This feature appears in the August ’17 issue of NRA America’s 1st Freedom, one of the official journals of the National Rifle Association.
The horrendous attack on a GOP congressional baseball practice, which occurred just before deadline for this issue, taught me something about the anti-gun mindset that I guess I never truly understood before—and it was a startling revelation.
Consider these headlines and see if you can figure it out:
“No hint of new gun control push in U.S. Congress after shootings” — Reuters
“Lessons of the ‘baseball shooting’: Gun violence feeds on itself—and even now, Republicans won’t listen” — Salon.com
“Their Own Targeted, Republicans Want Looser Gun Laws, Not Stricter Ones” — The New York Times
That mindset says more about the shallowness of anti-gunners’ convictions than it does about Republicans in Congress.Here’s what I’m talking about. Anti-gunners from gun-ban groups and within the so-called “mainstream” media apparently assumed that just because the attacker had targeted Republican congressmen, those same legislators would immediately change their minds about our Second Amendment-protected right to keep and bear arms.
Their assumption, it seems, was that these pro-gun legislators had consistently voted against more restrictive gun laws in the past because it was others who were being killed by violent criminals with guns. Now that they were the target, surely they would see the light and jump right up on the gun control bandwagon.
That mindset says more about the shallowness of anti-gunners’ convictions than it does about Republicans in Congress. Perhaps their belief system is so weak where the Constitution is concerned that they think everyone else’s is, too?
In truth, pro-gun legislators firmly believe that making it more difficult or inconvenient for law-abiding citizens to own or carry firearms would do nothing to stop the criminal use of firearms against American citizens, political party notwithstanding. In fact, they believe such measures would leave lawful Americans less protected against vicious attacks.
They also believe that criminals misusing firearms—not the guns themselves—are the cause of the violent crime we see highlighted on the news every night. And they believe that not only are good Americans with guns not a threat to others, but that they can and do save lives when violent criminals go on the attack.
Fortunately for all Americans, these lawmakers continue to hold those beliefs, no matter who was the target of the latest madman hell-bent on going out in a blaze of non-glory.
That’s something that those on the anti-gun side of the aisle—who rely mostly on feelings and emotion—apparently just can’t understand.
Mark Chesnut has been the editor of America’s 1st Freedom magazine for 17 years and is an avid hunter, shooter and political observer.
