Kurt Hofmann has a must-read article on the connection between gun confiscations and gun registration (or so-called universal background check).  It’s an issue I have been discussing for some time.  Kurt begins his article this way.

St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner is a frequent and vocal critic of the NRA (see here and here for recent examples), often wondering if the organization’s leadership is merely naively optimistic, à la Neville Chamberlain, in its dealings with the forcible citizen disarmament extremists, or actively collaborationist, à la Vidkun Quisling. Honesty requires, however, acknowledgement of effective steps the NRA does take in defense of gun rights.

Read the rest at Examiner.  Taking off on this honesty though, I have also been a critic of the NRA before, begging, as it were, the NRA to put its full force behind educating the public to the dangers of universal background checks as a pretext for and necessary precondition to a national gun registry, which is itself a precondition for gun confiscations.

Today I received a flyer in the mail from the NRA where they said exactly that.  The NRA might be frustrating at times, but they are still the largest and most powerful gun rights organization in America, and it matters what they say.  I don’t partake in pitting one organization against another.  That’s a loser’s proposition, and it’s what the enemy wants us to do.  I sincerely appreciate each organization that protects gun rights and stands against the totalitarian state.  I will correct them when they wander, and praise them when they do well.

Moving on to Wayne, he is under criticism these days, most notably for his belief in a coming apocalypse and the prudence of guns to address it at a personal level.

National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre is again under fire after penning an op-ed that claimed Americans need guns to fight off rampant gangs, terrorists and psychotics.

LaPierre, the NRA’s executive vice president, claimed the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy showed what the future would hold, and why every law-abiding citizen needs to arm themselves.

“We saw the hellish world that the gun prohibitionists see as their utopia,” he wrote in the Daily Caller. “Looters ran wild in south Brooklyn. There was no food, water or electricity. And if you wanted to walk several miles to get supplies, you better get back before dark, or you might not get home at all.”

Immediately LaPierre was attacked. Former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough said, “He has lost his mind,” on his MSNBC show Morning Joe, while President Barack Obama’s strategist David Plouffe called the NRA head “delusional.”

In his argument against new gun control laws, LaPierre described a world where Americans would be defenseless without guns and fall prey to everything from terrorists and Latin American drug gangs to civil unrest and looters in the wake of natural disasters. He said Americans would, in effect, be crazy not to arm themselves against the coming calamity and to rise up in protection of their Second Amendment rights.

Well, Joe Scarborough is a moron and so the balance of what he said is unimportant, but let’s consider the state of the union for a moment.

Pakistan is now our enemy.  We are withdrawing forces from Afghanistan after having lost the campaign because we wanted to wage nation-building instead of war.  Libya is now a disaster, and we left our men to perish in Benghazi with forces available to respond to their need.  Iran is headed towards a nuclear weapon and Israel is alone in her quest for self preservation.  War is coming to the Middle East, and we won’t be energy independent when it happens mostly because of the EPA.

Russia is reasserting itself unopposed in its “near abroad,” and China owns 1.17 trillion in U.S. Treasury Securities.  Our Southern border may as well not exist, and MS-13 is in every major city in the U.S., and most smaller cities, while some in the border patrol and law enforcement across America are bought off with drug money.  The cartels South of the border have morphed into transnational warlords who kidnap, extort, murder, traffic, and torture, and they’re moving North.

We’re in horrible national debt, and our unfunded liabilities reach a staggering $87 trillion.  Within ten years, the interest on the national debt will reach $10 trillion per year, the unemployment rate is still hovering around 8% or higher, the under-employment rate is still around 18% or higher, a recovery is nowhere in sight and won’t be until we get spending and entitlements under control, half of the American people don’t pay federal taxes, 47 million people rely on food stamps and that roll is growing at the rate of 11,000 per day, and the U.S. Marines are set to lose 20,000 men.

We are too broke to refuel our aircraft carriers, the administration has – for now – gotten away with walking guns across the Southern border in an effort to bolster support for gun control in America, food prices may soon soar, and amidst it all, the administration is working hard on that currently critical need to take guns away from the American people, which would of course be the catalyst for fourth generation warfare in America.

I think Wayne is on solid ground here.  In short, good flyer in the mail, good call on a former ally turned enemy, and keep it up.  As for the apocalypse, I don’t have to be told by anyone.  I’m doing my best to prepare for it.  Are you?

UPDATE: Thanks to Mike Vanderboegh for the link.

UPDATE #2: Thanks to David Codrea for the link.

UPDATE #3: Thanks to David Hardy for the link.

From Fox News:

The White House and the nation’s leading gun lobby will meet face to face Thursday amid an intensifying effort in Washington to craft new gun control measures, in what could be a testy session.

The National Rifle Association confirmed to Fox News that the group has accepted an invitation to meet with the Vice President Biden-led task force examining ways to curb gun violence. The task force was formed in the wake of the Connecticut school massacre and is running up against an end-of-the-month deadline to produce a set of proposals.

The administration says mental health and the entertainment industry will likely be examined as part of that process. But much of the discussion, and proposals from Democratic members of Congress, continue to center around gun control.

Well, it’s that time of year again, time to renew my membership.  So let’s make my own expectations for Wayne, Chris and the balance of the NRA executives clear.  Meet with these guys all you want, or feel you need.  But there must be limits.

I know that you’ve pointed to mental health issues, and I’ve made my own history with getting a concealed handgun permit known before.  I had to have a felony background check, get fingerprinted, and sign over authority for my own medical records to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff.  Any admissions to local hospitals for mental health or substance abuse problems would have been reason to have denied my application for a concealed handgun permit.

Of course, I have no personal issues to hide, and I got my permit, but I foresee a time in America where this might be controlled by the federal government, and there might be some rather disagreeable standard (such as Freudian Psychology) applied by external reviewers who are themselves rather disagreeable (e.g., Psychiatrists who have been specifically approved by the state).  For that matter, the mere act of desiring to own a firearm may be seen as aberrant behavior and made a reason to deny the request.

As for closing this so-called “gun show loophole,” that’s not the real point.  The phrase is a smoke screen to hide the fact that the concern isn’t real.  It’s a phantom issue.  As you know, gun shows are no different than person-to-person transactions in locations other than gun shows.  What they are really after is grandpa gifting his rifle or pistol to his grandson for Christmas without state approval.

We find the notion that grandpa cannot gift and bequeath his guns to be reprehensible, stomach-turning, repulsive, and highly immoral.  This is non-negotiable.  We don’t want the federal government involved any further in our business.

In summary, I don’t want you to press this mental health issue too far.  I am unconcerned about video games.  Getting a federal firearms license involved in my personal and family business isn’t an option.

Basically, not one more inch.  Not … a … single … inch.  I don’t want any more laws, regulations or stipulations.  I don’t want a single new requirement, code, interpretation, or federal worker.

If this is uncomfortable for you, I understand.  Turn the job over to me.  I absolutely do not mind in the least being called names and having your moral character questioned.  I note that even Ann Coulter has railed against your performance, asking if you’ve read John Lott’s book?

I haven’t read John’s book, and having exchanged e-mail once with him I find him to be a jerk.  You don’t need him, and neither do I.  And I can deal with Ann quite handily.

Or, perhaps you like your gig and want to keep it instead of turning it over to me.  Very well.  To you and Chris: Show  your backbone.  No compromise.  No prisoners.  No retreat.  Not … one … more … inch.