Drive-By Media: Who needs those candy-ass NRA dudes when we got the CCDL?

[jpak]

http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/drive-by-media/drive-by-media-who-needs-those-candy-ass-nra-dudes-when-we-got-the-ccdl-064550

If you were nervous that the NRA wasn’t doing a good enough job lobbying against gun control in Connecticut, you can now relax: The Connecticut Citizens Defense League is the job.

CCDL members, all wearing their badges (featuring a white pistol over a black silhouette of the state of Connecticut, with the motto “Carry On!” below) were out in force Wednesday to testify against a bill that would have banned possession of gun magazines with more than 10 rounds.

The proposal is a response to the Arizona shooting spree by Jared Loughner, who used a 9 mm Glock 19 with a 33-round magazine to kill six people and wound 14 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Advocates for the proposal argue that maybe fewer people would have been shot if Loughner had to stop to reload his semi-automatic.

“Most legitimate gun owners can make do with 10 rounds ,” West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci told lawmakers on the legislature’s Judiciary Committee. He called the idea of limiting the size of magazines for firearms “a small step” in the right direction.

<more>

Badges?

We don't need no stinking badges!

Prancing morans

yup

:rofl:

[rl6214]

1. "Prancing morans"

More of the shtick.

If you've got to resort to name calling, insulting, childish behavior,

you've lost all credibility

[Kennah]

2. Actually, the NRA doesn't gets involved in direct action in state politics

There are usually state groups, some affiliated with NRA and some not, who do most of that work.

As with all things, gun groups run the gamut.

[DonP]

3. Anybody want to guess how many rounds the Chief carries?

Anybody think he limits himself and his people to only 10 rounds? Since most (all?) departments have now gone to semi autos, I'm going to guess they have a minimum of at least 13 rounds of .40, more likely 15 is they use a 9mm.

What the chief meant to say is everybody else should be limited except for me and my people, on or off duty. Well, that and their special deputies that contribute to campaigns.

[benEzra]

4. Reverting magazine capacities back to the 1860's and 1890's isn't "a small step."

Banning all magazines over 10 rounds is like banning all abortions after the 10th week. It is far less "reasonable" than someone unfamiliar with the issue might realize, when you consider that you're talking about roughly a quarter billion magazines owned by 40+ million people. These are not fringe items.

But, it seems that even gun control advocates are backing away from the asinine 10-round limit...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/13/obama-gun-control-arizona-shooting_n_835103.html

“Actually, I like this,” emailed Jim Kessler, a former director of policy and research at Americans for Gun Safety. “There will be a knee-jerk reaction among some who will say, “Why no clip ban?” But I think on both substance and political grounds, a high-capacity clip ban is the wrong way to go. There were roughly 12,000 gun homicides last year, and I’ll wager that less than 10 were caused by bullets 11 through 30 in someone’s magazine. The problem is bullets 1, 2, and 3 –- not 11, 12, and 13."

[YllwFvr]

5. exellent quote nt

[GreenStormCloud]

6. It was lucky that Loughner was stupid enough to use a 33 rd mag.

That caused the gun to jam on the 32nd round which stopped him from shooting until the jam was cleared. He was tackled while he was trying to clear the jam.

Cho at VT used nothing but 10 rd magazines, and his guns didn't jam. He kept on reloading and shooting. Fired 170 shots in all.

[spin]

7. Isn't it strange that you never hear that mentioned ...

The emphasis seems to be placed on banning hi-cap magazines which of course has led to a increase in sales of these items.

Fearing legislation, gun owners snap up high-capacity magazines
By Bradley Bouzane, Postmedia News January 11, 2011

Fears of potential legislation that would limit the size of handgun clips in the wake of this weekend's mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, have led many gun owners to flock to gun shops to stockpile high-capacity magazines.

Firearm retailer Glockmeister said sales of high-capacity clips have jumped by as much as 500 per cent since Saturday, when six people were killed and another 14 injured in a shooting rampage outside an Arizona supermarket.

"Total orders are up 200 per cent, but the quantity of magazines — high-capacity magazines in particular — have risen upwards of 400 to 500 per cent in the last two days," said Steve Zacher, operations manager at the Mesa, Arizona, based gun shop, which sells products in-store and online.

"The reason for that would be that when high-publicity incidents occur and there's talk of potential legislation or restriction on capacity of magazines, a certain element . . . feel compelled to reinventory themselves in the event that particular items are banned or restricted from future sales."
http://www.canada.com/news/Fearing+legislation+owners+snap+high+capacity+magazines/4093947/story.html

If the news media would have just said the failure of the hi-cap magazine led to the massacre being stopped, there would have been no increase in the sales. We might be able to try to make some meaningful improvement in our gun laws rather than waste time passing "feel good" laws which accomplish nothing.

[Hoyt]

8. CCDL. Now, that's one Tbaggish looking group of folks. Figures.

[GreenStormCloud]

9. They look like ordinary folks to me. N/T

[Hoyt]

10. Not surprising. They look like a TParty gathering -- go look at the CCDL gallery.

[Flyboy_451]

11. wow...categorizing people by how they look...

Now we can identify peoples political, moral or ethical standards by their looks?? Isn't that kinda like saying "I don't like those people because they are _______." Fill in the blank with your preferred group to dislike/distrust based on their appearance.

And you think of yourself as liberal? Sounds more classist/elitist/racist to me. Pretty disgusting on every level.

JW

[Hoyt]

12. Yellow "Don't tread on me" flags, no minorities in the crowd, guns -- whatdaya think they are?

And they are out promoting guns in public> That pretty much seals it for me, but if you want to embrace them, that's your business.

[Flyboy_451]

13. I think they are likely typical Americans excersising rights...

To address your points individually...

1. Don't tread on me flags- I am sure you know the general history of this particular item. It is truly representative of the most liberal ideas in history. The idea of the independence and freedoms of a nation beyond a tyrannical ruler. Regardless of someones political affiliations, this is still a strong symbol of citizens standing firm in resistance to oppression and curtailing of guaranteed rights. While it may be a favored symbol in use by tea party members or supporters, it truly is not tied only to them.

2. No minorities- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, minorities make up only about 20% of the states population. Given that this appears to be a relatively new and small group, is it really any surprise that there is a lack of minority members?

3. Guns- They are a 2nd Amendment activist group. You don't have to be a conservative, tea party member or libertarian to be concerned with 2nd amendment rights. It could even be easily argued that liberals should be even more vocal than more conservative groups are. Maybe, if the left did not regularly try to infringe upon 2nd amendment rights, liberals could turn the tide of the political discussion about guns.

After spending some time on their web site and doing a little looking around, the only mention of politics that I found were information about legislative efforts, contact information for representatives and information on state laws. Not exactly the type of information I would expect to see from a group that has been quite vocal for the past two years. I would ave expected at least some comments about opposing parties. Hmm...maybe it just isn't a party affiliated group.

JW

[Hoyt]

14. Hey, you gun guys will excuse any political position as long as they don't take your guns.

And all they represent. I get it, you can't see yourself living without them.

[friendly_iconoclast]

15. I see you're still claiming the ability to read minds at a distance.

Your post brings to mind the words of the unknown sage who said: "Bigots invariably claim to be the soul of reason."

[Hoyt]

17. Yea those "bigots against guns in public" are so bad. IMO, you discriminate against 300 Million

who see no reason to carry in public.

You ought to go read about the civil rights movement -- and how minorities were treated -- before borrowing terms like "bigot" when referring to people who think you ought to leave your friggin guns at home where they belong.

[friendly_iconoclast]

20. How does proximity to guns carried in public cause harm?

The misuse of guns in public can cause harm, but simply being near one cannot- they don't emit gamma rays, y'know.

Is this another iteration of Robert Bork's theory of 'moral harm'?

[PavePusher]

22. Mirror, mirror, on the wall....

Seriously, do you even think through what you put on the screen? Really?

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

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[ccdlmember]

18. I'm a CCDL member

OK, I'll feed the troll.
As a CCDL member, I can tell you this, CCDL is a single issue organization, and that issue is gun rights. Politically they oppose restrictions on those rights. Political party does not matter. I can tell you this about their leadership and membership from personal experience:
The Vice President is a life long Democrat.
The Membership Coordinator is an inner city Asian who couldn't bring himself to really help progun Republican candidates in the last election.
The Treasurer is a handicapped hippy Wiccian chick who votes D unless they are antigun.

There are black members, cuban and latin american members, biracial members, and jewish members. I've met a college feminist, a newspaper editor and a beauty queen at meetings or events. And yes there are some tea party types in there too. As a matter of fact, like someone else mentioned it's a fairly accurate representation of the CT population in general. In CT that means quite a few members are registered Independent or Democrat, but again, the only issue as a organization is gun rights. It's up to the individual to decide how that factors into their voting decisions at election time.

[PavePusher]

23. Thank you for the input, cc.

The projected bigotry of some of the anti-Rights people here is both deeply ironic and astounding.

[Atypical Liberal]

16. Just more allies in the right to keep and bear arms.

There are some "candy-asses" around here that we don't need, but the NRA and the CCDL ain't them.

[ccdlemember]

19. Not really badges. They were stickers with the logo on them.

Feel free to http://ct-n.com/ondemand.asp?ID=6381">watch the video of the hearing.

[Name removed]

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