Further reinforcing the image of Democrats as the party of gun control, Reuters reported over the weekend that the party is feeling its oats and pushing for stricter gun laws.
But that leaves Second Amendment advocates pushing more legal actions, hoping that with a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court, the dam may burst and justices will finally start drawing more boundaries on just how far a constitutionally-enumerated fundamental right can be eroded. The court’s recent decision to accept a case challenging a handgun restriction in New York City might have been the signal gun rights activists have been waiting for.
Meanwhile, according to Pacific Standard, there is not much that separates announced and potential Democrat presidential candidates where guns are concerned. Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders are all sponsors of a proposed ban on so-called “assault weapons.” Minority Leader Sen. Charles Schumer is a perennial anti-gunner, and Democrats now in control of the U.S. House are proposing all sorts of gun control measures.
These Democrats, and too many like them, belong to what rights activists often describe as the “I-support-the-Second-Amendment…but” crowd that doesn’t believe in private gun ownership at all; at least, not as a constitutionally protected right.
So-called “enhanced background checks,” waiting periods, bans on whole classes of firearms, heaped-on bureaucratic hoops through which people must jump to obtain a carry license or permit, plus requiring permits before a gun may be purchased all amount to evidence that lots of Democrats no longer consider gun ownership a right, but instead as a heavily-regulated privilege.
The establishment media doesn’t help by continuing to refer to gun prohibition lobbying groups as “gun safety” organizations. The Reuters story alluded to “national gun safety groups” and gun control measures as “gun safety bills.” But as gun owners lately have been saying, “Gun control is not gun safety.”
States where anti-gun efforts are ramping up include New York, Oregon, New Mexico, Washington and California.
On the other hand, South Dakota just saw the signing of a “constitutional carry” law by new Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican. And in Maine, as noted by Reuters, Democrat Gov. Janet Mills reportedly opposes a background check bill because voters rejected an initiative measure in 2016.
The proverbial “bottom line” is that Democrats who still strongly defend gun ownership are not in leadership positions, and certainly aren’t guiding party policy. Those policies continue pushing firearms owners away like unwelcome in-laws at the Independence Day picnic.
