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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGun Group Raffles Off Assault Rifle Model Used In Newtown Shooting To ‘Resist Barack Obama’
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/27/1931041/tennessee-assault-rifle-raffle/
Gun Group Raffles Off Assault Rifle Model Used In Newtown Shooting To Resist Barack Obama
By Rebecca Leber on Apr 27, 2013 at 2:06 pm
The Tennessee Firearms Association is raffling off one AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, the same weapon used by Adam Lanza to kill 20 children and six adults in Newtown.
According to the promotion, TFA is giving away a BUSHMASTER AR15 to advance the effort to resist Barack Obama, the federal government and even a few in Tennessee state government who are determined to destroy your 2nd Amendment rights!!
The promotion began earlier in April to coincide with the Senates consideration of gun violence prevention legislation. And while contestants do not have to be a TFA member to enter, the promotion notes TFA would appreciate donations, ending with, Our rights under the 2nd Amendment and even the Bill of Rights are not safe in Tennessee! We must act with force and determination to protect, preserve and restore our rights!!!!
The Tennessean reports that the raffle has already drawn more than 10,000 entries for the Monday drawing.
But Tennessee gun groups have little reason to fear for their representatives position on guns. Both Senators Bob Corker (R) and Lamar Alexander (R) voted against the Senate bill to expand background checks two of 46 Senators who filibustered a safety measure that is approved by 90 percent of Americans.
This may illustrate perfectly what Ive been saying all along: They create these issues to raise money. That just stokes the fire to frighten folks, former state Rep. Debra Maggart said of the motive for the raffle. Maggart herself was a target of both TFA and the National Rifle Association in her Republican primary last year.
bowens43
(16,064 posts)enjoyingyourpeasyet
(23 posts)Rounding up gun owners seems a bit extreme plus the costs to house them in prisons even if they are corporate prisons it will still cost money to house them.
We, as in the people, need to make them societal piranhas in the same way the homophobes and racists are treated make it socially unacceptable to own a gun.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)The Giffords are gun owners.
Plenty of DU'ers are as well, and not talking the gungeon here.
This is why this is also nuts.
Now people selling an AR to seed fear, and raise money...go ahead.
enjoyingyourpeasyet
(23 posts)No I will treat all of the gun nuts just like I do republicans, homophobes and bigots I pretty much dont even justify their existence and if I work with them it is business only.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)guns...or not. By the standard yup wrote I will have to say yes.
I will add some in the Brady campaign who also are gun owners
Let me add Diane Feinstein to the mix...she even has a concealed carry permit...gasp...I know.
The problem with broad brushes and all that.
enjoyingyourpeasyet
(23 posts)and I don't not care if they exist or not.
A broad bush in this case makes my world much clearer and in focus.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Who has given time and money to the cause, has written pro reform editorials in a newspaper. Actually suggested practicl solutions and gasp...given money to both the Brady Campaign, the Giffords campaign, and soon to Mayors against Gun Violence.
Feel free to put me on ignore...I am sure as a former medic (yup, seen the horrors that guns do close and personal, and gasp treated them too) I am just a horrible person...since gasp...we own a couple side arms...
I can tell you this...Giffords speaks from a position of moral authority that both you and me lack.
But I am not for outright shunning or confiscation, cause you know what, it ain't practical, and to be pure, you'd have to ignore her, shun her.
Oh and getting rid of the second Ammendment will require we fight a civil war and rewrite the Constitution.
There are things we can do that will reduce death rates. One of them is actually within grasp, (being tested right now) and should be mandated to all existing modern fire arms, smart gun technology, as soon as practical.
A few others also should be done, like 100% background checks, no exceptions and severe penalties for straw purchases.
As far as AWB I am in favor in principle...as long as we don't go after looks and instead go after firing mechanism. nope, banning the scary black guns will not solve the problem.
But please, for purity sake...use the ignore list, and put me on ignore. I prefer not to have disdain for allies to the cause, who understand this will be long, but that is just me. But hey, we gun owners are always irrational loons who you can't reason with, evah.
enjoyingyourpeasyet
(23 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)deserve to go to jail for that?
I just want to be clear here.
premium
(3,731 posts)don't trust people like you.
BTW, are you going to be on the team that starts putting gun lovers in jail? Or are you going to let others do what you want?
Robb
(39,665 posts)Does it love you back?
When you're gone, what's your gun going to tell people about you? Will your gun mourn you?
"Gun lovers" are fucked in the head.
premium
(3,731 posts)Even though they've done nothing wrong except own guns.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Suuuure you are...
friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)PD Turk
(1,289 posts)send men with guns to round them up?
Arkansas Granny
(31,483 posts)DrDan
(20,411 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)Have you hugged your gunz gunz gunz today?
TheCowsCameHome
(40,161 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 28, 2013, 09:00 AM - Edit history (1)
What a sad commentary on what has America has become.
spanone
(135,632 posts)TheCowsCameHome
(40,161 posts)In New Hampshire a small town police chief was shot and killed while serving a warrant, and the very next year a statewide police chiefs association raffled of a high-powered weapon of some sort. I forget the make and model, but it was just as sickening.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Some of our best DUers are and have been from Tennessee, so I know you have a core of great liberals living there. You are going to have your work cut out for you to make some change there.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)It's the most popular brand of rifle in the country and has been for years. It's a raffle to raise money for a political cause; those are hardly unusual. What is it about this that bothers you so much? I mean, obviously none of us like to see Republicans raise money, but I don't think it's that?
Cleita
(75,480 posts)rifle brand for this fund raiser, all I can do is shake my head.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)This is one of those disconnects. It's an ordinary rifle; it's what most people buy when they buy a rifle.
spanone
(135,632 posts)tell them it's just an ordinary rifle
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)This thread is hilarious...it really is.
spanone
(135,632 posts)facts are that gun SHREDDED 26 people in newtown....how fucking funny is that????
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)...and laughing at one means you'd laugh at another. That makes perfect sense.
Like I said, this thread is hilarious.
spanone
(135,632 posts)Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)I'm laughing at you.
Paladin
(28,202 posts)And the pro-gun side is driven by emotions, just as strong as those held by gun control advocates. As always, daily proof of this is available in the DU Gun Control/RKBA group, not to mention every public utterance by Wayne "Spittle-Fleck" LaPierre in the last four months.
[Insert standard "It's all the fault of the Gun Grabbers" retort HERE.]
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Like most people (even mildly sociopathic ones...), I had an emotional reaction to that horror. Unlike some, however, I don't advocate using that emotional reaction as the basis for public policy.
I agree wholeheartedly about that moron LaPierre, though. The NRA's stranglehold on "voice share" for the pro-gun side of this debate needs to be broken. That organization does not do a good job of representing the views of the majority of gun owners (only 3-5% are members). Most of us wanted extended background checks, for example.
rustydog
(9,186 posts)is this nut-job groups way of saying to the victims: FUCK you, Our firearm has more of a right to exist than you do or did.
if you don't see the "fuck you" in their actions, you truly are vision-challenged.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)...gun-banners who demonize gun owners. It is quite possible those huge lines around gun show sites were there for more reasons than getting a possible soon-to-be-banned weapon grand fathered, or speculation on a price run-up, or stockpiling ammunition. The huge crowds could be a form of social protest directed toward controller/banners who seek to demonize millions of gun-owners. Though the sale referenced in the OP is in bad taste, you may wish to consider other motivations than the standard fare of moral condemnation and punched-up psychological pidgeon-holing. Demonization isn't working.
newmember
(805 posts)it's not
why would they do something like that
AlinPA
(15,071 posts)just more guns being sold.
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)There are still popular as service rifles for civilian LEOs.
It's not like the TFA is advertising the raffle by invoking Newtown.
I'd this were a Colt no one would blink. Bushmaster is just a company who makes rifles for lawful purposes.
I suppose for most uninformed people the name Bushmaster was unknown and it conjures up the massacre.
When I hear Bushmaster, I think ABC for Armalite, Bushmaster, and Colt. It was a common reply in the late 1990s when someone asked for an AR recommendation.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)This certainly was an in your face moment, IMHO.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)If anything the handgun would be more offensive.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)I couldn't make a living slinging BS anymore
newmember
(805 posts)I clicked on the promotion site and read about the raffle.
The thread title wasn't created by an anti gunner.
It was created by the sponsors of the raffle.
Please just think about it for a minute.
The name of the rifle was all over the news that killed the children and teachers at Newton
The President flies and comforts the families after the shooting.
The families of the slain children plea with senators to pass more gun control.
The President appears on TV after the vote angered with the families of the slain children.
Then what does this group decide to do?
Create a raffle saying on their own site page this.......
TFA is giving away a BUSHMASTER AR15 to advance the effort to resist Barack Obama
And you think this is okay.
You don't see any problem with this?
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)and I am sorry but it is a Bushmaster rifle.
newmember
(805 posts)of other choices in companies that manufacture AR15 rifles.
They picked this manufacturer for a reason.
They clearly state the reason....
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)For many, the names Bushmaster and AR-15 are synonymous. The only reason why this seems like a big deal to so many here is because they are unaware of this information, and instead of attempting to educate themselves on it, they'd rather just vilify the opposition.
booley
(3,855 posts)It just becomes impossible to think they are really that unaware.
Yes that gun is popular.
The problem is it's not just the hobby shooters that like the gun.
Certain well know mass murderers like it too.
Which means the raffle organizers set themselves up to be accused of this.
Whether it was they were stupid or intentionally reminding us about what gun Lanza used, I don't think it matters anymore
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)Bushmaster is like Chevrolet - just a well-known brand that is now producing middle of the road products.
Like I said, I don't really associate Bushmaster rifles with the massacre. I can't remember the rifles used in other massacres.
Or maybe you're right and they chose it specifically to promote Bushmaster since it associated with the massacre for people without much experience or for more incendiary reasons.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)I don't believe, people don't get it.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)more AR-15 platform rifles than any other maker IIRC. There are millions in circulation. They are overwhelmingly owned and used for lawful purposes. They are not going away any time soon. I doubt that this brand was chosen for nefarious reasons..
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)gun lobby. "We must act with force..." Fear and loathing to prevent any serious firearms controls. As a firearms owner, I deeply resent this strategy on the part of fanatics.
redstatebluegirl
(12,264 posts)To think they thought this would be a good idea. I often wonder if a white President was pushing gun control if things would be different.... It should not be but that is the reality!
pipoman
(16,038 posts)your answer awaits..the resistance was much greater in the early 1990's than it was in this last attempt to enact restrictions on firearms..
Response to babylonsister (Original post)
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Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Response to Lizzie Poppet (Reply #35)
Name removed Message auto-removed
premium
(3,731 posts)Well, this is the dumbest post here so far.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Your proposal is both an hysterical overreaction and the sort of totalitarian excess that I would gladly risk my life to stop...by whatever means necessary.
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)That when it comes to some self-described progressives, there is little difference between them and the hard core teabaggers. Really the only difference is they are completely irrational and ignorant, only in a different direction.
Marengo
(3,477 posts)Take that shit elsewhere
We need to confiscate all guns and send owners to camps
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2767690
A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Sun Apr 28, 2013, 11:09 AM, and voted 5-1 to HIDE IT.
Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT and said: The "has a mental sickness" sticks out too. Whether or not this is a parody, it's disruptive.
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT and said: Not only the part about "camps." but the part about a "mental sickness" is also pathetic. A double whammy that does NOT reflect the views of most of us who support gun control.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT and said: I suspect this person is a TROLL who is coming to DU to make DU look bad. Remove the post and MIRT should look at this poster.
Thank you.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)that was over the top
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)The Giffords family to a reeducation camp? Oh I see, they are nuts by that definition of yours.
Yup, gabby Giffords is nuts! Do carry on with this extreme view, which mind you is as extreme as the people raffling that AR-15
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)premium
(3,731 posts)No, you won't, your just a wannabe internet tough guy sitting behind a computer without worrying about what your proposal would do to this country.
Response to premium (Reply #41)
Name removed Message auto-removed
premium
(3,731 posts)Guns will never be banned in this country, we are not Aus..
I'll ask again, are you going to be on any confiscation team? Or are you going to let others do what you yourself are not willing to do?
Joseph Ledger
(36 posts)About as plausible as Atlas Shrugs.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)That sort of extreme gun control (and totalitarian enforcement) wouldn't be a major cause of such fracturing, but it would certainly contribute. The US as currently constituted has 20 years...maybe 30.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)And a new constitution.
In an ideal world I would like to see Canada...in reality..only a civil war and a new constitution.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)FFS, are you 10 years old?
Then there's this truly unbelievable brain fart:
"No one needs a gun except the government."
Because we all know that "the government" means nobody any harm, eh?
Again FFS, some people are just ridiculous.
rustydog
(9,186 posts)to the completely innocent victims and their families who have had to suffer intolerable horror an tragedy:
Fuck you...my pseudo-penis has more of right to exist in America than you do.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)MattBaggins
(7,894 posts)Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)"gun safety" many on here do not care at all about gun safety or they would be more on the handgun issue. All of us gun owners are for gun safety and put forth many ideas that your side ignore or call "NRA talking points" Yes I think this raffle could have used a different weapon, it may have been donated and they did not have a choice. But it is what it is, an AR-15 platform made by bushmaster Arms and happens to be the most popular model rifle out there now. Save us all from your over the top commentary.
MattBaggins
(7,894 posts)But gun safety opponents are in fact a disgusting lot.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)is against gun safety please. Most gun owners here are for legislation that will help prevent these tragedies but not cosmetic bans. Some here should just say what they want in no bullshit terms, it is call gun control and I am even for that if you can control weapons from prohibited persons. Others want total bans and I am against that because they want to ban on appearance and not by the type of weapon causing the most deaths, HANDGUNS
justanidea
(291 posts)The Gabby Giffords shooting when some gun organization raffled off a Glock.
The AR-15 has been the best selling and most popular rifle for years now. There are dozens of manufacturers of ARs however Bushmaster is one of the more popular ones due to the fact they make a decent quality AR at a decent price.
Therefore I am not shocked such a gun would be used in a raffle. Same as how I wasnt shocked when a Glock (probably the most popular brand of handgun in the US) was raffled off a few years ago.
I would just like to known when Im allowed to take part in my normal activity again without being insensitive to the victims of Newtown. I was told a few weeks after Newtown that I was being rude and insensitive for having went to the shooting range with my AR one weekend.
Joseph Ledger
(36 posts)To the camp with you!
Robb
(39,665 posts)justanidea
(291 posts)Robb
(39,665 posts)City Lights
(25,171 posts)Why do they have access to guns?
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)what type of mental illness do these people have? I am sure you can tell from pictures or board postings.
Robb
(39,665 posts)And these guys raffling a gun off to raise money to "fight Obama" are a bunch of assholes.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)Assholes but they can still do it. Does not make them mentally ill.
Robb
(39,665 posts)And no one ever said they didn't have a right to do it; you've knocked down a big straw man in an effort, what, to legitimize their position? Way to win an argument you've made up in your mind, though.
sigmasix
(794 posts)This organization advances the far right extremist conspiracy theories about the president of the united states being an agent of foreign enemies of America.
This type of paranoid conspiracy theory mongering is the same mind set as most of the mass murderers that have gunned down so many Americans in the ever repeating cycle of American gun massacres.
The NRA has become little more than a domestic terror organization. These misanthropes from tennessee are simply assisting in the desimination of anti-American conspiracy theories about the potus and implementing fund raisers to attract more misanthropes to the gun fetish that is held by so many cowards.
TheCowsCameHome
(40,161 posts)Sick Fucks.
Initech
(99,912 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)We have had guns throughout history. (Though we are at historic high)
It is the Heller decision, with a dash of racist fear and a sprinkle of RW propaganda with a healthy helping of fear.
Add to this the NRA, which supported not just background checks at one point, but pushed for the 1932 laws that created special licensing for machine guns. They have become a pro gun industry lobby.
They got a problem. Gun ownership is actually down. So they need to create repeat customers.
Nancy Lanza is the new ideal customer, not Beaver...
Initech
(99,912 posts)Exactly - end times conspirators like Nancy Lanza are the NRA's base now. They live off fear that is brought to them thanks to the Fox Opinion Channel.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Truth be told, I need to go to the range to go through the two boxes of ammo and replace it. (It does have a shelf life, I hate duds)
I am not the target, why? I am not going to sink another...500-1000 bucks on a new toy every three months, and buy thousands and thousands of ammo. I ain't a good customer from the modern day gun industry POV.
But these far to the right conspiracy clientele, who are still from the majority of gun owners, buy new guns and collect ammo like it was going out of style.
So who would you prefer as a customer is a market that is actually going down in numbers, raw numbers?
A couple decades ago I was the target customer. There were enough of us who could sustain a gun shop...in fact, it was me and hunters...we ain't enough no more.
The only thing I share with Nancy is age and gender, which can be odd when we go cycle ammo...may I Interest you in....
Truth be told, the only thing I would consider, since they are neat looking, and fairly good for rabbit and other small game, is a copy of a 1898 Winchester lever rifle. Again, as atypical as they come. Trust me it's way down in my gotta have now list...like under dirt. There are a bunch of minis for the miniatures hobby I share with my husband that I'd consider first, like way first. But I have been offered the latest and greatest for...you know self defense and shit. That is right until they hear me speak....RUN!!!
Yup, gun shop owners share some of the paranoia and biases of their clientele.
Sometimes, when we go cycle ammo...it's best to listen. You learn a lot about the culture and how sick it's become in small corners of it...loud corners. And yes, we did a gun show once too...oddest place ever, a mix of white supremacy, nazi memorabilia, anti government talk and guns. The conversations are just...nuts. And this is Cali, where the gun show loophole has been closed...I think I'll stay away from AZ.
And those are again...a weird minority...
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)To them there is no gray area. It's either "everyone in the country should be able to buy ten thousand guns of any kind with no questions asked" or "the government is going to confiscate all your guns and melt them into huge statues of Barack Obama and Janet Reno!"
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)never seen one poster have that position. Have seen many posters her calling gun owners names, killers, mentally deficient, murderers in waiting. I think all gun owners here have given specific suggestions to try and limit gun carnage. They just do not think total bans and confiscation with house to house searches (some have called for) or bans on features of a semi-automatic rifles will work to prevent most violence. Background checks are one idea but would not have prevented most of these mass shootings. Can not hurt if they NICS were made available to public to use.
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)Up here in the right winger preserve, a vast number of people think Obama is going to grab their guns any second now. The wildest nightmares of the gungeon read like Sarah Brady's fantasies next to the letters to the editor in the Priest River Times, Bonners Ferry Herald and St Maries Gazette-Record.
Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)I did.
http://tips.fbi.gov
Response to Zoeisright (Reply #79)
Name removed Message auto-removed
premium
(3,731 posts)Immoral, yes, illegal, no.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)It's not like they have important things to do. Oh,wait...
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Is an anti-gun person, and destroys it. That is what I would do.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)alp227
(31,960 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)premium
(3,731 posts)They're doing nothing illegal, immoral, yes, but not illegal.
alp227
(31,960 posts)Selling weapons with a hook of "resisting government"? We've seen how such resistance had turned out...Waco and Ruby Ridge.
hack89
(39,171 posts)there is nothing the NRA would love more than for the SS or FBI to get involved. You would immediately validate all the anti-government BS they are pushing.
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 28, 2013, 09:59 PM - Edit history (1)
liberal N proud
(60,300 posts)neverforget
(9,433 posts)The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)99% of who don't use their weapons in a negative way, but we label them based on the few.
We sell fear of fellow citizens - we are all potential terrorists and killers, so let's get other citizens who go to work at our big employer, government, to protect us from everyone else.
Reduce rights, sell fear, don't take liquids on to planes, watch your neighbors for suspicious activities, tap phones, read emails, etc and so on.
And none of that 'make me feel safer' shit stopped any shootings or the recent bombing.
So we sell more fear, make more laws, and don't spend the money to enforce the ones we already have that could make a difference.
G_j
(40,366 posts)after 19 years of squelching debate, who is selling fear?
http://ktar.com/?sid=1627926&nid=131
Updated Apr 28, 2013 - 10:02 am
Manchin: Gun bill to be reintroduced -
WASHINGTON (AP) - One of the architects of failed gun control legislation says he's bringing it back.
Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday said he would re-introduce a measure that would require criminal and mental health background checks for gun buyers at shows and online. The West Virginia Democrat says that if lawmakers read the bill, they will support it
G_j
(40,366 posts)otohara
(24,135 posts)Creeps w/ guns
morningfog
(18,115 posts)CTyankee
(63,769 posts)stuff like the TN gun raffle instead of whining about how gun safety activists don't love them enough, maybe, maybe I would believe them when they "say" they are in favor of gun safety laws. As long as they're pulling this shit, I have deaf ears...