Authoritarians take weapons. Why? Since gun rights are the linchpin safeguarding people from loss of all rights.
Modern history provides unpleasant proof that loss of liberty is preceded by disarmament of people. Today, the most apparent example is ideal prior to our eyes as we watch the Cuban individuals pleading for flexibility.
Fidel Castro took control of Cuba in 1959 and right away required eliminating all weapons from citizens. His new communist regime sent out representatives door to door to coerce residents into turning over their firearms. If you believe it could not take place here, recall the confiscation of countless home-defense guns throughout the consequences of Typhoon Katrina. Local and “imported” law enforcement officers from outside states went door to door to take firearms from U.S. residents at a time when the residents required them most. Totalitarianism and gun confiscation are always linked. An outstanding post by author Jose Nino called “A Brief History of Repressive Routines and Their Gun Laws” provides important research regarding this pattern. Nino outlines the recent example in Venezuela:
The day of reckoning came when Venezuela prohibitedthe sale of firearms and ammo in 2012, under the guise of combating criminal offense. Despite the weapon restriction in place, criminal activity rates continue to escalate.
Now Venezuelans have no chance of protecting themselves versus a government that is free to muzzle their speech, expropriate their wealth, debase their currency, and starve them to death. And if that weren’t enough, the average Venezuelan must compete with the constant danger of typical wrongdoers and colectivos, Venezuela’s infamous pro-government paramilitary systems.
After the communist revolution brought Lenin into power in 1918, the Soviets immediately enacted stringent gun control laws, which omitted Communist Party elites. We see this mentality even in the United States, as celebrities and politicians firmly insist that regular folks do not need to secure themselves, even as the elites have guns and security personnel.
Eastern European countries quickly caught communist practices and executed weapon control in the mid-1900s. East Germany needed more than a wall to imprison the people and strip away flexibility. They needed them to be disarmed.
Present day, Democrats’ so-called “common sense weapon laws” sound incredibly like the weapon laws imposed by Vladimir Putin in Russia. Psychiatric examinations, troublesome federal government classes, home assessments by government representatives, composed tests, and registration.
Democrats have a sordid history of gun control, in spite of their attempts to rewrite that history.
Long prior to Joe Biden informed CNN’s Anderson Cooper he was coming for our guns, the Democrats were using gun control to limit flexibility and concentrate Democrat power.
Long prior to Vice President Harris proudly declared she was for “mandatory gun buy-backs” (or “weapon confiscation” for those who are not proficient at checking out between Leftist lines) the Democrats remained in the business of confiscation.
Long prior to this Administration nominated an Attorney General and an ATF Director who freely oppose the second Modification, the Southern Democratic Celebration utilized the Ku Klux Klan to take guns away from Black Americans.
Sadly, American history shows horrific offenses against the rights of individuals to protect themselves. In a well-researched short article, “The Racist Origins of American’s Gun Control Laws” author Thomas R. Eddlem explains that subjugation and control are the purpose of the laws:
The rules versus owning guns were aimed not simply at those nominally deemed “slaves” in America; they were aimed at all subjected individuals. The text of Virginia’s very first servant code applied the very same limitation to “totally free” blacks and indentured servants (mainly Irish Catholics and Scotch Presbyterians, but also wrongdoers). Nearly all other Southern slave-holding states copied Virginia’s lead, passing laws prohibiting the ownership of weapons for both slave and totally free African-Americans. These laws remained in impact and were updated after self-reliance from Britain. Georgia’s 1833 slave code needed that “the totally free persons of color, so found in owning, using or bring fire-arms, shall receive on his bare back, thirty-nine lashes.” Alabama’s 1833 servant code was almost similar, with exactly the very same penalty. North Carolina’s 1855 servant code simply specified: “No slave shall go armed with weapon, sword, club or other weapon, or will keep any such weapon.” The state omitted the reference of free blacks, largely because North Carolina had so couple of complimentary African-Americans.
Even now, many states have Warning laws, carried out by both Republicans and Democrats, which enable gun confiscation even if an individual has actually not dedicated and even threatened to devote a criminal activity. A complaint from a third party without any evidence can lead to a court proceeding that can quickly eliminate an individual’s 2nd Modification rights and bring other actions that could consist of loss of custody of their children.
President James Madison famously alerted Americans that deactivating the people is “the best and most effective method to enslave them.”
Modern history proves that he was prophetic.
Amb. Ken Blackwell belongs to the American Human Rights Union Policy Board and a Board Member of the National Rifle Association.
Lori Roman is the president of the American Civil Liberty Union.