I've been a gun owner for about 12 years. I bought it to demonstrate, in the most tangible fashion, my support for the right of ordinary Americans to own firearms. It's quite literally never been fired. But it could be any time I wanted it to be, and that's what's important.
The first thing that made me happy this year was when the Justice Department announced that it will finally acknowledge that the 2nd Amendment means exactly what it says: A well-regulated (meaning, equipped) militia (meaning, the entire adult citizenry), being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of THE PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The Justice Department now recognizes this openly.
What's even more exciting is a new Zogby International poll, which has determined that 75% of Americans agree with the Justice Department's position. Zogby is a very well-respected pollster, and politically is a Democrat. He's been repeatedly found to be one of the most accurate pollsters in the business. He even pegged the final popular vote results in 2000 as 47% Bush, 48% Gore; not even Gallup had predicted that.
Georgia Democrat Zell Miller has also become one of my favorite politicians. I remember when certain conservatives bemoaned his entry into the Senate, saying he was pretty much just a "party line liberal," but they sure have egg on their faces. He has publicly excoriated his own party for its alienation of gun owners; his speech is reprinted here by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He also said that he believed Al Gore would be President today had he not alienated us. I suspect he's correct. Zell in '04! (Or maybe '08.)
Dean,
Let me expand on your insightful comments re Zell Miller. Zell Miller is an endangered species in Georgia being a true bipartisan Democrat. Democrats are rather nasty, mean, and unfair to all other challengers in GA. Zell Miller might be the only exception.
Zell published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution a column outlining his bipartisanship when he was being pilloried pillar to post by his own party voting for Bush nominees and the Bush tax cut. He outlined his long history of bipartisan efforts in GA politics including his appointing Republicans to committee chairmanships while Lt. Governor of GA! This man is truly fair-minded. You will not find that anywhere else in present day American politics.
Zell later answered a letter I sent to his office on Bush nominees. Democrats in the U.S. Senate treated Bush and his nominees unfairly, and I told him so. He agreed. In his letter Zell stated that he was once a chief executive (GA governor) and believed that governors and Presidents of the U.S.A. should be free to choose their cabinets. I cannot agree more. The U.S. Senate 98-0 approved even Clinton’s worst nominee, Janet Reno! The same senate barely approved Ashcroft.
Respectfully,
Kevin Brehmer
Tremendously worded, keep up the tremendou work