I wanted to become an all-American man. So I learned to hunt

You don’t have to be a hunter, but that’s not a bad start . . .

I’m painfully aware of how much I conform to a stereotype of a Northeastern liberal. I’m a journalist. I drive a Subaru. I recycle assiduously. But I also bristle at being pigeon-holed and having my identity determined by my demographics.

There were other factors behind my desire to start hunting—my eagerness to find a new outdoors challenge; my desire to engage more physically with the world. And if I’m honest, there’s also an element of mid-life crisis, an urge to shake up what about I know about myself and what others think of me. But at least part of the impulse stems from a frustration with America’s polarized political climate, and how uncomfortable I am with the orthodoxies and Shibboleths of our warring tribes.

My politics are my own, and I like to think they’re more nuanced that our two-party system allows. When it comes to guns, I believe in both the need for stricter regulation of firearms, and in the right of Americans to own weapons for hunting and self-defense.

Democrats in red states have started using guns in campaign ads

Lies, deception and mendacity. They’ll vote with the Pelosis, Schumers and Harrises the first chance they get . . .

A common theme among the Democrats who are using firearms in their campaign ads is that many are veterans of the US military.

Rep. Conor Lamb, who won the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th District in March, made clear in his first television advertisement that while he is no longer in the Marine Corps, he “still likes to shoot.”

Lamb’s stance on guns was a major break with Democratic orthodoxy on the Second Amendment. Weeks before the election, Lamb said additional gun laws would not be necessary to prevent mass shootings, but rather stricter enforcement of laws already on the books.

“I believe we have a pretty good law on the books and it says on paper that there are a lot of people who should never get guns in their hands,” he said. “And we know that the background check system is not achieving that result. What I think it’s going to take is people in Congress who are willing to do more than just talk, who are willing to actually work together and stay late, if it requires that, and do some things that would really produce change.”

Artist Manuel Oliver at work at a protest outside the Dallas NRA Annual Meeting and Convention

‘You should feel unsettled’: Gun-control statues aim to evoke students’ terror during lockdowns

We’re more unsettled by the fact that these people think arming teachers endangers children in shools . . .

Student organizers nationwide are planning to display chilling, life-size statues depicting a panicked student crouched under a school desk during a mass-shooting lockdown drill, part of an effort this weekend to sway voters to support candidates who back gun-control measures.

Ten of the statues – made using 3-D printers – will appear at voter registration drives in 10 congressional districts, including at a beach in Irvine, California, a booth in front of a museum in Philadelphia and at the Bay View Bash Street festival in Milwaukee.

Artist Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin, 17, was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, earlier this year, helped design the statues as a way to raise awareness of the dangers students face while attending class.

Gun Group Goes To Court Over Colorado’s Magazine Ban

Godspeed . . .

The state’s ban on large-capacity magazines, devices that can hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition, was one of a handful of gun control measures passed in 2013 in the aftermath of the Aurora theatre shooting.

“It was a reaction. An emotional reaction in the legislature to a tragedy and it’s bad public policy. (…) We’re really arguing that it’s unconstitutional and it’s ineffective. It’s not going to stop mass shootings,” said Dudley Brown, the executive director of RMGO.

Willie Nelson Gets Political In Texas, So Texas Fans Tell Him ‘Goodbye’

-Good bye Willie…you are not on the right side.. take a look around you and do the right thing…I always thought you were a patriot…wow what a let down. You would pick a socialist agenda and an Anti American fellow like BETO, shame on you.

–That’s it , I’m done . What a disappointment.

–Willie you just lost over half of your fans by getting involved in politics!! Fan no more!! I cannot believe you support open borders and gun control!! You have smoked too much dope! I guess that is what you and Beta have in common!

Gun sales age restrictions

School safety commission poised to oppose new age limits on gun buys

That’s because it wouldn’t do a damned thing to stop school shootings . . .

It reportedly won’t recommend new curbs on firearms purchases

The school safety commission established by President Trump after the deadly shooting in Parkland, Fla., will not recommend new age restrictions for the purchase of firearms, according to people familiar with the draft report.

The commission concluded there is no evidence that age restrictions reduce the likelihood of school shootings and instead will recommend that states increase safety training for gun owners.

The findings are expected to be included in a report to be released before the end of the year by the Federal Commission on School Safety, according to two people who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

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56 COMMENTS

  1. I will NEVER vote D. And lots of republitard’s suck. Happy I’ve never had any use for old Willie. Is anyone surprised??

    • Did Willie just DixieChick himself?
      Did he ever pay his tax bill, or does he still really, really, need the income he may have just lost?

      • Remember he was a supporter of Jimmy Carter back in ’76 and played the White House after Carter and his ilk infested it. The fact he did this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who remembers history.

      • Willie Nelson is a PHONY Indian supporting a PHONY Mexican candidate.
        “BETO” is Irish, not Hispanic and a male clone of Elizabeth Warren.

        • Not a ted Cruz fan however Beto is a Marxist. “Democrats in red states have started using guns in campaign ads.” Never listened to Willie because I gave two Effs what his political thoughts were,Shut Up And Sing
          “Lies, deception and mendacity. They’ll vote with the Pelosis, Schumers and Harrises the first chance they get . . .” every Effin time as it’s a orthodoxy of the religion/cult of the Left

    • I’m not gonna complain if the Democratic party starts being pro-gun. That being said, if the election boils down to a pro-gun Republican and a pro-gun Democrat, chances are I will vote for the Republican.

      • “I’m not gonna complain if the Democratic party starts being pro-gun.”

        I will, for one simple reason –

        They *lie* about their true intentions.

        They will have to *prove it* first with their votes.

        But if they do, they will be excommunicated by the Leftists…

  2. Coming from the south my family was chock full of Democrats years back. But they were not those damn yankee and fruity west coast abominations as I’m sure they would call them in polite company. As far as I know no KKK members but lots of what are now called Blue Dog Democrats were around. Gun’s, pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps and pride in family and the nation were evident.
    I’m bringing this up as there are still Democrats out there that are towards the middle, not way out their loonies. That dude might be one. But tar his ass as Pelosis, Schumers and Harrises bitch and you probably will get your wish. If he see’s the only people receptive to him are the libs where do you think he will lean as a result?
    But who here will care, I’ve seen postings on here where one loon wants to kill millions of libs, others who go into unhinged rants about them and go team red. I think Pogo was right.

    • The Democrat party was way different up to JFK. He was the last of the non loony democrats that held a major office (im referring more on a national scale, not state or local). shortly after his death, the loonies in the party took over and became what they are today. As a conservative, I have very few problems with JFK, and he’s the last Democrat I have respect for.

      • Jackson, Wilson and FDR were pretty loony. But yea, JFK was a tax cutter and cold warrior. No way he’d be accepted in the Demoncrat party today.

        • You left out that JFK was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and did an interview in the April 1960 issue of Guns magazine where he honored the importance of the second amendment in the Bill of Rights. He wouldn’t even recognize the Democrat party of today. He would think that it was the Communist Party USA.

        • Rocketman, he wouldn’t even recognize the Democratic Party of LBJ. His own VP and the Democratic Party killed him and his brother, among others…

      • I agree with almost everything you said–the only point of divergence is that the last Democrat I have respect for is Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson, the senator from Washington state, who was one of the last conservative Democrats to hold a major office. JFK even considered him as his first choice for vice-president before deciding that a Southerner would better balance the ticket. Scoop was the last Democrat I would have voted for president.

        • With you on Scoop, the last of a breed. Used to be Democrats like Mendell Rivers, Emanuel Cellers, Carl Vinson and Scoop who supported the military. Those days are gone.

    • If he’s not standing in the spotlight demanding that the loony lefts hold on the dems be broken then he’s part of the problem.

    • My great-great-grandfather was a Grand Dragon in Indiana. He held some elected office as a Republican too, but I can’t remember what it was.

  3. Nah. It’s the dope. After that much weed that brain just become gelatinous.

    Not that I endorse federal regulation of it, or the War on Drugs.

    • Wether they started out liberal or not, anyone who becomes famous in the music/hollywierd industry eventually becomes one of the mindless liberal drones. It’s happened to quite a few country stars. Even if you go back to Johnny Cash’s songs, he’s got quite a few songs with anti gun and leftist lyrics. The only country stars I can think of that didn’t follow this path were the Hank Williams, David Allen Cole, and Merle Haggard. And of course the entire new crop of “country” singers are libs, that shouldn’t be a surprise.

      • American Rifleman has a article toward the end of most issues that have interviews from country artists who are 2A supporters. A lot of the current big ones are though. I wish Tim McGraw could have kept his mouth shut, because he has a huge stable of classic songs. Though I wonder how much of that is due to Faith Hill. Eric Church has recently come out as anti-2a as well, though I was never a big fan of his.

  5. The true enemy of POTG are anyone that would infringe on our 2nd amendment rights. Whatever their political view , sexual orientation ,choice of religion ,who’s mother they are or are not. It means squat if they want to play with our constitutional rights , they are the enemy. That’s all there is to it.

  7. Willie Nelson is like every other pot head. He and the other pot heads like him will trade weed for guns every single time. Drug users are all the same. Alcoholics will sell their father’s gun collection for another drink.

    I said it before and I’ll say it again. Libertarians Liberals and the Left, see drugs and guns as an equal value. Take drugs, vote drugs and lose gun rights, no big deal.

    They are not the only ones who put guns on an equal plane with other desires, and will trade guns away for those desires.

      • Yeah, but I don’t recall a section of the Constitution which gives the federal government any authority AT ALL in the question of what drugs people can put into their own bodies.

        • The Constitution does not say “there is a separation between church and state”. But the three L’s INSIST THERE IS SUCH LANGUAGE in our founding documents. This is why the Libertarians Liberals and the Left have a problem with the the 1st amendment. They have never supported the free speech rights of religious people. And their support of the Westboro Baptist Church is their Fig Leaf support of religious speech. It doesn’t count as far as I’m concerned.

          And they don’t support the property rights of churches either. You have to perform a gay wedding. But blacks can be denied service according to the three L’s.

          For the record. I don’t care what happens (sex drugs rock n roll) inside another persons home. However only the tyrants of the three L’s demand I give my blessing to their activities. And many to them want me to pay for the results (illness, rehab, job loss) of their activities.

  8. Willie has always been a strange duck, not enough weed to off set old timers! Hey Democrats paid him more to speak up for their agenda! another no body that thinks he’s some body and the man wants too tell me
    what I can and can’t do never did like his nose singing! Him and Hanoi Jane are Butt buddies.

  9. BREAKING: CCL holder saves Cicero,IL cop’s azz off I-55! “Thank God he had a CCL”. One wonders if the thankful cop meant what he said. I call BS…news at 11.

    • It’s not popular to say it on this board, but I’m saying it because it’s true. Many cops have no problem and actually like people who carry. Now, I live in the south so, maybe my perception is skewed, but most of the police here have expressed to my face they like that I and others carry. I live in Florida, and right after parkland even, I went to a fairly large county fair. It was fenced off and had metal detectors to get in, I was already in line and kinda getting rushed through, and didn’t realize this until I was almost up on the gate. There weren’t any “no guns” sings. But there were several police. Inside my head I thought “oh shit, this is gonna be bad.” I waved to the police as I was getting to the metal detector and stepped aside. They asked me what’s going on, I told them I had my carry permit and that I was carrying, didn’t realize there was metal detectors- he stopped me right there and said “Oh, you can carry here man, we like toters. I just need to see your ID.” I was pretty surprised, but I handed it to them and they let me through and didn’t give me any hassle.

      • Damn my eyes. I read your comment as they liked taters.
        After a brief huh? I read it again
        So it’s not just the old ears filing in the blanks, now the eyes are too.

        My neighbors kid is a cop from Ohio. He likes to come over and talk guns and other stuff when he visits Mommy. Says I can only take the same story repeated 5 times in one day. I can relate, mines 93 and can tell you something and go right back to the same one again.
        I can’t wait to do that to my daughter.

        He brought her a new pistol and is going to take home the 357 he had given her years ago. It’s a Sig P238.
        He brought it over to show it off and we disassembled and lubed it up and changed the grips to hogue rubber ones. After holding it I can say it felt nice with those grips. Might pick up a set for my little sig.
        And I’m going to suggest to his Mom he needs some cleaning and other gun stuff for Christmas.

        For years I’ve heard her saying if anyone ever breaks in she was going to chase them out by saying she has her 357 . I always said if she ever disappears for a few days no way am I going in there to check on her.
        And she’s a democrat, had Hillary signs out and usually has signs for the local democrat who’s running for an office in her yard. Not sure what the son is but he is easy to get along with. She’s no bother either. A little set in her ways but is a good neighbor.

        • Now instead of telling them she’s got one 357 she’ll have to tell them she’s got 2 38s.

          I hope she makes the transition to mag fed OK. She’s older than my mom, who can’t rack my 938.

        • The P238 has a lighter spring so she was able to pull back fine. He took her over to the local gun range the last time he came down and she could hold and squeeze the trigger on the 357 but even with 38 special it was more than her wrist could handle. I’m thinking he left it in condition one as she was saying now she has to remember to flip the little lever (safety) on the new one Kyle brought her.

  10. The problem with ALL democrat candidates is they think the Second Amendment is about hunting and stopping a home invader. It is neither.

    Its about stopping a tyrannical government. Like:
    The Athens Tennessee Revolt
    The Deacons for defense and Justice
    The Bundy Ranch

    And when a tyrannical government orders the police to stand down. And then allow organized criminals who are allied with that tyrannical government, and then attack the governments enemies.

    This is why we have a Second Amendment.

    • The Bundys are terrorists by the very definition of the word. They are criminals, and they all belong in prison. To compare them with the veterans fighting in Athens or self-defense groups during the Civil Rights movement is an insult to all decent Americans.

      • And, by definition, our Founding Fathers, along with every man who fought against Mother England, and every woman who supported those men, were likewise ‘terrorists.’ The Maquisards of WWII France were ‘terrorists.’ The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1944 were ‘terrorists,’ along with those nasty Haganah folks in Palestine in 1947, as were those awful Hungarians in 1956.

        To every repressive government, and its sycophants those who resist [‘attempt to cause political change by violence’] are ‘terrorists.’

        Now, please name all of the Bundys that have been convicted of ‘terrorism’ by juries of their peers (who are not like you, obviously).

        I thought so.

      • For some people, refusing to pay your grazing debt owed to the American public after losing your day (years) in court somehow qualifies you as a patriot rather than a deadbeat.

        • Bundy is grazing his cattle on public land. Our land. I wonder how he would react if I rolled up a convoy of big rig livestock haulers and unloaded a thousand head of my cattle on that same land?

          He has 160 acres of his own land which he raises cash crops on. But he acts as though the public land is his private domain.

          The reason I haven’t been more vocal against bundy is that his prime ‘enemy’ in this is harry reid. And that guy is a real douche.

        • Look up the history of what the feds have done to all the people who once had livestock on that land, and you’ll probably be a little more sympathetic to the Bundy clan.

          Cliven Bundy is a bastard, sure enough (or a deadbeat if you prefer) — and that’s why he’s still there. Everyone who did what the government wanted went broke and had to move out. Which is probably what the gov’t really wanted all along.

          I’m not saying the Bundys are 100% right, because they’re not. But they’re not all wrong, either. Their situation is a microcosm of what’s been going on with federal land in the Mountain West over the last 50 years.

  11. RMGO has been trying to get the 15 round limit repealed but only one part of the legislative is on their side.
    Going to the court is the right thing to do. I’ve donated to them.
    Do your part and chip in. Every $20 here, $50 there will add up to their legal costs.
    It’s a disgrace that people have to spend money to reclaim natural born rights. But I guess it’s better than Communism that can only be reclaimed through blood of yours and your family.
    Look at all the dead people in Syria. They deserve it and they must pay with blood to fight the despot they let in on power for decades without doing anything. You have to pay the price to be free. Money now, if not by blood later.

  12. Americans owned guns to shoot bad people trying to kill their families and burn down the villages.

    Hunting was just a side hobby.

    Shut them liars down every time they bring up hunting.

  13. anyone else remember how we were given Kristen Gillibrand as an example of a pro gun Democrat? She dropped that just as soon as she didn’t need to fool those upstate rubes. Even though I don’t always like the Republican, I would never vote for a Democrat.

  14. There aren’t a lot of “up state rubes.” Just dominated by down-state votes in state-wide polls. That and the massive patronage/ client system, n its hard to get clear of the machine.

    Keep taxes high, n regulations everywhere, n anybody doing something has to get your blessing. Knee cap anything making progress, then subsidize what’s left.

    Lots of rubes are stuck her, or even came back for family, stuck w house n similar. Two big permanently subsidized housing projects going up round me. Brutalist bldgs warehousing people like file cainets. Meanwhile, we’re losing population, home prices stayed crashed, ownership n occupancy are low, n abandoned / foreclosed homes are all over. Not Detroit yer, but…

    All that patronage creates some up state clients.

    The profile of the problem in the US, over less space.

  15. I just really hate that everything and I mean EVERYTHING in our lives has become so politicized. It is just a fact of today’s society. Seems everyone has a grievance and wants to stand up and scream about it. Think about it; movies and many tv programs usually carry some sjw message. Hell even the NFL and the sports channels are so politicized as to be uninteresting and hard to watch. So I don’t.

    I have been around long enough to know these things are cyclical and the pendulum will swing back the other way when folks get tired of the constant screeching. I’ll just have to wait it out.

    As for some Dems pretending to be pro-gun ( they may actually believe they are) and that they are independent of their leadership; well I’ve seen that movie before and I know how it ends. I guess I’ll continue to hold my nose, squint my eyes and vote R in any and all elections. This despite the stench coming off most of them because they are after all, politicians.

  16. Hey,
    Read the federalist papers. The 2A was for hunting, self defense AND to defend through militias against a tyrannical government.
    At the start of our country all able bodied men were in the militia.
    In 1812, the US Army had less than 800 troops because Congress did not want a large standing army, they were right.
    We now have over 50 military missions in Africa, years ago we had none.
    Our military has been used to destroy anyone who threatened corporate wealth overseas.
    Since 911, the US govt has added over 800,000 federal employees and contractors to fight terrorism. If you have a big enough hammer you are going to use it on the first nail pop and keep banging.
    I now buy coats from Vietnam Nam, our enemy 40 years ago.
    Ho Chi Minh worked with the US against the Japanese and asked us to help push the French out of his country, when we wouldn’t help he went to China and Russia.
    We have firearms to protect against a govt that wants globalism, a$&h$&@.

  17. Lamb will be just like all the other “Pro-Gun, Blue Dog” Democrats. The minute they get to DC and line up at the Democrat trough, they forget any campaign promises and toe the line.

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