In 2005, Prof. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit wrote a book, An Army of Davids, about how technology had changed the equations in society so that ordinary citizens could go around the media monopoly.
Just as videos of grassroots attendance at health care forums in the summer of 2009 helped propel opposition to Obamacare into an electoral issue, so too will videos of citizens speaking out against excessive and often irrational gun control proposals help propel 2nd Amendment rights.
The video of a veteran who stood up and spoke out at a recent Chicago-area gun control forum now has over 100,000 views at YouTube and has been linked and embedded at The Blaze, The Right Scoop, Fox Nation, and elsewhere.
That veteran, Kevin Tully, has come to symbolize a willigness to speak up and speak out, with the new media serving as megaphone:
“This is what I’m most amazed about. It’s not that people are commenting and saying, ‘this guy is a Second Amendment supporter,’ or ‘this guy is a patriot.’ It’s how many people said, ‘finally, someone is standing up and saying something.’ I’m just doing what I was raised to do. At some point in time, someone made it a crime to be opinionated. To be a patriot. To tell right from wrong. When in our nation did the word ‘patriot’ become a foul world?”
This phenomenon is being felt not only in a run on gun and ammunition inventories, but also in the political sphere, as The NY Times notes, Democrats in Senate Confront Doubts at Home on Gun Laws (h/t Instapundit):
If there is a path to new gun laws, it has to come through West Virginia and a dozen other states with Democratic senators like Mr. Manchin who are confronting galvanized constituencies that view any effort to tighten gun laws as an infringement.
It is, in a sense, An Army of Davy Crocketts, citizens who previously were not involved politically but who have been forced, by dint of government overreach, into acting. It’s also a reaction to the condescending, elitist attitude that tells people the credentialed class knows best.
It’s not men alone, so there’s also An Army of Annie Oakleys. This video has attracted huge attention:
Something is happening out there. We in the alternative media can’t create it, but we can give it voice.
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Comments
Each person you cited and the readers here believe that one of the great traditions that led the West to unprecedented propserity is the focus on and protection of the Individual. These are all Individuals and proud of it. And the more officials and bureaucrats try to push the idea that Individualism is no longer the relevant focus of the 21st century because we have government to take care of us, the more valuable the Second Amendment seems. Because nothing said primacy of the power vs the State like the Constitution specifying the government did not have a monopoly on the lawful use of force.
That individuals stand distinct apart from government. Not subjects. Not just pawns to power lust which is precisely the view being taken now.
I am still annoyed both by the response to the Newtown tragedy and by the creation of the Organizing for Action.
The primary difference between the Clinton AWB and the current push is the internet. Even people who don’t pay a lot of attention to current events are being exposed via social media.
I recently read a screed by a Collectivist boob about how the “gun culture” was imposing itself on him and his buds.
This, of course, is the typical inversion of reality we see from Collectivist who are turning themselves inside-out to impose on US restrictions of our rights.
As we’ve seen, guns…and shooting them…were once commonplace even in New York schools. Not long ago, either.
I am delighted to allow stupid people to maintain their stupid. If guns cause “men” like the author I reference here to lose control of their bowels, so be it.
But he and his Collective are never content to leave US the same choice. Nor are they the least scrupled about lying in support of their tyranny.
Speaking of someone who will never be president (really)…
Crazy Joe Biden goes off script!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wcxVovpJdi8
Priceless…
Watch the expression of the metrosexual who asked the question…
So Biden wants to eliminate “assault” weapons, but thinks an indiscriminate shotgun is the answer in an emergency. Yikes … and nuts like this hold high office.
In the Sandy Hook case, a shotgun is one thing that would have saved the 20 kids, but an “assault weapon” would be a safer defensive weapon in most cases. Of course no weapons and gun free zones are much worse than assault weapons OR shotguns, when it comes to protecting children or adults.
Can’t Joe and the left figure out that disarming the teachers cost those kids their lives? Yet buffoon Biden can advise someone to use a shotgun? Good grief.
There are a LOT of situations where I would not fire a shotgun…
BUT WOULD fire a tack-driver like a “Warm Puppy Family Protector” with which I could hit a bad guy in the eye reliably.
All I can say is that if “they” attempt to limit my 2nd amendment right, they will be met with resistance…
Maybe if manufacturers made “military style semi-automatic weapons” available in colors like pink, fuschia, magenta, etc., they wouldn’t be so scary? Plus, what self-respecting mass murderer would want to get caught dead with a pink rifle? Solves everything.
We need to start calling them “Warm Puppy Family Protectors”.
And don’t forget the Rainbow color scheme…!!!
Rainbows, eh? Good ideer. Hey! Rainbow ghillie suits! Defeats the purpose, sure, but unreason ain’t no reason among gun-grabbers.
How ’bout “Gay Rights Defense Systems”…!?!?
Rags…wonderful.
Its an assault on Gay rights to deny them self-defence!!!
Christ! Even Frankinwinstein would shut up!
I can see it now, pink .45s, Lavender AK-47s. Show your support for armed Gay rights and buy your AK-47s NOW!!!
Henry, where have you been? With women becoming the largest purchasers of firearms, gun manufacturers have been making pink rifles for some time now. Most are .22s but Ruger has even come out with a pink pistol.
Some rifles are even available in other colors like lime green and a medium blue. No more dreary black firearms for the girls, no siree.
Yep, saw my first pink gun about 5 yrs ago when I answered an ad on Carolina Bargain Trader advertising a handgun I’d been looking for. No pic in the ad, but emails assured me it was in excellent shape. Drove 30 miles to see it and it was all pinked out. Uh, no thanks!
Last summer The Boys, the 3 who shoot on Fridays, were joined by a 60yo old woman who wanted to learn to shoot. Then mid December a 90yo showed up. Last week a 50ish wanted to learn and bring her friends today.
A teenageer showed up for the holidays but the women outshot him…the guys told him to get a haircut.
The gunshop has been crowded with women buyibg mostly shotguns,
Does anyone see a trend here?
In the words of Davey Crockett: “You all can go to hell, I’m going to Texas!”
Why are Dem mayors so ready to clamor over guns but ignore the HIV epidemic spreading throughout their cities? The potential to contract HIV is much greater than being shot at by a mentally ill person. The criterion for “protective” legislation makes absolutely no sense. Ban large soft drinks but say nothing about the dangers of HIV?
And, if the Dems banned abortion they’d have more taxpayers w/increased revenues and more potential voters. Isn’t that their real end game? You’re only worth to a Dem is your potential revenue and your potential vote.
Henry, you can get your AR15 in just about any color you want…
Sea Foam? Can I get one in Sea Foam??? Can I get My Little Pony stickers as an option or do I have to add those after market? Oooooooo…!
The last thing I want to do is scare someone who knows nothing about guns, therefore fears them, and considers that sufficient cause to ban them.
Krylon baby!
http://www.krylon.com/products/fusion_for_plastic/
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/psa-m4-furniture-kit-pink.html
She fires a gun beautifully.
We should get Jessie to change her name to Julia.
God bless you, Kevin Tully. People like you make and have made this country exceptional!
Annie Oakley endured a targeted sustained vicious attack by big media – Randolph Hearst Empire.
Not much has changed
Just a historical nit:
Davy Crockett was a TV show.
David Crockett was the guy who went to Texas and died at the Alamo.