I’m a staunch gun rights advocate. I love guns. I own many guns. Besides Basic Training, where I believe I was issued a rifle with a bent front sight post, I’ve scored expert on every single weapons range I’ve been on from 9mm pistol to M60 machine gun, including the grenade throwing range.
Recently, I’ve debated a few liberals who think that I’m grasping at straws when I claim that another term from administration would result in more gun control. They challenge me to name one law that Obama has put in place that restrict gun rights. Obviously, he hasn’t signed any laws to restrict gun rights…yet. The shallow-minded would use that fact and loudly proclaim, “A-AH! You’re just a conspiracy nut.” Really? Just because President Obama hasn’t convinced Congress to pass any laws strengthening gun control, doesn’t mean he’s some NRA poster child of gun rights.
Consider his two Supreme Court injects – Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. These two are staunch gun control advocates and their presence in the court will affect gun rights ruling for years to come.
Never mind that Kagan hates the military and restricted access to students by military recruiters. Kagan noted during her confirmation hearings that gun control efforts were “settled law.” She believes in a Constitution that “develop[s] over time,” meaning that as time goes by, the meaning of the Constitution changes. Kagan worked with Clinton to bend the law as far as they could to “capture a whole new class of guns” they could regulate. This included a long-time ban on magazines that carried more than 10 rounds. Two years ago, the Washington Times labeled her a “feverish proponent of gun control.”
In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor, then a 2nd Circuit Court judge, ruled that the 2nd Amendment “imposes a limitation on only federal, not state, legislative efforts.” The Supreme Court precedents have ruled otherwise. In 2004, she claimed that the right to keep and bear arms “is clearly not a fundamental right.”
These are just the two that President Obama has installed into the Supreme Court. It does not include the other anti-gun judges he has put into the lower courts. These are the courts that will will be deciding future gun rights issues. Few of those will ever make it to the Supreme Court because of the amount of time, effort, and money it takes to get there. If you don’t believe me, read Mark Levin’s book, “Men In Black.”
President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both support the UN’s Small Arms Treaty. The treaty would require the global registration of everything from missiles and tanks to rifles and pistols. The treaty makes no concessions for private citizens.
United States Attorney General Eric Holder is a devout gun control advocate. His policies have killed our border agents through the “Fast and the Furious” program. This was an effort to demonize small arms by putting them in the hands of gangs and thugs in the hopes an increase in violence would turn public opinion. Some may say, “Come on, CJ. Aren’t you being a little conspiratorial?” Not at all. Holder TOLD us he wanted to do this back in 1995.
By executive order, President Obama prevented the importation of thousands of surplus M1 Garands from Korea. The weapons were in good condition and used by US troops during the Korean War. Many veterans and family members of that conflict were looking forward to collecting these rifles in time to celebrate the 62nd Anniversary of the war next month. However, within a month of announcing the importation of these rifles that would have helped the South Korean military raise money for its defense, the Obama Administration blocked them. Why? Because allowing these weapons to come into the country, they “could potentially be exploited by individuals seeking firearms for illicit purposes.” Whatever that means?
But, it doesn’t stop there. Obama also blocked the importation of 300,000 vintage 1911 Colt pistols from the same conflict! With demand for these beautifully created pistols at an all-time high, the importation could have finally gotten them within affordability for many veterans interested in collecting vintage firearms. Even within the military, there is an effort to once again issue troops the .45 caliber pistols instead of the current 9mm Berettas.
Finally, Obama attempted to install Andrew Traver as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Thankfully, his nomination never went through because Traver is about as anti-gun as they come. Yet, he’s still in charge of the ATFE’s Chicago Field Division. In this role he has worked hard to stigmatize so-called “assault rifles” and those that own them. I wrote about Traver a year and a half ago on my blog.
So, in response to my liberal, gun-controlling backtalkers; no, Obama hasn’t passed any gun control laws. He CAN’T. There are to many liberty-loving constitutionalists in Congress right now. He has not staged a frontal assault on gun rights, but he has been attempting to exploit its flanks.
James Madison spoke to this during a speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention in 1788 what Obama is attempting to do today with gun control: “There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
The views expressed in this post are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any branch of the government or military unit. The author does not represent, speak for, or write in any official capacity.