The two terrorists who killed 14 people and wounded 17 others (some grievously) in San Bernadino were not on the TSA’s “No Fly List.” In fact, the killers weren’t on the feds’ radar at all. Nor were they white, Republican, NRA members or members of a militia. They didn’t convert their AR’s to full auto. But what if . . .
they had been white, Republican NRA members who belonged to a militia, who were on the “No Fly List” using full-auto AR’s and 3D-printed handguns? Just to make the nightmare complete, what if Hillary Clinton was President?
The assault on our gun rights would have been fierce. Unstoppable? Maybe. Maybe not. But I’ve got this to say to those who claim Congress’s failure to enact a universal background check bill after the Sandy Hook slaughter proves that our gun rights are safe from federal “intervention.” Wrong. They’re not.
You and I know that our gun rights should not be judged by the actions of, well, anyone. The United States Constitution’s Second Amendment doesn’t have any caveats. None. (The militia clause is an explanation, not a caveat.) What evil people do with their guns has nothing to do with my right to keep and bear arms. If Wayne LaPierre himself went postal, so what?
So we’d be screwed.
No one really knows, but it’s safe to say that nbcnews.com‘s estimate that one-in-three Americans own guns isn’t far wrong. Even if it’s a 50 – 50 deal, we can still lose our rights through the democratic process. Washington state’s background check bill is proof enough. The fact that politicians are even trying to enact new gun control laws (e.g., the attempt to close the “No Fly List” loophole) also tells the tale.
Which is both the problem and the solution. The more Americans who own guns, the better. As I’ve pointed out before, breaking the ban on firearms advertising in the mainstream media would go a long way to ensuring our firearms freedom. But we can all do something: take a newbie shooting. A grass roots First Shots push will do far more for gun rights than arguing with anti-gun statists. Your thoughts?