The group blames an unnamed and
lowly staffer for accidentally criticizing Texan gun advocates for hanging out
at restaurants while brandishing assault weapons.
Whoa,
that was close. The National Rifle Association nearly shot itself in the foot
recently with a common-sense editorial it posted online.
The
group of rootin’-tootin’, bullet-spittin’, doctrinaire, guns-everywhere
extremists finally saw something involving firearms that even it considered too
extreme.
In Texas (naturally), worshippers of the glorious gun god have taken
to shouting out their ideological absolutism in coffee shops, museums, chain
restaurants, and other public places by having a dozen or more of their ilk
walk in together with shotguns, assault rifles and other weaponry strapped onto
them.
“Scary,” exclaimed the NRA editorial, calling
the macho show counterproductive to the cause of gun rights, adding that such
peacocking is downright “weird.” That is, of course, a sane response.
But
sanity isn’t comfortable turf for gun dogmatists. The NRA soon got hit with a
barrage of fire from its own ranks, plus an explosion of rage from gun groups
that are — believe it or not — even gunnier than the NRA.
So
the big, bad, never-surrender rifle organization quickly threw in the
towel. It recanted its momentary lapse into sanity, and cravenly
blamed some unnamed lowly staffer for the ideological impurity.
The
upshot is you can expect to see newly sanctioned NRA gun strutters parading
into cafes near you. But let me ask this: How would those strutters react if a
band of African-Americans or Latinos were to stride into one of their cafes,
armed to the teeth?
I’m
with the president on this one: “There’s no reason,” he said, “why on the
street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons.”
Oh,
that wasn’t Barack Obama. It was Ronald Reagan, in
1967 — back when he served as the governor of California.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is
a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. He’s also editor of the
populist newsletter, The Hightower
Lowdown. OtherWords.org