My response to the GunsAmerica‘s post on GunsAmerica Supports Interstate Tax Bill – 20 Points to Protect the 2nd Amendment, with slight grammatical corrections that don’t really affect the meaning.

Sorry, I’m winding up a pitch to throw more than a few rotten tomatoes.

Glad I’ve never done business with GunsAmerica. Now I know I probably never will.

This post title is a lie. It has nothing to do with protecting the Second Amendment. It’s also a poorly crafted post. Others have pointed out contradictions. So how about another one: 7 and 15 contradict. Has an FFL as a “hobby” (7)? But I thought I couldn’t buy a gun from anyone who doesn’t have a brick and mortar gun dealer (15)?

This is what we call disruptive technology. And in the long run it is a positive market force. You don’t see too many buggy whip vendors anymore, and for good reason. What GunsAmerica is supporting is for the state governments of all 50 states — with the backing of the federal government should this bill become law — to be a market force working against internet retailers. Note I said state governments. I have no problem with other businesses from all 50 states being in competition with a mom-and-pop internet gun retailer, but I do have a problem calling for more government interference in markets.

The primary thinking behind the Second Amendment is as a bulwark against tyranny. I have, in the past, heavily criticized the NRA for there lack of the ‘long view’ and their sometimes (when it fits their narrative) claim that they are a ‘single issue’ organization. If you grade politicians strictly on their final votes on gun bills, you miss the big picture. Because sometimes these tyrants vote for pro-gun bills or against anti-gun bills only when they know they will have no chance in hell to pass (and they therefore got permission from their party leadership to vote against the party line). [Ed. – They are, hence, unreliable and two-faced.] Same goes for things that aren’t purely gun issues, but hugely, negatively affect liberty in general. There’s a strategic problem with this mentality. You see, as long as that tack is taken, you all but guarantee that our liberty will be progressively (heh) chipped away at until all we have left are our gun rights and then we will be forced into a corner and into using that right for its intended purpose. Do you really want that? DEFEND ALL LIBERTY. FIGHT TYRANNY ON ALL FRONTS. And let go of your short-sighted advocacy of government interference to protect your business. Instead, advocate tearing down all other infringements on our liberty.

Methinks you might have just Zumboed yourself.

I should also add a couple of points.

First, as I’ve said elsewhere, credit where credit is due.  The NRA has done a much better job this time around, probably spooked a little (in a good way) by the huge surge in membership after Sandy Hook.  Good job, NRA.  A hell of a lot better than the CCRKBA, this time around.

Second, if GunsAmerica is unhappy about current circumstances, they need to be lobbying their state legislators to reduce or remove any state sales taxes in their own states.  The last thing those of us fight for liberty need is someone purportedly on our side turning that fight into a Sisyphean task and pelting stones at us as we push forward, up the hill.

Lastly, not only does single-issue vote scoring cloud where a politician really stands due to votes on bills guaranteed not to pass, but it also, usually misses other votes of importance that often don’t get graded.  Oh, like, maybe voting fo Pelosi as for Speaker of the House, or to confirm Supreme Court Justices such as Kagan and Sotomayor.

So GunsAmerica, stop it.  Just stop.  You’re not helping.

Stay Dangerous, My Friends.