New Zealand View of United States 2013 Second Amendment Battle

 

The Blaze carried a story devoted to Mayor Bloomberg's intermingling of his private passion for infringing on the second amendment with his use of public funds to do so.  Among the comments was this insightful reply from nzkiwi:

While we all believed that there were underhanded machinations afoot, it is never-the-less surprising to see clear proof.

American gun owners should take considerable satisfaction that the law of unintended consequences came to their aid, however.

Determined efforts to increase gun control by President Obama, supported by Mayor Bloomberg and others, caused such alarm in your nation that there are now more gun owners in America than at any time in your country’s history.

Gun ownership has increased a whopping 66% under this administration’s watch. In 2013 alone, there were nearly 22 million FBI background checks.. Smith and Wesson’s sales increased by 25% over 2012 while Sturm, Ruger’s receipts jumped 45%. Demand strained gun manufacturer’s ability to supply.

The story gets worse for those who would disarm your citizens. Far more people than previously have made themselves aware of the 2nd Amendment’s vital importance. Piers Morgan’s bitter televised wrangles have brought the issue front and centre, causing previously uninformed people to examine the obvious facts and logic of the arguement.

Far from berating Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama, I think both should be presented with a gold-plated AR15 and a plaque expressing your nation’s gratitude for re-invigorating America’s Constitutional commitment to an armed citizenry.

Not to do so would be downright churlish…

Nzkiwi has the perspicacity to see what many gun owners already know.   The more the debate about the second amendment is in the news, the more people become informed on the issues.   The more people become informed on the issues, the more people move from mildly anti- rights to neutral, or from neutral to second amendment supporter.  The more facts people read and the more history they learn, the more support that is given to the second amendment.

This has been true since at least the 1960's, and has been accelerated by the Internet with its ease of obtaining numerous viewpoints on an issue, and of checking statements to determine their accuracy.  

This is why Governor Cuomo had to push through the New York "Safe Act" in the dead of night in a manner that clearly violated the New York state Constitution.   If there had been open debate  on the "Safe Act", it would never have passed. 

Support for bans on handguns is at the lowest level it has been for 50 years.   The logic to ban anything other than handguns, which are the vast majority of firearms used in crime, is far less persuasive than it is for handguns.  Those who wish to disarm the citizenry are getting desperate.   They know it is now, or never.   Even observers from overseas can see it.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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