Charles M. Blow asks “Has the N.R.A. Won?” Yes, they have, and it is time we liberals give up on gun control.
It is now fair to ask whether the National Rifle Association is winning — or has in fact won — this era of the gun debate in this country. Gun control advocates have tried to use the horror that exists in the wake of mass shootings to catalyze the public into action around sensible gun restrictions. But rather than these tragedies being a cause for pause in ownership of guns, gun ownership has spiked in the wake of these shootings.
A striking report released Friday by the Pew Research Center revealed that “for the first time, more Americans say that protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership, 52 percent to 46 percent.”
Look, it doesn’t matter the reasonableness of gun control measures. It almost always gets painted as some sort of tyranny, as if your Second Amendment rights are violated if you cannot purchase this Class 3 Scud Missile launcher.
I, and most liberals and progressives, including Senator Barack Obama, were of this mindset between 2000 and 2007. I remember very specifically Obama’s answers on gun control during the primary debates. He said, look, there is a constitutional right to gun ownership. Nothing is going to change that short of a constitutional amendment.
It is my opinion that one of the mistakes of his Presidency was the renewed push for gun control after Sandy Hook. What he should have done instead is address the nation and say….
“Today is a horrible tragedy, but it is a direct result of the Second Amendment. A citizen’s right to bear arms, protected in the Constitution by the Second Amendment, makes it extremely difficult to pass, enact and enforce any gun control measure. And it would be fruitless for my Administration to now lobby for common sense control measures, because those measures, no matter how reasonable, will be painted as an imposition of tyranny on my part and behalf, oppressing the rights of citizens rather than protecting them. So if you want to prevent future horrors like Sandy Hook, the responsibility is on you to begin a grassroots movement that will amend or clarify the Second Amendment through the constitutional process. Until then, there is nothing I, or anyone, can do.”
And like the Citizens United Decision, that is the truth. The only answer is a constitutional amendment.