I think most of us have a pretty clear idea of where we are, Joe--and are glad of the fact we can own weapons that a lot of other nations prohibit.
Couple comments from past posts: Marklart, somebody suckered you into that "gun show loophole" stuff. There ain't no gun show loophole. FFL dealer sells at a gun show, he does a background check. If I (without an FFL) set up at a gun show and sell a gun, no background check, because 1) Not being a dealer, I can't do one; and 2) If we were both in my house instead of at a gun show, I could also legally sell you a gun without doing a background check. Close the "gun show loophole" and what you've done, in fact, is close the private sale loophole. Same rules apply at a gun show as apply to a dealer at his shop, or to a non-dealer selling a gun to someone at his house.
Afghanistan . . . Interestingly enough, the "we" that beat the Taliban (which did not exist until several years AFTER the Russians were driven out) and AQ consisted largely of other Afghans--who had also been fighting the Russians. Some would say that our particular allies (the Northern Alliance) were, in fact, more effective in the war against the Russians than were those Pashtun groups that received most of the American aid (which, because it was funneled through the Pakistani Intelligence Service, mostly ended up in the hands of their co-ethnic Pashtuns in the south). So this time around, we armed one bunch of Afghans (and supported them with air power) to get rid of the radical Islamists who had taken power, and their AQ allies, whom they were sheltering.
As for losing at the ballot box, the best way to do that is to drive wedges between various groups of gun owners. Hunters don't stand up for the cowboy action shooters who don't stand up for the clay target shooters who don't stand up for the long range rifle guys who don't stand up for the handgun guys. Together, although a minority, we are a large and very vocal minority. Better that than a bunch of clans fighting amongst themselves. Jack, one would think that someone of Celtic heritage would understand that you're the strongest when the clans are united. And our gun rights rest not just on some everyday federal law, but on the US Constitution--which is (on purpose) a relatively difficult document to amend. I'm not at all concerned about losing our gun rights at the ballot box. But looking at the examples of places like England and Australia, I get very worried when I see the gun grabbers doing their thing by taking away one type of gun, then another, then another. Eventually, gun owners are reduced to such a small minority that they can't withstand political assault. Let's not do the antis' work for them.
