By Rob Morse
California –-(Ammoland.com)- Do firearms owners deserve the legal right to own guns? I ask because a republic does not run itself.
We elect lawmakers who set public policy. We might blame the police and judges, but it is not their job to care about or enforce human rights.
They certainly don’t protect the right of self-defense. Police and judges only enforce existing laws, and laws in California and Washington State are taking away the legal right of self-defense.
I don’t think the gun owners in Washington and California deserve to keep their guns.
Unfortunately, they are not alone.
Democracy works for those who show up. Starting with California, gun owners simply didn’t bother to vote to protect their rights. There is no reason for politicians to respect the rights of gun owners once they have removed themselves from the political process. Gun owners either voted for politicians who wanted to take away their rights.. or gun owners stayed home last November. Let me show you.
If 70 percent of California gun owners voted for a pro-self-defense candidate, then the new California governor would have vetoed anti-gun legislation. 70 percent is a lot to ask, but that is all it would have taken. If only half of California gun owners voted for a pro-self-defense candidate, then the new California attorney general would have defended their rights in court.
The vote from gun owners alone would have carried every statewide office. That didn’t happen.
Washington State passed a ballot measure that effectively requires a federal firearms investigation for every non-commercial transfer of a firearm. To give you some perspective, imagine if you had to re-register your car every time a different person sat behind the wheel. That means you couldn’t drive your girlfriend’s car. Washington’s law means you can’t touch your girlfriend’s firearm even if you both have concealed carry permits.
All Washington state gun owners had to do in the last election was show up and vote. Their vote alone would have stopped the initiative. Washington gun owners couldn’t be bothered. I could continue with example after example from state after state.
Let’s look at the national situation for a minute. Fewer than one in 10 gun owners bother to join the National Rifle Association and their local gun-rights groups. You read that correctly.. 9 out of 10 don’t bother! Now you see why firearms owners are loosing their legal rights in so many blue states. It hurts me to say this, but gun owners are getting the lack of respect they deserve.
Gun owners were carried along by a conservative wave in this last election.. and gun groups claimed credit they didn’t disserve for electing conservative candidates.
Democracy has been called many things. Politics has been called a contact sport. Democracy shouldn’t be, but in too many cases democracy is treated as a spectator sport rather than a participatory team effort. Democracy, when it works at all, only works for those who show up and speak up.
The next election may be years away, but it is always time to join and lend your voice.
STUPID ARTICLE. Do ‘lo-informed’ Voters deserve the Right to VOTE?!! Do Socialist-Dems deserve the Right to slander First Amendment Privileges?
…know where I’m coming from?
So if we’re gonna talk Bill of Rights… LET’s TALK! NOT JUST B.S.
Morse is off base on this. Does he provide voter turnout numbers or breakdowns from any recent election in California? Nope. He just claims “gun owners simply didn’t bother to vote to protect their rights.” It’s easy for folks in red states to make generalizations, but gun owners in California are pretty active. The problem? They’re vastly outnumbered. To claim they’re *just not bothering* is not only unfair, it’s insulting. Same goes for Washington state and I-594. He claims “all Washington state gun owners had to do in the last election was show up and vote.” The thing is, *they… Read more »
Your point is well-taken, but “deserve” has go nothing to do with it. The people have a right to arms whether they “deserve” it or not. “A citizen may not be required to offer a ‘good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights. The right‘s existence is all the reason he needs.” – District Judge Benson Everett Legg for the U.S. 4th Circuit, Woollard v. Sheridan “This is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence.” – U S v. CRUIKSHANK, 92 U.S.… Read more »
Do Gun Owners Deserve the Right to Keep and Bear Arms? The simple answer is YES. We do not live in a democracy. We live in a Constitutional Republic. The majority does not have the right to take away the rights of the minority. That’s why the founders of this country and signers of the Constitution created the Republic. Mob rule, democracy, is too easily swayed by events and the fine words of the leaders of the mob to be allowed to control themselves let alone others.
Any gun owner who votes for a Democrat might as well surrender their guns. Every election check out a candidates web site and their position on the Second. If anything is unclear call or e mail for an explanation. This will let them know you are out there. If you find a good candidate, then send them at least the price of one box of ammo with a note saying WHY you are donating and requesting their continued support. I do this even for candidates out of my district because, my candidates all suck. Help me out. I can ‘t… Read more »
People in those bad states need to look in their own state Constitution and laws for Right to arms , equal rights , and not allowing special citizen classes. Such as allowing police to have conceal weapons off duty in bars. Lawsuits against any laws that produce overturning a law is accompanied by lawsuit for lawyer costs. Chicago is bleeding from the NRA legal team. This needs to happen in all these states. Form groups which sole purpose is lawsuits against any firearm law which might be winnable.
The 2A says we keep our guns ! And I say I will keep my guns !
DID THAT ALSO HAPPEN IN CT
I have no sympathy for people in Kali,Wash.St.,NY,NJ,..etc.who keep electing gutter trash into office. What do they expect ? For the people in these states who cherish their 2A freedoms,…MOVE ! Someone in NJ was bitching about where the NRA was to help them during the gungrabbing tyranning in that state ! What the hell can the NRA do when people continue to vote this scum into office ?…. Nothing is what ! You cant fix stupid !
Actually in a state like NY, where I live and vote, last election pretty much all of upstate voted out the trash that keeps taking away guns rights and our votes were trumped by the 5 burrows of the city…. Democracy isn’t just about voting it is also about fair representation that we don’t seem to get anymore. Honestly after twenty years of voting like this it does start to feel pointless. And NY just keeps getting worse gun laws
i certainly didn’t vote for any anti-gun candidates.
We’re outnumbered by hoplophobic assholes in NYC who don’t care about guns since they don’t own them, or are rabidly anti-gun because they are pussies who want feel good laws.