Democrats Are Ready to Trash the Second Amendment

Early in October, famed pro-Second Amendment researcher Dr. John Lott released an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal warning about Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden’s gun control proposals.

Lott listed off some of Biden’s anti-Second Amendment policies that he plans on pushing if elected:

Joe Biden’s campaign website contains a long list of gun-control proposals: national gun licensing; red-flag laws, which let judges seize guns without a hearing or mental-health evaluation; and bans on semiautomatic guns that look like military weapons.

However, one gun control strategy that Biden is pursuing that many gun rights activists overlook is his proposal to subject gun manufacturers to civil liabilities if the guns they sell are involved in accidents, crimes, or suicides. In other words, people would have the ability to sue firearms manufacturers and sellers if any of their firearms are used in any of the aforementioned incidents.

Lott observed that the “straightforward result” of such a measure “would be to put gun makers out of business.”

The crime researcher used an analogy to drive the point home:

Imagine what would happen to the car industry if similar rules applied. The National Safety Council estimates that 39,404 Americans died and 4.5 million were injured from car accidents in 2018. Cars are also used frequently to commit crimes.

Note that cases of product malfunction are already covered; to run afoul of Mr. Biden’s proposed rule, product makers need not do anything wrong at all. Car accidents often occur when a driver isn’t paying attention or drives recklessly, perhaps under the influence. It would be ludicrous to make car makers pay lost wages, medical costs and pain and suffering because of a driver’s negligence.

Lott brings up the valid point that “Less than 1% of guns are ever used in crimes, suicides or accidents, and when they are, it’s virtually always the result of the user’s actions.” Compared to motorcycles, the death rates for guns are actually lower. Lott highlighted that the “death rate per motorcycle is 0.05%; the date rate for guns is 0.008%.” The death rates for guns includes figures for accidental deaths, murder, and suicides.

One point that the gun control crowd ignores is the number of self-defense cases where guns are involved. Lott mentioned how “Guns are also used defensively about two million times in the average year. Will government reward gun makers when their products are used to save lives?”

Unlike gun control boosters, Lott understands why Americans decided to arm themselves and engage in concealed carry.

Gun-control advocates sometimes claim that gun makers cater to the criminal market with low prices and easy concealability. This doesn’t pass muster. Lightweight, compact firearms make life easier for the 19.48 million Americans who carry concealed handguns, and women generally prefer smaller, lightweight guns. My research finds increases in gun ownership are associated with drops in crime, not rises. Poor people in the areas with the highest crime rates benefit the most from owning guns, according to my studies.

The gun-maker liability plan Biden is pushing would make guns unavoidable for many Americans. That means they’ll have to rely on the police, which can’t be always counted on to come to the rescue in situations involving criminals.  Even police recognize that armed citizens are effective in fighting crime. According to a PoliceOne survey conducted in 2013, 76 percent responded that lawful armed individuals are “very or extremely important in reducing crime.”

Lott concluded, “Mr. Trump is right: Democrats want to ban guns. And if they win the Senate and abolish its filibuster, as they keep threatening, they could do it.”

A Biden presidency would be the most anti-gun in American history. It would be the ultimate culmination of the gun control regime that has slowly grown at the federal level since the 1930s. A Biden presidency would consolidate and radically expand on it.

No gun owner should even entertain voting for Democrats this election cycle and beyond.

 

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