The Patriot Post® · Dems Press Tump for Gun Control
Immediately following recent attacks wherein psychopaths in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, murdered over 30 people, Democrat politicians and much of the mainstream media were quick to call for new restrictions on firearms. Even President Donald Trump, facing a massive Leftmedia campaign blaming his rhetoric for supposedly motivating the attackers while he emphatically condemned the “barbaric” attacks, also called for the strengthening of the nation’s background-check laws.
Democrat presidential candidates clearly see these latest atrocities as an opportunity to further constrain the Second Amendment. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA) on Saturday released her latest gun-grabbing scheme, in which she calls for a new “federal assault weapons ban,” banning “high-capacity ammunition magazines,” increased taxes on firearms and ammunition, longer waiting periods for firearm purchases, and holding “the manufacturer of the weapon [used in shootings] strictly liable for compensatory damages to the victim or their family.” Warren’s plan would also require “individuals already in possession of assault weapons to register them under the National Firearms Act.”
Once again, rather than focusing the blame for these crimes on those individuals responsible for committing these mass murders, Warren seeks to hold the firearms and their manufacturers as criminally liable for their negligent use. Notice that Warren and her leftist ilk don’t hold the same nonsensical standard for other companies. Where are the calls for “common sense” knife-control laws following last week’s mass murder via stabbing of four individuals by a criminal in California? Where are the calls for automaker Dodge to be held “seriously liable” for the Charger that was used by a white supremacist to run over and murder a woman in the Charlottesville protest two years ago today? Obviously, Warren’s intent here is to effectively eviscerate the Second Amendment.
However, what is even more troubling is how effective the Democrats’ leverage of these two atrocities has been, as Trump is looking to find some legislative fix to a problem that finds its root in the hearts and minds of seriously disturbed individuals. Neither of these latest mass murders were Christians. In fact, one was an avowed Satanist, who wrote of his motivation, “I am the servant of the serpent evil incarnate, flesh consumer, light destroyer, fueled by hate, rage my strength, distrust my shield.” In other words, what an individual believes about life and how they see themselves and the world around them is where the problem truly lies.
The availability of firearms is not the root “problem,” yet that appears to be what Congress and Trump are focused on. While the desire to prevent seriously disturbed individuals from obtaining firearms is a sensible concept, the effective implementation of such a proposal is sure to run roughshod over numerous civil liberties such as due process. Secondly, these “red flag” laws, as they are called, have not proven to be effective in reducing gun violence. For example, authorities had been warned repeatedly about the threat posed by the school attacker in Parkland, Florida, but to no avail. In this latest atrocity, it was reported that the El Paso perpetrator’s mother had contacted the police weeks ago after he first purchased his AR-15 to express her concern about him owning it.
Due to the effectiveness of the anti-gun lobby and public pressure, it appears that Trump and other Republicans will seek to produce some form of new gun-control legislation that compromises with some of what Democrats are calling for. In this instance, the pragmatic approach may be to produce legislation that tightens potential gun-purchasing loopholes while preventing any banning of firearms.