{"id":3838,"date":"2018-03-19T16:42:14","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T23:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/?page_id=3838"},"modified":"2018-06-01T11:03:18","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T18:03:18","slug":"vote-the-nra-away","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/scotty-the-skeptics\/vote-the-nra-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Vote the NRA Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-3804 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/NRA-Away-01-300x100.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/NRA-Away-01-300x100.png 300w, https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/NRA-Away-01-768x256.png 768w, https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/NRA-Away-01-1024x341.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/NRA-Away-01-720x240.png 720w, https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/NRA-Away-01.png 1575w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I tried to put a couple of bumper stickers up for sale on the do-it-yourself sites Zazzle.com and CafePress.com, but they wouldn&#8217;t touch them due to threats of lawsuits from the NRA. If you don&#8217;t see many anti-NRA bumper stickers, this is why. It would be totally legal if you have your own press and distribution system. Oh well.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m updating this post yet again. The Parkland shooting seems like decades ago, and the latest, in Sante Fe, TX, is briefly in the news along with Ollie North being named as the new face of the NRA. Ollie freaking North! Once again, the NRA and the GOP are blaming &#8220;mental health&#8221; as the reason, and Ollie even suggested it was Ritalin causing all the shootings.<\/p>\n<p>This page is mainly a songwriter demo to get musicians playing the song. I wrote about the origins of this song here twice before, but this time I&#8217;ve changed the title from &#8220;Blow the NRA Away&#8221; to &#8220;Vote the NRA Away&#8221; and have rewritten the first verse to make it more contemporary. Perhaps the changes will encourage more musicians to record the song and influence public opinion on the issue of gun control.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DyZMGauW7J4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a9 Scott Morrison \u2022 Skeptico Music\u2013BMI \u2022 WilliamScottMorrison.com<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u2018A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State,<br \/>\nthe right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Vote the NRA Away<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Scotty and The Skeptics<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Well America\u2019s got a problem<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">About how we deal with guns<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Can you pack heat anywhere you want<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Just to have some fun<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Do you need an Army weapon<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">So you can play pretend<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">What\u2019s it gonna take<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">To make America safe again?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Every Army soldier knows<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Grunt lesson number one<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Your weapon is for killin\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Your gun it is for fun<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Army weapons made for killin\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">In full-out total war<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Some say they\u2019re so thrillin\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Guns ain\u2019t fun enough no more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>CHORUS<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Vote the NRA away<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Vote the NRA away<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">You know if they could do it<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">They\u2019d legalize grenades<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Flame-throwers and bazookas<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Even tanks would be OK<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">To the loony tune palookas<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Runnin\u2019 the NRA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">War toys are so thrillin\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">They make you feel so brave<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Some people make a killin\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Catering to the craze<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">They promote the cult of violence<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\u2018<span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Cause there\u2019s money to be made<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Politicians quake in silence<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">In the sights of the NRA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">The NRA it lobbies<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">It pays and pays and pays<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">They\u2019ve bought off most Republicans<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Who always vote their way<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">They say war toys are just hobbies<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">No threat to you and me<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">But they\u2019re a clear and present danger<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">To our Democracy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">CHORUS<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">America\u2019s Founding Fathers<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Said people could bear arms<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">So that state militias<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Could keep us all from harm<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">They saw state-run militias<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Well-regulated and ready<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Drillin\u2019 every Saturday<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Down on the village green<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">America\u2019s Founding Fathers<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Showed how to make our laws<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Based on the Constitution<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\u2018<span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Cause people have their flaws.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">It\u2019s clear our Founding Fathers <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Would say the NRA is wrong<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Well-regulated means just what it says<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">And they\u2019d second this loud and strong.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Vote the NRA away<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Vote the NRA away<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">America\u2019s a\u2019prayin\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">For that happy day<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">When there\u2019s no Saturday Night Specials<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">No Glocks, no Uzis<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">No AK 47\u2019s, no Mac 10\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">No AR-15\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Vote the NRA away<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Vote the NRA away<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">America\u2019s a\u2019prayin\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">For that happy day&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gun Math<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I wrote a version of this about ten years ago when I was still living in Petaluma, CA. The statistics are based on the 2000 Census.<\/p>\n<p>Lets apply some elementary math to the claim that there are _AT LEAST_ 2.5 million crimes prevented every year by law-abiding citizens brandishing guns.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Census Bureau, there were 281,421,906 Americans as of April 1, 2000. Dividing 2.5 million by the total population yields a percentage of .00888 (rounded down). If the gun supporters are correct, to get an idea of how often someone in your area is saved by a gun, simply multiply .00888 by your area&#8217;s population, then divide by 365.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m writing this from Petaluma, California, population 54,478, a town so typical of the rest of America that Ronald Reagan shot (no pun intended) the parade for his famous &#8220;Morning In America&#8221; re-election campaign commercials here, and blockbuster movies such as &#8220;American Graffitti&#8221; and &#8220;Peggy Sue Got Married&#8221; were filmed here just because it is so &#8220;typical.&#8221; I submit that if any town is likely to be considered a valid statistical model for the average American town, Petaluma is it. It has an ethnically diverse population, and also has its share of crime, including the nationally televised Polly Klaas kidnapping\/murder case of several years ago.<\/p>\n<p>So lets run the numbers for this &#8220;typical&#8221; town. Multiplying 54,548 by .00888 yields a result of 484.38 crimes that were allegedly prevented here last year, or an average of 1.32 every day (rounded down). Given what I know of this area, and attempting to apply common sense in evaluating these results, the numbers claimed by gun supporters seem to me to be about as valid a reflection of the reality which surrounds me as a Mother Goose fairy tale.<\/p>\n<p>I have no hard data, but common sense tells me that if guns do prevent crimes here, it happens maybe once every couple of years, and certainly not 1.32 times every day, 9.24 times every week, 39.6 times every month, or 484.38 times every year. Looked at another way, if the gun supporters are correct, in the twenty years I&#8217;ve been in these parts 9,680 Petalumans have been saved from crimes by guns.<\/p>\n<p>This is not to say that there may indeed be cases in Petaluma where brandishing a gun has prevented a crime, but neither I nor anyone I know has ever heard of one.<\/p>\n<p>Scott Morrison<\/p>\n<p>PS&#8211;Always remember&#8211;guns don&#8217;t kill people, bullets kill people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I tried to put a couple of bumper stickers up for sale on the do-it-yourself sites Zazzle.com and CafePress.com, but they wouldn&#8217;t touch them due to threats of lawsuits from the NRA. If you don&#8217;t see many anti-NRA bumper stickers, this is why. It would be totally legal if you have your own press and<br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/scotty-the-skeptics\/vote-the-nra-away\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":257,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["entry","author-scottadmin","post-3838","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3838"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4117,"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3838\/revisions\/4117"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.castaliapub.com\/williamscottmorrison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}