The Patriot Post® · 2016 Presidential Field on Guns and Liberty
“The ultimate authority … resides in the people alone. [T]he advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation … forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any.” —James Madison (1788)
Recently, the National Rifle Association’s leadership was my host at their 144th convention in Nashville. Though an NRA Life Member for decades, this was the first NRA convention I have attended, as the demands of publishing deadlines don’t allow much travel.
While I never made it to the exhibit halls in the three days I was there, I did attend a succession of leadership meetings and events, and met many remarkable Patriots. And it was great to connect with some old friends, including one of the NRA’s most tireless Second Amendment (2A) advocates, Joe DeBergalis. Fact is, anywhere you turned in my home state’s capital, there were Patriot supporters of the Second Amendment — more than 80,000 of them.
I also had the opportunity to meet with some of the announced and potential 2016 presidential candidates. (No, Hillary Clinton was not there, but I assume you know her position on guns and Liberty!) They each delivered brief remarks regarding their record of support for the Second Amendment, and below I have provided links to each speaker’s comments.
However, before getting to the candidates, allow me to provide a brief context for their remarks, and note that I can assure you: Each and every speaker clearly grasped and articulated two key principles.
First, Liberty is an “innate and inalienable right” as set forth in our Declaration of Independence and enshrined in our Constitution, the latter establishing Rule of Law in order to protect those rights.
Second, the Rights of Man are only as sustainable as they are defendable — thus our Founders codified both the innate right to and obligation for that defense, specifically in Article the Second (AKA: “Second Amendment”) of our Constitution’s Bill of Rights – as ratified December 15, 1791. The Second Amendment states plainly: “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”
For the record, in the context intended by our Founders and affirmed by the Supreme Court over the last two centuries, “a well regulated Militia” refers to the People.
While the 10 Articles ratified and appended to our Constitution as the Bill of Rights are commonly referred to as “Amendments,” there is a distinction between those Articles and subsequent Amendments. In the preamble to the Bill of Rights, our Founders noted that the States “expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added,” and that these Articles “when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution.” In other words, our Founders intended those Articles to be inherent to our Constitution, while Amendments alter parts of our Constitution.
However, the addition of the Bill of Rights was the subject of hotly contested debates among our Founders. Many objected to enumerating innate rights “endowed by our Creator” because such a listing might convey that those indigenous rights are subject to alteration or amendment — which they most assuredly are not.
Indeed, both Article I and II of the Bill of Rights, while not specifically altered by amendment since ratification, have certainly been subject to much alteration by judicial meddling and mischief.
In regard to the rights enumerated in the Second Amendment, the nation’s leading organization holding that line is the NRA, America’s longest-standing civil rights organization. The NRA, originally chartered in New York in 1871, now has more than five million active members, 117,000 Certified Firearms Instructors and more than 800,000 Americans attend NRA firearms courses annually.
Regarding the NRA’s conventions, it is worth noting that whenever the NRA is in town the host city’s police department attests that the crime rate drops off the charts. Too bad this year’s convention was not this week in Baltimore. Of course, Maryland has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation, and there is a direct and demonstrable correlation between gun restrictions and crime. Cities with the highest crime rates also have the strictest gun laws.
According to the most reputable polling on firearms, there are more than 60 million gun owners in the U.S. More than 40% of American households have firearms, and 65% of those are handguns. (Of course, many Americans simply refuse to answer pollsters’ questions as to whether they own a firearm.)
The most recent Pew Research Center poll on firearms reports a significant shift in support for gun rights and ownership. That shift was the subject of a recent interview with Yale researcher John Lott, who is now Director of the Crime Prevention Research Center.
Now, there are some folks who don’t understand the enthusiasm of their fellow Americans for lawful gun ownership, but they most certainly know somebody who owns a firearm. I recommend they thank those gun owners for their commitment to the Second Amendment, because they are exercising the Constitution’s first defense for all the rights of citizens.
The NRA convention’s welcoming comments were delivered by my friend, Sen. Bob Corker, who has a solid record of 2A support. — Remarks
Introducing the Leadership Forum lineup was the Executive Director of NRA-ILA, Chris Cox: “Friends, we are here to celebrate American values, and lying is not one of them, so you are not going to hear from [a few people who were not invited].” Chris included a video featuring Barack “I believe in the Second Amendment” Obama, Joe “The president and I support the Second Amendment” Biden, Michael “Nobody questions the Second Amendment right to bear arms” Bloomberg, and Chuck “There is a Second Amendment right to bear arms” Schumer. He concluded, “But you will hear from some true champions of freedom.” — Remarks
Chris was followed by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre: “If you’re like most of the people I’ve talked to all over America, you’re worried about our country. Something has gone terribly wrong. In so many ways, the values we care most about have been diminished, discounted and discarded by our political leadership. Values like honesty, integrity, virtue, generosity, kindness, civility — the core values upon which we were raised — have been replaced in Washington with lying, conniving, getting ahead at all cost, and building personal fortune and fame among a fawning media that is all too eager to raise their own ratings, wealth and celebrity. … I vow on this day, NRA members will stand shoulder to shoulder with you and with good, honest, decent Americans. We will stand and we will fight with everything we’ve got and, in 2016, by God, we will elect our next great president of these United States and it will not be Hillary Rodham Clinton!” — Remarks
Note: I have listed the speakers in order of appearance, not preference. All were received with enthusiasm, which, hopefully, helps reduce the likelihood of self-defeating, fratricidal infighting.
Hon. Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana — Remarks
Hon. Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin — Remarks
Hon. Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania — Remarks
Hon. Rick Perry, former Governor of Texas — Remarks
Hon. Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida — Remarks
Dr. Benjamin Carson — Remarks
Hon. Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida — Remarks
Hon. Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas — Remarks
Hon. Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator from Texas — Remarks
Other speakers whose remarks are well worth listening to:
CNN’s S.E. Cupp — Remarks
Hon. Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina — Remarks
And even “The Donald” Trump had a few things to say — Remarks
All said, the Second Amendment will be well represented in 2016, including by those conservative contenders who were not able to make the event this year.
If you have yet to become a vocal 2A supporter, get on board. Read more on the Second Amendment here and visit our Second Amendment store. Promote Liberty and recruit additional Patriots to our ranks by distributing our Essential Liberty Pocket Guide to your family, friends and colleagues.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
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The First Civil Right is To Keep and Bear Arms. It is the “the palladium of the liberties of the republic,” as it is the ultimate assurance of all other rights. Making good people helpless won’t make bad people harmless.
FOOTNOTE 1: Regarding so-called “gun violence,” there were approximately 19,600 homicides involving firearms in the U.S. in the latest year of record, which you can view state by state. Fortunately there are indications that homicides may be declining after the significant surge of violence unleashed by Joe Biden and his Democrat agitators in 2020. The 2022 homicide rate was 30% higher than in 2019.
The Demos ubiquitously and falsely label the generational murderous contagion they have seeded, “gun violence,” and focus exclusively on the infrequent high-profile “mass shootings,” which account for only a tiny fraction of all homicides. More than 99% of murders in the U.S. are not the result of mass attacks. (Notably, guns don’t commit violence, thugs and sociopaths commit violence.) The oft-cited Gun Violence Archive defines a “mass shooting” as any incident that involves a “minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed.” The vast majority of those violent attacks are the result of drug and gang violence committed in Democrat-controlled urban centers.
In a country and culture that ignores the rising generation of sociopathic murderers – mostly thugs in violent urban centers who are saturated with cultural violence and indoctrinated with mass-media glorification of violence – it is fortunate that the incidence of mass murder is not ten times higher. Arguably, the only thing keeping that number from being higher is that 125 million Americans are legal and responsible gun owners.
Democrats don’t focus on the vast majority of murders, particularly the epidemic of black-on-black murders on their decaying urban poverty plantations, because they want to avoid the “inconvenient truth” about race and violence, which is the direct result of failed Democrat social programs. In fact, black people (13% of the population), are twelve times more likely to be murdered per capita, than white people (62% of the population).
That gross racial disparity in murder rates isn’t useful for the gun control narrative Democrats invoke to evoke emotional reaction from mostly wealthy white suburban women, whom form the Demos’ largest voter constituency.
FOOTNOTE 2: Regarding so-called “mass shootings,” for the record, murders of multiple people by one assailant are very rare in our nation of 335 million people. Less than 1% of all murders nationwide are classified are “mass shootings,” and high-profile attacks, such as the 2017 mass murder in Las Vegas, are extremely rare.
The FBI defines “active shooter incidents” as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” In 2022 the FBI reported 50 incidents resulting in 313 casualties (100 killed and 213 wounded). That number was up significantly from 2020, when the FBI reported 40 incidents resulting in 164 casualties (38 killed and 126 wounded).
A broader record of “mass shooting” data is maintained by the Associated Press and Northeastern University, which uses the Department of Justice definition of mass public shooting: “A multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered with firearms.” These numbers fluctuate significantly year over year, and range between 20 and 40 incidents, but notably over the last 30 years, the number of black mass assailants is almost as high as the number of what assailants.
Democrats only focus on these rare instances of multiple murders because these rare high-profile tragedies are political fodder to foment fear – most notably when they can toss out their oft-repeated but erroneous claim that “gun violence is the leading cause of death for children.” If by “children” they mean gang and drug associated murders of those primarily between the ages of 16 and 21, then yes. Democrats are experts at fomenting fear and division.
The fear and angst Demos are intentionally propagating is taking a toll on Americans’ mental health. Psychological researcher, Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson, observes: “Watching it time and time again on your phone or on the headlines can really impact you in ways that I don’t think we knew before to be as impactful. It’s so ‘in our face’ all the time and we have access to so much footage, so many pictures, so many videos, so many accounts that we’re ingesting it in ways that’s really unhealthy for us.” The result for many mothers in particular is an irrational fear that their children will be shot. That is precisely the fabricated fear Democrats want to perpetuate, especially among their female constituents, in order to advance their gun control agenda.
FOOTNOTE 3: Regarding what Democrats and their Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes ubiquitously and falsely label “assault weapons,” are not. An assault weapon, AKA “machine gun,” is a select-fire weapon that can cycle rounds in fully automatic fashion.
For much the same reason Democrats focus only on rare high-profile “mass shootings” to generate fear and angst, when those attacks involve a semi-automatic rifle versus a handgun, Demos call for an “assault weapon ban.”
In 1994, Bill Clinton banned the sale of “military style assault weapons,” but that ban was not renewed 10 years later because it was determined the ban had no effect on crime reduction. According to Rand Research, “We found no qualifying studies showing that bans on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines decreased any of the eight outcomes we investigated.”
Fact is, rifles and shotguns combined are used in less than 3% of all homicides, but Democrats never let facts get in the way of their “assault weapon ban” political agenda.
FOOTNOTE 4: Regarding firearms and violent crime, researcher John Lott reports, “Over 92% of violent crimes in America do not involve firearms.” Again, the only thing keeping that number from being much higher is that 125 million Americans are legal and responsible gun owners.
FOOTNOTE 5: Regarding firearms and suicide, almost 60% of all deaths involving firearms are suicide, most also involving drugs or alcohol abuse. But the big numbers promoted in “gun violence” reports do not distinguish between murder and suicide, thus implying that homicide rates are much higher. And does this mean that Demo support for assisted suicide is in conflict with their support for gun control?
FOOTNOTE 6: Regarding alcohol versus firearm deaths, if Democrats are serious about protecting Americans, they should outlaw alcohol. Alcohol abuse is far more deadly than firearm abuse. More than 178,000 people died from alcohol abuse last year – that’s NINE times the number homicides associate with fire arms. Drunk driving results in 37 deaths per day. And notably, it is estimated that alcohol is a key factor in at least 30% of homicides where the assailant uses a firearm. (Include drug dealing or use as a factor and that number jumps to about 60%.)
The problem is, the vast majority of alcohol users possess and use it legally and responsibly. Likewise, the vast majority of firearm owners possess and use them legally and responsibly. Enacting a prohibition on firearms is tantamount to enacting a prohibition on alcohol. In both cases, only law-abiding users obey the laws, while lawless users don’t.
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