[MT2008]

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

Yes we can. They're bad, but they should not have any bearing on what law abiding AMERICANS are doing in our own country.

Maybe not, but at the very least, it's our responsibility to crack down on the people who are selling the weapons to the IRA (which we've mostly done). Furthermore, what's important is that the IRA demonstrated what can be done by terrorists with Barrets.

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

Or they could be any of the number of privately own firearms that have been stolen and spirited into the black market. Again, I must call BS on that one. The argument that law abiding gun owners and American gun stores are in any way meaningful way responsible for the criminal acts of the Cartel thugs (who BTW, still prefer their military weapons) is an erroneous theory and should never be given ANY traction whatsoever.

Nobody is saying that law-abiding gun owners are "responsible" for cartel violence. I am a law-abiding gun owner, and I am sure as fuck not responsible for the acts of cartel thugs.

That being said, you're kidding yourself if you think that straw purchases made by legal firearms buyers, and illegally transferred to Cartel henchmen, are not taking place. I lived in Texas for a short time (while I was an IMFDB member), and many of the FFLs over there have expressed concern about Mexican cartel gunmen acquiring weapons from them. Everyone knows that some guns being used in Mexico are coming from American FFLs, particularly the Five-Sevens and PS90s. Those guns aren't being stolen at all; they're being purchased new-in-the-box from FFLs by straw buyers, who get paid by the cartels to acquire weapons for them.

I don't think denying this fact (and it is a fact that should be obvious to any American gun owner who looks at recovered Mexican weapons caches) is going to make us look good. You seem to think that pointing this out is somehow tantamount to calling for more gun control laws (which it's not).

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

Nope, they bankrupt us by making us 'exempt' but we will be forced to pay thousands of dollars YEARLY for "special permits" to continue to do what we were doing for nothing back in the day. Also tell that to ALL the businesses that won't do business with California EVEN THOUGH Armorers are exempt by law. They don't care. With California being so business unfriendly and so many run away productions, weathering the storm from a legal standpoint is pretty much pointless when they financially make it impossible. Again, it is unfortunate by I see a few of my friends in the biz who are happy that so many of their 'competition' is leaving the field. I think that's dangerous. Onerous regulations have a way of staying around forever. But then I'm biased for reasons you all know

Well, again, that's why we have the AEAA now. But I'm pretty surprised that ANYBODY in the biz could see it as a good thing. Given the inter-connectedness of the armorers, it seems ridiculous that anybody could think of this in terms of monopolizing the market.

Originally Posted by Spartan198

You've got nutcases who believe that any form of centralized government is a direct resurrection of the Third Reich, that everything in the world from a war overseas to spilling their milk in the mornings is some New World Order conspiracy indicating that the "men in black" are out to get them...The point I'm getting at here is that those people make mentally-stable, reasonable firearms enthusiasts like us look like radical extremists when we're not and we pay for it with harsher and harsher firearm restrictions.

I'm not even sure you can say that these "nutcases" are all that divorced from the mainstream. The idea that bigger government is always part of some Marxist conspiracy runs pretty deep in the pro-RKBA movement in America. Plus, look at how many people on this board love to fantasize about the Chinese, or whoever else, invading America (something that I've explained is basically impossible). Sometimes, I think these people actually miss the Cold War because it means they'll never get to experience a real-life "Red Dawn". Also, the rise in firearms sales after Obama's election is not coincidental - besides the (not-so-legitimate) fears of stricter gun control, a lot of gun owners have convinced themselves that his presidency is the first step to the People's Republic of America.

Of course, there's a difference between having retarded fantasies and Waco/Ruby Ridge. But I do think that more often than not, the RKBAers are their own worst enemy.