U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Guest view: David Chipman can unite us on Second Amendment issues,” an August 5 testimonial appearing in, among other outlets, the Montana Standard, declares. The author is Dave Stalling, a self-described “past president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, … gun owner, former Force Recon Marine and avid hunter who lives in Missoula.”
The only surprise is that such a piece hasn’t appeared earlier. Gun owners have long been subjected to sudden appearances of Democrat citizen disarmament enablers trying to pass themselves off as fellow “tribe” members when there is a political goal to be attained. In the last presidential election, two groups tried to make their mark, “Sportsmen and Sportswomen for Biden — a coalition of more than 50 prominent hunters and anglers from across the country, who have come together to endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States,” and the Giffords’-bankrolled Gun Owners for Safety.
Yeah, they’re Fudds for Biden. If you’re inclined to take offense at that word, hold on a second: It’s not a pejorative for all hunters and sport shooters – just the ones who throw their fellow gun owners under the bus and support citizen disarmament edicts that don’t impact their hobbies. But a Fudd is what Stalling proves himself to be, particularly when he accuses Donald Trump Jr. of lying when he says Montana Sen. Jon Tester is not “staunchly pro-Second Amendment.” He’s not.
Tester’s a prime example of a self-serving opportunist who recognized that he had to vote “pro-gun” in order to be elected in that state, and was allowed to get away with it by Democrat Party leadership because it served their purposes to have him advance the rest of the agenda. Revealingly, Tester showed his true nature when he voted to keep Post Offices “gun-free zones.” The last straw for NRA was Tester’s Supreme Court confirmation votes (for Kagan and Sotomayor, against Gorsuch and Kavanaugh) when they downgraded his one-time “A” to a “D.”
“As a gun owner, former ATF special agent, and internationally recognized gun safety expert, David Chipman is hardly ‘anti-Second Amendment,’” Stalling continues. “As a Montana citizen, gun owner, former Force Recon Marine, and hunter, I fully support Chipman’s nomination, and urge my fellow Montanans to do the same.”
“Hardly”? And “recognized” by who? As for being a gun owner, so is Dianne Feinstein – who was reported to have a concealed carry permit that you or I couldn’t get to save our lives –literally. What does that prove? With all the evidence of his personal penchant for infringements that’s been amassed to the contrary (just enter the search term “Chipman” in the AmmoLand search bar), you wonder what more the guy has to do.
As for Stalling being a Montana citizen, that doesn’t qualify the correctness of his opinions. Mentioning he is a “former Force Recon Marine” to make himself appear authoritative on the Second Amendment is a logical fallacy, equivalent to pediatricians presuming their medical degrees confer all the credentialing they need in order to prescribe that gun owners lock up their safety. And as every real personal arms advocate knows, it ain’t about duck hunting.
The curious thing about his being past president of the Montana Wildlife Federation: They’re putting a lot of energy into confirming Tracy Stone-Manning to lead the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Campaigning for someone who was closely involved with eco-terrorist tree spikers might make the whole MSF nominee supporting process suspect.
That certainly raises a different flag than the one Stalling’s waving. Then again, his assertions bring nothing to mind so much as Sir Wilfrid’s cross-examination of Frau Helm in the classic movie Witness for the Prosecution (if you haven’t seen it, go ahead and take two minutes and watch it).
That he fools no one who understands the issue is not the point. Stalling’s not trying to persuade or change the minds of anyone who knows what they’re talking about on the Second Amendment. What he’s doing is following a strategy similar to the efforts of a new organization passing itself off as a “reasonable” alternative to more confrontational gun-grabbers, 97percent.org. And they’re counting on “40% of the 2020 spike in new gun owners were women, and 90% of gun owners do not view guns as part of their identity.”
In other words, take the new gun owners who don’t understand the issue and apathetic, uninvolved gun owners who haven’t been paying attention, and make sure they stay low-information and don’t get spooked by the truth. It’s a similar tactic to characterizing disarmament edicts as “commonsense gun safety.” Who could be against that?
It’s up to gun owners who believe in the Second Amendment to use our influence to counter the deception. There’s a lot of new gun owners out there and it would be both a shame and a waste to not do what we can to show them where they’re being misdirected, and the tricks the snake oil salesmen employ to get them to swallow political poison.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
