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Cling to Your Guns!
Knowing that 724Outdoors.com caters to the outdoors sportsmen through its Fishing and Hunting Scene segments, I was reluctant to pursue the idea of an article stoked with political connotations. Upon further consideration, I realized the Hunting Scene section is devoted not only to hunting articles, information, and opportunities, but also provides pieces on hunting and shooting regulations and legislation, firearm competitions, and general industry highlights. It became obvious that the prerequisite for any shooting sport is the firearm itself. Given the blatant disregard for the Second Amendment shown by Democratic candidate Barack Obama, I determined to highlight the documented facts related to the junior Senator from Illinois.
The trigger, pardon the pun, for this article, was Mr. Obama’s arrogant statement at an elite San Francisco fundraiser where he attempted to dispel the importance of Hillary Clinton’s success in a string of primaries in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. So as to not interject my personal opinions, and thus corrupt the context of his words, I felt it important to begin with Obama’s comments:
“…And its not surprising they get bitter. They cling to guns and religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
According to Webster’s Universal Collegiate Dictionary, antipathy is defined as “a natural or habitual repugnance; aversion…an object of natural aversion or habitual dislike.”. Perhaps I agree with Obama on at least one thing. I have little regard or respect for someone who seems willing to belittle those who simply disagree with him. If he believes folks “who aren’t like” him have nothing more to fall back on than what he apparently sees as a backwards way of life, one rooted in a deep heritage of reverence for God and enjoyment of the resources with which the Creator surrounded us, than I do harbor a sense of antipathy towards him and the radical factions with which he associates.
What does this have to do with a hunting and fishing forum? Everything! Obama has made it exceptionally clear in his extremely limited time in public office that he has no respect for our right to keep and bear arms as provided for in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Listed below are several examples of Barack Obama’s radical stance regarding gun control and prohibition. As one can quickly see, such a listing is a library for any public servant to have accumulated over a lengthy political career. However, do not forget the man we are considering has only a very limited tenure at the state level in Illinois and served barely 1/3 of his first term in the U.S. Senate prior to shucking his daily responsibilities in Washingon, D.C. to pursue his ascension to the White House. However, his staunch anti-gun ideology is clear for all to see.
Lest I fall to an almost overwhelming desire to editorialize this article, I would simply encourage you to read through the list of facts describing Obama’s threats to our rights to own and enjoy our guns in a legal, responsible fashion. The listing below, as well as sources for each item, can be reviewed on the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action website @ http://www.nraila.org/:
· Barack Obama voted to allow reckless lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry.
· Barack Obama wants to re-impose the failed and discredited Clinton Gun Ban.
· Barack Obama voted to ban almost all rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting.
· Barack Obama has endorsed a complete ban on handgun ownership.
· Barack Obama supports local gun bans in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities.
· Barack Obama voted to uphold local gun bans and the criminal prosecution of people who use firearms in self-defense.
· Barack Obama supports gun owner licensing and gun registration.
· Barack Obama refused to sign a friend-of-the-court Brief in support of individual Second Amendment rights in the Heller case.
· Barack Obama opposes Right to Carry Laws.
· Barack Obama was a member of the Board of Directors of the Joyce Foundation, the leading source of funds for anti-gun organizations and “research”.
· Barack Obama supported a proposal to ban gun stores within 5 miles of a school or park, which would eliminate almost every gun store in America.
· Barack Obama voted not to notify gun owners when the state of Illinois did records searches on them.
· Barack Obama voted against a measure to lower the Firearms Owners Identification card age minimum from 21 to 18, a measure designed to assist young people in the military.
· Barack Obama favors a ban on standard capacity magazines.
· Barack Obama supports mandatory micro-stamping.
· Barack Obama supports mandatory waiting periods.
· Barack Obama supports repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment, which prohibits information on gun traces collected by the BATFE from being used in reckless lawsuits against firearm dealers and manufacturers.
· Barack Obama supports one-gun-a-month sales restrictions.
· Barack Obama supports a ban on inexpensive handguns
· Barack Obama supports a ban on the resale of police issued firearms, even if the money is going to police departments for replacement equipment.
· Barack Obama supports mandatory firearm training requirements for all gun owners and a ban on gun ownership for persons under the age of 21.
Given the facts listed above, it is strikingly obvious that we, as sportsman, must unite to counter the threats to our freedoms and rights. Obama’s abrupt rise through the ranks did not happen by chance or coincidence. Rather, the support he has garnered from zealous anti-gun radicals, which have filled the coffers of his campaign chest, will inevitably require repayment in the form of furthering their ideals of gun bans across the nation. Do not be fooled into thinking that you are a leftover from a bygone time simply because you still treasure your guns, your shooting and hunting heritage, and I hope, your faith in God. Realize that anyone displaying such hubris and arrogance when combined with such an extreme lack of experience simply cannot be trusted to determine our ability to pursue our passions in the shooting sports, much less be handed the reigns to the greatest country on the face of this planet.
I encourage each of you to investigate Barack Obama for yourself. Do not take my word, or that of slanted campaign ads, to formulate your opinion of the candidate of which we know so little. With a little legwork, information is available that will draw you to the same conclusion that I have drawn, which is that I will “cling to [my] guns and [my] religion” as I do not see either to be a derogatory condition, but one that I cherish, just as my forefathers have before me. It is up to us as a sporting family to ensure our children, grandchildren, and all those yet to come the same fantastic days in a duck blind, tree stand, or trap range that we have enjoyed. Do not let an urban political radical steal your rights by making you feel guilty simply because you do not share his elitist worldview.
Instead, “Cling to your guns!”
