Guns, Control, Orlando, and Obama

It is the habit of the left to seek greater control, always, of course, for the public good. It further has the tendency to use catastrophic events to push through unwise legislation, even as the ruins are still smoldering.

But this latest crisis should have nothing to do with new gun control initiatives but rather an analysis of government ineptitude combined with an unavoidable reality, which is the existence of evil, and evil individuals that commit atrocities.  In this case an Islamic terrorist, a Jihadist, acting in the name of his religion and his God, under the auspices of ISIS, the Islamic State, as occurred in a bar in Orlando.

In the aftermath of the mass killing, President Obama, the Democratic Party, the left, and their patrons in the media, even while the bodies were still warm, sought to politicize the event, exploiting the powerful emotions at work, not to heal or enlighten, or unify the nation, but to advance an agenda, and chip away at the Constitution.  Obama used the opportunity to speak of gun control but not border control or terrorist control or importing Syrian refugees, many of them sympathetic to ISIS, or the evisceration of our military, or their tepid rules of engagement.  Nor did he mention “gun-free zones,” which become kill zones like the bar in Orlando.  He spoke of taking away the rights of law abiding American citizens and lectured us about the need for “soul searching,” even as 49 American bodies were being carted away.

But this was a failure not of the American people or the Constitution but of Obama and his administration that helped create ISIS and the refugee crisis by abandoning an Iraq already secured by American blood and treasure.  Obama and the left have also promoted the cancer of political correctness, of censorship and totalitarian thought control, to metastasize throughout the executive branch, the FBI, CIA, and the military, our schools, colleges, courts, and police, the media, entertainment, and Hollywood, the deliberate inculcation of Sharia or Islamic law that prevents meaningful discussion and criticism of Islam, its beliefs, values, and lack of reform in over 1400 years.  Such censorship imposed by Obama has made it impossible to properly track and intervene before Muslim terrorists act such as occurred in Orlando, San Bernardino, Fort Hood, and elsewhere or to monitor radical Mosques, often the breeding ground for Islamic terror and indoctrination.  Instead of scolding law abiding Americans, he should have examined his policies.

The effort to polemicize the issue though is predictable, for the left is uncomfortable, not necessarily with guns but who has them, which is to say, the individual or the state. The left holds that the ability to inflict violence is the province of the state; individuals with the capacity to defend themselves crosses a line for them, for such awesome power outside the state is anathema, incompatible with leftist ideology and DNA.

The target of the left is ultimately the Constitution itself, the Bill of Rights or much of it, and specifically here, the Second Amendment. The left is uncomfortable with centers of power outside the sphere of government; as the left is hostile toward the church and family, two bedrock institutions of the civil society that exist apart from government; so, too, the left bears unbridled disdain for gun owners who may exercise power beyond the realm of the state, the power to inflict violence if necessary in their own self defense.  Power for the left must be concentrated in a central government and its deputies, not disseminated through the civil society, where the state does not tread.

But this right is inalienable as is the right to life, for if our lives are threatened than the right to defend our lives is required by our Declaration of Independence, hence the right to bear arms as encoded in the Constitution through the Second Amendment.  The two are necessary complements and intertwined, the right to life and the right to defend one’s life. For what good is the right to life and liberty if you cannot defend it against those who would take it from you including criminals, terrorists, and a despotic government.

The Second Amendment is critical to any understanding of the nation and its founding spirit.  It exists because of the value placed by the framers on life and individual sovereignty.  It was also seen as a bulwark against tyranny, of an all-powerful, central government, a grave concern for the founders who had just fought a war against tyranny in the form of the British Crown.  It is consistent with a society that embraces autonomy and freedom and rejects coercive state power as well as threats to life and property. History has also shown us regimes that enjoyed a monopoly on firearms, and they have been its most violent and brutal.  

If the left was serious about controlling gun violence, they would secure our southern border, stop importing refugees from Syria, stop releasing violent felons and criminal illegal aliens into our streets, or terrorists from Guantanamo. They would end sanctuary cities and not appoint “catch and release” judges that are soft on crime.  They would stop left wing politicians from destroying our inner cities where most gun violence occurs. They would halt immigration from Islamic nations until such time that Islam has undergone critical self-examination or, as Obama would call it, “soul searching” and meaningful change.  They would monitor potential Muslim terrorists and intercede before they act and surveil radical Mosques and Jihadist organizations.  And they would call radical Islamic terror by its name instead of wishing it away.

We must defend our Constitution and our 2nd Amendment. I thank God I live in a country where I can protect my loved ones and myself.

June 2016

Brief Bio: Richard Moss MD is a practicing Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon, author, and columnist who resides in Jasper IN.  He recently lost his bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in Indiana’s 8^th district. Find more of his essays and blog posts at exodusmd.com.  Also find him on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.