The anti-Second Amendment freedom crowd frequently claims they want to have a national “conversation” on gun rights and gun-related crime. “OK,” most reasonable people might think. But soon they are stymied by the dilemma: How do you have even a semi-intelligent “conversation” on guns with politicians and celebrities who are so ignorant and biased on the subject, yet think they’re so much more enlightened than the rest of us?
Here are just 10 crazy-stupid examples of the ignorance exhibited by politicians and celebrities who want to take away guns from law-abiding gun owners.
- “Congressman Giffords’ life was saved and so many others’ when very valiant folks stood up to defend themselves and protect themselves, and they did it with ballpoint pens.” — Democrat Colorado state Sen. Jessie Ulibarri said while testifying before the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee. He was referring to the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and many others in Tucson, Ariz. The truth is, Giffords’ shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was tackled, held down and disarmed by several people—and they didn’t use ballpoint pens.
- “I said, ‘Jill, if there’s ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here, walk out and put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house.’” — Vice President Joe Biden said to his wife in a Facebook chat. Biden also told her, “You don’t need an AR-15—it’s harder to aim, it’s harder to use, and in fact you don't need 30 rounds to protect yourself. Buy a shotgun! Buy a shotgun!” The trouble with Biden’s advice isn’t just that it is wrong and ill-informed, but that it is also illegal, as there are laws against the discharge of firearms in many areas unless you are defending your life.
“Jill, if there’s ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here, walk out and put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house.” — Vice President Joe Biden - “We have federal regulations and state laws that prohibit hunting ducks with more than three rounds. And yet it’s legal to hunt humans with 15-round, 30-round, even 150-round magazines.” — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun control. It’s “legal to hunt humans”? Who knew?
- “What bothers me most about today is that we're getting used 2 it. ENOUGH. 2nd amendment must go. Violence has 2 stop. Culture MUST change.” — Actor Jay Mohr tweeted not long after the Boston Marathon bombing. He seemed to think that somehow the Second Amendment was the cause of two terrorists bombing the popular race.
- “Politicians, y'all got to pay attention, man. This world that we live in, it's so easy to get your hands on a gun. You've got to put some restrictions on it. I can go outside right now and buy a gun. Easy, just like that.” — Snoop Dogg said in an interview with HuffPost Live after a “universal” background check bill was voted down. We can assume Snoop wasn’t talking about buying a gun at legal gun stores where people must undergo background checks—he was convicted of felony possession of drugs and possession for sale in 1990, meaning he can’t legally buy a gun anywhere. Then, in July 1993, Snoop was stopped for a traffic violation and a firearm was found in his possession. He pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a handgun. In truth, his criminal record could fill a book. So, given that he must be talking about illegal sales, how does he think a “universal” background check law will stop criminals when other laws aren’t stopping them in his neighborhood?
- “The Second Amendment only protects the people who want all the guns they can have. The rest of us, we’ve got no Second Amendment. What are we supposed to do?” — U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said while on with John Fugelsang on CurrentTV's “Viewpoint.” This statement is so ridiculous it doesn’t even merit comment.
- “The Second Amendment comes from the right to protect themselves from slave revolts, and from uprisings by Native Americans. A revolt from people who were stolen from their land or revolt from people whose land was stolen from, that's what the genesis of the Second Amendment is.” — Actor Danny Glover said in a speech at Texas A&M University. Perhaps Glover never studied the American Revolution, or isn’t aware that gun-control laws were invented to keep freed slaves from bearing arms. He might also want to pick up a copy of Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms by Nicholas Johnson (2014).
- “If you ban them in the future, the number of these high-capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available.” — U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., commented during a gun-control forum in Denver. She seems confused about the fact that gun magazines can be reloaded. … Well, actually that’s only the beginning of what she’s confused about.
- “It’s the kind of turn that happened to the great country of Germany, when Nazis came over and created tragic things, and they had to be told off. And if we continue this kind of violence and accept it in our country, the rest of the world's going to really take care of us, in a very bad way.” — Singer Tony Bennett said at a press conference in Washington, D.C. This statement simply defies explanation.
- “I get more reactions on Twitter about gun safety than anything else. I don’t understand how we’re threatening the Second Amendment because we’re talking about gun safety rules. That, to me, is really shocking.” — Actress Julianne Moore said regarding her gun-control messages. As she has officially aligned herself with Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety and has backed a long list of gun bans and other anti-gun legislation, her attempt to simply relabel “gun control” as “gun safety rules” is so clearly dishonest it is ridiculous.
