Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

“I Did That!” Biden’s Gas Crisis Creates Public Safety Crisis

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

“I Did That!” Biden’s Gas Crisis Creates Public Safety Crisis

The Biden Administration is serious about making it more difficult for responsible citizens to exercise their gun rights, which is hardly surprising from the most anti-Second Amendment president in history. What is less obvious is the effect President Biden’s other policy decisions have had, directly or indirectly, on making communities less safe.

Besides his gun control wishlist, Biden campaigned on a commitment to “unleash a clean energy revolution,” endorsed a ban on fracking, and promised to eliminate “fossil fuel,” with “no more drilling” by oil producers. On his first day in office, he signed an executive order to revoke permission to build and operate the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transported Canadian oil to the United States. Shortly after, Biden ordered a moratorium on new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters. One source notes that “[d]omestic oil production under Biden has yet to come close to the pre-pandemic levels reached under the prior administration.”

Two years ago, the national average price for regular gasoline was approximately $2.24/gallon; overall, between 2015 and 2020, the average price per gallon stayed under $3.00. By late 2021 – month’s before Putin’s war on Ukraine – the “AAA found that gas prices across the US hit their highest average levels since 2014,” and prices have continued to climb. As of June 28, 2022, the AAA Gas Prices website indicates the national average price per gallon (regular gas) was just under $5.00, with prices well over that mark in many of the western states. Californians, for instance, are now ponying up $6.30 for a gallon of gas that had cost $4.27 a year ago. [Average gas prices per state are based on the AAA website.]

Industry analysts expect the gas price hikes will continue into the foreseeable future. President Biden, when asked recently about the record-high prices, shrugged them off as part of an “incredible transition” away from fossil fuels. (As the Biden stickers on the gas pumps say, “I did that!”)

This “incredible transition” means that law enforcement personnel, emergency medical technicians, fire departments, and other first responders across the country have been forced to make hard choices about service delivery.

One county sheriff’s office in Michigan – average gas price $5.03/gal. – has already exhausted its fuel budget, with several more months to go before new funding becomes available. As a result, deputies were told to deal with “non-in-progress calls, non-life-threatening calls, [and] calls that do not require evidence collection or documentation” over the phone rather than in-person. Another Michigan county sheriff’s office has implemented a delayed response to low priority calls and has cut back on patrols.” We instructed our officers to not idle their vehicles and to do stationary traffic control rather than patrol and drive all over the place just trying to find violations,” with further restrictions on driving anticipated in the event gas prices continue to rise.

In Ohio – average gas price $4.84/gal. –  a county sheriff has also been forced to shift to “stationary patrols” to reduce fuel use, and a Parma, Ohio fire department spokesperson notes that the continued unforeseen surge in prices may mean “we then have to subtract that same amount from perhaps a training budget, or a vehicle budget, or an equipment budget.”   

Unprecedented gas costs have caused other first responders to reconsider funds allocated for new equipment or vehicles. A fire rescue department in Colorado – average gas price $4.90/gal. – is deferring planned upgrades to its fleet, and a West Virginia county sheriff predicts, “I’ll have to start cutting equipment” as fuel prices rise.  

An ambulance service for Forth Worth and 14 other Texas cities – average gas price $4.52/gal. – has seen its fuel costs more than double over the last year, and is now tapping into its reserve funds. An official with the company points out that its hands are tied: “We don’t have the option of not using fuel…We respond to 500 or 600 911 calls a day, and it’s not like we can just stop going to calls.” Likewise, Willliamson County, Texas, has “drained its annual fuel budget weeks ago, leaving first responders and taxpayers in a predicament unlike any other.” The county expects it will be forced to draw on its contingency funds to ensure that “we are there to take care of our community.” 

For law enforcement, cuts in service, and potentially in training, equipment, and personnel because fuel consumes an increasingly large portion of operating budgets, place added stress on agencies that are already struggling with the fallout of progressive demands to “defund the police,” staff reductions, and new highs in violent crimes.

Ultimately, those on the receiving end of Biden’s “incredible transition” – whether it is unprecedented gas costs, runaway inflation, or gun control – are everyday Americans. Not only is it “painfully clear … that Joe Biden will do anything he can to achieve his goal of diminishing the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” his actions mean that citizens now are even less able to rely on the police and other first responders for help when needed.     

Millions of America’s gun owners already understand that the police can’t always come, and you are your own best guarantee of safety and security. Far from being an obsolete or outdated right, the Second Amendment is of the first importance in ensuring that individuals have access to the means of protecting themselves and their families.

Justice Samuel Alito, in his concurrence in the historic New York State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen decision released by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, emphasized that is still as significant today as it was two centuries ago. After citing several instances where individuals used a firearm in defending against a frightening criminal attack, he concluded with these words:

…the Second Amendment codifies the right of ordinary law-abiding Americans to protect themselves from lethal violence by possessing and, if necessary, using a gun. In 1791, when the Second Amendment was adopted, there were no police departments, and many families lived alone on isolated farms or on the frontiers. If these people were attacked, they were on their own… Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so.

IN THIS ARTICLE
Police
TRENDING NOW
Colorado: General Assembly Continues to Follow California's Lead; Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled For Hearing

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Colorado: General Assembly Continues to Follow California's Lead; Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled For Hearing

The Colorado General Assembly continues to follow California's lead when it comes to gun control, this year already pushing for an 11% Excise tax on firearms/ammunition and now pursuing a ban on commonly owned semi-automatic ...

Wisconsin: Legislation Updating the Definition of Muzzloader Signed by Governor Evers

Friday, March 15, 2024

Wisconsin: Legislation Updating the Definition of Muzzloader Signed by Governor Evers

Yesterday, the governor signed Wisconsin Act 116, formally Senate Bill 587, into law. This legislation establishes a new definition for “muzzleloaders” that would allow for the use of innovative technological advancements that could benefit sportsmen, ...

Maine: NRA Fires Back Against Gun Grabbers

Friday, March 15, 2024

Maine: NRA Fires Back Against Gun Grabbers

For months, anti-gun politicians and gun-grabbing groups have been running wild in Augusta, spreading misinformation about firearms in a desperate attempt to pass the most extreme gun-control in the country. The proposals carry the same theme, ...

Delaware: Senate Passes Maryland-Style Permit to Purchase Scheme

Friday, March 15, 2024

Delaware: Senate Passes Maryland-Style Permit to Purchase Scheme

Last night, the Delaware Senate passed Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2 (SB 2) by a vote of 15 to 6. This extreme legislation will impose a Maryland-style “handgun qualified purchase card” and a handgun transfer ...

Virginia: More than a Dozen Anti-Gun Bills Sent to the Governor!

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Virginia: More than a Dozen Anti-Gun Bills Sent to the Governor!

The newly elected Virginia General Assembly has prioritized restricting law-abiding citizens' Second Amendment rights and has made good on that priority this session. This year, dozens of anti-gun bills have been considered in both chambers ...

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Introduced in General Assembly

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Introduced in General Assembly

Anti-Gun extremist State Reps. Tim Hernandez (D-04) and Elisabeth Epps (D-06) introduced House Bill 24-1292, a bill banning the manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of so called “assault weapons”. 

Washington Post’s Somewhat Pro-Gun Column Inadvertently Exposes Problem with Mandatory Storage Laws

News  

Monday, March 11, 2024

Washington Post’s Somewhat Pro-Gun Column Inadvertently Exposes Problem with Mandatory Storage Laws

We generally don’t expect to see the Washington Post say anything positive about firearms or law-abiding gun owners, although there are occasional Op-Eds from pro-Second Amendment lawmakers, unbiased researchers and Constitutional scholars, and the like.

Appropriations Bill Passes with Language Protecting Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

News  

Monday, March 11, 2024

Appropriations Bill Passes with Language Protecting Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

Last week, Congress approved a package of legislation to fund various government agencies that corrects a longstanding and shameful practice that had been depriving American veterans of their Second Amendment rights since 1998.

Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes Committee and Hearings Postponed Due to Weather

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes Committee and Hearings Postponed Due to Weather

Today, HB 24-1348 which mandates how firearms must be stored in unattended vehicles, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and is now eligible for a final vote on the House Floor. Please contact your lawmakers by using the ...

Utah: Governor Cox Signs Legislation Protecting Financial Privacy of Gun Owners!

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Utah: Governor Cox Signs Legislation Protecting Financial Privacy of Gun Owners!

Today, Governor Spencer Cox signed HB 406, legislation that provides important financial privacy protections for gun owners when purchasing firearms, firearm parts, and ammunition. The NRA would like to thank Governor Cox for signing this ...

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.