Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Gun Control Supporters Are Counting on Appeasement

Monday, May 21, 2018

“The notion that I, or Hillary, or Democrats, or whoever you want to choose, are hell-bent on taking away folks' guns is just not true -- and I don’t care how many times the NRA says it.” – Barack Obama, June 1, 2016.

The former president’s statement was a lie when he said it. Less than a year earlier, the 44th president had lauded Great Britain and Australia’s confiscatory gun control policies. Fittingly, this praise was offered from the White House Press Briefing Room, which shares a name with an organization founded with the explicit goal of prohibiting the civilian ownership of handguns.

Like Obama, the more clever anti-gun activists, eager to curry favor with moderate Americans, have sought to assure the public that they seek only minor, “reasonable,” or “common sense” changes to current policy. According to these con artists, they only want to restrict a small subset of extremely dangerous firearms, or keep firearms away from unpopular demographics.

What these gun controllers don’t tell you is that the guns they really want to ban are yours, whether that is an AR-15, a pump-action shotgun, or a .38 revolver. The unsavory demographic they want to prohibit from owning firearms is you and all other law-abiding Americans. Aside from being bad policy on their own merits, each incremental step that well-meaning Americans acquiesce to facilitates the next and brings gun control advocates closer to their ultimate goal of civilian disarmament.

When confronted with such charges, anti-gun activists are quick to accuse gun rights supporters of advancing a logical fallacy - a slippery slope argument. However, the charges merely acknowledge gun control supporters’ stated strategy.

The blueprint was laid out by National Coalition to Control Handguns (now Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence) Founder Nelson T. “Pete” Shields in a 1976 interview with the New Yorker. Shields explained, “I’m convinced that we have to have federal legislation to build on. We’re going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily – given the political realities – going to be very modest.” Elaborating, Shields went on to say, “So then we’ll have to start working again to strengthen that law, and then again to strengthen the next law, and maybe again and again. Right now, though, we’d be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice. Our ultimate goal – total control of handguns in the United States – is going to take time.”

In their more candid moments, gun controllers from across the political spectrum have confessed to this approach. In a 1996 piece for the Washington Post titled, “Disarm the Citizenry. But not yet,” columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote, “Passing a law like the assault weapons ban is a symbolic -- purely symbolic -- move in that direction. Its only real justification is not to reduce crime but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation.”

Such brazen admissions used to be infrequent. If anything good can be said about the ugly tenor of recent anti-gun outbursts, it is that by embracing fanaticism our opponents have betrayed the terminal goals of the measured strategy pursued by more prudent gun control advocates.

Take the New York Times, which has long served as the chief propaganda arm of the gun control establishment. In 2015, a Times editorial declared that “large categories” of commonly-owned firearms “must be outlawed.” Endorsing confiscation, the Times declared that a law must be enacted that “would require Americans who own those kinds of weapons to give them up.” In October, Times columnist Bret Stephens advocated for the U.S. to “Repeal the Second Amendment.” Stephens reiterated the position in February.

Not to be outdone, in February the Washington Post published a piece from commentator Max Boot which argued that the country should “rethink the Second Amendment.” The Boston Globe ran a piece in November in which writer David Scharfenberg contended that gun control supporters will “have to persuade more people of the need to confiscate millions of those firearms.” That same month, former Obama Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer called for Australian-style gun confiscation.

Like their friends in the media, more and more, anti-gun politicians have revealed the full scope of their ambitions. In recent years, each session of the California State Assembly has degenerated into a perverse search for the most severe gun restrictions the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will sanction. In 2013, New York City officials sent permit holders letters ordering them to surrender their registered semi-automatic rifles or remove them from the city. As of press-time, the Illinois House had just voted to confiscate commonly-owned semi-automatic rifles held by the state’s 18 to 20-year-old Firearm Owner Identification card holders. If enacted, these young adults would have 90 days to turn in their guns.

We know where the gun control measures that our opposition market as “common sense” lead, because our opponents have told us, and shown us, time and again. Law-abiding gun owners must recognize that the so-called “reasonable regulations” proposed by more savvy gun-control proponents are nothing but a foothold for greater restrictions on our rights.

TRENDING NOW
Massachusetts: Update on Proposed Sweeping Gun Control

Monday, July 17, 2023

Massachusetts: Update on Proposed Sweeping Gun Control

Late last month, Massachusetts politicians put forth HD 4420, “an act modernizing firearm laws.” This massive piece of legislation re-writes gun laws in the Commonwealth and imposes unprecedented gun-control.

Update: New Mexico Governor’s Unconstitutional Carry Ban Temporarily Halted, NRA Files Suit

News  

Monday, September 18, 2023

Update: New Mexico Governor’s Unconstitutional Carry Ban Temporarily Halted, NRA Files Suit

On September 8, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Grisham (D) surprised her political opponents and allies when the politician purported to suspend the U.S. and New Mexico constitutions and state statute using a “public health emergency ...

Changes Coming Soon for New York State Gun Owners

News  

Monday, August 21, 2023

Changes Coming Soon for New York State Gun Owners

There are some significant changes due to take effect early next month in the Empire State.

When the rubber hits the road: Anti-police activist does U-turn after being carjacked

News  

Monday, September 18, 2023

When the rubber hits the road: Anti-police activist does U-turn after being carjacked

Three years ago, the “defund the police” movement got its start in Minneapolis, MN. A number of leftist politicians wasted no time in jumping on the bandwagon, along with a bunch of Hollywood celebrities – all of whom thought it was a ...

NRA to Move for Expedited Relief for Its Members in Light of Fifth Circuit Pistol Brace Ruling

Hunting  

News  

Second Amendment  

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

NRA to Move for Expedited Relief for Its Members in Light of Fifth Circuit Pistol Brace Ruling

The National Rifle Association of America (“NRA”) announced today that it would be expediting its motion for a preliminary injunction to protect its members from the Biden Administration’s unlawful attempt to reclassify braced pistols as ...

California: Legislature Passes Carry Restrictions & Over a Dozen More Anti-Gun Bills Headed to the Governor

Saturday, September 16, 2023

California: Legislature Passes Carry Restrictions & Over a Dozen More Anti-Gun Bills Headed to the Governor

On Thursday night, the California Legislature adjourned after having passed a whole slew of anti-gun bills this session.

Massachusetts: 2A Rally in Boston Commons, on September 27th

Friday, September 22, 2023

Massachusetts: 2A Rally in Boston Commons, on September 27th

Gun Owners’ Action League (GOAL) will be holding a rally against HD 4420 “an act modernizing firearm laws,” on Wednesday, September 27th.  NRA members and Second Amendment right supporters are encouraged to join the rally ...

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Lujan Grisham’s Unconstitutional Order Banning Public Carry

Thursday, September 14, 2023

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Lujan Grisham’s Unconstitutional Order Banning Public Carry

Today, NRA led a coalition of parties in a legal challenge against New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen’s unconstitutional orders banning the carrying of firearms in Bernalillo County ...

Canadians on Canada’s Gun Control Measures: Expensive, Ineffective, Political Posturing

News  

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Canadians on Canada’s Gun Control Measures: Expensive, Ineffective, Political Posturing

More than three years have passed since Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban and mandatory confiscation (“buyback”) of what he called “military grade assault weapons,” which was followed by a national handgun “freeze” ...

California Tax is About Curtailing Exercise of a Constitutional Right

News  

Monday, September 18, 2023

California Tax is About Curtailing Exercise of a Constitutional Right

On September 7, the California Legislature passed AB-28. The bill would place an 11 percent excise tax on the sales price of all firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition. As of press time, the legislation remains ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.