Gun Year In Review Picks Top Stories For 2014

 Mike Vanderboegh at the "I Will Not Comply" rally in Olympia represented one of the huge stories of 2014: The resurgence of civil disobedience as an effective public policy strategy.

This article comes from the Gun Rights Examiner.

by David Codrea

 The Michael Bloomberg-backed Washington State anti-gun initiative and so-called “smart gun” technology were the two top stories of 2014 as far as firearms rights are concerned, Seattle Gun Rights Examiner Dave Workman opined in his Monday column. That matches closely with the topic discussed last night on the nationally-syndicated Armed American Radio program with host Mark Walters. The shift in “gun control” efforts from the federal level to the states was discussed with guests, including author Alan Korwin, economist and Crime Prevention Research Center founder John Lott, and myself and blogger/firearms expert George “Mad Ogre” Hill (with further salient commentary from production engineer Sean "Seanto" Young).

 While I agreed that I-594 represented a very significant development, my view is it was symptomatic of a larger issue that plagues the gun rights community: apathy. Despite Bloomberg claiming 90 percent of the public supports deceptively-named “universal background checks,” the election results in a decidedly “blue state” came in at under 60 percent of votes cast, and considering that only around half of those eligible cast ballots, it means controls were imposed by about a third of the voters. Many of those were heavily influenced by a well-financed, professional propaganda campaign, further backed by the likes of Bill Gates and Nick Hanauer.

Had more gun owners taken it upon themselves to first of all become informed on the measure and the valid arguments against it, and then become force multipliers to expose the manipulation, spread the word, educate, get out the vote, show up to vote, and contribute financially to the opposition effort, things could have turned out differently. As things stand, Bloomberg & Co. are trying for a lather, rinse, repeat in Nevada, and uninvolved gun owners will only guarantee another victory for their enemy.

 Without a critical mass of dedicated ground troops to counter seemingly inexhaustible billionaire financing and professional organization, committed gun rights advocates were reduced to being reactive and on the defensive. No one wins a fight without going on offense. And the same level of “Let George Do It” detachment contributed to further setbacks at the state level, notably the reelections of Dannel Malloy in Connecticut and John Hickenlooper in Colorado.

 Had time not run out on last night's program, there were three other topics I considered significant, and all will only grow in importance in 2015 and beyond. The first, which I did manage to squeeze in a word about, is “amnesty” for illegal aliens and the effect that will have on the electorate when millions with a predisposition to support Democrats and “gun control” become eligible to vote. If any issue has the potential to undo and reverse all of the legislative and judicial gains gun owners have enjoyed to date, and worse, that’s the one.

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