Passion is fine, Jeff.
But, when you say that I ignore the Second Amendment, and you say things like "Tom Gresham and his ilk . . . " you are not just showing passion. You are telling lies, spreading hatred, and following the trend that says anyone who works for the Second Amendment in a manor that's different from yours is . . what? Working AGAINST the Second Amendment?
I started actively fighting gun control laws in 1967. Soon after that it became an important part of the career I chose, and I've been fighting gun control laws for more than 40 years.
My position is clear -- and simple. We should repeal every gun control law. Period. Not really hard to understand, is it? I've said that hundreds of times on the air. If you have a way to say that which makes it more clear, I'm open to suggestions.
My other position is that I'm primarily interested in winning. NOT making gun banners publicly admit that they are wrong and we are right. For some strange reason, some folks on the gun rights side have that as their goal, and it often prevents them from recognizing a win -- or a loss. If you don't know which of your efforts results in wins and which result in loses, it's likely that you'll continue to do things that increase the loses.
My question is always "Is what we are doing working?" Does a particular move, or tactic, or campaign bring us closer to whatever that specific goal is? How would you know? What is your measuring mechanism? Who are you talking to? (Hint: If it's only other gun rights folks, you can not know if your tactics are working.)
You say you have no faith in "the system." What system is that? Elections? Legislative changes? Litigation? Should we abandon our efforts (where we have made massive gains in the last few years)? In favor of doing . . . what?
Now, to dig a bit deeper. ALL the rights we are able to enjoy (note the careful use of words, please, because I did not say the rights we have) are dependent upon public opinion. HORRORS! Did I really just say that? Of course I did. Run it out as far as you can imagine. Public opinion can and has repealed Constitutional amendments. If you want to win in elections, in the legislatures and in Congress, and in courts, you MUST win public opinion.
(Note, please, that yesterday I was carrying my 1911 openly, because that worked for the dress and the occasion. Later in the day, I was carrying concealed, because fit the dress and the occasion.)
Here's the question I ask on the air, and I ask it here. Have the long gun carry efforts inside stores, with photos posted, improved our image with the public? Or, do you think these staged efforts drive the public toward more restrictive gun control laws? What do you base your opinion on? I suggest talking to people in stores -- people you don't know. Strike up a conversation with a dozen people in a Target, Macys, Dillards, Williams Sonoma, etc., and get their opinion. I suspect you'll find, as have I, that much of the public is not in favor of this, and that (the most important part) they would like to see laws preventing long gun open carry.
If that is the case, and these actions are driving the public toward supporting MORE gun laws, and not fewer gun laws (and we won't even talk about the PR bonanza it provides the anti-gun groups), in what metric does this qualify as winning?
Stomping your feet and *demanding* your gun rights doesn't nothing more than show the world that we don't know how to get things done.
Actually WORKING on it . . . in legislatures, in Congress, in elections, in the courts, through public relations, is certainly less satisfying than just yelling I WANT WHAT I WANT WHEN I WANT IT.
As boring, tedious, frustrating, time-consuming, difficult and expensive as it is to do these things, these are how we currently are winning.
The gun banners didn't make so much progress by demanding. They worked the system for 50 years while many on our side comforted themselves with "What part of SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED don't you understand?" Cute. Catchy. And totally not helpful.
We will not continue to win back gun rights without being willing to fight, and without being willing to make honest appraisals of our successes and our failures.