Good Gun News for a Change

by Claire Wolfe


Those of us who’ve been around the gun-rights movement for a while tend to think in terms of bad news. We remember how the Brady bill could have been defeated in the Senate — but was resurrected and passed in a late-night collusion between a handful of powerful R and Ds. We remember the glee of the anti-gunners when they imposed the so-called “assault weapons” ban.



During the height of the efforts to win back some of our gun rights, I worked for seven years with Aaron Zelman of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. I admired Aaron hugely and am glad to see his work going on even after his death. But if you want to develop a real paranoia about government intentions and guns, spend seven years steeped in the knowledge that “gun control” is a setup for genocide.



So I have to admit that, even when things began to turn around, I was still suspicious. When one anti-gun politician after another went down to defeat, I was inclined to say, “Well, you still can’t trust the rest.”



Heller and McDonald? Okaaaay. Those were pretty amazing, really. But look at all those loopholes the Supremes left!



The quiet little movement for shall-issue concealed carry permits left me unmoved even as state after state — after state! — liberalized its carry laws. I am not a permit person. I would no more ask government permission to carry a gun than I would ask government permission to exercise free speech or practice religion. So me? I saw all that legalism as a backdoor way for governments to know and control who the gunfolk are. (And there are plenty of horror stories about cops and concealed-carry permits.)



I didn’t really start believing things had turned around until a few states did something I would have said was impossible.



For years, we hardcore gun-rights types had genuflected to the one state in the union that simply kept its nose out of the business of those who wanted to bear arms. “Vermont carry,” we called it. Yes, little quirky, odd-ball Vermont had no permits. In Vermont you could carry a gun openly or in your pocket or under your armpit or inside your boot — or wherever you wanted to carry it — and the state government would mind its own business.



But we would cast our eyes toward Vermont and sigh longingly. Surely in this day of more and more government control over our lives, no state would ever go that way again.



And then Alaska did. And Arizona. And Wyoming.



Granted, we’re still far from the day when California or New York does such a thing (can you even imagine?). But it’s still pretty amazing.



And now that even I am willing to admit that the heroic activists of our side have done an amazing job of declaring and spreading our rights, the good news seems to come from everywhere. Sometimes it’s a small thing, sometimes big. But we are freaking winning.



For instance, here’s what I’ve collected from the news just within the last two weeks and without really trying:

• A sheriff urges citizens to arm themselves.


• A Gallup poll shows public support for “gun control” is lower than ever.


• In Washington (the other Washington), the state court of appeals says that Seattle’s ban on guns in parks is illegal.


• And on November 1 a new law went into effect making Wisconsin the 41st “right-to-carry” state.
• The U.S. House of Representatives passed a national right-to-carry bill. If it becomes law, people with a permit from one state would automatically be allowed to carry in any other state where concealed carry is legal.
• Not to mention that the Obama administration, and particularly Attorney General Eric Holder, is still being made to squirm like caught caterpillars over its sneaky attempts to justify more anti-gun legislation.



It’s a lovely sight to see.



Can we ever say we’ve won the battle for our rights? Probably not. Even now, terrified hoplophobes are still predicting blood in the streets, believing that every encounter with an armed person is one wrong move from turning into the gunfight at the OK Corral. We’ll always have to keep a vigilant eye on the collection of control freaks and pants-wetting cowards who want us disarmed.



But in the gun-rights fight, its glorious to be winning for a change.





Claire Wolfe is the author of the Paladin books The Bad Attitude Guide to Good Citizenship, Freedom Outlaw’s Handbook, and I Am Not a Number, and a contributor to The Paladin Book of Dangerously Fun Stuff and Tough Times Survival Guide, Vol. 2.