Globe opinion writer whines about the vile tone of response of AG's unlawful edict.

[flythebluesky]

Something to think about: if you're going to waste your time launching a tirade of personal attacks on the AG, then you're undercutting any logical justifications you might have had. Maybe you're just a bunch of kids that don't know any better, but I'm telling you now -- you cannot win a dispute with insults because nobody will listen and you won't get any support. Think about it.

 

[Picton]

Question for thoughts, not to be attacked (please). While we wish to align ourselves with individuals who have not had their rights embraced by society; such as LGBT, Pink Pistols...has anyone considered TWAW (The Well Armed Women) organization that has chapters in various states, just not around here? The diversity of firearm owners, and resulting united advocacy for our rights can only strengthen our voices.
Another thought (and here is where I do not wish to be flamed) is the LEOs. While there are threads dedicated to sharing examples of 'bad cops'; the examples are not representative of the whole. Just as we do not wish to be stereotyped by the poor/criminal actions of a person breaking the law with a f.a., the LEOs in general should not be identified by those who have abused their power. BHO and his crew refused to honor the LEOs by illuminating a thin blue line at the WH after the Dallas officers were ambushed. The WH reportedly illuminated in rainbow colors and in purple, in support of the LGBT community, and in honoring the death of Prince respectively. Locally, the Somerville Mayor refused to remove a BLM banner that has been displayed for about a year. After there have been images and video of BLM protestors screaming profanity and hate speech toaward the LEO community, thus perpetuating division vs. the mending of relations they claim to strive for. The NRA wishes to align and support LEOs; the pols seems to disrespect them. We have some really great LEOs here; some who've served our country in the military and continue to want to help others through their continued dedication as LEOs. They may be presently exempt from the AG's over reach, but on a whim, that could be 're-interpreted'; they aren't naive to that fact, nor the abuse of power we have just been subjected to. We need to establish strong alliances, with groups that are organized, have voices, numbers, and who believe in and trust LTC holders.
Just my $0.02 (be gentle- our goal is amassing numbers to help us fight the good fight, not alienating potential alliances).

There's an important difference.

Gun owners are not a monolithic, centralized group with mutual accountability and a high degree of surveillance over each others' activities. Cops are.

So if some random NESer is violating some law, I've got no way of knowing about it because he/she and I don't work long hours together, account for each others' time, or report to a common superior. Very often, cops who break laws do so with the tacit connivance of their fellow cops. Police officers don't break the law in isolation; they rely on the thin blue line, omertà, or whatever you want to call it.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Folks, please control yourselves. We've had to delete a bunch of posts because they fell outside of the posting guidlines.

Thanks.

 

[capecoles]

Originally Posted by JJ4


Dear Ms. Abraham:


I'd like to begin by sharing a few definitions with you:


stereotype
transitive verbste·reo·type \ˈster-ē-ə-ˌtīp, ˈstir-\
Popularity: Top 1% of lookups
Simple Definition of stereotype


: to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same
Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary




Yes, we can do better - but "gun people" are representative of a wide swath of society. We have our doctors, professors, lawyers, teachers. We also have some bigots. The same would be true for any subsampling of the population. What Ms. Abraham did was search for some bad examples on the internet and then wrote a piece of "journalism" that attributes that as a whole to second amendment advocates.




bigot
noun big·ot \ˈbi-gət\
Popularity: Top 1% of lookups
Simple Definition of bigot


: a person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc. : a bigoted person;especially: a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group (such as a racial or religious group)
Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary




Ms. Abraham - Please read the definitions I've included in this message and take a look at yourself in the mirror.


I cannot excuse the inappropriate reaction of some people - but you should understand that thevisceral reaction is due to actions of a person who unilaterally stomped on due process and civil rights. Who told us that we were criminals and she would not prosecute us at this time. This isn't even about guns - it's about due process and the rule oflaw.Ms. Abraham - What you have written is no better than the bigoted responses that you cite. The difference, is that you cited some guy on the internet, but your writing is carried in the "newspaper of record" in Massachusetts. When you have a losing argument on the facts, you attack personalities.


If you'd like to question my intellect and education, I'd be happy to send you a copy of my Ph.D. and my peer-reviewed scientific articles. I'd much rather be spending my time helping increase the number of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, or helping people with disabilities - but you and the Attorney General are forcing me to spend time defending my civil rights instead.


Absolutely outstanding!

 

[Rider]

Question for thoughts..

As Picton said in a different context, gun owners aren't monolithic, and most of them aren't on NES and don't spend all their time worrying about 2A - and they shouldn't have to. Maybe you'll find my perspective interesting - and thanks for providing the opening.

I don't consider myself a gun guy. After many years away from the shooting sports, I decided to get my LTC and buy a few guns. I came to NES for information on the permitting process and what to expect. I stayed for the interesting conversations, and have several real life friends because of NES. (Tip: Many of them are professionals: IT, law, finance, sole proprietors, etc.)

Then in 2013/14 US and MA politicians decided that I am the worst type of human on earth, and depending on your point of view, I should be killed, or put in jail, or at least have all my guns taken away. You might not be shocked to find that this raised my hackles. We (guns owners) did the right thing, and the legislation passed was more or less neutral.

Here we are two years later, and we have all been declared to be criminals. So now what do we do? Me, like so many others, I just want to live my life. But man, these statists are pissing me off. So here I am - a gun guy, not by my choice. My wife has even commented that before I got back into it, I wasn't that interested in guns in general or 2A issues. Ironic, isn't it?

And let's look at the unintended consequences. Aside from how this affects me personally, I now send about half of my charitable giving to GOAL and Comm2A, where in the past I sent almost all of it to local and global food banks, hunger relief organizations, and disaster relief funds. Am I happy about that? Of course not. But I don't really think that I have a choice. But then, most of the local food banks I give to are in bed with the gun grabbers, so I guess there is a bit of irony tied up in there.

ETA: I was reading an article last night, and it mentioned that the reason the Constitution was written the way it was is so that the passion of the moment does not allow the implementation of rash decisions. This edict by the AG is EXACTLY the type of thing the Constitution was intended to prevent.