Democrats are Suckering Republicans into Gun Control

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U.S.A.-(Ammoland.com)- Democrats have created a false narrative on guns, and Republicans have been suckered into buying it.

But first, the good news. It looks like Trump is going to hold off on putting forward any “gun package” for another week or so. That gives us time to head this nonsense off before serious damage is done. If the wobbly R’s don’t stop and change direction right now, it’s going to cost them – all of us – dearly in 2020.

The most likely sucker moves the Republicans would make is to accept some kind of “Universal Background Check,” a “red flag” gun confiscation measure, or maybe even both. A ban on standard capacity magazines, is less likely, and a 1994-style “assault weapon” ban is unlikely to get any serious traction, but never underestimate Republicans’ capacity for self-destruction. If enough Republicans vote in favor of any of these to allow passage, it will hurt Republicans much harder than Democrats.

Proponents are using recent mass murders as the impetus for pushing these proposals, but none of them would have made a difference in those or likely future atrocities. “Expanded” or “Universal” background checks certainly won’t. Almost all of the mass murderers who have used firearms over the past 30 years, have passed background checks. Some of those were due to failures in the system, but most had clean records. In some cases, those clean records were thanks to “diversion” policies intended to avoid harming a young person’s future prospects. The few who didn’t legally purchase their firearms with a background check, either stole the guns they used, had someone else illegally buy them, or acquired them in some other, already illegal way. Another layer of laws isn’t going to prevent any of those kinds of acquisitions.

“Red flag” laws or “Extreme Risk Protection Orders” assume that a troubled individual who might harm himself or others will no longer be a danger if guns are removed, but leave easy access to car keys, gasoline, knives, and possibly other guns. The orders are issued ex parte, meaning no opposing view is offered. Too many Republicans, notably Rep. Dan Crenshaw and Senators Marco Rubio and Lindsay Graham, have stumbled into the red flag trap assuming that the laws can be drafted with safeguards sufficient to keep them from being misused. Experience at the state level says different, and more importantly, there are already laws on the books providing for supervised treatment for people who can’t or won’t seek treatment for themselves.

The bottom line: Prohibitions of cosmetic features did not work in 1994, and are going nowhere in 2019. So called “Universal Background Checks” can never block a mass murder. Red flag laws are both too much and too little – too much in the sense that they are guaranteed to be misused and abused, and too little in the sense that by focusing only on guns, they leave someone who is truly troubled, possibly without guns, but also without help.

The Republican attempts to offer a “reasonable compromise” by repackaging the anti-rights Democrats’ snake oil as “Gun Control Lite” will only hurt Republicans. It is an attempt to appease people who will never vote for them, by alienating one of the most important segments of their constituency. The gun community of 2019 will not stand for it. As my late father Neal Knox used to say, no matter how much tartar sauce you pour on rotten fish, it’s still rotten.

Republicans need positive strategies to attack the issue – genuine strategies, as opposed to the slow-motion surrender too many Republicans have offered over the past few years. Here are some suggestions:

Once they start down the gun control path, Democrats can be safely relied on to self-destruct, if you just give them time and space, and don’t interfere.

First, Democrats will almost always overreach, offering proposals that are repugnant to the vast majority of Americans, such as Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke’s declaration; “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.” Republicans stepping in and trying to soften these Democrat proposals into “something that can pass,” is just stupid.

Beto O’Rourke Hell Yes We Wil Take Your Guns
Beto O’Rourke Hell Yes We Wil Take Your Guns

Second, Democrats can be counted on to kill any bill that does not give them the level of government control that they always build into their proposals. The only amendments Republicans should ever offer, should be “poison pill” provisions that seem reasonable to most people, but which they know Democrats will reject.

Of the 4 basic proposals, Democrats know that a gun ban is a non-starter, so they’re just blowing smoke with that one. Likewise, magazine bans should also be dead in the water, but Republicans have allowed those to get more traction. The murderer at Parkland used 10-round magazines. The murderer at Sandy Hook used higher-capacity mags, but swapped them out several times before they were empty (what’s known as “tactical reloads,” a trick learned from video games). This is probably going to be used by Democrats as a trading chip. They know they don’t have a likely chance of passing it, so they’ll offer to take it off the table as a “compromise.”

That leaves “universal background checks” (UBC) and “red flag” laws.

The stated objective is to “keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.” But one of the core features of UBC proposals that is rarely talked about is the requirement for paperwork on the buyers, the sellers, and the guns. If the objective is just to prevent acquisition by prohibited persons, why are Democrats so insistent on creating a paper trail?

In reality, the paper trail – registration by another name – is the real goal. The very rare instances of a prohibited person acquiring a firearm, without a background check, through an otherwise legal private transaction and then using that gun in the commission of a violent crime, does not begin to justify the massive bureaucratic structure required for the UBC proposals.

Just as the lack of background checks on private transfers has been painted as a “loophole,” even though it was a negotiated compromise in passage of the Brady Act, so too will the lack of a computerized registry of guns and gun owners be characterized as a loophole in the future. Anti-rights zealots want the records to exist so they can complain about the records not being readily accessible and usable to track down “gun traffickers” and sources of “crime guns.”

If you doubt this is the real objective, just offer up an amendment that removes any of the paperwork requirements, particularly the paperwork retention requirements, and listen to the Democrats howl about it. Likewise, a Republican amendment to UBC proposals, that would exempt persons who can present a valid photo ID and carry license, would almost certainly be considered a poison pill by Democrat sponsors, resulting in them killing their own bill. Either of those, like any other Republican participation in this farce, should only be used as last-ditch, blocking attempts, to peel away votes, not serious proposals to try and pass.

Gun control laws don’t work. They never accomplish their stated goals, and certainly don’t prevent or mitigate the type of mass murders that have fueled the current push. They are neither good policy nor good political strategy. It is foolish for Republicans to ever play in the Democrats sandbox. This never results in anything other than the Republicans being covered in dirt and cat poop.

The best thing for Republicans to do in the wake of horrors as happened in Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton is to be thoughtful, compassionate, and conservative in their reaction. Focus on the Constitution and the restrictions of the Bill of Rights. Listen, and let the Democrats run with their outrageous schemes. Opponents of individual rights want to use crises as opportunities to stampede the herd over a cliff. It is conservatives’ job to be calm and rational in a crisis, and in so doing, highlight the panic and hysteria of their opponents.

The nation is at a tipping point. Gun control is a key issue and impacts an important voting constituency. Compromising on gun control gains Republicans nothing, and could cost them everything.


About Jeff Knox:Jeff Knox

Jeff Knox is a second-generation political activist and director of The Firearms Coalition. His father Neal Knox led many of the early gun rights battles for your right to keep and bear arms. Read Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War.

The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition has offices in Buckeye, Arizona and Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org.

Jeff Knox
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a.x. perez

Suggested poison pills: Red flag seizures must go to court in 48 hours, complainant must be present or judge must decide in respondent’s favor. State must pick up 100% of respondent’s court costs, including appeals, however respondent gets to choose own lawyer. If court decides in respondent’s favor and it is determined that complainant acted out of malice the complainant will owe state and respondent $100,000 each. If case is decided in respondent’s favor weapons must be returned as he leaves court. Respondent will be payed $1,000 a day until weapons returned. Finally, any lawyer filing for a Red Flag… Read more »

Donttreadonme

Problem here is that a judge is more likely to rile against the gun owner rather than burden the court with costs.

Wild Bill

@Dont, I think that AXP is saying that if the provisions that he suggests are added to a so called “Red Flag” bill, as it is under legislative consideration, the “Red Flag” bill will get voted down and never be before a judge.

Gene Ralno

The Supreme Court already has ruled that before the government can confiscate or infringe upon property, owners are entitled to a defense. They’re entitled to lawyers, to cross-examine and to avail themselves of other procedural benefits. Courts rarely grant protective orders without notice and require a requester to show an immediate emergency. Specifically, petitioners must prove they’re in imminent danger and a protective order is the only remedy. Allegations are not enough. Petitioners must prove a “clear and convincing evidence of imminent harm.” Further, a petitioner may have to post a bond to protect the defendant against damage in case… Read more »

Gene Ralno

Good list. I’d add two psychiatrists, one from each side and another to break ties. If the crotchety aunt loses and the blustery firearms owner wins, case dismissed at arraignment.

RayJN

You miss the point, which is to remove due process and confiscate guns, never to be returned. When the red flag law is used to disarm a person a perp wants to kill you will never hear about it.

MICHAEL J

Why do democrats and republicans cave? Simply put, they want to keep their jobs as lifetime career politicians. Term limits are the only solution against tyranny, it reduces any incentive
to be bought by special interest groups and lessens corruption because people are less likely to be swayed by lobbyists.

Tionico

No, term limits are NOT the “ONLY” solution against tyranny. Reduce the pay for all elected congresscritters to whatever the “median household income” is for that four year period. Remove all pension and other lifetime benefits. Those positions are for concerned and “bought in” people to SERVE their country. A servant is not the highest paid person in the household. If they have their basic needs met, they should be satisfied. No lifetime pension, no lifetime special medical care (ir Medicare or KinyunKare is good enough for the unwashed masses, it should suffice for elected servants. Then there would be… Read more »

Wild Bill

@Tio, Parliament gets no pay because members of Parliament are just expected to cheat their way to wealth. Congress persons do the same. Why pay them at all?

Or in the alternative, why not pay them “the median household income” and prosecute them if they mysteriously amass more? And then … hang them!

Rockman1977

Michael I am in full agreement,,, Term limitations would help us keep the “Permanent” Legislators out of the Congress! Once these people have become addicted to living off of the Public Coffers, they will say or do anything, switch views at any point, to keep the public voting for them! I give you the Democrats as one example,, look at the Republican Rhino’s,,,they will jump ship if they think it will gain them a vote!! Taking care of us is not the priority any longer! Getting re-elected is number one on their list! Gun control is just another way to… Read more »

Wild Bill

@Rockman, Yes, there is a term limit on the presidency, why not the Senate, the House of Reps, federal judges, and those damn bureaucrats.

JPM

Bill, Franklin Roosevelt is why there are term limits on the Presidency. After winning the Presidency the 4th time, which he didn’t complete due to his death, the house and Senate passed Presidential term limits so no one could be President for life, or more than 2 terms. Unfortunately, for us, the House and Senate would have to pass a similar bill to limit their own terms and the odds of that happening are Slim and none, and Slim has already left town.

Wild Bill

@JPM, Yes.

Tionico

Term limitations would help us keep the “Permanent” Legislators out of the Congress! while this is, strictly spealing, true, it sidesteps the ROOT issue. Ignorant lazy voters ARE the problem, and term limits won’t fix that. The “permanent” aspect of your scenario is valid, but the “rotten” part will not change until voters wake up. They have so many dirtbags waiting in the wings (case in point: “the Squad”) we could remove every one of their “permanant” legislators and they’d just get replaced with an infinite number of “the squad”. And term limits can’t fix that. Until the majority of… Read more »

Magnum

I have written the President almost everyday for more than a month, todays message was about his foolishly working with the likes of Toome and Manchin while over the weekend both of them (along with all the other Dems and RINO’s) are wanting Trump impeached now.

Please, if you are not already doing so join me in writing him daily!

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Wild Bill

@Middle finger mike, Excellent and well done. I have been emailing with hard copy to follow, but not everyday. My hat is off to you!

Vern

The American people only need to look at North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran to see where the democrats/socialists/communists/leftists in this country are heading. Then take a couple minutes to decide if they want to stay a free nation or be one of those mentioned above. Communism is all about those living at the top living free of laws and living it up, and those at the bottom living under so many laws they have no life. The communists want people to believe there are no classes in their ideology, that too, is just another lie. Top and bottom, that is… Read more »

nrringlee

There is not a lot of “suckering” going on here Jeff. Leftists are simply exploiting a known truth concerning the Republican party. The Republican Party is now and has been for a very long time a Progressive party. Real conservatives are outcasts in the party of McCain, Flake and Graham. Leftists know that and exploit that truth when the “masses” are not watching. As to Robert’s comment. Brother, you are correct far beyond what most can know. I have just ready Andy Pollock’s book “Why Meadow Died.” It will blow you away. He details exactly how leftist school policies straight… Read more »

Robert

“Proponents FOR mass murders ARE pushing these proposals”

fixed that for you, that is the end result of disarming free citizens

KDad

I have never completely trusted Lindsay Graham. To me, he always acted like a RINO. Once in a while he would perform as a true conservative Republican, but not very often. Rubio, on the other hand is a “Trump Hater” I think. A RINO for sure. Rep. Dan Crenshaw is the one who surprises me. I thought he was smarter than he now appears. I think the Republicans who are siding with the DemocRATs don’t feel vulnerable in 2020 because the the only other choice is a corrupt, Socialist DemocRAT. We’ll see how it all shakes out, won’t we? Hopefully,… Read more »

Will Flatt

A word on Crenshaw. Kaitlin “Gun Girl” Bennett got Crenshaw to admit on Twitter that he made a conscious decision to lie to gun owners BEFORE he ran for office and that his agenda was ALWAYS to impose gun control. Crenshaw truly IS a WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING.

Regardless of his prior honorable service, the man is a traitor to the Constitution and an OATH BREAKER.

Wild Bill

WF, For true? Boy howdy, he is a good liar!

Will Flatt

There’s an old but true joke. How do you know when a politician is lying??

WHEN HIS LIPS ARE MOVING!

Truth

Graham fooled us during the Kavanah hearings when he went ballistic on the dems saying, All you want is power. I hope you never get it!”… or something to that degree. His passion when he spoke those words seemed genuine but he sure turned coat only a week or two later. Since then his true color – yellow – is there to see.

Core

I agree. I have long supported President Trump’s campaign from the get go. I was on his Twitter team. But my loyalty ends with the US Constitution with any candidate. The GOP did not want Trump, and they have been caving to DNC legislation for decades, because they want it as much as the Democrats. We know these types of laws are just a disarmament schema, and they do not succeed at saving lives and will result in the loss of a free state and result in a fascist police state IF US citizens embraced this ideology. It will not… Read more »

tomcat

There is no doubt about it, Graham and Rubio have gone over the edge of thinking they are invincible and can do what ever they want regardless of what they were hired to do. It is past time to send them home but after their betrayals to their constituents it would be a good thing if they went home without the great retirement package they provided themselves with. We in Tennessee have our own RINO in Alexander. He is going to retire this year but he should have done that before he was elected. I sent him an email once… Read more »

Green Mtn. Boy

Only squishy washy washy RINO’s will allow themselves to be suckered into or out of anything,as they are gutless worthless POS that really should join their fellow Commiecrats.

jack mac

The Republicans in question are not being sucker in by anybody. They believe they suckered us by betraying us in joining the enemy. These Republicans along with all Democrats believe that they can always sucker enough voters in order to stay in power. Sucker enough has to disregard voters demands entirely. It is better to deal directly with enemy forces than to send known traitors to do so. Republicans believing they can sucker enough votes to offset the loss of ours, need to be proven wrong. Many of these Republicans do believe that they will lose our vote, because they… Read more »

USMC0351Grunt

It’s looking more and more like Democrats running as Republicans to get into the Republican Party and then turn on us Republicans… the old Trojan Horse concept I see it happened here in Presidio County all the time in reverse. Then again we got Congressman will Hurd that got in under the Republican ticket and it has done nothing but vote with Democrats. Now that he’s got his time in he’s got his golden parachute at the public Dole and a good cushy contract with a Hi-Tech artificial intelligence company for border security he’s set for the rest of his… Read more »

john45colt

It seems to me that any congressman that doesn’t want to uphold the constitution should be considered a domestic terrorist and treated as such, what part of “Shall not be Infringed” is unclear? Do they not swear to defend the constitution against ALL enemies foreign AND domestic like the military? If their not for the constitution then their against it.

Mike11C

With the demonrats and RINOs, as they are, it might be time for some of us to start hiding some guns and ammo. Then, when the domestic enemies come for our weapons, we the people have to act against them. That’s the actual purpose of the Second Amendment in the first place. “The Tree of Liberty Must Be Refreshed, from time to time, with the Blood of Patriots and Tyrants” and, the “Tree of Liberty” is thirsty.