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So as some of you may know, I am visiting California right now (typing this from my Pasadena hotel room), and this past Wednesday I dropped by the gunstore/outdoors supplier I used to do business with in town just to observe the climate and chat up the guys behind the gun counter to see what's up. I asked one of the gun counter guys what was new in the procedure for buying a gun in California, and asked him what they were going to do about the new legislation coming down the road. After talking for a couple of minutes, I said "I don't know how you guys do it". He replied, "You get used to it."

I looked right at him and said, "Well, there's your problem." He kind of blinked for a second, didn't reply, and walked away.

I felt kind of bad, because I certainly didn't mean to insult him, but I think that really IS the problem. I realize that gun owners (and conservatives/libertarians and other people who value the 2nd Amendment) are pretty outnumbered in California, but they aren't THAT outnumbered. I offer this as a comparison, and I am NOT making a statement of judgement about this particular subset of The People, but the entire LGBTQ community constitutes something less than 3% of the entire population; and yet, they are not afraid to get loud and insistent, and so far, they've gotten every single thing they wanted in terms of their political agenda. I do realize that gun owners suffer under an extra burden, and that is the perception by a segment of the public that we present an existential danger to them, and that therefore the kind of infantile antics that TOCOTSNBN (the open carry organization that shall not be named, and its Tarrant county former affiliate) are counterproductive to the furthering of the RKBA, but those activities included such provocative actions as parading around with EBRs and all tacticalled out, and it scared some people. But rather, I am talking about organized peaceful but loud protests, marches in the streets, with signs, etc., and I can't help but wonder if California's gun owners would be far less oppressed if they acted up - JUST like LGBTQ or immigration activists act up (when they do so lawfully).

Because when you just "get used to it", it can only get worse.

I don't want to be uncharitable, but I think that is what it is going to take, and to the extent that California gun owners aren't willing to, is the extent to which they will continue to be oppressed by the state.

What do you guys think? Am I out of line, or am I making sense?

You're making sense!

No TAM you have hit the nail on the head. I too belive that the majority of people in Commifornia are in favor of 2A rights but they have been ostracized by the vocal minority. And as a result they don't get off their duffs and vote for those who can reverse the decimation of their rights.

Getting "used to it" is what has created the mess not only on the left Coast but the debacle in Washington.

Truth can be painful.

I'm sure at the employee level he doesn't feel like he has the power to make change. That can be very frustrating.

The gun nannys already paint us as a bunch of extremist and savages just looking for an opportunity to blow away those who disagree or look scary to us. I believe that the NRA has done well using respectable likeable people to represent us. Folks like Tom Selek and Dr Susan Gratia-Hupp have done a wonderful job putting us all in a good light. Letting women and mothers tell stories of self defense works well and they make a hard to dispute argument. The biggest problem with this approach though is that being reasonable and logiocal have very little effect on leftist minds.

I think its a fine line between aggressively standing up for our rights and scaring the sheep. Conservative minds aren't easily intimidated, and tend to be open to reasonable discussion. But the emotional minds of the leftist are less subject to let reason and logic interfere with there their fear of an armed man. All the same though , the rights to own, carry and defend are basic civil rights and we must insist on it.

Has anyone ever changed their mind because of a protest?

The problem here is that the left has a lot of time on their hands and they know how to use it. The 'right' is busy trying to make a living and also sit on their butt and just takes it. (you know where) I am not saying you are incorrect, just that the right hasn't learned how to protest. That is the reason the 'right' is in a downward spiral. You correctly pointed out the small percentage of LGBT&Q and what they have gotten by whining.

An earlier comment:

See and here is the problem! Bit By Bit California will pass laws taking away this or that part of our rights. People are just going to roll over and take it. They will do what the need to in order to avoid or comply with the law(s). Pretty soon those laws will either go national or spread westward. I fear we are lost. We are past the point that a stand needs to be taken and I think we no longer have the moral courage and temerity to take action in order to stop this.

I fear we are done for.

Syntyr wrote:I fear we are done for.

Nah, but it ain't gonna be pretty.

I've been watching youtube videos of cops stopping people carrying for hours. Fascinating.

I lived in a country with a national ID law and carry only for the ruling class for 20 years.

We don't want that here.

The population is very largely urban, very largely minority of one kind or another. The public service employee unions are very powerful, between teachers, local government and state employees. It is more and more government of the public employee unions, by the public employee unions and for the public employee unions.

The socialist supermajority in both houses of the legislature means they can do whatever they want, not that Moonbean II ever opposes much of anything.

There are "normal" areas, but those folks are hideously outnumbered by the kooks in the urban areas, who have such a stranglehold they don't even need to cheat.

You got it for sure!

you're right. exactly.

Given the environment in the P.R.K. ( People's Republik of Kalifornia ) I wonder how any group of pro gun protesters
would be treated, compared to the favored leftist groups out there.
As has been pointed out, the pro gun people are seen as a threat and feared by the left in general.
Might this result in unequal treatment of a pro gun rights protest by the powers that be ?
Or for that matter a group from the opposite side of the fence ? Possible violence against a pro gun protest group, similar to those seen
at some Trump rallies for example.

So, you need a permit for a rally or a march ? Would it be denied, due to concerns for public safety ?
The lefty's might get violent in response to your march or rally you know, so the powers that be won't allow it.
I can see that happening.

Liberty wrote:Has anyone ever changed their mind because of a protest?

Yes, on several occasions "protesters" have made me realize that, even if they have laudable goals, some people are so bloody annoying that they must not be supported under any circumstances.

I have had to go to California a few times in the past couple of years. To San Fransisco and Los Angeles. I think 90% of them are on weed prescription. They practically worship the Homeless while they call Google and the employees leeches Tobacco smoking in the streets is illegal while smoking weed in the streets is an honored tradition. They speak of us like we are backwoods rubes. While San Fransisco can't keep the esculators running in their train station cause the homeless defecate on them and they get clogged up. The whole city smells like sewage, cause in San Fransisco the streets are toilets.

You get the strangest looks in California when you tell them your from Texas. Like we are the barbarians. They are fighting installing Natural gas pipelines and pay the highest energy bills in the country . They restrict the water people can use to take a shower, and use the public water to irrigate the greenest of golfcourses. ..

What I really dislike about California is that after they have destroyed the economy in their own state they move to conservative place like Oregon Phoenixand Austin and infect these places with the disease of socialism.

What really irritates me about Trump is that he talks about building this Yuuge wall at the Mexican border, When what we really need is a couple of Small walls to protect America. ! around LA and the other around San Fransisco. The infection is dangerous and should be stopped at the source.

Ok just kidding ...well just a little bit. ..