Gun control legislation seldom affects firearm-related violence and generally punishes law-abiding gun owners, dealers, and manufacturers. A former national gun control advocacy group president admitted as much over the weekend.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, was founded 45 years ago. Dan Gross, who served as its president for six years, appeared at the Second Amendment Rally at the U.S. Capitol Saturday, and announced that he was tired of gun owners being denigrated.
“I’m here because I’ve seen how all of you, decent, responsible, law-abiding gun owners, are relentlessly, and, I believe, unfairly, demonized,” Gross told the crowd.
“I’ve seen firsthand how an ideological hatred of guns and the people who own them is more important to some people than the actual goal of saving lives.”
Gross first became a gun control activist after his brother was shot and wounded in 1997 on the roof of the Empire State Building.
He added that “... there is nothing that pisses me off more than people who pretend they care about saving lives but really have other agendas.”
One example of those who “have other agendas” is the Tacoma, Washington, City Council, which is considering an additional $25 tax on each firearm sold, as well as a $0.05 tax on each round of ammunition.
"Gun violence is a real problem with 40,000 gun-related deaths in 2018, and 22 gun-related homicides in Tacoma this year alone,” council member Ryan Mello told local NBC affiliate KING-5 News. “This is a modest tax to fund gun violence prevention programs in Tacoma."
It’s actually a tax on a fundamental constitutional right, a tax on self-defense, and it’s one that could put legitimate Tacoma-based gun shop owners out of business.
No city resident would spend an extra $50 for 1,000 rounds of ammo when he can buy it online or out-of-town and avoid the tax.
Small mom-and-pop shops would be especially hard-hit.
“I'm certain I will close,” Mary Davies of Mary’s Pistols in Tacoma told the station. “It's the principle that people will have to pay for what they think is their right. You would not pay a tax to vote, pay a tax for free speech.”
Dan Davies, Mary’s husband and co-owner of Mary’s Pistols agrees.
“I don't make a lot of money per gun. The $25 per gun would literally price me out of business,” he said. “This ordinance threatens my livelihood, my family, and my friends.”
In another example, “red flag laws,” which provide for the ex parte temporary confiscation of firearms from those who demonstrate a danger to themselves or others, could be a step in the right direction so long as due process principles are maintained. Under those conditions even the National Rifle Association (NRA) is open to them.
Problems arise when they’re misapplied. A Massachusetts school crossing guard, Korean War veteran, and retired cop with six decades of service expressed concern for the safety of students because the school resource officer had a habit of leaving his post to buy coffee.
Last month a waitress overheard him expressing those concerns to a friend at lunch, misinterpreted them and informed the local police. His firearms were confiscated as a result. He’s still trying to get them returned.
Nationally, we can look to the current crop of Democratic presidential candidates. Although Beto “Hell yes I’m going to take your AR-15” O’Rourke suspended his campaign last week, perceived “moderate” Joe Biden isn’t much better.
The former vice president would give all persons who “possess assault weapons or high-capacity magazines two options: sell the weapons to the government, or register them under the National Firearms Act,” his campaign website states.
Registering a firearm is the first step to confiscation.
He would also “ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.” A so-called “assault weapon” is nothing more than a standard semi-automatic rifle with cosmetic features such as an adjustable stock, pistol grip, and an accessory rail.
People are starting to fight back. While Democratic presidential hopefuls routinely denounce the NRA, the gun rights organization is reporting a record surge in fundraising.
Preparing for the worst, a growing number of Texas jurisdictions are declaring themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” — they won’t enforce any nonsense legislation coming out of Washington, D.C.
And when Montana Gov. Steve Bullock suggested as “a hunter and a gun owner,” that “No hunter needs a 30-round magazine, a bump stock, or an assault weapon,” wounded warrior Johnny “Joey” Jones threw those words right back at the bottom-tier Democratic presidential candidate.
“I am hunter and a gun owner,” he said. “No legitimate government need fear law abiding citizens who are well armed with 30-round magazines, a bump stock, or a semi-automatic weapon.”
And that’s something that even a gun control advocate can apparently appreciate.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.
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