No Clear Definition
What Are “Common Sense Gun Reforms?" Good Luck Asking
If you own one of these, your opportunity to protect it is
coming Nov. 5. Make sure you’re registered to vote,
and don’t think it won’t count.
About three weeks from today — Tuesday, Nov. 5 — we all have a chance to legally overthrow the U.S. government, or at least change its course by changing who is in charge.
At the national level, we’ve got the choice between Second Amendment-friendly former President Donald Trump and avowed anti-gun Vice President Kamala Harris. In my case, out here in settlements of Washington State, we’re making a choice between a Republican former sheriff/congressman and a Democrat career politician who, incredible as this might seem, actually admitted during a live debate last month that he believes in “responsible limitations on the Second Amendment.”
“There are limitations on all of our rights,” insisted Bob Ferguson, who has been the state’s attorney general for the past 12 years. During that time, he has championed gun control measures, including a ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines.” He criticized opponent Dave Reichert for not supporting those measures.
But Reichert has a better idea. He wants to focus on locking up criminals. What a concept! He would also like to bring Second Amendment advocates together at the same table with gun control people, as he did back in the 1990s when he wore a badge. I was involved in that effort.
The not-so-inside story on Ferguson is that he is closely allied with the Seattle-based and billionaire-backed Alliance for Gun Responsibility, a lobbying group that advocates for “universal background checks,” which many consider back-door registration, and “Voluntary waivers” under which individual citizens can “proactively add themselves to a list of people who are not allowed to purchase firearms.”
This bunch backed the gun ban legislation and also two anti-gun-rights initiatives in 2014 and 2018. You probably know what comes next: Since 2014, the number — not the “rate” — of homicides has more than doubled in the state, from 155 in 2014 to 376 in 2023. That doesn’t look like success to me, and it’s why the gun control crowd avoids discussing the numbers like a tax audit.
Alan Gottlieb has asked how the number of murders in
Washington has more than doubled in the past 10 years,
despite adoption of increasingly restrictive gun control laws.
He’s still waiting for an answer.
Earlier this year, Alan Gottlieb at the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms challenged Ferguson to “offer an explanation as to why the number of murders statewide has gone up more than 100% since 2014. He’s the top law enforcement official in the state, and he’s running for governor, so he needs to explain to the voters how this has happened on his watch.”
Last I checked, Gottlieb is still waiting for a response.
But what really are these “common sense” laws? It’s something we should know before we vote, right? Expect the answer to be something on the level of “fair share taxes,” which nobody has really defined, but it sounds good during a speech. Here’s something to mull: The Tax Foundation says on its website, “There is no objective standard for what defines ‘fair share’; it is a purely subjective concept.
Interesting Polling
A recent Rasmussen poll revealed what people think about the course we’re on as a nation. Rasmussen discovered that 73% of likely voters believe the nation “needs a fresh start and a new direction.”
Only 20% think the country needs “more of the same.” Only 37% think Harris offers a fresh start, while 58% think she represents “more of the same.” On the other hand, 52% say Trump — who does not seem interested in more gun control even after being shot at and hit by a sniper in Butler, Pennsylvania and being targeted by a loon at his golf course in Florida — represents a “fresh start and new direction.”
Stop right there. A guy who barely escapes being murdered by a fraction of an inch is sticking by your guns. No wonder the media doesn’t like this guy. He thinks outside of their box.
There was more to Rasmussen’s survey. Turns out 60% of likely voters think the country is on the wrong track. Only 35% think we’re going in the right direction.
Of course, the only poll that really matters is the one on Nov. 5. As this column has reminded readers before, mak
And There’s More
Heading into the final laps of this year’s political races, it’s maybe a good time to figure out where you stand in the “big picture” of the U.S. Maybe a glance at YouGov’s poll on whether average Americans should be trusted with guns is in order.
Gun owners are a trustworthy lot, according to a majority of Americans responding to a YouGov poll.
Back in early June, YouGov reported how adults “are evenly divided on whether the average American can be trusted with a gun. 43% say yes and 42% say no.” But breaking things down by political allegiance, the survey found, “Among Democrats, 24% think the average American can be trusted with a gun; 34% of Independents and 74% of Republicans agree. Among Americans who are gun owners, 72% think the average person can be trusted with a gun while 17% disagree.”
Less than one-fourth of Democrats think you can be trusted with a firearm. Give that some thought as you fill out your early ballot or get ready to vote next month. Remember, a lot of media ignored this report because it doesn’t do Democrats any favors.
One-fourth of Americans, including 40% of Republicans, are gun owners, the survey said. Thirty-six percent of Americans live in a household with a gun, including 24% who personally own a gun. Translation: Like it or not, we’re a demographic minority.
The good news is that a majority of the people — 87% of Republicans, 60% of Independents and even 45% of Democrats — say gun ownership “should” be legal “in all or most cases.” Ain’t that swell? Not really. According to the Second Amendment, it already is legal. There’s nothing in the amendment that says you must own a gun; it just says the government can’t disarm people. Sure, there are prohibitions on criminals and crazy people, but average citizens are supposed to be good to go.
Dave is probably out hunting as you read this. So far this fall,
he’s had good luck. However, he’s definitely going to set aside
time to vote because it’s the responsible thing to do.
It's Hunting Season
Yep, it is hunting season, and don’t use that as an excuse for not voting. Get an absentee ballot if you’re going to be on a hunt. After what happened in 2020, don’t skip this one.
Look at it this way: You may not like politics, but the people who don’t like you or your guns absolutely love politics because it’s how they gain and hold power to make your decisions for you. I’ve made a living writing about them. Oddly enough, they’ve really never liked the publicity.
