By now you know that President Joe Biden is doubling and tripling down on gun control. To Democrats, it doesn’t matter that we already have gun control in this country. It doesn’t matter that taking away the ability of law-abiding people to defend themselves costs more lives than it could possibly save. You will never hear a Democrat mention the many thousands of successful incidences of self-defense made possible with firearms each year.
The history of firearms in America comes from their use by settlers to hunt and defend themselves. This is a foundational reason why guns are part of our culture, and firearms are still important to farmers, homesteaders, and anyone who wants to be secure in the home.
This cultural artifact was set into legislative stone when the Founders wrote that the citizen’s right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. That language is simple and straightforward, and it is the law of the land.
No sooner than 1934 did our nation first put gun control legislation into effect. It was a part of President Roosevelt’s “New Deal on Crime.” The New Deal has been a disaster for Americans, siphoning off billions in tax dollars and violating your right to free association. Most importantly, the psychological effects of the New Deal changed the culture so that charity is considered a function of government, rather than the duty of a neighbor.
The New Deal on Crime required extensive background checks and imposed a $200 fee for the transfer of automatic weapons. The New Deal on Crime made automatic weapons practically a thing of the past among law-abiding people. It has made them strange and frightening to us- making us much more likely to agree to further infringements.
This has created a sharp power differential between government and the people. This power differential is, we would argue, a priority for those who want more control over your life, and whose appetite for control knows no bounds.
Just four years later came the nation’s second gun control act, the Federal Firearms Act (FFA) of 1938. This law required gun manufacturers, dealers, and importers to apply and pay for a federal firearms license. The act also made it illegal for convicted felons to own guns. After this, we forgot as a nation, that when a person has committed a crime, served his time, and “paid his debt to society,” he should have his rights restored. This idea of fair redemption has been lost. Today, those convicted of a crime are permanently disabled financially — and they cannot legally defend themselves or anyone else.
In 1968, the screws were turned down tighter, as JFK required a transfer stamp on items deemed “destructive devices.” He also criminalized gun ownership by the mentally ill, permanently taking self-defense away from a subjective category of people that most can’t accurately categorize.
Between 1968 and today, no fewer than three major gun control acts have been passed. Today, the idea that self-defense is a right given by God, is a foreign one. Our collective worship of the State has grown. Our trust in our neighbors has diminished, as has our sense of responsibility for our lives and circumstances. This is what centralized power does, what it is meant to do — and what it will always do.
I read a lot of your articles but you are getting some facts wrong. JFK was not alive in 1968. He was killed in 1963. How did he do anything with gun control?
With the exception of the Militia Act of 1792, which mandated every able bodied adult to possess a working flintlock musket and at least 20 bullets for it, all federal gun laws have been promoted by some group to disenfranchise others. Many laws pertaining to purchasing, possessing or carrying firearms were directed at slaves or former slaves. The Sullivan Law in New York was intended to prevent immigrants from certain European nations from being able to protect themselves. Of course, many early federal laws were designed to keep Native Americans from being able to resist the encroachment of white settlers. Bottom line is; gun control is one of the most frequently sought and imposed tools of people control by those in power who do not want to share power or lose it.
jw, beautifully said but sadly said, too. If people notice or not, we have a rampaging government right now, with no safety check in place but a feckless Republican Party that showed its compromised weakness in the days immediately following the fraudulent election. Today’s government, if it thought it could, would clamp down permanently with pseudo marshal laws and finalize its irreversible seizure of power over every single soul in America. We are at a defining crossroads yet most Americans are worried simple-mindedly about where they’re going to vacation this summer. I predict that, under a more specious name, we will see what I call The Disarmament Act, wherein all Americans must surrender every firearm they own, have stashed, or “on loan.” If this will be the precipitate or not to outright civil war remains to be seen. Stay well, brother.
Yes, the trouble began when progressives gained control of the Federal Executive branch. The first real progressive was Teddy Roosevelt, the next was Woodrow Wilson, then came Franklin Roosevelt. With Roosevelt came the lie that progressives were liberal. The general public bought that characterization and progressives have been parading under that banner ever since. Progressives have one important goal and that is the creation of the administrative nanny state. They want to control us for “our own good.” This concept is in direct opposition to our personal liberty and civil liberties.
Gun control is just one of the most important goals of the progressives. Remember that progressivism is the exact opposite of liberalism … it’s oxymoronic to equate these concepts as equivalent.
The true beginning of gun control in America started prior to the Civil War! In 1828 FREE Blacks in Florida could carry guns – if they got a courts permission. I gather the KKK folks didn’t want armed Blacks to interfere with their “gatherings”.
There are Still some Americans Willing to Fight and Die to Retain/Restore Our Rights which the Constitution Prohibits the Government from Taking Away! The Democrats/Progressives and the Alphabet Agencies are ALL Evil, Corrupt, and Control Freaks Who will Do Anything to Remain in Power. The Time is Fast Approaching were the Real Americans Start Purging the Nation of These Filth!