I have a younger brother who doesn’t vote as well as an older brother who does vote. Below is an copy of an email string between the three of us.

Older brother’s first email
OBITUARY
Born 1776, Died 2008

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning last November's Presidential election:

* Number of States won by: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29
* Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million

Republicans: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:

Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Republicans won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.

Younger Brothers response
This is exactly why i am a gun owner....

My response
Owning a gun has nothing to do with affecting the power base in America. The vote is stronger than the gun, and convincing others to join in your vote is stronger than one vote.

If they ever came for the guns, all the alphabet soup would be there FBI, ATF, NSA etc… However that will never happen the shear volume of guns in this country makes it impossible. For me gun ownership is not so much about self preservation (which is probably 10%) as it is about enjoying the exercising of that freedom to own one. Whether it is admiring the mechanical working, the power, or precision it takes to shoot. To me a gun is a piece of pipe with some gears, levers and springs that’s it.

I don’t own them because I wear an aluminum foil hat, or to fight the power, I own them because they are fun, and to protect my family.

You should vote to protect your freedom because you own a gun, not own a gun to protect your freedoms. Otherwise you are randy weaver on ruby ridge.
**************************************
I know the Weaver comment was gratuitous and may get me flamed here but if you own a gun because one day you think you will need it to protect your freedom from the government, AND you don’t vote then you have no one to blame but yourself.

You know, you really should check this stuff:

Snopes on Olson - false

and

http://sigforum.com/eve/forums...791068361#5791068361

It's not about Olsen, it';s about someone whose who fails to vote yet "that's why I own a gun" is the repsonse to a crappy political situation.

WTF does owning a gun have to do with wanting a better political system.

Nothing. The same way quoting Olson in the context of an e mail exchange has no connection to the point of your post, unless you're using a false assumption by someone else to prove how dumb your correspondent really is. If you are, it's not clear.

I read the quote as a verification for his brother's first response. Otherwise his statement: "This is why I own guns." would have no context.

Snopes is not a reliable validation either. They are very left leaning and the "middle of the road" stuff goes that way.

quote:

FactCheck reviewed a sample of Snopes' responses to political rumors regarding George W. Bush, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama, and found them to be free from bias in all cases. FactCheck noted that Barbara Mikkelson was a Canadian citizen (and thus unable to vote in American elections) and David Mikkelson was an independent who was once a registered Republican. "You’d be hard-pressed to find two more apolitical people,"

Factcheck finds them valid.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
Factcheck finds them valid.

I've been told here that Factcheck is a liberal front too. Seems that, for some people, anyone that disagrees with them or threatens their pet rumors is liberal leaning and worthless.

Stats or no stats, if you do not vote...don't complain about your life situation, ok?

Don't complain about gas prices, taxes, or why you can't find a job...ok?

- brickboy240

quote:

Stats or no stats, if you do not vote...don't complain about your life situation, ok?

Don't complain about gas prices, taxes, or why you can't find a job...ok?

Kind of a cliche isn't it? I am free to bitch to my heart's content and if voting takes me away from "survivor: North Dakota" I'm free to not vote and I'm free to bitch while I don't do it.

I general, I ascribe the belief that those who need encouragement to vote shouldn't. I also ascribe to the notion that if you don't vote, don't crab.

That said, a gun owner who doesn't vote is someone who really doesn't value their right to keep and bear arms. Trust me. I live in CA, and I'm sure my brothers and sisters in places like MA, NYC, can agree with me on the fact that over the years we've seen a lot of our gun rights voted away.

quote:

Originally posted by Zcar:

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
Factcheck finds them valid.

I've been told here that Factcheck is a liberal front too. Seems that, for some people, anyone that disagrees with them or threatens their pet rumors is liberal leaning and worthless.

All part of the "if it ain't true, well it should be" mentality. Also known as ignorance.
I get those e-mails all the time that are filled with crap hoping to become urban legends.

quote:

Originally posted by brickboy240:
Stats or no stats, if you do not vote...don't complain about your life situation, ok?

Don't complain about gas prices, taxes, or why you can't find a job...ok?

- brickboy240

I disagree completely. If you can't be bothered to get registered and get to the polls, then don't. The less fad voting the better. Complaining doesn't result in bad government, thoughtless voting results in bad government.