Gun owners, NRA members, please help me out. I’m having a hard time understanding something.
At the NRA’s news conference yesterday, Wayne LaPierre characterized gun advocates and gun owners as victimized by a liberal media, as an oppressed segment of society simply advocating for their civil rights. They feel as if undo blame has been thrown their way for gun violence, and they are afraid that the government will come to take away their guns. I find these fears really hard to understand.
Just how are gun owners or gun advocates oppressed? The laws, the lawmakers, and even much of public opinion are completely on their side. Our nation has the most permissible gun laws of any in the industrialized world.
We who support reasonable gun restrictions are the ones who have a beef about not being understood. We who support reasonable gun restrictions haven’t had a legislative victory since the 1990s. We who support increased waiting periods and purchase limits are the ones who have public opinion against us. We who disagree with the Heller decision of the Supreme Court are the ones who have legislative and judicial majorities against us.
But it is more than just about policy. Those who are directly affected by gun violence – which is facilitated by the ease of access to weapons, legal and illegal, in our society – are the ones who are truly oppressed.
I truly don’t understand the feelings of oppression of a lobby that is very well funded, that gets its legislative way, and that even has the bulk of public opinion on its side.
So, just how are gun owners, and the NRA, oppressed?
The Lutheran Zephyr 
…And silence fell….
Ending the silence, I would say we are not oppressed, just vigilant. While it is true those who favor restricting gun ownership in some way have had relatively few victories at the national level, were are well aware that if HCI (or what ever they are calling themselves these days) had their way we wouldn’t be able to own ,22s. Further in much of the country second amendment rights ware highly regulated or even actually suppressed.
not were we are well aware