crusade against guns is running out of steam,” medialite.com reports. Not “signaling” in the sense of the Bat Signal. More like throwing his cash behind – rather than against – Senate Democrats “soft” on “gun safety” (e.g., AZ Sen. Mark Pryor, NC Sen. Kay Hagan and AK Sen. Mark Begich). Scribe Noah Rothman reckons that means gun control is on hold. I don’t think so. I think it indicates that the anti-ballistic billionaire is learning the practical value of realpolitik. That makes him more dangerous. During a dangerous time; the post-Newtown disarmament laws are kicking-in and clamping down. Meanwhile, gun sales are through the roof and OFWW are down at the range. As we enter the New Year, are gun rights advocates winning, losing or holding steady?

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102 COMMENTS

    • Through the virtue of demographics and how certain ethnic and religious groups vote(Democrat) and the anti gun policies those elected officials tend to support we are not winning. If the Republican and Democratic parties stayed the same in regards to gun rights and so did various ethnic and religious groups there would be no more 2A in another 20-30 years tops.

      • I am also amazed at how many on the right say/do things to drive away female, minority and ethnic voters with bonheaded comments. My wife’s family is typical. They are black, pro union, pro church. They drink the democratic kool aid in buckets. But when you talk to them, they have a strong work ethic, are self sufficient, very religious and want to move up the ladder. these are fertile grounds to bring over to the GOP. But then some politician says something dumb publicly that reveals a less than welcoming attitude and voila, they vote for the donkey again. Most voters the right needs to win are more pre-disposed to agree with us than they are given credit for. . . . but the discourse to approach them has to be legit and not rhetoric that is discarded behind closed doors.

        • And they have done it over and over throughout history. If Texas goes blue it will be because they alienate the first generation American children of illegal immigrants. The drug war, and expanded welfare programs to a new class of people are a problem, but people coming over willing to work hard, and for not much money is not a problem. Let the market decide how many come over and stay. Not some law that basically says unless you’re a rich doctor or rocket scientist, you are never getting in legally. That and building a wall, only subsidizes the Mexican ladder industry.

        • Dirk, the GOP is dead in the water. They dug their own grave. Okay, two cliches!

          Something new is arising, and both parties are not seeing the whole picture yet. Good. Frankly, the faster to Hydra-headed duopoly system can’t die fast enough to suit me. We will continue to see the most important age in human experience develop before our eyes. It’s gonna be a rough ride, but it will be worth it in the end.

        • “They drink the democratic kool aid in buckets.”

          Anyone who can be described this way is an enemy of liberty and the U.S. Constitution, period. You can try to reason with them and you can beat them over the head with facts and logic but THEY HAVE ALREADY DRUNK THE KOOLAID, so what’s the use?

          As far as voting GOP goes, don’t count on that bunch of feckless frauds to defend your constitutional rights either. The GOP Presidential candidate for 2016 will be chosen by Karl Rove, Rupert Murdoch, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. In other words the Establishment Party will let you choose between Krispy Kreme Christy and Billary Clinton. Think that will do your gun rights any favors?

          To those who, like Evan, say open the borders and let in anyone who claims they want to work hard I say prepare to kiss your gun rights and your job goodbye forever. I live in the state with the highest level of immigration (as well as the highest welfare caseload and a permanently high unemployment rate) and when these immigrants get the vote (legally or illegally) THEY DON’T VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS AND THEY SURE AS HELL DON’T JOIN THE NRA. Thanks to open borders and uncontrolled immigration California is a one party left wing dictatorship, which the immigrants here are just fine with as long as they can get welfare, a drivers license, an American’s job or better yet, all three.

        • Very true. Of course, all politicians say dumb things, but since the left owns (or is) the media, some dumb things get a massive megaphone and others get buried.

          Somehow the Canadian Conservative Party (the Torys) have managed to connect well with immigrant Canadians, esp those that are small buinsess owners). The GOP needs to learn how to do that.

        • At one time Libertarians supported the free movement of peoples. Today that is a Progressive thing. The switch has happened because Libertarians are only interested in free markets and liberty to the extent it ehnaces personal autonomy. The Democrats changed positions because they needed new voters that could be hooked up to the welfare machine.

      • Through the virtue of demographics

        And the urban / suburban / rural divide.

        Urban and suburban gun owners who don’t have a place to shoot * are not going to have much vested interest in the future of gun ownership. What good is my AR-15 or whatever if I don’t have anywhere to shoot it. I think that the Gun Culture 2.0 (or Gun Culture 3.0, or whatever) people are eventually going to “out-grow” (for lack of a better term) gun ownership, if those guns just sit in the closet unused.

        * Places that are convenient to get to, economical, and enjoyable are even more scarce than any place to shoot. Most gun ranges suck, for reasons I won’t go into here.

        While RKBA has been focused on the political battles for the 20 or so years I was involved, we have utterly failed at enabling private gun ownership to survive and grow in the future.

  2. No.

    Yes, I realize folks are happy about the good developments of Heller ,and how some states have loosened concealed carry.

    But while we’re patting ourselves on the back for having beat back the gun grabbers post Newtown push for regulation in Colorado, Minnesota , and elsewhere-MILLIONS of grade school, middle school, and high school students are being “educated” to hate individual rights, and to trust Authortity at all times.Once these kids get the right to vote, our behinds will be in a sling.

    No, we are not winning.Not until the NRA are teaching the next generation to trust themselves and the Constitution.

    • I would add that they (students) are being re-educated to believe that the BoR grants (instead of recognizes established) rights and that “Democracy” is the American way (ie: not a Constitutional Republic). This has been going on since I was in high school in the 1990’s. I had a history teacher that I got into it with about the BoR and rights in general. Truth be told, her progressive preaching in the classroom is what stoked my yearning to research everything and anything to counter Progressive “logic”.

    • Young college-aged kids were very enthusiastic and responsive to Ron Paul’s message. Have you ever seen how many Call of Duty games have been sold? Don’t worry too much. The kids will be alright.

      • My girlfriends cousin is 15, plays all the violent video games and shoots with me when we’re at her mothers house. But still had that brainwashed mentality that the 2A is for hunting and we have to do something. We had a little convo on the 4hr ride up to the house about it. His position really started to change when he realized the AR he enjoyed shooting so much is on the ban list.

      • Which is basically how Obama won in 2008, by coming out of nowhere, stealing the Paul campaign’s message – which was extremely popular with young voters and across all forms of social media – then casting Obama as a democrat-lite who leaned heavily towards social libertarianism.

        I watched it happen on social media, as young voters left the Paul campaign in droves to vouch for Obama instead. This along with his “list of promises,” which as soon as he was in office, he promptly dumped by the wayside.

        I’m ashamed to say that I fell victim to it.. It was masterfully orchestrated. I thought I was voting for someone similar to Paul, but without the “extreme” views that would keep him from ever being elected.

        I didn’t even look into Obama’s history. The image was too great, too grand. Every bit of it was a lie and deception.

    • It isn’t just the Second Amendment that is under attack in the schools. Students are being taught that the Constitution is for a small, third rate agricultural country. Modern first world countries are run by an all knowing elite who doesn’t need a written constituion because they will due what is right. Part of this education is brainwashing students into believing that they will be part of this elite so when time comes they can be tricked into supporting the Progressive elites. The Millenials are the first full generation to receive such training. They didn’t vote for Obama over social or economic issues. Millenials voted for him because they self-identify with the Progressive nomenklature. Self Identified Libertarians get the part that the nomenklatura is bad but still agree with th Progressive social agenda.

      • Agreed. Draw at best.

        2A rights are “the canary in the coal mine” for the larger culture war over personal freedom, and I fear the larger trends on other fronts are not good.
        (OT for another time)

        The latest signs of collaboration between the likes of Bloomberg and Soros funded front groups and the State Run Media, in coordination with this Admin and the (taxpayer funded) propaganda by the Nudge Team, etc, is very ominous, IMHO. They havent gone away, they licked their wounds and just got sneakier, and dont fool yourself they play fair.

        “They” (Progressives, Democrats, Leftists, Statists, Elites – fill in your own blank) didnt work for thirty years to consolidate power in the “free” press, academia, civil service, and take over both houses and governorships in key states, to go out without a fight.

        “We” (freedom loving Americans) were complacent in 2012. Look how that worked out.

        Take the fight to them using what we learned in this latest- work together, money talks, persistence works, and the truth wins over emotion.

        2014 is here. Win the Senate.
        Win the Presidency in 2016.
        Pray for a precedent setting case from the Supremes to consolidate gains.

        No matter what- Never, ever, give up.

    • But while we’re patting ourselves on the back for having beat back the gun grabbers post Newtown push for regulation in Colorado,

      Uh, we lost in Colorado.

    • “elsewhere-MILLIONS of grade school, middle school, and high school students are being “educated” to hate individual rights, and to trust Authortity at all times.”

      Not my children. That’s why we homeschool…yet another way personal responsibility is important.

  3. Until I can go into a gun store and purchase a new short barreled, suppressed, beltfed, select fire weapon system with an under mounted 40mm we are not winning

      • Yes. I had a great visual there.
        As evidenced by CT, CA, et al, we are not winning. Sadly.

        • Our gains are not as apparent as our losses are. Trust that we are winning. I can see it, but it’s not obvious, so many can’t see it yet.

    • Don’t be such a wienie… I’m holding out for M2s in a wheeled, quad mount I can tow behind my truck.

      😉

  4. My feeling is that Mark Begich, son of the AK representative whose plane vanished forever over Alaska, along with Rep. Hale Boggs, is a solid anti-NWO guy. Strong on the C and BOR.

    By the way, Alaskan bush pilots follow regular flightpaths; it’s necessary to life itself in those foreboding mountains, crevasses and vast glacial localities. No one disappears forever, yet no trace of the former Warren Commission’s plane has ever been found. What can account for this? Only a bomb that went off in mid-flight somewhere…

    • Given that they are still finding aircraft that crashed in WWII, a bomb in midflight is not necessary to the disappearance of an aircraft without a trace. In fact, they are still finding aircraft lost during WWII in the Sierra Nevadas. It is not hard to get lost in a storm and end up hundreds of miles off your intended flight path. or to crash into a glacier, snow deep enough or a forest dense enough to erase all trace. Plus the fact that smacking into the side of a mountain causes almost total destruction of a light aircraft. Remember that commercial passenger plane that went down in the Andes that could not be located by aerial search–that was not found until a few members of a soccer team managed to crawl back to civilization and report the location? I would be willing to bet that there are a bunch of aircraft that have one missing over the Alaskan wilderness that have never been found.

      • True, but experienced pilots in a familiar setting aren’t really prone to make such mistakes. I does happen, but you have to examine the circumstances.

        I can’t prove a thing, but I’m pretty sure the plane was blown up. I’ve just seen the same pattern, hundreds of times.

        Somebody is bucking the system, investigating something they shouldn’t be investigating, and WHAMMO. Gone. Because of this, my method is to suspect first, then look for reasons why it might not have been as I imagined.

        Good points, good response, though.

        • Hale Boggs did not die. He was abducted by aliens who were in cahoots with the Mafia and the CIA.

        • “… but experienced pilots in a familiar setting aren’t really prone to make such mistakes.”

          Those are the pilots that are the most prone to such mistakes. I’ve personally known a few of them and none have lived to tell about it. To this day, General Aviation has a much higher accident rate than Commercial Aviation. Alaska has an even higher accident rate than the lower 48 due to more GA traffic, a vast wilderness, rapidly changing weather, external pressures from Part 91 and 135 operators and even some pilots with an “I’m a bad a** bush pilot” attitude. Furthermore, the modern navigation aids and safety features included on most aircraft of today were not even in the realm of a possibility in the 1970’s. Check out AOPA’s Air Safety Institute for a fairly large accident database including several videos of recent “experienced pilots” that made poor decisions that cost them their lives. Not everything is a conspiracy.

        • How exactly did we get on the subject of bush pilots? As for all those Super Cubs flying around AK: Alaska is huge. Snowfall and ice make beacons ineffective. I’m amazed they ever find any of the downed aircraft. The upside of AK GA is that with all the weather cams for aviators, I can look at favorite places in real time. Kind of like the Snow Cams at ski resorts, except to look at fog, rain, and blizzards.

    • I’ve been on SAR missions that look for missing aircraft. They are extremely hard to find, even if you’re looking in the right place and Alaska is a completely different animal for SAR operations. Take a look at the Steve Fossett crash for a well-documented example in the lower 48.

  6. It’s obvious the Bloomberg is only interested in his own power as evidenced by the fact that he first ran as a Republican to win the mayoral election, then ti Independent when he got the City Council to change the term limit laws in New York city so he could win his third term and then immediately after winning haven them re-institute the term limits! Now he’s supporting the Democrats because Obama’s time is almost up. This guy is dangerous because he has money and his company still heavily influences the business world. We are not winning until him and those like him are completely shut down.

    • This guy is dangerous because he has money and his company still heavily influences the business world. We are not winning until him and those like him are completely shut down.

      You sound like one of those smelly “Occupy Wall Street” hippies!

      What do you have against capitalism and the uber-wealthy infuencing politics? “Corporations are people” and “money is speech” and all that; get with the program.

      • Well for tax and legality purposes, corporation do have the same rights and protections afforded to them as individuals.But than again I think the the whole “corporations are people” is a bit simplistic rallying cry. Anyhoo the problem with the Occupy Walnuts crowd is their overwhelming sense of naiveness and utter support for extreme Socialist ideology. I took a look at NY’s Occupy’s demands one time, and the majority of it came straight from Marx and Engel’s writings, whether or not they knew it. Instead of demanding individual rights and responsibility under the law, they wanted income and social redistribution. Unlike, say the Tea Party, Occupy didn’t know how to put their efforts into political results. So in the end, what Occupy wanted is not a constitutionally restricted government that adheres to the Bill of Rights, but a form of government that would have replaced one form or tyranny for another.

  7. There had been a growing sense of normalization of guns prior to Sandy Hook. This sense got shaken and hasn’t come back yet, nor has the current push for gun control obviously run out of steam. So, as far as the question posed, it’s too early to tell. We’ll have to see how the 2014 and 2016 elections play out, and longer term, what the political effects of the results of the 2020 census will be. Another item to watch are the likely attempts to introduce gun control laws via State-level referenda.

    • I disagree. The tide has once again turned in our favor; it’s not obvious yet, but you can find it. We ARE winning.

        • Ultimate victory is, sadly, impossible. As soon as the Second Amendment was ratified, there were forces at work to weaken it. There will always be people with power who don’t like the idea of the unwashed rabble being armed, so we’ll be fighting this fight forever. But I do think the overall trend is swinging to our side.

    • After decades of heavy national AR restrictions and an extremely widespread de facto ban on concealed handgun carry, we find that a majority of voters think shall-issue concealed carry is fine. ARs have been normalized in a large number of states. How can that be seen as a losing trend?

      I actually view the CA, NY, NJ, and CT actions as a rearguard and fairly desperate trend. As the number of long-term unemployed and half-employed and low-skilled low-income workers increases I foresee the CCW shall-issue trend as something which will continue to grow. Crime and class tensions are definitely increasing in CA and in the densely populated areas of the mid-Atlantic and northeast coast. The time will come when everyone not in the lower quartile will perceive they need defenses.

      The fog in which denial thrives is slowly burning off. The acceptability of guns for the influential and their bodyguards, but not for the median-income family, is slowly ending. As people come to accept the cost-led necessity of shrinking police forces and slower response times the new reality will settle in, or so I believe.

  8. Good news story. I do not think we are winning the gun control war, but in the past 20 years, particular the past 10, there has been a lot of good news. Yes, the assault on our rights continues apace in mostly left-leaning, blue states. We lost some ground there last year. But then Illinois passed concealed carry, as limited as it might be in terms of locations. It is a win, albeit by only a point or two. More states passed laws favorable to the 2nd Amendment than those that abridged it. Again, if a win it is only by a small margin. We held the line against any major Federal initiatives, and that is good.

    Where we are not necessarily gaining ground is in the culture wars. We need more people – many, many millions of them – to articulate that they are responsible for their own lives and it is not the government’s responsibility to be our masters. I think we are still losing ground there. Not any facts to back it up – in fact recent polls regarding gun rights and other topics may show a small swing in the direction of personal responsibility and freedom – but it is certainly not anything I feel positive about yet.

    That said, I think that the breakout from Normandy has happened. In most areas our enemies are retreating and their wins are tactical and local, but they are still rear-guard actions. I sense that they are not in full retreat but are rather drawing themselves back into better defensive positions. It is certainly time for us to push forward with audacity and passion, but we need to not lose sight of the fact that our enemies are not stupid, they are not amateurs, and they will counterattack with ferocity when it is most advantageous for their side to do so.

    I believe that gun rights is one way to push forward on the culture war as it is very hard to convince a free person that there are advantages to being a servant of the state.

  9. No doubt we have stopped the assault on gun rights for now. But its far from over, at best its a stalemate. When the Hughes Amendment is repealed, then I will say we are advancing.
    I`m not sure if we are going to win long term, even though it appears that many of the under 30 demographic are taking up gun ownership. The government educational system is a major fail when it comes to teaching the Second Amendment and the Constitution in general. So I am not sure if my grandchildren will enjoy the right to bear arms. Another point of concern is how quickly Connecticut gun owners developed a linguini spine. In spite of the rhetoric from New York gun owners and the tacit backing of sheriffs and county commissions, I doubt they will stand up against Il Duce Cuomo. He still has his brown shirted thugs in the NY state police.

  10. we will be winning when Shannon Watts ends up on a reality tv show with Dennis Rodman and other C list entertainers, gets eliminated early from the competition, and winds up stripping on the weekends at a VOFW hall . . .

  11. Mark Pryor is from Arkansas (AR), & is in deep, deep trouble. His latest campaign ad has him waving a Bible & talking directly into camera with sad eyes explaining that his faith & the Bible guide all of his decisions in the Senate. He may yet win re-election, since opponent may wake up from a roofied drink in a bed full of Indonesian prostitutes. Otherwise, I suspect he will suddenly announce his retirement so the libs can suddenly slip in a viable candidate.

    • This.

      Alinsky’s rule 13:
      “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”

      Dividing the gun owning community with gender-specific rhetoric like OFWG/OFWW, or political terms that demonize and ostracize liberals regardless of their stance on gun ownership, hurts our cause. In fact, all you are doing is making the gun grabbers’ job easier. The more they can categorize our side and make us appear polarized, the more they win.

  13. We’re losing and we’re doing it to ourselves.
    We’re not doing too bad on things like CCW and we do have some new protection from Heller (although how much remains to be seen).

    But the RKBA community isn’t inviting to new people or to people who don’t fit the traditional stereotype. We get into arguments on here about minorities and homosexuals and there are some who just can’t get past the idea of finding common ground with someone so different from themselves on this issue. I’d gladly slide down a space and make room on the bench for a pierced, tattooed, pink-haired, homosexual gun owner. But there are some in our ranks who make those people not feel welcome.
    The demographics are shifting and the old dudes are all going to die eventually. Who’s going to have your back then? Fifty years from now you’re all going to be wishing you’d been smart enough to invite EVERYONE into our ranks, but by then it will probably be too late.

    We have to stop cutting our own throat.

      • Remaining in a continual state of alarm is a rational response. However, if you trust in yourself and the power of our cause, I have something to convey to you: the weight of history is turning to the correct path. Not every place, not at the same time. But we are winning. Take encouragement from the changing tides.

        We are on the right side of history, and we will prevail, when the time comes.

  14. I try to deduce the many abbreviations in here through context, but I’m not always successful. What’s OFWW again?

  15. Nationally? Holding steady. Otherwise, the direction all depends on where you live. Some states are loosening laws, and a few are obviously going the other direction. As an Illinoisan, I feel like we’re trending positively. Heck, more people have signed up for CCW permits since the state police started taking applications on Sunday (15,000) than have bought health insurance on Illinois’s ACA exchange (7,400).

  16. The civilian disarmament crowd are getting organized. Yes, today we can look at MAIG/MDA and laugh at the paltry numbers they get at their rallies. But they *are* organizing and they have a lot of money to work with.

    Bloomberg is not stupid, do not underestimate him. If he is opting to continue bankrolling MDA it is because he thinks it’s a winning horse in the end. The gun control proponents have several distinct advantages: 1) Reliance upon emotional argument and impassioned pleas that sound much nicer than ‘It’s in the Constitution, damnit!’ 2) A media network that is very favorable to their cause, which gives them an almost unlimited advantage in PR/spin/message dissemination 3) Due to the complacency of previous generations the anti-gunners have become entrenched in certain parts of the country, and have been able to push their gun control agenda with relative ease to the point that it has become a cultural norm in several regions of the US 4) We have laws on the books at both the Federal and State level that need to be challenged vigorously, including the NFA, the GCA, and the FOPA, for starters. This will be costly and lengthy. 5) The OFWG image of the 2A crowd is easy pickings for pointing out racism, bigotry, ignorance, and conspiracy nuts (Yes, we know it is a gross exaggeration, but we also know there are certainly more than a few people that are strident pro-gunners that don’t exactly make us look like we’re out to protect everyone’s rights)

    We need to work on that stuff before I can even begin to say that we are winning. At most we are fighting a strenuous rearguard action to stave off disaster. We are one death away from a 5-4 SCOTUS ruling that would go against Heller & McDonald. That is not winning. That isn’t even fighting the good fight. That is reliance upon the hope that a pro-2A Justice won’t shuffle off the mortal coil for the next few years. And that, my friends, is a very tenuous hope.

    • We are one death away from a 5-4 SCOTUS ruling that would go against Heller & McDonald.

      For comparison purposes, Roe v Wade was a 7-2 decision.

      It seems that unenumerated rights, found in the eminations and penumbras of the Constitution, enjoy more protection than those explicitly stated in the Bill of Rights.

  17. In California, we are still losing, and all news is bad news. Yes, Sheriff Baca, a virulent opponent of concealed carry in Los Angeles county, is “retiring” (under pressure of scandal after scandal in his department), but there is every reason to believe that his hand-picked successor will be no better. Long guns must be registered, and a bill has been introduced to close the one “loophole” in that bill by requiring that even home-built long guns (the so-called 80% lowers) will need to apply for a serial number from the DOJ and have it engraved on the lower before the rifle can be constructed. [Federal law does not require a serial number on home manufactured firearms until they are sold.] We have every expectation that Senator Yee will re-introduce his EBR ban. Several towns–including San Francisco–are now trying to ban 10+ mags that were grandfathered in under current law. San Francisco’s ban, interestingly enough, does not exempt police officers, who under state law are allowed to purchase any weapon of any capacity they choose (except full auto weapons that may be purchased only with department approval and may be possessed only so long as the officer remains on active duty.) The Ninth Circuit has a half a dozen firearms rights cases pending, and I think all have been argued, some more than a year ago, but it is sitting on its decisions for reasons unknown. I suspect that the SCOTUS will not accept a “carry” case until the Ninth weighs in, and I also suspect that the Ninth knows this as well, which means that the delay is political. Then there is the microstamping mandate that has barred the introduction of any new pistols into the state for the foreseeable future–that is, until the mandate is overturned (questionable) or manufacturers start making pistols that comply with the law (unlikely). Meanwhile, the list of pistols dropping off the roster, and therefore becoming unavailable for sale, continues apace. I also suspect that an ammo bill blocking internet sales and requiring “registration” of purchases will be reintroduced.

    Nor is there any potential that things will improve. The antis are committed and not termed out (yet) (only Yee is on his last term), and the great majority of voters in this state are democrats from large urban areas.

    We are definitely not winning on the Left Coast.

  18. Personally I thought it was great that Bloomberg was causing fragmentation in democrats. The same thing keeps occurring with republicans. Before too long we’ll have stereotype extremes for both parties so there is no confusion as to where they stand on any issue. Perhaps this year I will actually see a political debate that asks questions to find out where a candidate really stands instead of a politically correct puff piece of which one is more moderate. You’re either for freedom or not.

  19. The tide ebbs and flows…

    Some states are getting better, some are getting worse.

    Unfortunately, it’s ultimately a zero sum game, someone has to lose for someone else to win.

  20. Senate Democrats “soft” on “gun safety” (e.g., AZ Sen. Mark Pryor, NC Sen. Kay Hagan and AK Sen. Mark Begich).

    Can’t yell at people in other states when you have 2A detractors in your own back yard. Until they are all taken out office we are all screwed.

    On topic, no, no we are not winning. And, even if we are winning, we should think like we are not because we cannot let our guard down.

    And so Bloomberg specifically, now that he is out office he has more time to work on MAIG initiatives. Until he dies or runs out of money, we are screwed.

    Even if we win the senate with pro-gun senators this fall, the anti-gun crowd will do their dirty work at the state level. If not at the state level, then the local level.

    There is no winning, we just need to keep fighting for forever and be vigilant — if you believe these people will quit, you are wrong — and the next tragedy (and there will be one) by the next mentally unstable person will start the debate all over again.

  21. We have been losing this fight since the 1930s. Now is no different. As long s those who want to strip us of our rights are still in office, we are losing. And we will continue to lose more and more, day by day until these repugnant men and women are removed from office and replaced by those that understand and respect our rights–ALL of them.

    • I disagree. A perfect example is how the other side lost it’s war on handgun’s and had to change their tactics and their names in order to continue their assault on the 2A. We have had some clear victories and some clear infringements. I’d call it a push at this point.

  22. People are “voting” with their wallets. More and more of them are buying more and more guns and getting more and more carry permits, so yes, we’re winning.

    Once POTUS has been completely emasculated in the 2014 elections (he’s operating on half a testicle now), things will get even better.

  23. The Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance (GOCRA) in St. Paul, MN just advised its members that MAIG and Thugs With Jugs have targeted Minnesota and four other states for the next gun confiscation (they call universal registration) attempt. This shit bag and his followers are not giving up, he is estimated to be work $25 BILLION dollars, so $2.5 million or even $25 million is chump change. We are not winning. Richard Carlbom has been hired by Bloomy to head up this task. Beware, they are still here.

  25. Well winning might include the breaking announcement just now that Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (CD #4 from Long Island NY) will not be seeking re-election. She was a one trick pony and maybe she sensed a sea change even in her commie district that would make the run more difficult than she likes. Then again that she is dieing of lung cancer so she would be out sooner or later….LOL.

  26. 2013 was a good year I know in another post someone stated that Bloomberg & the commie left had a 10 yr plan to disarm the nation, the left doesn’t have 10 yrs, they probably have 3-4 yrs max. 2013 was their shot at the federal level. We have many lawsuits going on eg. the safe act, chicago’s ban is unconstitutional, drake v filko & many others. Yes CT & CA has more restrictions but I personally don’t believe we are or close to losing . There is one aspect people here on this had not considered. Our currency is devaluing monthly today our dollar will crash before guns will be nationaly banned.

  27. We’re not losing. But we’re a long way from victory.
    I think Bloomberg is indeed dangerous, but I think his sphere of influence has suffered greatly this year, which is why it became important to co-opt MDA in a bigger public sense, and start pushing along both sides of the aisle looking for anti-gun supporters.
    Money can only get you so far. And while their numbers will no doubt surge with every rallying tragedy, be it genuine or manufactured, they can’t maintain them. We can.
    But like lots of people have said, we need to clean up our own ranks a little- too much effort is being wasted on trying to hold on to old stereotype. Even the old liberal/conservative thing is wasteful. I was a “liberal-ish” gun owner once, and let me tell you, by the 2012 elections the only “D”s left on my card were in my name. Before December of last year though, I still couldn’t stand the talking heads and rhetoric of conservatism. But when the world flipped, and friends, family, and the media started blaming me for dead kids and calling my gun ownership monstrous? Only the Hannitys, the Becks, the Coultiers (shudder) etc were defending me. People I had never identified with in my entire life were taking up my cause.
    So if we can convince the “outsiders” that our concern is only the preservation of our rights, and that everything else is secondary, I think our numbers will stay strong. I will gladly debate social liberalism, gay rights, and everything else once we have secured that our rights to defend ourselves aren’t up for discussion. And I think that the gun-owner crowd is a good crew to get in your corner- we’re motivated, passionate, and we’ve got some serious endurance.
    If we could reach a point where the black and gay communities realized what we believe is even more beneficial to them than most of us, we could win. Until then, it’s always going to be a struggle.

  28. Are we winning? I say yes. Here is a news article that must become its own post on TTAG. A large city chief of police (in a northern state no less) has publicly embraced the idea of an armed citizenry and has publicly encouraged residents to tool up. Fortunately, this police chief works in a shall issue concealed carry state where the residents can actually head his advice. Most importantly, this police chief was a staunch gun grabber who embraced and fully supported California’s “no issue” environment. Read the article to see what changed his mind.

    http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140103/METRO01/301030038

    • I brought this article up previously to Messrs Farago and Zimmerman earlier as a follow-up to the exciting “Why I carry spare mags when I go home” series, but apparently the Network did not find it newsworthy.

    • Correction: I wrote “head” (the thing on your neck) rather than “heed” (to take notice of or to apply something) in my comment above. I meant to type “heed”.

  29. If we are not winning, everyone here needs to ask, why not? If you absolutely know the answer, than DO something to convert the other side. We all don’t have Bloombergs’ money, but we do all have time. Time to talk to your Senators, take friends to the range or at least engage them in a meaningful conversation as to why they fear guns. My Son and I are taking the plunge and building an indoor shooting range this Spring. Imagine the opportunities we will have to meet and persuade the sheeple to give our side a try.Please, do something besides complaining on your favorite blog. Rant off.

    • You are making a common mistake. You cannot convert the anti-2A’s. They are diametrically opposed to our view and the language of the 2A AND are unwilling to compromise. You have to have a willing mind for it to be changed.

      We can defeat them or we can destroy them. If we only defeat them, they will regroup and be back in a few years.

    • I do suspect the money he’s spending on this is not entirely his own. There must be others. Soros? AIPAC? When you find the money trail, follow it. Just realize that if you get past a certain point, you’re a screaming target.

  31. Are we winning? I have to say yes. True, in a few Progressive Mecca’s there have been more oppressive laws. However, those fights are far from over because the court challenges are just starting. And even there, the mag limit in New York has come in our favor. Frankly, I think a big part of their push is motivated by desperation; push as far as you can so even when the courts knock things down you are still left with some gains.

    In a monument to irony, Obama has been the unwitting best friend of the 2nd Amendment. People are not arming for fear of street thugs or crackheads. You get a conceal weapon for that, not a rifle. They are not arming to protect against a mass onrush of rabid racoon or coyote. They are arming from fear and anger directed towards the federal government. Obama is reminding an immense segment of the nation as to WHY we have the 2nd Amendment. Though the media tries to spin it otherwise, the disarmament faction is losing ground despite Bloomberg’s best efforts.

    Moreover, Obama and his allies know this. They are also taking steps to mitigate it. We see it in the purging and cuts in the military. We see in in the militarization of DHS and urban (in particular) police forces. We saw it in the use of Park Rangers as armed thugs in the shutdown last fall. We see it in the increasing shrillness of their war of words. They know it’s not enough and that they are outgunned if things get violent.

    Progressives tried nudges and they were met with a stern warnings. They tried shoves and were met with the sound of uncounted millions of charging handles, bolts and slides being racked. Will they take the next step and shoot, even though they cannot win that confrontation?

    I don’t know. Perhaps they will. If so, not because they think they can win but because they think they can make the fight ugly enough that the nation won’t resist. I truly hope they don’t take that final irrevocable step. I hope not, because I believe Progressives have sorely underestimated the American people, the degree of their (so far) contained rage and the fortitude that will be found when that rage is unleashed.

  32. We’re losing, people. And it’s a simple matter of demographics and culture: America is getting younger and more colorful, and those two demos consistently support liberal ideology.

    They are outbreeding us, and the last two election cycles have shown that critical mass is just about to tip.

    The only thing we have to counter with, and thank goodness, is work ethic. We are way better organized than college slacktivists signing online petitions.

  33. I don’t know about that OFWW comment. Most of the women I run into at the Take Aim Range in Sarasota would be more accurately described as Cute Young White Women (CYWW?).

  34. Winning isn’t a term I’d use. Heading the right way is how I’d put it.
    I’ll say it like this: national reciprocity for CCW failed by a fairly slim margin in congress. It was so close to passing we could almost taste it.
    That gives me hope, and that’s more than we had after Newtown.

  35. hah! that is a big fat NO!

    the states with the most sway and political power have just gotten worse. some free states have made it easier to carry. big whoop. we are loosing bad.

    with the msm reporting such bias and false info, future generations will be more brainwashed than the Hitler youth. (slight exaggeration) so the future battles don’t look to bright either.

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