Marking the second anniversary of her attempted assassination, former Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Giffords has launched a gun control PAC called Americans for Responsible Solutions. Implying, of course, that anyone opposing its agenda is irresponsible. Completely ignoring the implications of the word “solution” in this context (i.e., the “Final Solution“). As you might expect, the euphemistically named gun control org’s opening salvo is as Orwellian as its moniker. You’ll not see anything about “an assault weapons ban,” “magazine capacity limits,” “psychological review boards” or “national firearms registration” in Giffords’ usatoday.com advertisement editorial. But it’s all in there, somewhere. Waving the bloody shirt, attacking the evil “gun lobby,” setting the stage for a major attack on your Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. Giffords’ propagandizing polemic is some seriously scary stuff . . .
Special interests purporting to represent gun owners but really advancing the interests of an ideological fringe have used big money and influence to cow Congress into submission. Rather than working to find the balance between our rights and the regulation of a dangerous product, these groups have cast simple protections for our communities as existential threats to individual liberties. Rather than conducting a dialogue, they threaten those who divert from their orthodoxy with political extinction.
As a result, we are more vulnerable to gun violence. Weapons designed for the battlefield have a home in our streets. Criminals and the mentally ill can easily purchase guns by avoiding background checks. Firearm accessories designed for killing at a high rate are legal and widely available. And gun owners are less responsible for the misuse of their weapons than they are for their automobiles.
Forget the boogeyman of big, bad government coming to dispossess you of your firearms. As a Western woman and a Persian Gulf War combat veteran who have exercised our Second Amendment rights, we don’t want to take away your guns any more than we want to give up the two guns we have locked in a safe at home. What we do want is what the majority of NRA members and other Americans want: responsible changes in our laws to require responsible gun ownership and reduce gun violence.
Which neither Giffords or her astronaut hubby are prepared to spell out—lest they have to debate specific proposals rather than garner unthinking sympathy. And non-tax deductible donations.
I wonder when negotiations with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence broke down. Or whether Gabby’s peeps simply felt they should control the narrative. Anyway, another one to watch, with 6k+ Facebook likers and climbing at high noon.
Oh, no comments allowed under the editorial. Of course.