We must resist the continual attempts to erode our Second Amendment rights
Any attempt to enact gun control legislation is necessarily an attempt to influence human behavior. Of course, influencing human behavior can be a laudable goal. For example, when we pass laws making homicide a crime, that’s an attempt to influence human behavior. When we pass laws banning drunk driving, that’s an attempt to influence human behavior. And as these two examples show, making something illegal will not deter criminals from engaging in that behavior. With gun control, it’s not even a good reason to try.
The appetite for gun control, usually in the wake of tragedy, is predictable. As an attempt to control human behavior, it’s pointless. The reasons it won’t accomplish what liberals claim is their goal is simple: it can’t. The central reason is that a gun is a tool that won’t affect the fundamental motivation of the terrorist, other criminal, or madman. Recent knife, vehicle, and bomb attacks have shown us that. A more detailed description of why it won’t work, particularly in America, is laid out in this article.
In addition to the fact that gun control won’t stop unlawful shootings (ask Chicago’s South Side about that), there are two other serious obstacles: the fact that the Second Amendment enshrines these God-given rights in the Constitution, and the fact that Americans overwhelmingly are in favor of gun rights.
American’s support of gun rights remains strong despite the progressive movement’s efforts to win the “culture wars:”
When the mighty combination of pop culture, the religious Left, the academy, and the Democratic party unite, they usually get results. Not so in the gun debate.... For almost a quarter-century, state legislatures have been steadily loosening gun restrictions, Americans have gone on a historic gun-buying spree, and citizens have obtained concealed-carry permits by the millions.
All rights claimed to be enjoyed by Americans are not protected by a Constitutional amendment, even if gun control advocates do not appreciate that fact. Even so, there is a continual effort to diminish those rights. Just this month the Courts of Justice Committee of the Virginia Senate has defeated several gun control measures proposed by newly-sworn Governor Northam.
Disappointingly, one measure that the committee did approve was one banning so-called “bump stocks.” Bump fire stocks enable a legal rifle to simulate automatic fire without making an alteration that would be illegal under federal law. The Obama administration approved their sale on at least two occasions. Nonetheless, in the aftermath of the Las Vegas mass shooting in which they were reportedly used, the NRA called for increased regulation of bump fire stock sales, asking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“BATFE”) “to immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.”
It is apparently that heinous shooting, and the NRA’s request for the BATFE to review bump stocks more closely, that has helped create a climate in which such a measure could see favorable legislative action in Virginia, although it has not made it through the entire legislative process at this time.
The Founders understood the importance of our right to individual and collective self-defense, from enemies internal and external. As much as some people may want to strip us of this right as a prelude to taking away our freedoms, it is God-given, and the Second Amendment acknowledges it. Efforts to limit Second Amendment rights will diminish the safety of our families and communities. We must resist these efforts consistently and strenuously.