The Second Amendment Scapegoat
In the aftermath of any horrific act of “gun violence”, the gun control elitists immediately look to spread the blame as far and wide as they can. It doesn’t matter who the actual perpetrator was, what his/her motivation was, what their weapon was or how it was acquired. The zealots always try to rope in as many groups and individuals as they can and say THEY alone are responsible for this tragedy. Enter the Second Amendment Scapegoat.
Who is a Second Amendment Scapegoat? Pretty much any person or organization that advocates for an individual’s natural rights under the Second Amendment. Also included is every firearm manufacturer, distributor, retailer, trainer or anyone who owns a firearm — especially a so-called “assault weapon” or “high capacity magazines”. These are the ones who are automatically deemed complicit, or even an accessory to every violent act where a firearm is used.
The most common target is of course the NRA (National Rifle Association). Blamed as being the mouthpiece of the gun industry (they’re not, the firearm industry is represented by a different organization), every gun protest has to single out the NRA as a contributor or the actual cause of the violence. Why? Because the NRA along with numerous other national, state and local groups advocate against useless gun control laws that have never done anything to fight crime or increase public safety, only infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Of course nobody considers that the NRA provides and sponsors more firearms safety education than anyone else in the world. They have safety programs for law enforcement, public and private ranges, youth, women and shooters of every age and skill level. If you are talking about “gun safety” and you don’t recognize what value the NRA has brought to the country, then you have no idea who the NRA is.
Also included is anyone in the supply chain of the firearm used — or even rumored to have been used — in an criminal attack is somehow complicit. Even if everyone, every step of the way followed every one of the thousands of laws and industry best practice, from creating safe and reliable state-of-the-art firearms to ensuring the purchaser followed the law and passed the Federally mandated background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The primary focus of the organization representing the firearm industry, the NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) is safety. You see it in their promotions for Firearm Safety First, Last, Always and Project ChildSafe. Project ChildSafe alone has no cost programs for law enforcement, retailers, parents and firearm owners. It has distributed more than 37 million gun locks through law enforcement agencies around the country, most likely your local agency is included. They advocate for safe use and storage of firearms and have safety programs for retailers including the AFSP-NSSF Suicide Prevention Program Toolkit and programs to help members prevent thefts and burglaries through risk and security assessments conducted by actual experts in the firearm security industry.
Then there are the legions of firearm safety instructors, coaches and range safety officers who have dedicated a significant portion of their personal and professional lives to helping others learn and continue to use firearms safely. Many of these instructors, trained and certified by some of the folks mentioned above, volunteer their time and expertise for no other reason than a love for the Second Amendment and the shooting sports and a desire to ensure those who do own firearms do so responsibly.
And then there’s the American firearm owner. Over 400 million firearms are owned by millions in every corner of the nation, in every state and town, from every ethnic background, religion and walk of life, from young adults to senior citizens. Every single day these millions of firearm owners will never commit a crime with their firearms and will only use them safely and responsibly.
This is who the gun control zealots choose to blame instead of the actual perpetrators of the crime. Not the person who made the conscious decision to use a weapon — of any kind — to commit an act of violence against another.
All of us, by whatever association we have with firearms be it owner, instructor, working in the industry or as an advocate for Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans, are Second Amendment Scapegoats.
But guess what? Despite the best efforts of the gun control elitists, we are making a difference. Just by being a safe, responsible, law-abiding firearm owner, we show the rest of the world why the zealots are wrong.
This week we celebrate the 242ndanniversary of our nation. While we’re recreating, grilling or just spending time with family and friends, let’s not forget the principles our nation was founded on. The greatest tribute we can pay to those who sacrificed everything for our rights is to not let them slip away.
Bob
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