The Left’s Assault on Assault Weapons

The left’s obsession with banning ‘assault weapons’ is fascinating. They tout the weapons as machine guns, full blown war fighting weapons that are more relevant in Chechnya than in Chatanooga. But the truth is, the left is using propaganda to sway voters minds and to try and enforce ever more restrictive gun laws and thereby take away Americans’ second amendment rights.

Assault weapons are little more than military weapon look-alikes. They are not machine guns, when one pulls the trigger bullets do not fly out in bloodbath inducing regularity. One pull of the trigger equals one bullet. The difference is that, like handguns, you can keep pulling the trigger and bullets keep coming out, unlike traditional rifles or hunting weapons which after you fire you need to reload. Some of the weapons include militaristic features such as pistol grips and flash suppressors. However, criminals do not prefer such weapons in many cases as they prefer easy to conceal and carry handguns. Therefore, by grabbing the long guns off of citizens, the government is making Americans less safe.

The framers of the Constitution knew that firearms had many purposes. Thomas Jefferson touted guns as for sport, preferring the use of firearms to games involving balls. Washington and others used firearms to hunt, both for sport and for food. However, they also knew that guns are essential to the rights of a free people. Tyrants don’t rule when the people are armed. That is the basis of the quote “when the people fear the government there is tyranny, but when the government fears the people there is liberty.” Guns are essential to the repulsion of foreign invasion as well as domestic oppression. The founders knew this and the reason that we ultimately did win against the British in our war for independence was because ordinary citizens took up arms and became citizen soldiers.

I’m not advocating the purchase of assault weapons. I don’t personally see the need of owning one myself. However, I do see the folly in taking arms out of the hands of lawful owners. My family owns several weapons. We have never once committed a crime with those weapons nor have we been tempted to. Weapons are not the problem, the problem is the fallen state of sinful man. Banning weapons doesn’t fix anything, it just makes the lawful owners less able to defend themselves from the criminals that will get guns regardless of gun laws. So, as a proud conservative and gun rights supporter, STOP TRYING TO BAN GUNS!!!