In Praise of an
Uncompromising Bastard (Revisited)

Aaron Zelman, JPFO's late, great founder, was a man of uncompromising principles. He wouldn't have yielded a millimeter on some things. If you'd have held him upside down and threatened to drop him over the rim of the Grand Canyon unless he repudiated pure, hardcore gun rights, he'd have probably said, "Go ahead. Do it."

And then, if you did, he'd have found a way to land safely on his feet. He was that kind of guy.

On the other hand, Aaron was a very reasonable human being. If you could make a good argument for something, he could change his mind faster than a Lamborghini goes from zero to 60.

Example: Back when he and I used to write together, he called me up one day and said, "I want to do an article in favor of X." He didn't really say "X," of course. He named an issue, not obviously related to guns, that was in big favor with certain conservatives and libertarians at that moment. The specific issue isn't important.

But as it happened, I knew quite a bit about it and I protested, "Oh, Aaron, I won't do that."

"Why not?"

"Well because X is really a terrible idea for reasons A, B, and C. And have you considered the impact it's going to have on Q, R, and S?"

He listened to me. Thought a moment. Then he said, "Then let's do an article against X." .....