This article was printed from KeepAndBearArms.com.
For more gun- and freedom-related information, visit
http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
As anybody concerned with firearms issues is all too well
aware, from his first Presidential campaign, when he held up that
tiny, stainless .22 revolver in disdain and disgust, to his import
ban on semiautomatic weaponss, REPUBLICAN George Bush repeatedly
betrayed the interests of the gun owners who helped put him in
office.
It's highly probable, given the number of single-issue voters
involved (some 3-5 million) that this miserable performance cost
him the election -- or at least contributed heavily to his well-
deserved loss. But has the "Grand Old Party" learned anything from
its experience? Is it paying any attention to the facts? Judge
for yourself:
Sarah Brady, principal advocate of gun control in America, and
her sideshow-exhibition husband still call themselves "conservative
Republicans".
National Review editor and Republican television personality
William F. Buckley has endorsed the passage of the Brady Bill (just like
Ronald Reagan, although he later had the sense to withdraw his endorsement).
Republican writer/theorist George F. Will called for repeal of
the Second Amendment months before NBC News ex-president Michael Gartner did.
Every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to
approve Bill Clinton's nomination to U.S. Attorney General of the
notorious Florida anti-gun prosecutor Janet Reno, following which,
every Republican in the Senate voted to approve
the nomination, as well.
And recently on Face The Nation, Jack Kemp, Great White Hope
of conservative Republican, advocated an immediate,
universal ban on semiautomatics.
It should be obvious to anyone what's happening here. Unable
to cope intellectually with the quirky results of a three-way race,
anxious to follow the example of a man they mistakenly believe won
the election (in fact, Bill Clinton was handed the Presidency by
Ross Perot), the Republican leadership have decided to "move to
the center" -- and they're doing it by dumping the constituencies they
consider "marginal".
How does it feel to be considered marginal?
How does it feel to be dumped?
Is there anyone with any brains, integrity, or courage left in the
Republican Party?
More important, how long must we go on licking the Republican
boot that's kicking us?
In times like these, it's well to remember that Wyatt Earp, the first
advocate of gun control, was a Republican. And it's enough to make
you wish the battle of the O.K. Corral had turned out differently.
The question is: is it enough to make you shift your support
to another political party, a tiny one which, nonetheless from its
inception, has viewed your freedom to own and carry weapons as an
absolute natural, human, civil, and Constitutional right? One
which would repeal every gun law in the country, abolish the BATF,
and put the elected and appointed officials who have violated your
rights -- and continue to try violating them now -- in jail where
they belong?
Believe me I don't suggest this frivolously. Although I've been a
Libertarian most of my life, my mom and dad were Republican and
my first political efforts were expended for Florida's George Holly
(1962) and Barry Goldwater (1964). But the "Grand Old Party" has
deserted Barry (they criticize him for being "too Libertarian") just
as it's deserted you.
Given this trend, which started well before the election, who
can maintain that gun owners would have been better off under Bush?
Only the same dimwits and appeasers who believe an instant police-
state background check somehow -- mysteriously -- infringes on your
inalienable Second Amendment liberties less than something like the
Brady Bill.
Libertarians oppose both waiting periods and background
checks -- or any prerequisite for exercising rights that are
supposed to be guaranteed.
This is more than just inter-party bickering, it's a matter of
survival. Look at the list again -- these are only the ones I know
about. Think about George Bush, Sarah Brady, Bill Buckley, Ronald
Reagan, George Will, and Jack Kemp -- people to whom you've given
your love and loyalty in the past. People now cynically crumpling
you up, throwing you away because you're no longer "politically
correct".
Then write or call The Libertarian Party, Department LSAC,
1528 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E., Washington, DC 20003, (202) 543-1988.
My home on the web, The Webley Page: www.webleyweb.com/lneil/
My e-zine The Libertarian Enterprise: www.webleyweb.com/tle/
|
||||||||