Alright, so let’s talk about gun control once again. I mean, it’s not like I’m tired of writing about it or anything. Why? Because, it’s a major issue in this country. And besides, with the rise of domestic terrorism in recent years, let’s just say it’s a concern; or, if for no other reason, it should be.
The last time I wrote about it I explained why the assertion that “Obama is trying to take away our guns,” is a downright lie. A lie, mind you, that’s being trotted around for political expediency by politicians who are married to the NRA and its political fundraising apparatus.
That said, I’m not interested in beating that drum once again. Instead, however, I feel like talking about the hypocrisy of conservatives when it comes to the gun control debate in the wake of Obama’s executive order to expand criminal background checks thus closing the gun show loophole.
Proving that life begins at conception and not at birth. This past week, conservatives mocked President Obama for crying as he referenced the death of twenty first-graders at Sandy Hook Elementary. The president was moved to tears while announcing the signing of executive orders to expand background checks for the purchase of guns. Personally, I think his show of emotion was one more out of genuine frustration than anything.
I suppose conservatives would only support this measure if abortion doctors were shooting and killing unborn babies en masse. But then again, as is always the case in the gun control debate, they’ll say that the government should enforce the laws we already have and not strengthen current laws.
See? That’s that bullshit.
As recent as 1999, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre of supported universal background checks for gun sales. Somehow or another, such a policy proposal wasn’t seen as being unconstitutional. However, fast-forward to 2016, and such a measure is viewed to be a very radical departure from freedom and everything America stands for. After all, as far as gun control, it’s common knowledge that “thou shall not conduct criminal background checks,” is indeed etched in stone on those tablets given to Mosses by God, on that mountain in Philadelphia back in 1776.
“They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant.” – Sen. Barack Obama
However, fast-forward to 2016, and such a measure is viewed to be a very radical departure from freedom and everything America stands for. After all, it’s common knowledge that “thou shall not conduct criminal background checks,” is indeed etched in stone on those tablets given to Mosses that is otherwise known as the United States Constitution.
This explains the backlash to President Obama using the power of executive order to close the gun show loophole this week. Obama’s order now makes it illegal for any so-called gun dealer who otherwise weren’t legally required to conduct a background check, to now do so when selling firearms.
Of course, Obama’s move is purely political. As the old saying goes, in politics, politicians should never squander any opportunity a tragedy offers for political expediency. Yet, and still, the issue of gun control isn’t anything newly introduced as part of the Obama agenda. In 2008, Obama campaigned and advocated for stronger gun control laws.
So while we’re now in the final year of an Obama presidency, in the wake of countless mass shootings – shootings which included the death of twenty first-graders at Sandy Hook Elementry School in Newtown, Massachusetts – it makes perfect sense that Obama would use the power afforded the executive branch to do the most he’s allowed.
It makes perfect sense that Obama would make a move by executive order; after all, it’s not like he hasn’t given Congress every opportunity to pass comprehensive gun control legislation in the wake of the shooting at Newtown. Besides, it’s not like we’re not all concerned about the potential for terrorist acts like we’ve recently seen in California here on U.S. soil.
Just a few weeks ago conservatives were ready to bomb ISIS because of the San Bernardino shooting. They were talking about banning Muslims from entering the country. And, even suggesting that the government should screen the Facebook profiles of visa applicants.
Today, however, many conservative hardliners are mad because Obama expanded background checks for gun purchases. You know, because even terrorists should be allowed to buy guns on the internet or at a gun show without a background check. You know, because of the Second Amendment, America, and freedom … or whatever.
My question is how exactly does the expansion of background checks for gun purchases abridge anyone’s constitutional rights? As I pointed out a few weeks ago, even the majority conservative U.S. Supreme Court while affirming an individual’s right to bear arms in 2008, also said that government has the ability to regulate gun ownership. In other words, if the government says it’s unlawful for an adjudicated mentally disturbed 19-year-old to purchase an AR-15 or any firearm. Well, guess what? That, my friend, isn’t unconstitutional. In fact, it’s reasonable.
But see, that’s the problem with common sense gun laws. That would be, that you’d have to have common sense to understand why we should have them. And obviously, some conservatives don’t.