Friday, January 31, 2020

Aaugh! Shocking.

h/t Herschel


















(RALLYTOWN, VA) Virginia’s Senate Judiciary Committee passed several gun control bills Monday morning. 
Those bills tackle everything from universal background checks (S. B. 70- Background Checks), one gun a month limit, (S.B. 69- One-Gun-a-Month Limit), red flag laws, firearms and ammunition to be controlled by localities (S.B. 35- Local Authority), as well as firearms being restricted at public events.
Waitwaitwait...I thought there was just a wildly successful 2A rally...?
Just ten days ago.
In the same place these bills passed.
Everyone was talking about it.
Gosh, it's almost as if that had absolutely zero effect on anything in the real world.

O, if only someone - anyone - had warned them of that.

Meanwhile, it's a month later in 2020.
So, how many VA citizens have lobbied their own sheriffs, and used that time since New Year's Day to form citizen reserves to halt illegal weapons confiscation efforts, and fight and/or block all implementation of these unconstitutional laws in the Commonwealth, both legally and physically?

Would that too be...zero?

Hmmm.

Why could that be?

Keep having Gun Fan Woodstocks, and bravely protesting the War On Guns.
That will totally work.
Like it did in the '60s.

Explanations of how that happens are invited in Comments.
Butthurt and bile will either be cheerfully mocked, or rapidly obliterated into the ether of electrons, solely at our own amusement.

They would not listen, they're not listening still.
Perhaps they never will.

Anybody who's met IRL with so much as one other new person, in VA or their own state, since Gun Woodstock, to actually organize anything substantial, rather than imaginary, gets a pass on the past month's pop quiz.

The final exam will be graded pass/fail, and far more strictly.

29 comments:

Beans said...

And yet, sitting on one's hands and politely asking for someone in big government to pay attention to them worked and is working oh so well for California.

Your legislature has ignored every well-written request, protest, plea, hope and prayer.

Mayhaps if California's gun nuts had been more visible, more open, more demanding, their gun rights wouldn't have been so... socialized.

Aesop said...

Beans,

VA is about to get nearly word-for-word, the exact same gun restrictions it took CA 30 years to pass. In only 1/100th of that time span.
In the NRA's home state.
Explain how doing Gun Woodstock helped VA.
Show your work.

Getting legislature-passed nonsense overturned in the courts has been the sole exception, thus far, hereabouts. (And as usual, and also as predicted, the appeasement chorus at the NRA is MIA. It's been entirely home-grown groups.) And currently, while nobody has been paying attention, Trump and Yertle the Turtle have the federal Ninth Circus exactly two judge appointments from a conservative majority for the first time in living memory, for most people.

Wet-diaper protests do nothing.
Exactly like ever.

Bummer for Gun Woodstock fans.




Oh, and as if you didn't know this without being told, but nobody told you to either sit on your hands, nor be polite. They just asked folks not to be deliberately stupid.
Maybe that was going too far, IDK.

KDKong said...

With Kalifornia as an example VA really has no excuse.

Badger said...

Aesop, you're better than this.
As oft stated, there was nothing that a rally, a lobby day, more local work back in the dispersed hamlets in the highlands, or sacrificing a ChiCom Stratocaster® clone in a burn barrel was going to do in terms of stopping the agenda already on the table in the Virginia legislature.

Go bake some more Schadenfreude Pie if you want, but just stop.

Aesop said...

So you're saying Gun Woodstock was a complete waste of time?
Unpossible.

I read different on the internet, so it must be so...

The silence from the Anonymous We-Know-Better Posse is deafening here, and the Legends-In-Their-Own-Minds Keyboard Assault Regiment still hasn't fired a single shot.

If they can't take a little celebratory taunting when they're so abysmally wrong, they're going to totally suck at the Incoming Fire Exam, on a date TBD.

Gravity works, and stupid hurts: all is right with the world.

Anonymous said...

"Pride goeth before a fall, and with a host of people like Sabo, et al, greasing the sidewalks with a pressure washer for them, the Left is in the worst of all positions: unpopular, unpowerful, unliked, and sitting in their little firebases of conformity at the bottom of a ring of surrounding high ground, both actual and moral."

"The moral is to the physical as three is to one." - some little Corsican NCO

"Monkey, meet wrench.
Napoleon, meet dynamite."

http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2018/08/does-national-political-warfare-center.html?m=1

MN Steel

FredLewers said...

Regarding the protest in Richmond, it was politically ineffective. And carried an EXTREME risk of damaging the 2A political movement.
But, you can't measure the effectiveness of an event or policy by what doesn't happen.
A security light is a deterrent. As is a large unfriendly dog. And a firearm... But how do you measure what didn't happen???
The event in Richmond accomplished the following:
1. When the citizens of VA do get around to the actual shooting and hanging part of this ordeal, they'll have a clean conscience. They took the appropriate steps to negotiate/lobby/warn in good faith. The elected parasites didn't listen so they get to own all the consequences of their decisions. And when they're dangling from a lamppost, the one that tied the noose and the one that kicks the chair over will be able to sleep at night knowing that they attempted to avoid the coming bloodshed to the best of their ability. There's a lot to be said for having a clean conscience.
2. The people that did show up, did so to represent their cause. Some were pandering. Not gonna name names but our side has shallow unethical grifters too.. Nevertheless, taking a stand at some point is better than just laying down to impersonate a doormat. Whether or not the fuse keeps burning or fizzles out remains to be seen. But enough showed up to be a morale booster for others. I'll put even money on the next similar event having a larger turnout. There's a lot of people or there living the 'gray man' lifestyle or of self preservation. A lot of normies didn't know that other people have similar beliefs. The realization that one is not alone in their beliefs can have an extremely motivating effect on some of the fence sitters. Never underestimate peer pressure to make a male 'man up'.
Thankfully it didn't turn into a shitshow. The cheerleading happened and it was good. But now the hard work has to begin. Hopefully the folks in VA are up to the task.

Anonymous said...

Aesop,
The rally may have felt good to those who were there, but the collateral damage will be felt for years. As both you and Bracken stated, ‘be the jump not the buffalo’.
Now for the ugly part. There were at least 3 Stinger sites set up, one on top of a cube van, 12th & Bank St., another at 9th & Franklin, and 11th & Broad. For those of you unfamiliar with Stingers look it up. They not only hoover up all your cell numbers now but can connect with all the numbers in your contacts. Yes, that’s right, they can now get into your phone. And those who sent out pictures, tweets, Facebook updates, Instagram, well congratulations! You just committed the ultimate “Fuck your buddy” move.
In August of 2013 the Lizard Farmer posted ‘How they hunt” and nailed it, go read it then think about what you just did. So now in one fell swoop these controllers just sucked up all the info they would have spent months or years gathering on all those ‘gun toting Neanderthals’ and you all just handed it to them on a silver platter.
The progress Harris Corp. has made in the last two years on gleaning your cell data is horrifying and you can’t say you were not warned. The science is fascinating, but the reality of the application will send the shivers up your back. Your cell is your electronic leash, and the masters are not afraid to yank you off your feet to show you who is in charge. You can’t say you were not warned! As Old Remus says, ‘Stay away from crowds’.

Charles in VA said...

@ anonymous 6:37AM

Not "Stingers". Stingrays. Stingray is the name of the carrier spoofing technology that intercepts cell phone data transmission of all types...and yes they are deployed in the field by LEOs at an ever increasing rate.

Just keeping the facts straight rather than picking a nit.

Stingers are shoulder fired surface to air guided rockets...or 22 ammo made by CCI.

You make an excellent point though.

Charles in VA said...

I'd like to interject a little sanity into this discussion.

None of these bills has been signed into law yet as far as I know (even though it is a foregone conclusion that they will be once they reach CoonMan's desk).

None of these coming "laws" can take effect before July 1st 2020.

A veritable army of groups and orgs will be sallying forth legions of lawyers bearing lawsuits and legal injunction demands.

The FACT is...you can neither file suit OR injunction against a "law" that hasn't taken effect yet.

No matter how badly you all want this fight RIGHT NOW! YESTERDAY! it isn't going to happen. That isn't how society works. And as long as you want to LIVE in a society, you're damned well going to have to play by ITS rules.

In the interim, IF you want to form some cockwad irregular "militia"...I suggest you leave your cell phones at home and WALK to your circle jerk unless you want your every fart, burp and word recorded, cross referenced, cataloged and weaponized against you and everyone you know.

This AIN'T 1776 no matter how much you want it to be. Intel travels at the speed of light now...LITERALLY.

Charles in VA said...

@ FredLewers,

Correction...

It WAS politically effective, in that it was a political argument peacefully made to a national audience.

What it was NOT was legislatively effective. It stopped nothing. It's purpose was to stop bad legislation from happening. It didn't. And it was never going to.

But it was a successful political message. Not NEARLY as big or successful as the 2A Sanctuary movement enacted by the vast majority of the State was. In that light, it was completely redundant and unnecessary.

Even in hindsight, more was lost than won on every front EXCEPT politically.

And politics is bullshit.

Law and war are power. We'll have one or the other, one way or the other.

Charles in VA said...

correction to my statement @ 7:24

You CAN file an injunction before a law has taken effect, you just can't file a suit until it has been passed. Generally one follows the other all the way to SCOTUS for a "final" ruling.

The strategy is to file injunction after the law is passed and before it is enacted...to show urgency and necessity to the Court as a basis for their ruling in your favor. That's where the lawsuits come in to keep the issue stalled until remedy can occur.

In effect, it completely nullifies the "law" pending arbitration...which could be decades.

Cynyr said...

There's a lot of wisdom packed into this small space:

When the citizens of VA do get around to the actual shooting and hanging part of this ordeal, they'll have a clean conscience. They took the appropriate steps to negotiate/lobby/warn in good faith. The elected parasites didn't listen so they get to own all the consequences of their decisions. And when they're dangling from a lamppost, the one that tied the noose and the one that kicks the chair over will be able to sleep at night knowing that they attempted to avoid the coming bloodshed to the best of their ability. There's a lot to be said for having a clean conscience.

To be sure, those who gave Mussolini his 'treatment' were fully justified and thus able to have a clear conscience... but this quote would have been a comfort to a civilized man.

Anonymous said...

In Culpeper county, it took a more-American-than-apple-pie Brit adoptee to get some local organizing started. God bless him. https://maxvelocitytactical.com/the-culpeper-volunteers/

Wyomarine said...

The average American gun owner just doesn't realize how stupid he is, and goes into denial when confronted with his lack of mental skills. Look at the level of apologizing going on for the NRA by it's own members, even when confronted with all the facts of corruption. Mongo & Co. can't get anything thru their thick skulls except "me got gun". Should make for a great military operation when the time arises.

Anonymous said...

I love it when people from other states that have already been rolled take the time to point out how those of us still in the fight have been ineffective. Hypocritical at best, "I am in a shitty situation, so I hope they are too" is probably the thinking. Was your expectation that we started shooting on lobby day? The war for independence took many years to execute, starting first with the lowest levels (asking), then moving onward. What are you doing to help other than telling us how we failed? There is an escalation process. I am sorry it does not meet your timetables.

For those telling us how stupid we are for attending, thanks for that. Yes, we know about stingrays, facial recognition, license plate scanners. Yes, maybe it was a great information gathering for the swamp. We still went. What would your criticism have been if no one show up? "The wimps in Virginia didn't do anything!"

For those that claim to be part of the "liberty movement," I sure see a lot of keyboard warriors that like to criticize those who actually try to do something in real life. Yes, we have been meeting, locally. Yes, we have been talking to sheriffs, yes we have been talking to CA's, we just don't have a blog site where we post how great we are in all the things.

How about some support? Or, as someone "behind the orange curtain," do you secretly wish ALL states were in the same boat you are? And you are childishly enjoying what is happening to other states?

Anonymous said...

Dear Aesop,
I have enjoyed your acerbic to the point wit in most every thing i have read of yours. My first intention in my perhaps 1st or maybe 2nd post here was to call you out on this posting of yours. Now after having read other comments namely FredLewers. i felt your comment overly harsh however true. I am thinking more constructive see i told ya so's are needed.

But a couple of things. Fred's comment about a clean conscious. I think the rally did that. showed everyone everywhere not just VA that going by the playbook doesn't matter anymore. Redress of grievance will not be heard. Polarity of opinions negate the social contract and rule of law. The rally also allowed us the gallery to view what the opfor can do and will do. I think it was a great however truly risky show of unity. Now to your point "Meanwhile, it's a month later in 2020.
So, how many VA citizens have lobbied their own sheriffs, and used that time since New Year's Day to form citizen reserves to halt illegal weapons confiscation efforts, and fight and/or block all implementation of these unconstitutional laws in the Commonwealth, both legally and physically?" That can't be anymore spot on. My only suggestion is for first part of your post, that you use your intelligence and wisdom in a more constructive way. You are in a leadership position by your own doing. So lead. By name call out VA pro2nd leaders, hold them accountable. By name call out the rally promoters, hold them accountable. Readers here do the same, its not incumbent upon just Aesop a Californian to fight for the rights of Virginians. We are these United States. Lets find the more we have in common, let us assist VA as much as we can for our turn is invariably next. If you are from VA and reading here, you should begin any reply with what you have done to further your cause then gripe or complain or praise as you will. that's my .02 from multiple tours as a Keyboard Commando taking direct sniper fire every time i deplane R3

Wyomarine said...

At this stage of the game you have 2 options;
1.Stand around begging them to change their mind, because you're getting serious. And it's not working.
2.Start arresting these traitors at gunpoint, there are laws in place that impose the death penalty for this behavior.
Anything else is just posturing for the camera and your own ego. This is now all out war and you think getting your knickers in a twist is a viable option? How much time and money have you pissed away on worthless gun organizations, when eventually the only solution will be YOU actually taking your rights back thru force? Still standing around waiting for someone to push the EASY button.

Aesop said...

I love it when people doing things that didn't work think everyone else in a worse situation is automagically no longer "in the fight".
I'm guessing the 10M AR-15s sold here after the AWB don't count.

Sweet Suffering Shiva, even in the belly of the beast, some few people managed to put up a damned effective fight, without any rallies at all. Perhaps you remember Heller v. District of Columbia?

(When you actually put up a fight, legal or kinetic, kindly give a holler. But Gun Woodstock simply doesn't count, no matter how much you may wish it were otherwise. Sorry, but really.)

What are you doing to help...
https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2020/01/common-sense-resistance.html
http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2017/03/rules-for-radicals.html
https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2017/08/lessons-from-first-battle-of-show-asses.html
https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2017/08/lessons-from-first-battle-of-show-asses_18.html
https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2017/08/because-common-sense-isnt.html
http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2016/02/adult-supervision-media-plan.html?m=0
And any number of times more I pointed out you might want to have some deliberate, well-laid-out plans.
Before.
During.
After.

And all states are already in the same boat as mine.
Their part of the frog just hasn't always gotten boiled.
Yet.
Some of them get that.
Others don't.

You want support?
Do something worth supporting.
I had no problem throwing mad props at every county and town that voted themselves 2A sanctuaries. Way to stick it to The Man using the Left's own weapons.

All y'all had no problem getting coverage for that when you did it.
So stop poor-mouthing your lack of action as if it were just a lack of PR.
As if.

Someone already pointed out in comments one county that's moving forward.
So, why haven't 40 other counties beaten a path to their door?

You want constructive ideas?
Pay attention the last twenty times they were offered. Not here, but anywhere and everywhere.
Then go and actually do them.

How do I know you aren't doing that?
Because nobody is telling us that, and none of you could shut up about it for five seconds if it were happening. Ask me how I know.

You want your junk to stop hurting so much?
Stop stepping on it.

And instead of being butthurt-sensitive about it, laugh at yourselves, learn a hard lesson, get your cleats off your junk, and do better next time.

You're the ones getting rolled.
Right this minute.
So what are you gonna do about it?
Have another rally?
Or grow up some, and get busy?

Who's leading the charge to fight the proposed unconstitutional laws, in both state and federal courts?
What's the website where they're collecting donations?
Who's lobbying people opposed to the laws now, even if they're in the minority?
Why aren't those politicians shouting from the rooftops that they're stupid, unconstitutional laws?
You couldn't even find a quote from them in the article.
Where are their letters to the editors of VA papers?
And national papers?
And national conservative magazines, TV and radio programs?
Was one holiday Monday the only day people could find to stand up on their hind legs?
Inquiring minds would like to know.

But all we see and hear is how you're getting rolled while they run the table on you.
Like we warned you.

Even Captain Ahab couldn't have looked near so fearsome with a giant fish hook stuck in his ass.
Perception is reality.
Optics matter.

Welcome to the Omnipresent Media Era.

Anonymous said...

The rally changed nothing.At best it was a bro love fest. But you can be assured the Left was laughing at the participants political naivete. You do not effect change that way.Even in the anti-war protests in the 60's changed nothing. You do it at the ballot box or through the courts

Lobbying lefties won't work.

The participants would have been better off organizing at the county level as Aesop recommended and also forming legal aid groups to fight the legislation once it's passed. Because the NRA won't lift a finger for you.

I also get a kick out the foamers who can't understand how futile this protest was. Get it through your noggins - the political class doesn't care. Aesop pointed out better things to do, but no you wanted to strut about with your shootin irons instead of investing time and a little money to actually do something useful.

Charles in VA said...

@12:56pm

" Because the NRA won't lift a finger for you."

I'll take that bet.

They've been instrumental in holding back anti-2A legislation in almost every State in the Union as well as nationally.

I'd also wager that you've never been a member, so what would you possibly know about the NRA first hand? Not one damned thing.

Wyomarine said...

I'd like to say I feel sorry for people as dumb as you, but I'm sure you work hard at it.

Signed; former NRA member of several decades.

Badger said...

@Aesop 0502

Don't attribute words I didn't say as your lead-in to another rant.

Cavguy said...

Fred oh Fred, there will be no hanging of traitors in Ol Verginnie. The hard men to conduct that business don’t exist now a-days. There’s just too much to loose, my flat screen, my sportzball, my mortgage, my health insurance, job, retirement, get it?
It’s gone all gone!
Immigration has not stopped under orange man, there’s no wall either north or south, and our brown replacements keep coming in all approved by orange man!

Wish I had better news for yah!

Must suck to be 20 something years old!

Cavguy

Anonymous said...

"Wyomarine January 31, 2020 at 11:56 AM

Still standing around waiting for someone to push the EASY button."

Nails it.

And this is why you're losing to noodle armed, pussy hat wearing antifa. And when someone DOES fight back ya'll disavow them because the ones fighting back are, how shall we say? Further along the right wing than you're comfortable with.

You're Cosplay protest was embarrassing. Let's be generous and say 30,000 people attended. Have you seen protests overseas? Unarmed civilians Vs violent well armed and sanctioned Police and the protesters field hundreds of thousands. The French protesters have been killed and had limbs blown off and they still protest trying to get their Nation back. But yeah. 30,000 well armed and not one man of courage among them. Want to know how Yugoslavia collapsed? The protesters milled about at the foot of the parliament. Angry. The Soldiers stood guard in a thin line. A photographer ran up the stairs of the parliament to get a better photo. From the crowd someone cried out "Look! He's not scared" and the crowd surged forward. By the end of the day the dictatorship was done for.

The 2A is wasted on you


Don't @ me because I get it. Keyboard commando. I'm posting from a country where people can be arrested and nobody is allowed to say where the person went. Secret trials. Secret prisons. This is in a so called democracy

Aesop said...

@Badger,

I put no words in your mouth.
So how about explaining, like no one has, to thick clots like me what the rally accomplished, and that could be done in no other way?
They'd already gotten 85 counties and a dozen cities and towns to declare themselves 2A sanctuaries, so the argument that they needed the feelz of widespread support holds no water whatsoever.

So far, by all accounts, the answer to what it accomplished, that required the sploogefest on the capitol grounds, is "nothing".
QED

As noted, it was a total waste of time, energy, resources, and previously hard-won political capital and momentum.

In early January, the 2A movement in VA was unstoppable and on a roll.
Now it's February, and they're looking like Jabba The Hut.

That's what happens when leaders walk folks off a cliff, and onto their faces.
What's most troubling is everyone there seems content to sit in the heap, and stay there.
Defense is not offense, and being a lump isn't moving.
And everybody sees that.

If the spotlight was too harsh, they should have never sought it in the first place.
And if the game is too hard, they shouldn't have stumbled forward.
God help them.
Time is a-wasting.

Matt Bracken said...

Another factor: in the federal "pre-crime" prediction algorithms, a very high weight is given to those guys who actually get off their ass and go somewhere for an event like Lobby Day, compared to those who don't. Folks who physically go somewhere are more likely to take other real actions in the real world. Those who went, and communicated with their networks while there, just handed the feds a complete map of future VA resistance networks. If it ever comes to massive "preventive detention," as in Northern Ireland against suspected IRA sympathizers guilty of no crime, the feds have their list.

Charles in VA said...

@ Wyomarine , January 31, 2020 at 4:07 PM

So, FORMER "NRA member", what POS group do you belong to now? None? And if you DO belong to a POS knock off group I'd be more than happy to compare their records of accomplishment.

What you've told me is that, for whatever reason, you decided to become a buddy FVcker. I'm thinking it was your Nature all along. So don't talk sh!t to me about being stupid. There's NOTHING stupider than being a buddy fvcker.

Own it...buddy fvcker.

* apologies, Aesop. This turd really pissed me off. And apologies again if you agree with him. My opinion stands, regardless.

Charles in VA said...

@ Aesop 2:09am

"time's a wasting"

No sir. Time is on our side. And only time will tell.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is in the middle of making a mistake, is that not wisdom? Has the Left NOT overplayed their hand this time? Wrong issue, wrong place. No doubt!

What's the rush? Death comes around all the same, right? I'm not in fear of my place being taken from me.

The more they push us, the more our response will be justified. They CAN'T spin their way out of a shooting war once they've waltzed themselves into it. And they're running headlong into it with gusto and abandon! Hell...mad props to THEM! Someone had to do it.

I say "Good for them"! I welcome it with open arms.

Patience is a virtue.

But you've heard this all before. I'm left wondering what part of it you disagree with...if any.