The Anti. A term used to describe the well-funded and well-organized Anti-Gun movement. Just so we are clear, "Anti" is not a term of endearment.  In fact when used by human rights activist and friends of liberty that are currently embattled on the campaign trail for freedom and the fight for the right to keep and bear arms, it is just about the worst thing one can say about the opposition.  At least the worst one can say in polite company. Let there be no doubt that in this context, Anti is an insult, an epithet and a disparaging remark. It is a label for our enemy, because the millions of people who support individual liberty also equate "Anti Gun" with "Anti Liberty" and "Anti Gun" with "Anti Freedom". We could rightfully call them "Anti Liberty, Anti Freedom, Anti Civil Rights, Anti American, Anti Bill of Rights, Anti Gun, Anti Mom and Anti Apple Pie idiots" but for ease of use and for the sake of brevity we simply call them "Anti".

     The "Anti" camp includes "No Mules for Sister Sarah" Brady of HCI infamy. A Republican Party insider turned "Ultra Anti" when a nut case capped her old man in the noggin, while trying to assassinate President Reagan. I understand Jim's diminished capacity; hell he's got a hole in his head. Sad Sarah's mental disorder is impossible for me to understand and as she was a "God, Guns & Guts" Reagan Republican, her changing sides and sleeping with the enemy is unforgivable. Sarah's HCI is responsible for more Anti B.S., lies and rhetoric than all the other antis combined. In this fight for freedom HCI is the penultimate enemy and Sarah Brady is their queen.

     The "Politico Anti".  Scary Senators and Cranky Congressmen oh my!  This ill begotten crowd includes elected officials of varying "prominence", mostly from the socialist elite of the Democratic Party.  Political hacks like "Chargin' Chucky" "The Boomer Schumer" and his gal pals "Barb Wire Barbara" Boxer and her ugly ornamented clone and senatorial sister "Doomsday Dianne" Feinstein. Hereafter simply referred to as "Babs" and "Di Di" the PRK cheerleaders from hell.  (PRK = People's Republic of Kalifornia). Together, this unholy alliance is responsible for introducing some of the most repressive anti civil rights legislation ever proposed and collectively advocating firearm policies that would make Stalin proud.  

     The "Talking Head" Anti. Talking Head Antis grace our TV screens every day and every evening. We welcome them into our living rooms, our bedrooms and even our bathrooms. They are as trusted and familiar to many of us as our own family members. They speak with confidence and authority on all issues and in modern times are the proverbial givers of truth and the 4th branch of our political system. They claim to be "The Folk" but they are highly paid media elitists. When it comes to guns, they are nattering naysayers of negativity. These media giants include "Pistol Pete" Jennings, "Dancin' Dan" Rather, "Tommy can you hear me" Brokejaw and most of the other "head shots" in main stream media. When it comes to Guns, the main stream media is completely and unabashedly "Anti". Simply mention the word gun, and the much-vaunted journalistic ethic and professional objectivity disappear like so many pork chops at a Rosie O'Donnell luncheon.

     The "Glam Anti". Now we add in a few well coifed, designer clad, very pretty and glamorous antis. Hand wringing "Hanoi Jane" wanna bee's from Hollyweird, espousing their anti gun rhetoric on TV, at large fundraisers and at Spago's. They have power lunches at Wolfgang Puck. They speak about the "issues" and belittle the unwashed masses and the red neck gun nuts while sitting at "The Ivy" for divine desserts. They thumb their collective powdered noses at real Americans while spending more for eating some Sushi at Sasabune, than the average working family makes in a week. "Glam Antis" represent themselves as down to earth and completely in touch with the real issues. In real life they are out of touch and incomplete without bulletproof limousines, gated mansions and well armed security teams.

    The "Anti Mom." Only of late have we added the "50 Thousand Mathematically Challenged Mom's", better known in the mainstream media as the benevolent organizers of the "Million Mom March".  Not only can they not count; they can not get a clue. Fact. The biggest victims of gun control are women and the poor. The most likely to be raped, attacked, injured or killed by a violent criminal in America are women. Yet this group of liberated and "enlightened" women espouse the unilateral disarmament of our society's most venerable members. Ironically, one of the most basic and certainly most common human instincts is the maternal instinct. The tenacious way a "mother" protects her brood is well established and greatly admired. So much for Mom getting it on with a bad guy to protect herself or her children or busting a cap in a black bear's butt to save her family. These "Misguided Mathematically Challenged Moms" are doing more to set back women's rights than the Ayatollahs and the "Radical Right" could ever manage.

     The Anti's vary in complexity, credibility and effectiveness but all of them are calling for a range of very restrictive anti civil rights and anti gun measures that they argue will make America safe for "the children" and magically prevent violence. On the other side, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and the many "Pro Civil Rights" Second Amendment Activists and organizations and many others from the "silent majority" counter that stricter gun laws will only hinder law-abiding citizens from exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and will have little or no impact on criminals who by definition ignore gun laws.

     To keep things in proper perspective and in an effort to ensure fair play, I have listed most of "The Anti Agenda" with their demands and ideas below and have included the official NRA position on the same issues. For kicks and for some real "let the cat out of the bag" perspective, I have added bulleted responses, explaining what a gun guy thinks it really means and detail the implications of the anti way. The bulleted remarks are only my opinions of course, but they are based on sound logic and common sense.  

The Antis want mandatory licensing of all handgun owners and registration of all handguns as a way to hold gun owners accountable for their "weapons" use, just as licensing drivers helps enforce traffic laws. The NRA argues that such laws don't work because gun-toting criminals ignore licensing laws; only responsible citizens would end up standing in line to be fingerprinted.

• A "Gun Guy's" concern: Firearm registration will lead to firearm confiscation. This is the ultimate goal of Handgun Control Inc. (HCI) and many anti gun groups, including the leadership of the Democratic Party. The Antis make great sounding blanket statements like "It is bad when someone gets shot".  An easy to agree with statement, that really says nothing about the pervasive social and economic problems that lead to most violent crimes and many gun crimes. The misinformed masses nod their collective heads in agreement.  What they really mean is "We are going to get the guns".  They say it all the time and fortunately they have been more open about their ultimate goal, the outright banning of private firearms for "normal citizens", in the past few years.
  

• Confiscation is real. The Anti's have started with politically incorrect firearms like the AR-15, the STG-58 and the various AK-47 clones. Popular sporting and defensive arms that look like military "Assault Rifles", but are in fact simply semi-automatic rifles used for sport and self-defense. With the unconstitutional "Assault Weapons Ban" the antis are in position to dictate the type and style as well as the features that are "acceptable" to the political masters. Now we have technically incompetent antis, who don't know a bolt action from a bobsled, defining allowable firearm technology. Soon we are left with arms that are ineffective for most sporting activities and more importantly, "PC" arms that are wholly inadequate for self-defense.  
  

• Again I warn that registration will lead to confiscation! Sounds like the ranting of an "Assault Weapon" toting and paranoid gun nut you say.  Well my friends, this scary confiscation scenario is already happening in California. A US state that stated clearly and repeatedly that registration would "never" lead to confiscation. Yet a mere 5 years later, the legally owned, lawfully registered sporting and defensive rifles owned and paid for by honest law abiding citizens are being confiscated by the state.  Confiscation?  It is not a paranoid delusion of a crazed gun nut.  
  
  
• The Anti promotes registration as a way to keep track of guns and bad guys. However, it is not only impossible to enforce registration with criminals, it is also unconstitutional. Making someone who is prohibited by law from owning a firearm register that firearm is in fact forcing them to incriminate themselves, thereby violating their Fifth Amendment rights. Thus, even if such a law passed and you caught a felon with an unregistered firearm, they could not be prosecuted for failing to register an illegally obtained or possessed gun, because the state can not compel them to incriminate themselves.
  

Safety Training

The Anti wants mandatory safety training for all handgun buyers. They want you to be certified by the state before you can buy or own a gun. The NRA says and rightfully so, that the NRA is the leader in voluntary firearm safety training and that its programs have been very successful. Accidental gun death are down to only a fraction of what they were in 1910 and we have 25 times more guns and gun owners in today's America. The NRA also contends that requiring training creates an unfair obstacle to gun buyers.

• A "Gun Guy's" response: I am a firearm Instructor. I teach for free. I strongly encourage participation in firearms training for all gun owners and for children of gun owners. But this "Safety Mandate" is just another feel good, all nod your head, sounds like a common sense gun law, that is misguided and it is a policy that could easily be used to prevent legal gun ownership. The mandatory safety certificate is simply another way for the state to decide who can have a gun and when they can get it. 
  
  
• Administrative impediments to the immediate purchase and access to a firearm can and do cost people their lives. Using the "Brady Bill" state imposed waiting periods as an example, there are hundreds of people, mostly women, who have been killed or gravely injured while waiting to fulfill this unsafe and unnecessary administrative requirement. A scenario could be created at the local level where the training needed to get your safety class and certification are manipulated or made hard to get. The safety certificate is an attempt to further limit the lawful firearm purchaser from being able to have a legal firearm when they want one or think they need one. 
  

• Sounds like more ravings of a paranoid gun nut: This tactic is already being used in many communities to limit or completely stop any new Conceal Carry Licenses or Hand Gun Purchase Permits and is currently used in anti gun jurisdictions to restrict or limit purchase permits. In several North Carolina counties, the CLEO does not authorize any CCL or any new hand gun purchase permits. This is a de facto prohibition of individual rights, and it is being imposed administratively, and the state of North Carolina has a "shall issue" CCW Law. Another example of an administrative abuse of the system that can effectively prohibit law abiding citizens from purchasing or carrying a handgun. Keep in mind as bans go, that in many American cities that have the highest gun crime rates in the world, handguns have been banned for several years.
  

Safety Devices

The Anti wants all new handguns to have child-safety devices, such as trigger locks or "smart technology" that recognizes the owner. The NRA and critics say safety locks can prevent gun owners from using their firearms as defensive weapons, but encourage gun locks where applicable.

• Under current state and federal law, adult firearm owners must keep their firearm secured, if they don't, and their unsecured gun is used in a crime or to accidentally hurt a child, they can and should be jailed and fined. As adults they should have the right to determine a firearms security plan that effectively suits their personal situation. Safety locks are fine for some situations, I keep most of my guns in a large safe, but built in safety devices and trigger locks can also get you killed. There is no technology available that works in all situations. Common sense must prevail and the responsibility has to rest with the individual.
  

Background Checks

The Anti wants these checks for all handgun purchases to make sure criminals and the mentally ill cannot buy firearms. The NRA supports background checks, even at gun shows, which are now exempted for individual person to person sales. This is the infamous "Gun Show Loophole". The NRA argues that recent proposals in Congress to require such checks, however, were crafted by opponents who truly aimed to shut down gun shows. The NRA wants to make sure gun shows thrive as a way for collectors to trade guns.

• The Anti will tell you that guns sales at gun shows are currently exempt from Brady Bill background checks or the new NICS [National instant Check System]. They whine about the so-called "Gun Show Loophole" but this is just a lie. There is no loophole. Most gun show sales are conducted by Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers or FFL's. They must, under current federal law, perform a NICS check on all buyers of all guns they sell, whether in there store or at a gun show and all handgun buyers also have to have a purchase permit signed by the local CLEO. This permit requires a background check and a medical records check. In many counties this permit is very hard to get if not impossible. As far as the "Gun Show Loophole" only individual sales, from non-gun dealers to other private non-dealers are exempt from the background check.
  

• NICS me not. The NICS was not set up for and has no provision for an individual gun owner to run a background check on another private individual. The background requirement can also be used to track gun owners for future confiscation and could even prevent a mother from giving a shotgun to her 27-year-old son for a birthday present. Federal law requires anyone engaging in the selling of firearms for profit, become a licensed FFL. Currently, most gun show promoters do not allow private citizens to set up a table and sell guns at gun shows. This is a recent development that has occurred to protect gun show promoters and gun dealers from the antis who want to close all Gun Shows.
  
  
• A Gun Guy tells the truth: The Government does not want you to know the truth about gun show sales. The Department of Justice with the BATF conducted a two-year study on the source of firearms used in criminal activities and on guns used by professional criminals. The study was conducted in an effort to show that gun shows were a pox on modern civilization and were evil arms bazaar's used by criminals and anti government militia nuts. When the study showed that less than 2 percent (<2%) of the firearms used by criminals were bought by someone at a gun show, they quietly shelved the report with no public announcement or fanfare. Our tax dollars at work.
  

Purchase Limits

The Anti's want handgun purchases limited to one per month per buyer, contending that this measure would make it riskier and less profitable for black market gun dealers to hire straw purchasers (with clean backgrounds) to buy large amounts of guns in states with lax gun laws and reselling them in New York City, Chicago, Detroit and New Jersey or other cities and states with tougher restrictions. The NRA says it is unfair to ration a legal product that way.

• This is just another attempt to keep firearms out to the hands of law-abiding citizens. It is also stupid and it is my least favorite type of enforcement. Here is how it goes. Instead of enforcing an existing law, we make a new law that is intended to do the same thing. This is often used by the "Talking Head Politico Antis" to grandstand and beat their chest on the Senate floor, all the while beating our guns in to their political plowshares. We already have laws against straw purchases and illegal gun running. Instead of cracking down on the criminals who break these existing laws, the anti wants to create an all-new law to do the same thing. New laws that in fact would only hurt people who already abide buy the current laws.  
  

• The ravings of a Gun Nut: What makes one think that a person who ignores the laws against rape and murder will follow the new gun laws? Keep in mind that by definition, a criminal is one who does not follow or abide by the law. All the new laws in the world will not change this simple fact. Only strict enforcement of well written laws, with harsh punishment for violators and thoughtful policies that effect positive change of our social problems and reduce poverty, can we change the crime rate and reduce violence in America. Social maladies including drug abuse and poverty are the root cause of most crime problems.
  

Federal Regulations

The Anti's say guns should be subject to consumer safety laws, as are toys, food, and other goods. The NRA says firearm makers are already heavily regulated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and state agencies.

• The simple truth. Gun manufacturers are already liable for damages and injury caused by a defective or malfunctioning firearm. If your SIG blows a chamber and takes off your pinky finger, you have a right to sue SIG in court. If the gun was  defective, you would win a legal settlement. What the anti gunners want is a law that says if a criminal uses the gun to commit a crime and shoots your pinky finger off during the commission of said crime, the gun manufacturer should be responsible for any injuries and damages caused by the criminal misuse of the firearm. In no other case is this applicable law.  
  

• You're just a "gun nut" you say: Maybe so, but if a "car nut" takes a Ford Mustang and intentionally drives over 16 ducks and a little old lady (a duck herding little old lady) killing 13 ducks and smushing the old lady, we punish the "car nut" under applicable law. We do not however, hold the Ford Motor Company liable for any damages. So if this makes sense for Ford, why should we hold a firearm manufacturer responsible for the criminal misuse of their product?
  

Antis and the NRA agree that existing gun laws must be enforced.

• The Clinton administration has failed to enforce current firearm laws and the rate of prosecutions of firearm laws is down more than 80% under this administration. All the while vilifying lawful gun owners, gun shops, firearm manufacturers, pro firearms organizations and the NRA. They will never tell you that 99.8 percent of the over 200 million firearms in America will never be used in a crime or that over 2 million Americans use lawful firearms to defend themselves and there loved one every year.
  

     We have it in our power as a great country, full of smart and well meaning people, to beat the problems of crime and violence. We are already well on our way. The media and the anti faction won't tell you that crime is at an all time low and gun crime and accidental injury caused by the misuse of guns is also at an all time low. I don't want to minimize our crime rate or the unfortunate injuries and deaths caused by the criminal misuse of guns. One accidental gun death per year is one to many, and one convicted violent criminal with a gun is one to many as well. Training and information is the key to this problem. Not oppressive restrictions that punish lawful gun owners.

     Our effort to make this country a better place has to start with people taking care of other people and rests within the family, in what ever form the family is defined as these days. Strict punishment and long prison sentences for the small percentage of hard core repeat offenders would eliminate 98% of the crime in America. We have to develop a social system that lets people know that violence against others will not be tolerated in any form, except for in the case of legitimate self defense. This edict must be stressed and it must be backed up by a civil mindset that keep our men from beating our women and parents from beating their children. Violence begets further violence. We must take care of our poor and abused children and create social and education systems that help the poor and disadvantaged in our society, by giving them a hand up, not a hand out. 

     We must still hold people responsible for their actions and not blame society for misdeeds and crime. Until we do we will be faced with violent youth and dangerous criminal behavior.  We are on our way America. Crime and violence can be further reduced by working together and by focusing on our problems, not by restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must have a national policy against violence, poverty and social injustice, not a policy against lawful gun ownership and law abiding gun owners.

Marvin Stenhammar is a Retired Army Special Forces Master Sergeant, a Gun Guy, an  Outdoor Writer, a Firearms Instructor and Gun Rights Activist.  Marv is also the Founder and Director of Gunnery Network, a large non-commercial firearms information web at  www.Gunnery.Net. Marv can be contacted for comment by telephone at 828-631-GUNS (4867) or via e-mail at RKBA@Gunnery.Net.

Copyright © 2000 Marvin V. Stenhammar.  All Rights Reserved.

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