Adios Amigos

[richardw]

On September 9, 1959 I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. I followed that with 30 years actively engaged in fulfilling that oath. On Sep 9, 1989 when I retired they did not tell me that I was no longer bound by my oath. So I continue to honor it to this day and will do so into the future.

I support the entire Constitution with particular focus on the First, Second, and Fourth Amendments as the most important of all. I do not take kindly to having my Constitutional Rights encroached. But that is what happened to me today right here in this Forum.

I received a message from a moderator informing me that a post I has made that was critical of the NRA had been deleted. I was informed that the deletion was because I violated a rule which states:

“WE ARE PRO NRA
We support The National Rifle Association. We believe The NRA is the biggest and best dog in the fight to protect gun rights and the Second Amendment. You may not believe that, but this board is not your platform for NRA bashing.
In plain terms: NRA bashing is NOT allowed. Take it somewhere else.”

Ok, I am here as a guest of the owners. They have their rules as they are entitled to. But when rules encroaches on my right to express my opinion in a civil way it is encroaching on my First Amendment Right to Free Speech. I cannot abide by that.

Now the forums here are full of critical opinions about companies, guns, manufacturers and more. All that is OK, but a critical opinion about the NRA is not, even when expressed in the most civil of terms. To me that is a double standard. The Constitution does not recognize double standards, and therefore I do not recognize them.

So I find myself having to decide between principle and the enjoyment I get out of this forum. Based upon the many hundreds of ‘likes’ I have received on my posts here I think members have enjoyed my participation. So, I am faced with the dilemma of personal enjoyment vs. principle. I must choose the latter, or I am no one. I will not participate in the forum any longer by posting.

It remains to be seen how long this post is allowed to remain since I have just been critical of the Rules in a civil way. I did not see anything in the rules that said you could not be critical of them.

Warm regards to all.

Richardw
O

 

[handejector]

We always delete these farewell threads.
The Staff and I call them "Swan Songs".
We are of the opinion that someone who is unhappy and wants to leave should just leave. No use spreading discord.
I'll make an exception here to spread the word about our position on the NRA.


This board IS Pro NRA.
That is written into our Terms of Service:

WE ARE PRO NRA
We support The National Rifle Association. We believe The NRA is the biggest and best dog in the fight to protect gun rights and the Second Amendment. You may not believe that, but this board is not your platform for NRA bashing.
In plain terms: NRA bashing is NOT allowed. Take it somewhere else.

Obviously, the NRA is losing financial support as various companies disassociate themselves fro the NRA.
That will hurt in the coming months. I believe we will be facing more encroachments on the 2A, and it takes money to fight that.

We try to help grow membership and we encourage financial support for them.
So, no, I will not be providing a platform for slowing the growth of the NRA.

I do not have to provide a platform for ISIS to tell us how evil America is.
I do not have to provide a platform for anti-gunners to tell us how evil guns are.
I do not have to provide a platform for political parties to campaign and espouse their views.

I provide a platform for two purposes:
Discussion of all thins S&W.
Protection of the 2nd Amendment.

I have chosen my side, and I'm playing to win. When the fight is over and the smoke clears, we can work toward improving the NRA. That is, if we still have a 2A and there is any need for an NRA.
Now is not the time for NRA members and gun owners to bicker among themselves. The antis will love seeing that. They know a house divided will not stand.
Now is the time to support the NRA, and hope and pray we can preserve the 2A.

If that offends anyone's idea of the 1st Amendment and Freedom of Speech, I'll say again what I said years ago here-

A Note on Freedom of Speech

which says:

We hear a lot about "MY Freedom of Speech can't be restricted!!!"

Some people seem to be unaware that Freedom of Speech is limited in many ways, every day.
If you are not aware of that, you can test it by walking into any courtroom tomorrow when court is in session and start giving a speech. Ignore the silly judge telling you to be quiet.
Try giving a speech from the balcony in the Senate chamber of your State capital while they are in session. Tell the Security types that you have Freedom of Speech.
Those buildings are owned by ‘the people’, aren’t they?
So, how can they limit your Freedom of Speech?

You can also try it on private property.
Jump onto a table in a restaurant and speak or preach away.
Enter a private clinic and tell them you’ll be speaking all day about your views on morality and religion.
Ask local churches if they plan on giving equal time to speakers for a totally different religion, or worshipers of Satan, or Wicca.

Since you believe in Freedom of Speech, do you adhere to the principle in your own home?
Do you allow anyone who rings your doorbell in to speak about political parties or ideologies or religions different from your own beliefs?
If not, are you violating THEIR freedom of speech?

You may be getting it by now-
This board is privately owned property that is made available for free public use within our Rules, Terms of Service (TOS), and guidelines.
Everyone who registers here has agreed to be bound by all of those.
That means we have the right to forbid, limit, or restrict certain topics, crude language as defined by us, and types of behavior.

You have the right not to post here if you disagree with those Rules, TOS, or guidelines.
You have the right to be somewhere else.
We have no desire to limit your freedom of speech otherwise.
Pick any street corner and have at it.
Rent a billboard.
Start your own forum.
Rent radio time.

If any of the above simply will not work for you, I bid you Godspeed.