Victory is possible

From The Washington Post:

The largest mass shooting in U.S. history forced reluctant Democratic leaders in Congress yesterday to confront an issue that divides their party and holds considerable political peril: gun control.

Advocates of stricter gun laws, such as Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), met with Democratic leaders, determined to resurrect an issue that has been dormant since the shootings at Columbine High School near Denver in 1999. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) elicited a pledge from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) to hold a hearing on the shootings.

"We need to stand up and do something," said McCarthy, whose husband was killed in a gunman's rampage on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993.

But Democrats on both sides of the issue were skeptical that the 33 deaths at Virginia Tech would change a political equation that has turned in the favor of gun rights advocates. Even after Columbine, no major gun-control laws passed Congress.

Since then, restrictions on guns have eased, with the 2004 expiration of President Bill Clinton's landmark assault weapons ban, passage in 2005 of legislation shielding gunmakers from lawsuits, and a 2003 measure preventing local enforcement agencies from consulting police in other states on firearms traces.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) boasts of a favorable rating from the National Rifle Association, which lobbies against gun control, and House Democratic leaders are in no rush to jeopardize conservative freshmen elected from Republican-leaning districts in Indiana, North Carolina and Kansas.

"Unless we get some leadership from the White House, we're not going to take this kind of political damage bringing up something that would never become law," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.), a gun-control advocate.

Such hesitation underscored how dramatically the issue of gun control has changed since the shootings at Columbine eight years ago. They drew immediate congressional reaction: Bills were introduced to bolster background checks, force the inclusion of trigger locks with gun sales, and close legal loopholes that allowed firearms to be bought from gun shows without full background checks.

But the NRA helped scuttle those measures, and some non-partisan political analysts gave the gun lobby's campaign credit for the defeat of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000.

The gun control issue proves that fundamental change in the political environment is possible. From the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968 till the second Clinton term it would have been axiomatic than an event like this would have led to a new round of gun control laws. Even as we speak the forces opposed to human freedom are rising, like the stench from a ruptured sewer line, to call for more of the laws which kept the Virginia Tech students unarmed and helpless before their murderer. But they face an uphill fight against an unwilling legislature and an educated public which has rejected their fundamental premise.

The credit for this sea change in the political climate is due to the tireless efforts of national organizations like the NRA, The Second Amendment Foundation, The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership along with state level organizations like NC's own Grass Roots North Carolina.

Thanks to patient efforts to educate the public and an unwillingness to give up no matter how hopeless the task seemed and no matter what setbacks were suffered an alteration to the national consciousness was achieved.

Of course the cultural debate never ends and gains once made must be defended with the same vigor that went into their achievement, but the initiative is with the pro freedom forces and that makes our task vastly easier.

Of course it was enormously helpful that the facts and simple morality were always on our side. Trying to keep people safe by creating disarmed victim zones is profoundly stupid and denying people the means to protect their own lives is profoundly immoral.

The lesson here for conservatives is, to quote Sir Winston Churchill, "never give up, never give up, never give up. . ."

We are winning in so many areas. Look at the abortion question. Back in the early 1970s almost three quarters of the American public agreed with Roe v Wade without reservation. Now in 2007 a clear majority of the American people support restrictions on abortion with an outright ban on the more grizzly procedures and over 60% will consistently agree with the survey question "Abortion is murder".

The shrill cries from abortion advocates to the Republican Party to "get past" social issues like Abortion masks their deep fear that this election cycle marks their last chance to derail the pro-life freight train before it crushes them.

Illegal immigration is another issue which is swinging in our direction. The last congress passed a no-amnesty, no-"guest worker" border fence bill in 2006 because they knew they were losing in the polls and needed to be seen doing something popular. It almost worked. The president, who wanted a blanket amnesty and an open borders policy has changed his goals to a much more strict plan which would require illegals to go back to Mexico and pay a large fine before being allowed back in to the US. This is still not acceptable, but it reflects a seismic shift in his expectations.

A shift in his thinking which is due to the refusal of real conservatives to compromise on an issue of fundamental importance. As Margaret Thatcher said, "now is not the time to go wobbly". Not when we are winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the American people.