Well, we knew this was coming. House Democrats are going to push for an assault weapons ban, limits on so-called high-capacity magazines, anti-hate bills, and red flag laws. It’s the ultimate anti-gun buffet, which we’ve seen before and defeated. We have a Republican Senate so most of this push to chip away at the Bill of Rights will be gutted. It’s a campaign ploy, aimed at ginning up interest and energy with the Democratic base. It’s also a prime opportunity to fundraise and fill those campaign war chests because this could be the only issue where the polling isn’t downright awful concerning Democratic policy agenda items. And even then, support whittles down once people see what these policies would do if enacted. Let’s go through this again.
The assault weapons ban is worthless. It targets guns that aren’t really used in crimes, less than 500 deaths on average. And yes, this is a numbers game now. It shouldn’t be, but if the Left thinks they can tug at heartstrings citing figure after figure from anti-gun groups, data that’s totally wrong by the way, then it’s a numbers game. More people die from cigarette smoking and car accidents than gun homicides. The Left inflates the firearms death toll by lumping in suicides; that’s not an act of gun violence. Even liberal gun reporters admit that the assault weapons ban did little to curb violent crime. It did help Republicans make political gains in future elections, however.
The magazine limit is more window dressing. We already have a background check system and no criminal obtains their firearms through private sales, which is mostly transfers between family members via inheritance. Red flag laws sound great. In fact, I would support them, but only if it meant keeping the Democrats out of the committee hearings. Explicit and overt due process mechanisms have to be in these bills, which the Democrats will not support. For example, remember Chris Cuomo’s meltdown this week after being called “Fredo.” That could be considered a reason for police to visit you under their parameters. That’s not hyperbole. Democrats would make that law so fluid that a tantrum at Starbucks could warrant you a visit. That’s intentional. They want their anti-gun activists to harass law-abiding gun owners and they would certainly try to go as far as they can on this in order to confiscate guns.
President Trump has supported red flag laws. It’s a mistake, but it’s a policy initiative that probably has the best chance of passing if he puts his full support behind it. As Stephen Gutowski of The Washington Free Beacon said on the Triggered Podcast, Trump’s very public showing of support is the only way to give enough cover for Republicans to vote for something like this.
As with anything related to gun control, things will need to marinate. Mass shootings are still rare, but voter support for these constitutionally questionable initiatives spikes. They will decrease soon enough once more data is released. The same old data that exposes an extremist agenda aimed at destroying the Second Amendment. A semi-automatic ban is not a ‘scary gun’ ban, but a virtual firearms ban. That’s unconstitutional. This is another round on this battlefield. And we will need to be as ruthless and aggressive as possible if this was our first round with the anti-gun Left. They scored some wins last year. They’re emboldened. We need to shatter that confidence.
The renewed assault on our Constitution begins September 4.
