President Joe Biden, right walks with former President Barack Obama during a campaign rally for Pennsylvania's Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, and Democratic Senate candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Today’s gun control politicians are making it clear. It’s not just guns they despise. There are two other primary obstacles to civil disarmament that they loathe.

One is the Second Amendment itself. The other, well, it’s you – the gun owner.

It wasn’t that long ago when President Barack Obama lambasted gun owners who refused to roll over to his gun control agenda. Stumping for his first election to The White House, he told fundraisers at a San Francisco event of smalltown Pennsylvania voters that were left behind, especially by the political elites.

“And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,” President Obama said in 2008. Interestingly, it was former U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), later Secretary of State, who rebuked him.

“I was taken aback by the demeaning remarks Senator Obama made about people in small-town America,” she said. “His remarks are elitist and out of touch.”

Of course, that was before she labeled half of America “a basket of deplorables” in 2016 when she was making her second run for the Oval Office.

“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?” former Secretary Clinton said. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic – you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”

Those were also a whole lot of gun owners who couldn’t buy into her gun control agenda – which included banning the Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR), the most popular-selling centerfire rifle in America.

‘Poor Souls’

Fast forward to 2024 and senior Democratic Members of Congress are repeating the same epithets. These were also same politicians who were the vanguard of President Obama’s, Secretary Clinton’s and President Joe Biden’s gun control agendas. Turns out, insulting and dismissing gun owners as “lesser” Americans is a popular attitude among Blue State elites.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was rebuked as an “elite” at an Oxford Union debate on April 25 when she said that certain Americans are “poor souls who are looking for some answers.” Their biggest sin, according to the Speaker Emeritus, is not bowing to the orthodoxy of the gun control elite.

“These poor souls… are looking for some answers,” Rep. Pelosi said. “We’ve given them to them, but they’re blocked by some of their views on guns… they have the three Gs: Guns, Gays, and God.”

Rep. Pelosi didn’t think that was enough. She said, “cultural issues cloud some of their reception of an argument that really is in their interest.”

Did you catch that? Gun owners who reject a politically-driven gun control agenda aren’t thinking in their own self-interests. After all, every other gun control idea – especially the most recent overreaching of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to run roughshod on the separation of powers to write criminal law in the place of Congress – isn’t a bad idea in her mind. She believes President Biden’s big government abuse of the rulemaking process is good for voters. They’re just not bright enough to see it for themselves.

What makes it more insulting, Rep. Pelosi was making that argument at the Oxford Union, a debating society that’s held at Britian’s Oxford University. She trashed American voters on an overseas stage that pitches itself to hosting internationally prominent individuals across politics, academia and popular culture. That stage has hosted President Ronald Reagon, Mother Theresa and Albert Einstein. It has also hosted former Secretary of State and Climate Envoy John Kerry, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Stacey Abrams and deposed and murdered former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Forgot “the People”

That’s rare air for a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She’s not alone in her ideas. Rep. Jerry Nadler (R-N.Y.) last week thought he was a tad smarter than the Founding Fathers, including James Madison, who wrote the Second Amendment, and the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Heller decision, that upheld the Second Amendment as a right belonging to the people, not the government.

“The Second Amendment reads – quote – ‘A well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free State, the right to bear arms shall not be infringed,” Rep. Nadler said during a hearing last week. “It is clearly a right, the Founding Fathers, the Framers were opposed to standing armies. They thought that those were instruments of tyranny and that, militia what should be had and the Second Amendment was the guarantee – was framed as a guarantee that you could have a militia, a well-regulated militia, being safe in the security of a free state.

“That was the understanding for 200 years until the radical Supreme Court in the Heller decision upended 200 years of Constitutional interpretation and said that Second Amendment has nothing to do with militias,” he continued. “It’s a personal and basically unlimited right. The Supreme Court was wrong in that decision.”

Except, that’s not what the Second Amendment says. He cherry-picked the parts that support his big-government and gun control agendas. Madison – and the U.S. Supreme Court – must have collectively rolled their eyes at his continued ignorance to the Bill of Rights. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wasn’t about to let him off the hook.

“Apologies to Ranking Member Nadler if this isn’t what he stated but I think he might have left out some key words when he read the Second Amendment, and I’ll read it here,” Rep. Massie explained. “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. And I’m not sure if I heard him say ‘the people.’ Which applies to all of the people as we well know, and I yield back.”

It’s insulting to American citizens when Members of Congress intentionally leave “the people” out of the rights they are endowed with by their Creator. It’s insulting to voters when elite politicians disregard them as “bitter clingers,” “deplorables” or “poor souls” who can’t be trusted to think, act and vote for themselves. Worse than that, it is breaking faith with the very “people” these elites are elected to represent and protect their rights from an overreaching government.

Those poor souls – the more than 100-plus million gun owning homes in America – and the industry that provides the means for exercising their Second Amendment rights know that no one is buying the gun control they’re selling.

 

—Mark Olivia, NSSF

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48 COMMENTS

  1. > Of course, that was before she labeled half of America “a basket of deplorables”

    That would be roughly ¼ of Americans, not “half” (Trump won with under half of the electorate, and she was talking about half of Trump voters).

    And she was correct, given that ~25% of deplorable Americans will vote for Trump’s evil no matter what comes to light.

    This is the NSSF fighting for the right-wing, not gun rights. Those of us on the left who support gun rights are dis-served by this partisan foolishness. The NSSF is supposed to stand up for gun owners, not the right wing. 😛 For shame.

    • Trumps evil?

      You lefties support ‘Showers with his defenseless daughter’ biden. And Trump is evil?

      You sick pedo bastard.

    • jsled,

      Crawled out of the woodwork again, did you?? Nice to see you, Leftist/fascist d-bag!

      So, your “logic” is that absolutely NO deplorables voted for Shrillary (the most deplorable major candidate for President in my lifetime)??? Is that your testimony???

      So, if one can believe the polls (apparently Senile Joe can’t) a significant majority of Americans don’t buy the crap you, and your fellow Leftist/fascist moron, MajorLiar, are selling. Sorry, not sorry. Your diseased ideology is falling apart faster than Biden trying to finish a sentence. Suck to be you, dunnit???

    • Have you escaped from dacian’s basement? That must be why he hasn’t posted in a while.

    • Evil?
      Who is leading the Ukraine Russian war? Biden.
      Who is letting millions of illeagls into the US to include people on the FBIs terrorist list? Biden.
      Who is the cause of inflation, hurting millions of Americans? Biden.
      Who left Afghanistan in disgrace, and got 13 American service men killed? Biden.
      That is evil.

      • “Who is leading the Ukraine Russian war? Biden“.

        Wow, the rest of the world thinks Vladimir Putin is responsible for an unlawful invasion of a sovereign country, you should contact the media with your information.

        From my perspective, it seems Putin was achieving his goals while Trump was in office, the whole “let’s pull out of NATO because it’s obsolete” policy was one of Vlad’s all-time favorites.

        Once Joe Biden was in office, Putin realized he would not be able to continue to annex his particular Danzig corridor and execute a modern day Anschluss so it was time to invade.

        If Joe Biden is leading the war, I’d say he’s doing a heckuva job. Most military observers, as well as Vladimir Putin himself, thought the war would be over in 30 days, now we’re well in excess of two years, soldier on Dark Brandon!

        • Putin and the rest of the world saw a weak president, Biden, and launched his attack.
          Iran seeing a weak president, Biden, and helped Hamas plan and attack Israel.
          Back in the spring of 2022, Ukraine and Russian diplomats met in Istanbul and agreed to a peace deal. Boris Johnson under orders from Biden, stopped it and gave us this war.

        • MajorLiar,

          Yet, strangely:

          1. We DIDN’T “pull out of NATO”; Trump’s jawboning of our NATO “allies” caused them to significantly increase their NATO funding AND at least make an effort at fulfilling their Treaty obligations. One might fairly ask why American taxpayers should be expected to ‘pick up the slack’ of cheap, lazy European so-shul-list states, too wimpified to protect themselves?

          2. Putin DID NOT invade Ukraine, or annex any further land, during Trump’s presidency – he has done BOTH under Biden’s reign. Wonder why he thought he could get away with doing his under the Senile Pedophile, but not Trump????

          3. How many elections has Zelensky canceled, now??? We’re doing this to ‘save democracy’ in one of the biggest kleptocratic, corrupt states in Eastern Europe???? So, when’s their next election, MajorDirtbag??? Let’s see some democracy in action.

          4. How is it we can manage to find ANYTHING Ukraine claims it needs, even when Congress hasn’t authorized it, but we are somehow unable to provide Israel with munitions that had ALREADY BEEN APPROVED by Congress, MajorLiar??? And don’t give me that “war crimes” bullshit – even a moron like you should know that Israel has NOT committed anything like “war crimes”. But there is ample evidence out of the Ukraine that both Ukraine and the Russians HAVE. ‘Splain that one to me, Lucy.

          5. I’m sure it just ‘slipped your mind’ that the U.N. (the lying, pro-fascist U.N.), that famous hater of Jews, has now ADMITTED that their Gaza casualty reports were inflated, and cut their estimates by 50%. For the lying liars like you, who glommed onto Hama-provided “casualty statistics”, even Hamas has admitted their statistics are total bullshit.

          You are more of a ‘one-trick pony’ than is our dear, demented Debbie Dimwit. All you know is what some lying, Leftist website, like Slate, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, TPM, Daily Kos or your other fellow Leftist liars provide you as talking points – and you don’t even use those effectively. You are pathetic. It would have been fun to have you as a victim when I was on the debate team, MajorLiar. I would have made SUCH a fool of you, with your nonsense, false information, lack of analysis, dearth of ability in either logic, reasoning, or rhetorical skills. I’d have turned your sorry ass every way but loose. The pathetic thing is, I’m sure you consider yourself a “smart” Leftie. The REALLY pathetic thing is . . . you probably are. THAT’S how stupid Leftist/fascists are.

    • “Those of us on the left who support gun rights…”

      And pray tell, just what “gun rights” do you support? Whatever rights the totalitarian Leftist politicians decide are our rights on any given day? Perhaps you should try reading the United States Constitution some day, with special emphasis on The Bill of Rights. And then be sure to read The Second Amendment at least several times. Then get back to me and explain to me exactly where in The Second Amendment there is any provision for, or even a suggestion of, restrictions, limitations, or exceptions. I’m waiting…

    • More Leftist propaganda? “Right wing”? You mean if you support the Constitution, you are “right wing”? I’ll wear that monica proudly.

    • > Of course, that was before she labeled half of America “a basket of deplorables”

      Jsled, you’re wrong when you said, “That would be roughly ¼ of Americans, not ‘half.'”
      No, not even 1/4 of American. Actually it would be only 12% of Americans, which is a little over one-tenth of Americans. Only 24% of the American people voted for Trump, because 48% of voters voted for him, but that’s only 24% of the American population, and Hillary said “half of” that group, which is 12%, or jut a little over 1/10 of Americans. That’s far, far, far below the “half” that this anonymous article from a “contributor” claimed.

    • Hmm – ‘something’ about the consent of the governed comes to mind, gimme a minute and it will come to me 😉

  4. America needs a new National Holiday.
    Shower With Daddy Day
    a day when fathers could really get to know their daughters.
    .
    impeach the sick bastard.

    • I’m old enough to remember when withholding foreign aid, for political purposes, was an impeachable offense.

      • Anything is an impeachable offense if you have the votes and don’t care. But you obviously mean actual impeachment worthy issues.

        • No, not impeachment worthy issues. I’m just repeating what the Dems told me during Trump’s first impeachment (same issue as Biden withholding aid, for political purposes no less). According to what they said, they should be calling for Biden’s impeachment because “no one is above the law.” It’s crazy that some people really take them seriously. Of course they didn’t mean a word of it. It was another get Trump operation.

    • possum – you sexist – it should be shower with your kids regardless of which of the 57 genders they identify as………………………..

  5. When an elitist laments the common folks distrust of elitists then doubles down on their elitism the only conclusion to come to is that the elitist think the real problem is common folk.

    Gotta reduce that carbon. Specifically that 18.5% stored up in human beings.

    • Not white people. They hate free people. They’ll do anything to drive wedges between free people so that they can be divided and conquered, and ultimately subjugated so that there are no more free people.

  7. They love gunz. They love being surrounded by people under their control with gunz. They love funding global conflict by gifting gunz, even when the recipients are known extremist groups. The common, generally law-abiding American citizen owning gunz terrifies them.

    • That is because they know their F15, A10, etc. mean jack when they can’t get the parts, munitions, fuel, mechanics, in place to keep them in the air. Modern aircraft require hundreds of maintenance hours for every flight hour.

      • Wouldn’t want to be a pilot when the ground crews hear about the intended targets.

        • I’m skeptical of that.
          The BATFE isnt to ashamed to murder gunm owners, moonshiners, or tobacco salesmen.
          Gunms not only shoot targets, they also make you a target.

  10. We have people on TTAG who think the 2nd is not law of the land. Such as states are allowed to enforce permitting to carry firearms and the manner in which they can be carried.

    Then we have the parrots for the guy who is trying his hardest to ban semi autos, silencers and probably a host of other things. But he spoke at the NRA Convention so he must be pro gun.

    Then the guy who can’t stop talking about drugs and gay people. Gun owners certainly are an odd bunch and also their own worst enemies.

  11. THE PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR LIBERTIES BECAUSE THEY WONT FIGHT TO KEEP THEM. COMMUNIST TYRANNY IS THE RESULTS WHEN PEOPLE SUBMIT TO IT AND DO SO PASSIVELY. THIS PASSIVITY PERFECTLY DESCRIBES AMERICANS TODAY. NO COLONIST OF THE 1700’S WOULD PUT UP WITH THE COMMUNIST TYRANNY OF TODAY. AND ITS OVERDUE FOR AMERICANS TO LEARN FROM HISTORY. THE ONLY WAY TO STOP COMMUNISM IS TO DESTROY THE COMMUNISTS.

    • Who will lead the way? fire the first shot? rally the free people to join in for freedom? I keep reading about such things but whoever fires the first shot will be labled (by the media) as a lone ,crazy gun nut and never will his treatise be revealled.

  12. Someone needs to spell check the names of the politicians named. Incorrect spellings diminish from the authority of the article.

  14. I strongly endorse two pro-Second Amendment institutions (non-NRA affiliated) who rightly deserve the moral high ground on the evils of “gun control/civilian disarmament!” On the Net:

    The John Birch Society in Appleton, Wisconsin at http://www.jbs.org and http://www.newamerican.com, respectively. Also, JPFO, Inc. at http://www.jpfo.org. JPFO, Inc. is “America’s Aggressive Civil Rights Organization.”

    Note: the 2008 You Tube video: “The Soviet Story”. This graphically depicts both Nazi SS and Soviet NKVD collaboration, prior to June 22, 1941, when Nazi Germany invaded and attacked the Soviet Union, during Operation Barbarossa! Hitler and Stalin were originally Axis partners.

    Finally, modern Totalitarian National Socialism has three branches: Communist, Nazi, and Fascist regimes! All three historically are murderous, godless, evil, genocidal, and promote political violence and repression. Yes….I said “socialist!” This is not taught in our government controlled socialist public schools, colleges, universities, and academia, No! Instead it is repressed, censored, covered up, and concealed from the public and students being indoctrinated, brainwashed, and dumbed down!

    James A. “Jim” Farmer
    Klamath County , Oregon
    Long Live The State of Jefferson!

  15. “They” don’t hate us anywhere near as much as we hate them. And guess what? We have the guns…

  16. They do not have the right or the power.

    The 2nd Amendment does not apply to semi-auto rifles, nor does it apply to bolt action rifles, pistols, or revolvers. The 2nd Amendment RESTRICTS GOVERNMENT. The technology of the firearm is irrelevant.

    The restrictions on government remain the same, regardless of the firearm. The Second Amendment was not written to grant permission for citizens to own and bear firearms. It forbids government interference in the right to keep and bear arms, period.

    The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

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