Although President Joe Biden has not presented a formal proposal for changes in gun laws, remarks delivered on the Feb. 14 anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida, as well as comments made during his campaign, have provided us with a pretty good idea of his plans.
And Tim Schmidt, president and founder of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, thinks Americans should know about them.
On Tuesday, Schmidt wrote to Biden to say he was “deeply troubled” that the president would use such a “solemn anniversary” to advocate for new gun laws, especially because, even if the proposed gun laws had been in effect three years ago, they “would have done nothing to stop those heinous murders.”
Biden “pointedly failed to mention that the murderer purchased his firearm legally and passed a background check,” Schmidt wrote.
“While we can agree that there are several ‘common sense’ and long overdue changes needed to our nation’s gun laws,” Schmidt wrote, “we firmly believe that the path forward should be focused on supporting and protecting responsible, law-abiding Americans — not criminalizing and punishing them.”
Schmidt wrote that Americans purchased 5 million guns last year, and placed the number of gun owners in the U.S. at “105 million.”
The actual number of gun owners in the country is not known, since there is no federal gun registration, but there’s no question that the Biden proposals would target tens of millions of Americans who are guilty of nothing more than exercising their rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
According to the data compilation website Statista, about 42 percent of American households owned one or more guns in 2020. The Census Bureau estimated about 120 million households in the United States between 2015 and 2019. And, according to Business Insider, the FBI processed a record 39.7 million firearms background checks in 2020, demolishing the previous record of 27.5 million set in 2015.
Any way you count it, it adds up to millions and millions of men and women who care about self-defense.
“Each of these responsible, law-abiding Americans has stepped forward to take responsibility for protecting his or her loved ones in an increasingly chaotic world,” Schmidt wrote.
He wrote that “the number of gun owners seeking self-defense education and training is at an all-time high. Women and minorities are now leading the way as the fastest-growing groups of concealed carry permit holders in the country as well as in membership at the USCCA.”
“Yet our government’s antiquated patchwork of concealed carry laws is putting them at risk. How is it ‘commonsense’ that a law-abiding American who has passed a background check and is legally allowed to carry a firearm in Virginia is subject to arrest and imprisonment if he or she steps foot over the state line into Maryland?”
In his Feb. 14 address, which can be read in full here, Biden said, “This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer. Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.”
In his letter, Schmidt takes issue with this statement. He argues that the real answer is not gun control, but a national system in which each state recognizes the gun possession and concealed carry rights granted by other states.
“There is nothing ‘commonsense’ about America’s patchwork of concealed carry laws, and that is why we need national concealed carry reciprocity — where state-issued concealed carry permits are treated just like driver’s licenses,” Schmidt wrote.
He concludes by calling on the president to “help responsible Americans avoid danger, save lives and keep their families safe. And we believe that our elected leaders in Washington have an incredible obligation to pursue these same goals. … National concealed carry reciprocity — not higher taxes or more stringent regulations on already responsible gun owners, and certainly not removing the means by which those responsible gun owners can defend themselves and their loved ones — is a truly ‘commonsense’ reform that will help more Americans keep their families safe. We urge you to support it.”
Schmidt is very well aware that the Democrats’ vision for gun control seeks to take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, but will do nothing to disarm criminals.
Biden and his handlers know that it’s impossible to disarm criminals. They don’t mind because to the extent that they vote, it would likely be for Democrats.
As liberals call for defunding the police, ending the federal prison system and blocking the deportations of illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes in the U.S. — all measures that help criminals — they push for stringent new gun laws that would gut the Second Amendment, leaving us defenseless. Because nothing would please them more than to take guns away from We the People.
The explosion in gun sales in 2020 shows that Americans are cognizant of our government’s slow drift into socialism. History has proven what happens when citizens surrender their guns to a nefarious ruling class.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas wore a mask that said, “Come and Take It,” to Biden’s inauguration. This phrase was made famous by the 1835 Battle of Gonzales, the first military fight of the Texas Revolution.
Sen. @TedCruz Sends Strong Message With Mask at Biden’s Inauguration ?? pic.twitter.com/K3IsGitsCA
— NRA (@NRA) January 20, 2021
Speaking to a group of NRA members in 2018, then-President Donald Trump told the story of this battle. “In 1835, soldiers from General Santa Anna’s army marched into the little Texas town of Gonzales and ordered those Texans to surrender their small cannon that they relied on to protect their lives and protect their homes,” he said. “The Texans refused! They were not about to give up their only means of self-defense.
“In response, Santa Anna’s army returned with a large group of additional people. They had men all over the place … [but] this time, they were met by dozens of Texans … who had rushed to Gonzales to defend their rights and their freedom.
“As Santa Anna’s men watched from a distance, those brave Texans raised a flag for all to see. On the banner, they painted a cannon along with four words that echoed through the ages. It said, ‘Come and Take It.’”
Come and take it, Dems!
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
