You can’t go a week without reading a new story about liberals trying to enact stricter gun control laws. Of course, “gun control” is another one of those left-approved euphemisms that fits right alongside “undocumented worker” and “right to choose.” “Freedom control” would be a better name for it. These laws are proposed and passed under the guise of keeping us safe from psycho killers and accidental gun deaths. What they really do is limit our ability to defend ourselves.
The latest parry in the attempt to limit self-defense is the proposed ban on M855 ammunition. And while the backlash over this ATF proposition is strong enough to (probably) send it packing, it’s only one example in an ongoing push for stricter laws and reduced freedom. This time, instead of using kids as their focus of protection, the Obama administration is using police officers. Yes, the very same police officers they’ve been mercilessly criticizing for the last six months. Perhaps if they had been a little more fair and even-handed with the “black lives matter” cases, police departments would be more willing to stand beside them on this ban.
The Founding Fathers, villainized as they are by today’s liberals, still retain the respect due them for their bravery and wisdom, to say nothing of orchestrating the grandest experiment in human democracy to ever grace the earth. They devised the Second Amendment to ensure that the right to bear arms be not infringed, and their extra-constitutional writings and speeches give lie to the liberal argument that such an amendment was specific to a place and time.
“To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” – George Mason, co-author of the Second Amendment
“The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson
“The best we can help for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.” – Alexander Hamilton
The Founding Fathers were not dreaming up rights to hand out to the peasants like benevolent kings. The rights outlined in the first ten amendments, they believed, came from God. They were merely ratifying them by making sure they were a part of our national charter.
Liberals have yet to villainize Jesus Christ the way they have the architects of America, but appeals to the Bible are just as easily ignored. For those of us who still believe there is wisdom to be found in those pages of Scripture, though, Christ’s words cannot be ignored. In Luke 22:35-39, it is written:
35 And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.” 36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 37 “For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.” 38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.” 39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him.
I don’t claim to be an expert on Jesus, but it seems clear from this passage that the son of God is commanding us to bear a sword. A sword is, of course, a useless weapon in modern times, meaning this passage can be updated to compensate for evolving technology. In another thousand years, a gun may be as useless as a sword is today.
Throughout the chronicle of Christ’s ministry, we are reminded time and again of the value of human life, the honor in turning the other cheek, and the seriousness of bloodshed. And so we should never forget; a man must never kill unless left with no other option. Fact is, no lawful gun owner I’ve ever met would consider straying from this philosophy. The same cannot be said for illegal gun owners, a category which will grow no smaller as a result of gun control laws.
Of course, progressivism means moving past all of that old crap. Throw away the centuries of wisdom, the lessons of history, and the religious scriptures that have guided man for millennia. Replace them with trends, academic theories, feelings, and suppositions. Redefine the conservative as a hateful, backwards bully acting only in his own selfish interests. Frighteningly, its adherents are remarkably effective.
The gun-death statistics in this country are mindblowing and heartbreaking. But these numbers are driven by gang violence, criminals, and suicides. Not school shootings and kids accidentally killing themselves with dad’s gun. If we want to turn this ship around, it starts with better mental health programs, real solutions to crime, and a culture of responsible firearm ownership. It does not – and cannot – start with the dismantling of human rights.
