In our political debates over gun policies, those who favor increased regulations and restrictions on firearms often claim that they're only asking for widely-supported, modest changes in the law. We're not coming for your guns, they promise; we're only looking to make a few 'common sense' alterations to the status quo. They cite polling that favors their position, and they ridicule as paranoid those Second Amendment supporters who warn about a so-called slippery slope. But emboldened leftist Democrats have been vindicating many conservatives' worst fears in recent days, with two answers at last Thursday's presidential debate standing out on this front. This response on confiscation from former Congressman Beto O'Rourke has gotten a lot of attention, with the candidate tripling down on it, going so far as to sell t-shirts featuring his confiscatory vow:
Hell yes, we're gonna take your AR-15.
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019
But this is what O'Rourke told Texas voters just last year, regarding America's most popular rifle:
Beto last year, when he still aspired to win the state of Texas. pic.twitter.com/eihBzBsvLl
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) September 13, 2019
Keep your AR-15, we're not coming for them, he cooed at the time -- well after, I must add, terrible massacres in places like Newtown, CT and Parkland, FL. But when the political incentives shifted just months later, O'Rourke pivoted to loud and proud confiscation. One Democratic Senator appears to understand the damage of this about-face, with will underscore the perception that claims of modest incrementalism and denials over a more aggressive gun-grabbing agenda are not to be trusted:
Chris Coons: Beto O’Rourke’s call for gun confiscation last night will be used against our party for years https://t.co/56A3kIOVIS pic.twitter.com/WQGRoiUOzl
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) September 13, 2019
He's right. And it wasn't just one answer from one politician. It was the loud cheering from the audience. Suspicions, confirmed. No wonder some of Beto's would-be allies on this larger issue are privately fuming about his declaration. Another debate exchange that has received less attention, but is quite revealing was this answer from Elizabeth Warren:
We agree on many steps we could take to fix it. My view on this is, we're going to -- it's not going to be one and done on this. We're going to do it, and we're going to have to do it again, and we're going to have to come back some more until we cut the number of gun deaths in this country significantly.
She is straight-up saying that Democrats will keep returning to take bites at the gun control apple, over and over again. It's almost as if when conservatives say giving in inch will only result in more inches, feet, and yards sought, they're exactly right. Now, these debate answers aren't necessarily reasons to oppose any and all ideas on the merits, but they help explain why so many people are unwilling to yield any ground whatsoever. I'll leave you with two questions: Does Joe Biden believe the Second Amendment actually guarantees citizens the right to own private firearms? And how effective are so-called "buybacks"?
BIG: Joe Biden just came out against the Heller ruling, which confirmed the Second Amendment protects the *individual* right to keep and bear arms ----> https://t.co/FLeD4Edtbs
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 13, 2019
Halfway through gun buyback and only 10 per cent of banned firearms collected https://t.co/u7YulfK3IO
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) September 14, 2019
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