U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- As the Supreme Court of the United States begins the long and no doubt intense deliberations on the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, gun control proponents are in something of a panic, attempting to portray this case and a potential outcome favoring rights over restrictions as the end of civilization as we know it.
Writing at the New York Daily News, Shannon Watts—founder of the Moms Demand Action gun prohibition lobbying group now a subsidiary of anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety—declares her brand of “gun safety” to be in jeopardy. She breathlessly describes this case as “the latest chapter in the gun lobby’s worn-out playbook of framing every single gun safety law as a constitutional issue, even though the Constitution itself, more than 200 years of history, and courts across the country have already made clear that the government has the right to regulate guns in public spaces to protect people’s safety.”
Watts knows only as much about genuine gun safety as a liberal Hollywood actor, and possibly less. Almost simultaneously, Adam Winkler writes at the New York Times, “The gun safety movement finds itself on the precipice of disaster.”
Throughout his Op-ed, Winkler repeatedly alludes to a “gun safety movement” and at one spot, calls it the “gun safety reform movement” and he also refers to “gun safety advocates.” Winkler has appeared at the Gun Rights Policy Conference, where he was in a room filled with genuine gun safety advocates; people who own firearms and, unlike a certain movie star, they haven’t fatally shot anybody because they took someone else’s word the gun was unloaded.
Recently, Shannon Lee—sister of the late actor Brandon Lee, who was accidentally killed on a movie set inn 1993—told a reporter, “I think that mandatory gun safety training (should be required) for the actor so that they can check the guns themselves and know how to use them appropriately.” It is a reasonable suggestion from someone who lost a sibling to a terrible, and preventable, accident. Where would someone go for such training? It’s not the kind of instruction offered by anyone in the gun prohibition movement.
Question: Who has more certified firearms instructors, the National Rifle Association or the Brady Campaign?
Question: Where would you send someone for gun safety training, the Gunsite Academy or the Alliance for Gun Responsibility?
Question: Which organization originated hunter education courses in 1949, the NRA or the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence?
Question: Who might be able to more quickly recite the Four Rules of Gun Safety, a member of Moms Demand Action or a member of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms?
Question: When police arrest a criminal with a stolen handgun, who thinks the criminal bothered with a background check during the process of obtaining the gun?
In her 700-word opinion piece, Watts alleges the NRA, and by extension, every other gun rights organization, “sees this case as a chance to advance their ultimate agenda of guns anywhere for anyone at any time, with no questions asked.”
Such rhetoric is demonstrably false. Gun rights organizations got behind such legislation as “Three Strikes” and “Hard Time for Armed Crime.” Notably, liberals who advocated for gun control laws hardly warmed up to either movement, which both began in Washington State in the early 1990s. To his credit, Winkler acknowledges in his article, “While assault rifles look menacing, they are responsible for only a fraction of gun deaths in America each year. While these weapons have been used in some of the most notorious massacres, most mass shootings are actually committed with handguns.”
What must be understood is that proposed gun bans have little or nothing to do with genuine public safety, but rather to provide a “trophy” of sorts to the gun prohibition lobby. This is why such proposals are generically called “trophy legislation,” something anti-gunners can point to and declare, “Look what we accomplished,” when they really haven’t accomplished anything. It is patently misleading to identify gun prohibition lobbying groups as “gun safety” or “gun reform” organizations. As recently demonstrated on a movie set in New Mexico, “gun safety” advocates really don’t know about gun safety. Because of that, people can get hurt or even killed.
The Supreme Court will not likely hand down a ruling in NYSR&PA v. Bruen until the final days of its session, next June. A ruling striking down New York’s extremist gun control law would not be a “disaster” as suggested by Winkler, but an affirmation that a fundamental right protected by the Constitution requires no demonstration of “need” to be exercised. No citizen should be required to justify his or her exercise of an enumerated right, which is really what the New York case is all about.
If the Supreme Court nullifies such a requirement, it will be a victory for everyone, not just gun owners and right-to-carry advocates. Such a ruling will remind governments everywhere that rights are sacrosanct, they are special, whether the issue is free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, legal representation, remaining silent or the act of keeping and bearing arms.
EXPERT GUESTS AVAILABLE TO INTERVIEW ON THIS TOPIC:
ABOUT CAM EDWARDS (In Eastern Time)
Cam Edwards is the editor at Bearing Arms-dot-com and hosts the popular podcast Cam & Company that focuses on Second Amendment news and information. Cam is originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has worked in radio, television, and online media for over two decades. He currently lives on a small farm with his family near Farmville, Virginia, and is a member of the board of Citizens Committee to Keep and Bear Arms.
ABOUT LEE WILLIAMS
Lee Williams is also known as The Gun Writer and been writing about the Second Amendment, firearms, the firearms industry, and the gun culture for more than ten years. He is the Chief Editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Reporting Project and is a frequent contributor to Ammoland News and Armed American Radio. In addition, he serves as a board member of Florida Carry, Inc. He was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming a newspaper editor, Lee was an investigative reporter in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. Lee has earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter as well as three medals of valor as a police officer.
ABOUT MARK WALTERS (in Eastern Time):
Mark Walters is a national board member of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and a broadcast media spokesman for the Second Amendment Foundation. Recipient of the 2015 Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award, Walters is a national columnist for Ammoland and author of three books, including Unarmed America with Rob Pincus: foreword by Ted Nugent. Mark is a husband and father of two children and resides in Georgia with his family.
ABOUT STEPHEN WILLEFORD (In Central Time):
A native of Sutherland Springs, Texas, Stephen Willeford gained national acclaim after helping stop the deadliest mass shooting in the history of Texas in November 2017. Stephen has become known across the country as the “good guy with a gun.”
An experienced professional plumber, Stephen earned his license from the Plumbers and Pipefitters Apprenticeship School in San Antonio and has nearly 35 years of experience in his field. In 2018, Governor Greg Abbott appointed Stephen to serve on the Texas Private Security Board. He served as an assistant scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts of America. Stephen has been married to Pam Farmer Willeford for 30 years. They have three children and three grandchildren.
ABOUT ALAN GOTTLIEB (In Pacific Time/ TV only):
Alan is a strong advocate of defense. He’s a nuclear engineering graduate of the University of Tennessee, publisher of Gun Week, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Conservative Union.
ABOUT DAVE WORKMAN (In Pacific Time):
Dave Workman is an award-winning career journalist and senior editor of TheGunMag.com. He also writes for Liberty Park Press, Conservative Firing Line. He is the communications director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. He has authored Op-Ed pieces in several major newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and co-authored seven books with Second Amendment Foundation Alan Gottlieb. Workman’s beat is firearms, from politics to the outdoors. He is widely considered an authority on firearms, concealed carry, and gun politics.
ABOUT CHRIS CHENG (In Pacific Time)
Chris Cheng serves on the advisory council to the Second Amendment Foundation’s Board of Trustees and is the History Channel’s Top Shot Season 4 Champion and author of the book “Shoot to Win.” Cheng is an Asian D&I advocate in the gun community, a former Google employee who went from self-taught amateur to pro shooter.
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing, and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to own and possess firearms privately. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 700,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed better to inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
CONTACT: To schedule an interview with an SAF spokesperson Celinda Hawkins at (432) 349 – 2736 at jerry.specialguests@gmail.com or Samantha Mao at jerry.specialguests@gmail.com.
400 other guests/topics for interviews: https://SpecialGuests.com/guests-topics/
