Foreign Policy by the NRA? The Prospect of Gingrich and Bolton.

[spin]

130. It will be an interesting election year...

and the icing on the cake may the actions of the OWS group and the Tea Party.

I heard a talking head on TV discussing the possibility that the Republicans will have a brokered convention. That would be very interesting to watch as the last such convention was in 1952 when Adlai Stevenson won the Democratic nomination. I was too young at that time to have developed much of an interest in news, although I do remember watching news reports of the Korean War on my Uncle's TV in Pittsburgh.

The Republicans and the NRA will try to warn that Obama will "come for your guns" but it may not have the effect you expect. The Brady Campaign has tried for years to stop the passage of "shall issue" concealed carry laws by claiming that blood would blow in the streets. Running around squawking like Chicken Little works only for a short time.

Your idea of Democrats strongly supporting new gun control measures would give the NRA new ammo to shoot at us. It would be far better for the leadership of our party to simply admit the idea of disarming or making life hard for honest gun owners was a poor idea and that it would no longer be a goal of the Democratic Party. We could leave them holding their losing issue which is attempting to stop abortion. (Of course this will never happen.)

Gun rights were not the prime issue driving the Tea Party in the midterm election.

The Tea Party movement (TPM) is an American populist[1][2][3] political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian,[4] and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009.[5][6][7] It endorses reduced government spending,[8][9] opposition to taxation in varying degrees,[9] reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit,[8] and adherence to an originalist interpretation of the United States Constitution.[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement

In order to discuss your idea of limiting gun ownership you will eventually have to come up with an actual limit. You are now saying that you don't favor a "hard limit." If you were able to pass a law that limits the number of firearms a person owns first you have to know just how many guns he has. That would require a system of registration. The assault weapons ban has a higher chance of being reborn than a national registration system being implemented. You suggested taxing the guns a person owns. Many gun owners would simply not report the number of guns they own and therefore would pay no taxes on them. Without a registration system I can't see how your plan would work. You also mention regulation. Who would regulate firearm collections? The most logical agency is the ATF. Would we have more Waco sieges?

I suspect the White Supremacists are smart enough to realize that assassinating Obama would be a very poor idea and would be counterproductive to their interests. But to be honest, I don't know any members of such groups. Therefore I can't really comment on their motivations or goals. One time at the pistol range a character showed up who we suspected was a militia member from the things he said. We managed to make him feel uncomfortable enough that he left and never returned. An attempt on Obama by such a group would backfire badly. Once again I pray for any and all Presidents and all politicians. I also agree with you that allowing people to carry a firearm in the presence of a President is a foolish idea.