By Roger Katz
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hates guns, all kinds of guns…with a passion. His vehement disdain for these inanimate objects rests on the ground that, as he perceives it, they serve no legitimate or useful purpose.
Guns do kill, of course. That fact can’t be denied. But, there is a huge difference between guns in the hands of criminals and lunatics, on the one hand, and guns in the hands of law-abiding, trained individuals, on the other. That’s a world of difference that anti-gun zealots don’t seem to recognize or appreciate; or, if they do, then it is something they simply refuse to acknowledge.
Criminals and lunatics use guns to threaten and destroy innocent life. Law-abiding, rational citizens use guns to thwart threats by criminals and lunatics, in order to protect their lives and those of other innocents.
The mainstream media and anti-gun zealots invariably conflate the two or otherwise skirt this critical difference. Why? Because drawing attention to a clear and obvious difference between misuse of guns by criminals and lunatics on the one hand, and the proper, lawful use of guns for self-defense by the law-abiding citizen, on the other hand, doesn’t fit the false and shameless narrative they wish to convey: that no concrete difference exists between proper lawful use and improper illegal use of firearms.
Thus, Cuomo and other radical leftists refuse even so much as to acknowledge the benefits a firearm affords the average law-abiding citizen. After all, they have a fairy tale to tell the public — that a citizen who is armed with a gun is somehow less safe when they’re confronted by an assailant.
Removing firearms from the hands of the average, honest, rational, law-abiding American citizen is their raison d’etre. So Cuomo and the leftist elements that comprise anti-gun groups continue their call for ever more restrictive gun laws, weaving a fable. A fable that’s consistent with both the tenets of collectivism and with their own warped political, social, and ethical views of society and of the role and place of the citizen in it.
The Second Amendment is an anathema to them. Thus, they seek its destruction. It is the American citizenry itself that anti-gun zealots like Cuomo seek to disarm, not the criminal element.
The plain fact of the matter is that Cuomo and other so-called progressives don’t truly consider the Bill of Rights to be a salient component of the Constitution. Yet the first ten amendments must be taken together, as the Framers intended, as one unified whole, and an integral and critical component of the Constitution.
Cuomo and those who agree with is political and social philosophy play with the Bill of Rights, pretending that they are, in their inception, nothing more than man-made constructions, not unlike any Congressional statute. But this is the tacit assumption and fiction that informs all the policy decisions and aims of Governor Cuomo and other radical leftists who hold to, and place their faith in the tenets of collectivism.
Cuomo and others who express his sentiments reject the Second Amendment out-of-hand. But the right to keep and bear arms is a critical component of the Constitution, one without which a free republic would not long exist. Yet Cuomo and others of his political persuasion couldn’t care less about the Constitution, even as they exclaim, disingenuously and hypocritically, that they do.
New Yorkers and Americans must not forget that Cuomo’s obsession with civilian gun ownership isn’t something he concocted out of the blue. It didn’t happen yesterday. Having been able to use his state as a test-bed for his radical anti-gun policies to play out, Cuomo’s assaults on on the Second Amendment date back to his first term in office.
As reported by the Observer . . .
“One of the most hotly anticipated elements of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s annual State of the State address today [to the New York Legislature, delivered on Jan 9, 2013] was his plan to enact ‘sweeping’ gun control reforms in New York. In his speech, the governor outlined a seven-point gun control plan focused on “high-capacity assault rifles” that he promised would be one of the ‘toughest’ in the nation and lead similar laws to spread beyond New York.
The governor outlined the items on his seven-point gun plan.
‘Number one: Enact the toughest assault weapon ban in the nation, period!’ he shouted, before ticking off his other new gun control proposals. ‘Number two, close the private sale loophole by requiring federal background checks. Number three, ban high-capacity magazines. Number four, enact tougher penalties for illegal gun use, guns in school grounds and violent gangs. Number five, keep guns from people who are mentally ill. Number six, ban direct internet sales of ammunition in New York. Number seven, create a state [National Instant Criminal Background Check System] check on all ammunition purchases.’
To this seven-point list, we can now add an eighth:
On Monday, February 25, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Red Flag Bill into law at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He was joined by many of his colleagues in New York State government, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to celebrate this new legislation, the first in the nation of its kind. . . .
Mr. Cuomo predicted the rest of the country will follow New York’s lead and adopt stiffer gun laws. Cuomo never intended his anti-gun agenda to be confined to the Empire State. His agenda was always much more ambitious.
On October 30, 2015, The New York Times declared, in an article titled, “Cuomo Planning Role in National Gun Control Campaign,” that Cuomo anticipated national attention.
‘The political climate is right again for action,’ said Mr. Cuomo, who has endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for president. He added, ‘The appetite is there, I think, in the presidential election, especially in the Democratic primary but also in the general election.’
Well, that didn’t come to pass and Cuomo obviously never forgave Donald Trump for having had the audacity to win the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, thereby dashing his hope of implementation of a national SAFE Act.
As we’ve already seen, the incessant, vicious, virulent attacks on the Second Amendment are a significant factor in the upcoming 2020 presidential election. And Cuomo will, no doubt, be cheering the candidates on, all the way.