Civility

clandestine said:

I think here new handle on social media should be Shannon Twatts.

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teratos said:

What are you accomplishing by being a Peacock crapping on the efforts of people whose side you say you are on? Yet here you are.

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clandestine said:

He has said he agrees with UBC's too. His Bros here are cool with that though.

I guess they can talk about how open minded and civil they are at the next meetup. My principles won't allow me to break bread with people looking to help the enemy take more of my 2A rights.

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Ammo Jon said:

It’s a shame, I’m sure there are many people that feel the same way as you do. I’d rather break bread with you.

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fabsroman said:

What would you be accomplishing by being uncivil toward the politicians or the other side?

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fabsroman said:

Yeah, working in the construction trade is rough and definitely requires a different skill set than the courtroom. Attorneys are "civil". We smile at one another, shove a knife in the other's back when possible and smile while he bleeds out, and then smile and shake hands after the Judge is done screwing one of us. We thank the Judge too, even the losing attorney, because we know damn well that we are most likely going to be back in front of that judge. Worst thing I ever endured was a verdict against a client of mine for just under $80k, and I said, "Thank you your Honor" as I tried to pick my client's jaw off the floor. I advised him to settle for $20k, but he wanted to roll the dice. There was more to it, and a terrible attorney was also giving him incorrect advice, but it was a kick to the nuts nonetheless. Still smiled at the Judge and thanked him for his ruling.

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teratos said:

What are you accomplishing by being a Peacock crapping on the efforts of people whose side you say you are on? Yet here you are.

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cmartin said:

Make no mistake people , MDA is a well organized and thought out bunch of folks. They study what works and what does not and try to follow their success strategy from one state to another. They are a serious enemy to the cause. Trust me , I know one or more and we should not laugh them off.

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PJDiesel said:

Careful there fella, if you suggest the Pro2A community should use well thought out strategies you'll be labeled a Fudd or "the enemy".

Just refer to some of the infighting in this thread alone. Self proclaimed tough guys like to puff up their chest and think just not losing it ALL is a winning strategy.

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Rab1515 said:

He's married to a mom, likes UBC, and is fine banning bump stocks. George Washington should have just asked the British nicely.

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Boondock Saint said:

I assume you mean one of the MDA grabbers?

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teratos said:

Put ketchup on your infringements so they go down easier?

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Dogmeat said:

Damn, I was there that day and remember it well. The looks on their faces when they returned to the room were priceless. Definitely worth the price of admission!

Sometimes I think back to my first trip to Annapolis way back in 2005, the year after the federal "assault" weapons ban expired and Maryland (especially Frosh) wanted desperately to pass it's own. While it may seem to many here that fighting is a lost cause because we always lose, all I can say is that if folks in the past had not been there to fight the fight, we would already have laws mandating micro-stamping, serialized ammunition, a much, much smaller roster of approved handguns, a ban on "assault" weapons, and a host of other infringements. We may have lost ground in some areas, but we have prevented the complete demolition of the 2A in Maryland.

People tend to forget that Maryland is an outlier in so many ways. We are a small state with a deeply embedded political machine and due to the proximity of the Federal Government, we have a very transient population with most people only living in the state 5-8 years before they move on. It is only those few of us who have been here for their whole lives (or a large portion of it) that see the deterioration of our state and our freedoms. The transients move in, see things as they exist at that point in history, and just assume that this is they way it has always been here. They are typically too busy raising and caring for their families to notice the changes that occur while here, and then they are gone. Getting involved in the politics of this state is just not something that is even on their radar.

While I have been absent from Annapolis these last few years due to family health issues, I made the journey, multiple times each year from 2005 through 2015 and I continued to write and call since then. Even with all of that involvement, I had never heard about MDShooters until I was sitting in a hearing room in 2013 next to a forum member who asked me for my user name, and I didn't know what he was talking about. Prior to that all of my activism was with members of my home shooting club. It's why I'm a '13er, and not an 05'er I suppose, but it was fantastic to learn that there was much, much, larger group involved in this battle than just my little collective and I have continued to spread the word.

In all of that, I have learned that Civility, even in the most daunting and frustrating of situations, has a much higher chance of success than confrontation. While we are as a group very passionate in our beliefs, allowing our frustration at the falsehoods and misrepresentations in our opponents testimony to cause us loose our civility just plays into their hands. They point to us and say that it shows we are capable of "loosing our self control" and further that "Who knows what might have happened if they had a gun!"

While there are certainly legislators who are passionately opposed to all guns and their owners, it has been my experience that for the vast majority of them they are simply ignorant of the entire subject matter. They rely on information fed to them from their party leaders, or their staff who often get their information from the party leaders. That is all they know, and usually they are so busy during the session, it's all they have time to know. Finding ways to educate them during the "off-season" would likely have the biggest impact on the process, but that is something outside my bailiwick.

I want to again thank all of those who committed so much of their time, energy, and effort this year to the fight. Your presence was felt, not only in Annapolis, but around the Nation, if not the World after the NZ incident. The fact that no major new gun bills were passed this year in Maryland, especially after the Capitol Gazette and the NZ Incidents, is a testament to the resolve of everyone involved.

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PJDiesel said:

Not a fan of condiments in general, I tend to think people who need tons of shit slathered on their food might just actually not even like the food itself.

I just don't choose to partake in the attacking and piling on, serves no productive purpose. I also don't find it funny or cool to make claims about someone's wife whom I've never met, it's actually pretty rude.


But,... look HOW far we've come since ~2013. Few more laws and we'll be right up there with CA and NJ, stay the course!

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PJDiesel said:

Not a fan of condiments in general, I tend to think people who need tons of shit slathered on their food might just actually not even like the food itself.

I just don't choose to partake in the attacking and piling on, serves no productive purpose. I also don't find it funny or cool to make claims about someone's wife whom I've never met, it's actually pretty rude.


But,... look HOW far we've come since ~2013. Few more laws and we'll be right up there with CA and NJ, stay the course!

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fabsroman said:

Next, you are going to be screaming that I should be banned, because I am a troll and an emasculated husband of one of the "Moms".

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fabsroman said:

Yeah, it would be really nice to know a lot more about some of the people on here. Alas, the internet provides a lot of anonymity. I try to attend as many functions as I possibly can on this board, sometimes with my wife or kids with me. Come to one and meet me and my wife. Talk to my wife. Make up your own mind. Bring your wife or girlfriend too so I can talk to her. Let's get to know one another and see exactly where we stand on a lot of things.

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PJDiesel said:

Not a fan of condiments in general, I tend to think people who need tons of shit slathered on their food might just actually not even like the food itself.

I just don't choose to partake in the attacking and piling on, serves no productive purpose. I also don't find it funny or cool to make claims about someone's wife whom I've never met, it's actually pretty rude.


But,... look HOW far we've come since ~2013. Few more laws and we'll be right up there with CA and NJ, stay the course!

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knovotny said:

I may have shared this story before, but here it is again. On Senate gun bill day this year, we again got to Annapolis super early, parked at Navy Stadium, and rode the shuttle over. A ton of state employees got on from their lot and we heard them discussing the crowd from Monday. Someone said something along the lines of hearing about another gun bill day, and wondering if the "gun lobby" was coming again, that there were less cars in the parking lot. I politely interrupted and mentioned that we were not a paid lobby, but instead ordinary citizens who took off work to come down and fight for our rights. They were very surprised by that, but were very polite, we exchanged a bit more information. They weren't overly interested in the sausage making, they seemed to all work in the non political offices. They did say that it was neat that we all cared so much to do all of that. I mentioned that there would likely be less people that day then Monday because people only have so much leave to burn, etc. Hopefully those dozen or so people on the bus mentioned that to at least one other person a piece. I think for regular people, they like to know that we are doing this as private citizens. I like to bring that up in small conversations with people who are open minded. It makes it more personal and real to them.

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Abacab said:

Yeah. I have zero interest in hanging out with an avowed anti gunner who proactively works to make my life unpleasant. I'm doubly dubious of anyone who thinks having those people around is a good idea.

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PJDiesel said:

Not a fan of condiments in general, I tend to think people who need tons of shit slathered on their food might just actually not even like the food itself.

I just don't choose to partake in the attacking and piling on, serves no productive purpose. I also don't find it funny or cool to make claims about someone's wife whom I've never met, it's actually pretty rude.


But,... look HOW far we've come since ~2013. Few more laws and we'll be right up there with CA and NJ, stay the course!

Click to expand...