Gun Rights v Gun Control: The Shadow Issue of Campaign ‘24

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Polls say ‘gun violence’ is a major issue in the Nov. 5 elections. So is gun rights versus gun control, though it lurks in the political shadows. IMG Jim Grant

Only a few days remain before U.S. voters pick a new president, or maybe just re-install a previous one, and lurking around in the political tall grass is an issue everyone knows is there, and it might be politically toxic: Guns.

If you’re a gun owner, this year’s vote could be the most important one you will ever cast.

ABC News admitted over the weekend in a headline that “Gun violence” is a major issue despite other election topics, according to gun control advocates. The ABC report offered a “gee whiz” explanation: The “gun issue” has been “overshadowed by a flurry of hot-button campaign topics: The state of the economy, abortion rights, wars raging in the Middle East and Ukraine, two assassination attempts on Trump and the shifting political landscape in which Vice President Kamala Harris succeeded Biden as the Democratic nominee.”

Well, not exactly. Trump has exasperated and frustrated the establishment media by not promising new gun controls in the wake of two assassination attempts, the first of which drew blood.

Still, CBS News reported several days ago how “Gun control is one of the most polarizing issues in American politics, and it’s been a topic of contention in the 2024 presidential election.

“Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have been at odds over guns,” the CBS report stated. “Trump has told voters Harris ‘wants to confiscate your guns,’ a point Harris denies. She wants to see stronger gun control laws on the books but also says she’s a gun owner. Here are Trump’s and Harris’ stances and policy plans to address gun violence in America.”

Indeed, Harris is on record arguing for “mandatory buyback” of so-called “assault weapons,” while she was campaigning back in 2019. Her campaign has backed away from that position, but not by much, and banning that entire class of firearms is still part of the Democrat agenda.

American gun owners are well aware Harris, as noted by the CBS report, “oversees the White House Office of Gun Violence and Prevention, which was created by the Biden administration in 2023 in order to find a way around congressional inaction on stronger gun control laws.”

CBS also reminded voters, “Her campaign website says if Harris is elected, she would ‘ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require universal background checks, and support red flag laws that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.’”

Like it or not, the Second Amendment is very much on the presidential ballot, as it is in Congressional races, and in gubernatorial contests. In the Senate, especially, the balance of power will determine whether there is a 2A-friendly Judiciary Committee when judicial nominations are made by whomever is in the Oval Office. If those nominations come from Trump, it will reverse four years of Joe Biden doing his best to fill court vacancies with liberals who disagree with the high court’s Heller, McDonald and Bruen rulings. If they come from Harris, all brakes will be off.

As Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation has often observed, “Elections matter.” The president makes judicial nominations and the Senate either rejects or confirms. That’s high school Civics 101.

The CBS report had this to say about Trump: “Trump’s campaign said in a statement that he would ‘terminate every single one of the Harris-Biden’s attacks on law-abiding gun owners his first week in office and stand up for our constitutionally enshrined right to bear arms.’”

Keep in perspective Trump is the only president in recent memory who habitually mentioned protecting the Second Amendment in his stump speeches while in office. Biden has talked about gun control since taking office. Harris has become his gun control czar.

Violent crime is a major concern among many American voters, and when John Lott at the Crime Prevention Research Center reported how the FBI had under-reported crime in a devastating article published by RealClear Investigations, the media gave it short attention. Whether this revelation will have much influence on the Nov. 5 election remains to be seen.

Polling is literally all over the place and it seems to change daily. One day Harris is up, the next day Trump leads. The only poll which will really matter is the one on Nov. 5, and this is the one where gun owners will need to turn out in massive numbers to protect their Second Amendment rights as well as their gains over the past 16 years since the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 right to keep and bear arms is an individual right.

While “gun violence” is a major issue, so is “gun rights versus gun control.” History has demonstrated clearly which party is more protective of the Second Amendment and which party wants to turn it into a government-regulated privilege.

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Matt in Oklahoma

Wake me when a candidate is actually out banging plate racks BEFORE they become a candidate.

DIYinSTL

I’m happy to vote against those who would further restrict, let alone eliminate, our Second amendment rights.
It aggravates me that those I vote for do nothing to restore our essential liberties. Nominating and confirming judges is a critical yet spineless avenue that delays justice.

ashort

lets not forget when push comes to shove, Trump did Ban Bumpstocks. so in the end, he may not be the messiah we are all hoping he will be! when it comes to gun control, even Trump will throw the 2nd Amendment under the bus. However even with that information, Trump is still the better choice, anybody has to be better, than Harris!

CBW

Want to see the high point of liberal (Communist, Satanic) policies in action? Check out the running scoreboard of ‘gun free’ ‘restricted’ Chicago murders and mayhem…it is truly priceless. Site name is Hey Jackass. Duckduckgo it if you don’t want to click in this link. Here it is: https://heyjackass.com/

Last edited 3 months ago by CBW
Nick

People complain about Trump and guns, such as the bump stock ban and the red flag laws. I agree those were very very bad. But bear in mind, who was whispering in his ear at the time that they were good proposals… The NRA aka Negotiating Rights Away. They’ve been doing that since the NFA in 1934. Trump’s not a gun guy, like we all are. He’s a golfer, not a shooter. I think with REAL 2A groups talking to him at the White House, about why something’s good for 2A or why something else’s bad for 2A he’d go… Read more »

Darkman

Gun control is the ability to hit what you are aiming at every time. Nothing more…Nothing less. Next.