When it comes to guns and the Second Amendment, we know who stands where, generally speaking.
However, we demand our lawmakers show us where they stand. It's not enough to say the right things, we want to see meaningful action. In particular, for those who read here, we want the restoration of our gun rights. We don't want kabuki theater.
What am I talking about? Well, the antics of one Nancy Pelosi and other anti-gun Democrats in the U.S. House on Monday.
See, we know that Pelosi is anti-gun. There's no comment as to whether she's pro- or anti-hammers, mind you, though we all know she's not anti-getting-hammered.
Anyway, she and other anti-gun Democrats tried something that's never worked for them in the past. They made a spectacle of themselves:
It’s no secret that politicians spend much time playing to their base to ensure future funding for their pet projects. Sometimes, they’ll even make a big deal about their goals, even when they know they have a slim chance of coming to fruition.
Such is the case with gun-ban advocates in the U.S. House of Representatives, who on Monday staged a major dog-and-pony show for anyone who would watch them pretend that they might be able to get significant gun control measures passed in the upcoming Congress.
For the event, the head grandstander was none other than House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who set up the news conference to shame Republicans in the house for their lack of zeal in further infringing on the Second Amendment rights of lawful American gun owners. For the extravaganza, Pelosi even brought along 91 people dressed in orange shirts to represent the “91 people who die of gun violence” every day in America.
Of course, that’s a completely false number, since it involves everything from suicides to self-defense shootings to criminals shot by law enforcement officers. Still, the orange was probably a nice touch for those who don’t know Pelosi to be a serial liar that most of the nation does.
“The overwhelming majority of Americans want action to keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists and criminals,” Pelosi told the small crowd gathered. “But the Republican house still refuses to disarm hate and allow a vote on common-sense gun violence protection.”
The problem is that we don't disarm people because of suspicion. Even if someone's suspected of being a terrorist, mere suspicion is not due process. You don't strip people of their rights just because you think they're a bad person.
If that were the case, most Democrats in Congress would be forcibly disarmed.
Not that such a thing sounds particularly terrible, but still...
Moreover, it's already illegal for criminals to have guns. What is Pelosi suggesting, making it double secret illegal or something?
The thing is, this isn't really about guns. This is about Pelosi and Democrats trying to signal to their base that yes, they still hold the right opinions but their only option right here and now is to try and shame Republicans into turning their backs on their own base and doing what the Democrats want. Pelosi and company know that's not going to happen. It's not even on the table.
This is kabuki theater meant to kill some time until their irrelevancy gets even worse for the next two years as they pray for a blue wave in the 2026 midterms.
They've beaten that anti-gun drum for years now, and it didn't do them any favors the last two election cycles, so maybe it's time they start reading from a new script.