Joe Walsh: Concealed Handguns Keep Gov’t Off Our Back

[Swede]

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) told an audience in Illinois that he was ashamed of his state for not allowing concealed handguns, warning that they were the “last line of defense” if Americans need to revolt against their government.

“We are an embarrassment (in Illinois),” Walsh said Tuesday night at a Tea Party rally, according to The Daily Herald. “We are the last state standing when it comes to concealed carry. There’s no issue when it comes to freedom that matters like this, like the Second Amendment. The most important amendment in that Bill of Rights is the Second Amendment. It protects every other amendment. It is the last line of defense between us and our government.”

The Brady Campaign, an advocacy group devoted to reducing gun violence, accused the freshman Republican of fomenting extremism.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/joe-walsh-concealed-handguns-keep-govt-off-our-back.php?ref=fpb

[rpannier]

1. He needs that gun

To scare off people coming to collect the back alimony he owes

[DesertFlower]

10. well said. nt

[LiberalFighter]

2. Does Illinois have a law that takes away the right to own a gun...

if they fail to pay their child support?

[Old Codger]

3. personally

I am an advocate of concealed carry with strict guidelines, but this guy is a flake and is one who gives the rest of us a bad name.... the second amendment covers the right to bear arms but has nothing whatsoever to do with how the are carried.

[provis99]

4. so since Joe Walsh is government,

he's warning us we need a gun to protect us from him?:shrug:

[gejohnston]

5. With friends like this,

who needs the Brady Bunch? Ever wonder what a debate between him (or Ted Nugent) and pick their equally loony tunes Brady counterpart would be like?

[Francis Marion]

6. Last line of defense against crime, yes.

But you don't bring (just) a pistol to a revolution.

It's a poor choice of phrasing if he's just talking about pistols.

That scene will never have any moral force or popular support unless and until all peaceful means of redress have long since proved fruitless.

It's hard to even imagine such a situation today, but as long as We the People are armed, Liberty's insurance policy remains viable. It's not there for good times but for crisis.

[madrchsod]

7. the consensus on huffington`s chicago page is--

he should pay his child support...

[Kennah]

8. Illinois should be doubly embarrassed

1) For no concealed carry
2) For Rep. Joe Walsh

[gejohnston]

9. I take it we on both sides of the gun issue agree

that Walsh is a dumbass/asshole who needs to pay his child support.


:toast: :beer: :thumbsup:

[rpannier]

11. I want to know why his wages aren't being garnished

And why the Democrats in Illinois aren't talking more about this

[gejohnston]

16. good question I have wondered why

Dems did not do the same to Bob Dole and Newt (showing my age) and other family values hypocrites. To answer your question, not being in Illinois, I have no clue.

[Hoyt]

19. Yea, Walsh is typical T-Bagger endorsing more guns in public Arm society so we can shoot each other

when the crud hits the fan. Sounds like a wonderful plan that has solid support of NRA and gun manufacturer/marketers.

Hope Chicago sticks to its guns.

[gravity556]

12. Deadbeat dads should pay, but that doesn't change the truth of the matter.

Chicago has draconian gun laws, but they also have a fairly decent crime rate. Why should the gang bangers and other malefactors be the only ones armed? Are the law abiding citizens of Chicago somehow undeserving of the ability to protect themselves?

[spin]

14. Some believe that those who live in large urban areas ...

should not be able to own or carry firearms. Such people appear to believe that the rights you enjoy as an American citizen should depend on where you live.

Susan Wallace , AlterNet at 10:39 AM on October 6, 2009.

Guns Kill People ... Who Own Guns

The debate over guns strikes me as odd. I can't quite grasp why it's viewed as a left-right issue -- a matter of ideology -- as opposed to a rural-urban divide. I've owned guns myself when I lived in the boondocks, but in a city, packed in like sardines with lunatics of all stripes, I'd prefer there be as few guns as possible within range of my windows.

Obviously, it's not easy to have a liberal gun policy in rural areas and stricter controls in cities, but in my mind, that tension should at least form the parameters of debate (and if you look carefully at who's on which side, it often does; think about Rudy Giuliani's outspoken support for gun control, or the fact that even the most progressive Dems from rural districts oppose it).
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/rights/143113/guns_kill_people_..._who_own_guns/

And indeed Rudy Giuliani does seem to agree with this idea.

Political positions of Rudy Giuliani

***snip***

Gun control/gun rights

***snip***

In a February 2007 Sean Hannity interview, he said that " is part of the Constitution. People have a right to bear arms," and that while tough gun-control laws were needed in New York City, "in another place, more rural, more suburban ... you have a different set of rules."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Rudy_Giuliani#Gun_control.2Fgun_rights

However I have always found it interesting that even in New York City back when Rudy Giuliani was mayor and even today now that the Mayor is Michael Bloomberg, the rich, the famous and the well connected have always been able to own and even carry firearms.

The Faces of Gun Ownership In The City


The NYTimes reports today that there are more than 37,000 people licensed to have a handgun in the city. It's a small but substantial group which includes many prominent businessmen, city council members, celebrities, journalists, judges and lawyers. Among the most prominent names: Queens DA Richard Brown, actor Robert De Niro, radio host Don Imus, Donald Trump, actor Harvey Keitel, radio host Howard Stern, city council members Inez Dickens and Peter Koo, and Federal Judge Sterling Johnson Jr. As Johnson Jr noted soberly, "I was a special prosecutor. Sixteen years in narcotics. I didn't make a lot of people happy."

There are eight kinds of handgun licenses in New York, and the most common restricts owners from taking their guns out of their homes—but others allow license holders, including security guards, gun custodians and people who demonstrate a need for protection, to carry weapons with them. There are 41,164 handguns registered with the Police Department as of Jan. 14, which includes those owned by more than 2,400 people who live outside the city but have permission to bring their weapons into the city. Nearly 4,000 license holders, including those who have a “carry business,” “limited carry” or “special carry” license, can legally conceal their weapons. Among that group are Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, Fox News personality Sean Hannity, Stern, Imus, and Trump.

By Ben Yakas in News on February 20, 2011 6:19 PM
http://gothamist.com/2011/02/20/the_faces_of_gun_ownership_in_the_c.php

[gravity556]

21. Well,

regarding those folks who "Some believe that those who live in large urban areas ...", those of us who enjoy excercising ALL of our rights no matter where believe that those "guns for me but not for thee" assholes can go use a barrel cactus as a butt plug. :)

[jeepnstein]

13. I was all excited there for a minute...

Wrong Joe Walsh.



I remember when he "ran for" President. Great times.

[Glassunion]

15. I love Joe Walsh. I'd vote for him...

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

20. Me too.

Life's been good! :)

[Logical]

17. I am pro-gun and pro-ccw but this is paranoid stuff. I never think the government....

will overthrow us.

[SteveM]

18. RKBA is designed to protect us from..... Joe Walsh! nt

[DissedByBush]

22. Joe Walsh, COOL!

Oh, wrong Joe Walsh.

Just some political windbag.

Never mind.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[iverglas]

24. "The fellow's heart might be in the right place"

Hmm. Odd thing to say.

It never does seem to be anybody but the extreme right wing politicians (and their followers and backers) carrying on about carrrying firearms, does it?

[gejohnston]

25. that matters because?

He uses it as a wedge issue. Give it another 30 years, the issue will switch back before the 1960s. The right wing will be freaking that we need stricter laws to keep "those union thugs and outside agitators" from "destroying our way of life."

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[iverglas]

27. "the current leftist platform of disarming conservatives"

Uh ... what are you talking about?

[gejohnston]

28. I think more than just conservatives

:popcorn:

In the mean time, air popped with Diet Pepsi.

[iverglas]

29. and my work here is done!

Very speedily, I must say, mods. ;)

[petronius]

31. Your work is done - this is it for you, then? Well, it's been nice knowing you

Send us a postcard from wherever you end up...

:P

[gejohnston]

33. who was that masked woman?

[gejohnston]

32. did you remember to leave a

silver bullet behind?

[iverglas]

34. uh ... "here" ... ;)

How many caught our now-absent friend's maiden speech as an OP? Sadly gone, now. A former member of a "Constitutional Militia" and present gun dealer ...

[gejohnston]

35. Actually

I did miss it, but former member is different than current. You don't believe in redemption? What is a constitutional militia any way?
gun dealer as in FFL holder? Black market? If he is an FFL holder, so what? Or just someone that works in a sporting goods store/gun section of a hardware store? If so, so what?

[iverglas]

36. seeing it did help

"I am the manager of a gun shop in the midwest US who specializes in selling handguns and what you guys would recognize as military style firearms. I am also a former member of a now-defunct Constitutional Militia. I am an active survivalist and paramilitary planner/group coordinator. I vote Independent, if that matters at all."

in part

I should have left well enough alone. Could have been fun.

[gejohnston]

37. only one thing creepy

I am also a former member of a now-defunct Constitutional Militia. I am an active survivalist and paramilitary planner/group coordinator.

So he manages a legal gun shop, big deal. Not like he is a black-marketeer selling to the mob or machine guns to paramilitary groups.
Most registered voter in the US are probably independent (no party affiliation). On the other hand, if his state has an Independent Party, that would be related to above, that is something different.

[iverglas]

38. for pity's sake

All I did was refer to his self-description, and then quote it.

Wtf is a "paramilitary planner/group coordinator"?

Is that like "wedding planner/bridal party coordinator"?

[gejohnston]

39. maybe

but then, I don't hang out with those people.

[ileus]

30. No Joe...concealed firearms keep CRIMINALS off our back.