Gun control advocates are using this horrific tragedy to justify the promotion of an agenda that they have been progressing for decades. As David Axelrod said a few years back, “Never let a tragedy go to waste.” All the while, supporters of the Second Amendment, like me, are expected to apologize, like it was our guns that were used in the crimes, or simply shut up and let the extremely vocal gun control lobbyists be the only voice in this “search for common ground.” I, for one, am not going to apologize, I’m not going to be quiet, and I’m not going to let someone else tell me what is acceptable common ground.
First, there are approximately 50 million households in our country that own firearms, and about 300,000,000 firearms privately owned in this country. 299,999,995 weren’t used this week in mass shootings, and the owners of those weapons have nothing to apologize for.
We are either a free people, or we are not. There is no “common ground” when infringing on human liberty. If you take away the rights of the entire citizenry because a small number of them might abuse those rights, then you really aren’t free.
The argument that “ordinary” people don’t need to own weapons that “should only be possessed by the military,” have forgotten the roots of our nation. This country was founded upon the belief that the government in NOT great, better, smarter, or more capable than the people that it serves. The Second Amendment isn’t about hunting, or even individual self defense. The purpose of the Second Amendment was to guarantee that a free people would always be able to remain free.
When asked who belonged to a “well regulated militia,” Thomas Jefferson answered, “All free men, excepting a few select politicians.” Whether it be in defense of our nation from outside invaders, or as a safeguard from a government that no longer valued the individual rights of its citizens, our founders knew that only an armed citizenry could truly protect itself from threats to their freedom. They knew that the only thing that could truly keep a government in check was that government’s fear of its rightful masters: us. And if we aren’t armed, with guns that “should only be possessed by the military,” then any vigil that we stand in protection of our freedom is only symbolic.
On a side note, the “assault weapons” that are being demonized in all of this, aren’t military weapons. They are cosmetic, not functional, copies of military weapons. The military, the police, hell, even the U.S. Department of Education, has fully automatic weapons. And you don’t.
Our Constitution was adopted specifically to protect the people of this nation from an overreaching government, especially in the wake of a tragedy like this one, after which those that believe in expanding government power will take advantage of the political climate and do everything they can to seize that power in the name of “protecting” our children. They claim they are looking for “common ground,” but what that really means is that they want us to give up ground. When it comes to giving up rights, the only compromise results in, well, giving up your rights.
My heart weeps for the 27 innocent people that lost their lives in Connecticut last week, but it also weeps for the 47,395* other people that lost their lives last week from other causes. Only about 212, less that 0.45%, were victims of intentional gun violence. More than twice that many died in accidental falls. More than three times that many died in traffic accidents. Over 23,000 healthy babies were torn from their mothers womb last week, 108 times the number of people who died from intentional gun violence. But it’s gun rights we need to talk about? Only 0.061% of the people who died in this country last week died from intentional assault with a so-called “assault weapon,” and last week was most definitely not typical. This is what we are willing to throw our constitutional rights down the toilet for?
The reality is that there are 300,000,000 people in this country, and that some of them are evil. Enslaving the rest is not the answer. Empowering the rest IS the answer.
(*Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf 2010 data)