The Patriot Post® · Americans Say 'No' to Rifle Ban

By Thomas Gallatin ·
https://patriotpost.us/articles/45591-americans-say-no-to-rifle-ban-2016-10-27

Gallup just released a poll showing Americans’ support for a ban on so-called “assault rifles” at an all-time low of only 36%. This number may come as a shock to anti-gun leftists and the Leftmedia, who endlessly attempt to associate violent crime with the lack of stricter gun control and supposed legal “loopholes” for gun purchasing.

Thankfully, the vast majority of Americans recognize as farcical and factually inaccurate the anti-gun demagoguery preached by the likes of Hillary Clinton. It’s simply foolishness to insist that creating increasingly onerous laws will make criminals less likely to commit crimes. The reality is that more laws limit the freedoms of law-abiding citizens and tend to create more lawbreakers, not fewer. Obviously, it’s not curbing crime that motivates the Left, but securing and centralizing more governing power over citizens.

Irrespective of what the poll shows, it’s important for all Americans to remember that our rights are not dictated by the whims of popular opinion. And it’s not the government’s role to grant rights to its citizens, but rather to recognize, preserve and protect those God-given rights. To attack those rights enumerated in the Constitution is to attack the very essence of what makes America unique. The Second Amendment was established as a citizen safeguard. It’s good news indeed that more Americans are embracing this truth. It’s also a shot across the bow for Democrats, who should learn from this and the 1994 “assault weapon” ban — it’s a losing proposition.

Finally, as David French writes, “Weapons like the AR-15 have been demystified. Americans have bought them by the millions, and millions more have either fired an AR-15 or know a friends or neighbor who owns one. … [W]ith every AR sold, more Americans enjoy the benefit of greater liberty and security. In other words, the AR-15 is its own best argument.”