Beto O’Rouke put forward a plan to stop gun violence in an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle Sunday.
And I bet dollars to donuts that you could, without even giving it much thought, guess at least four out of the five policy measures he listed. Go ahead and take a minute. Write down what you think his “human solutions” to gun violence, as he calls them, entail.
Okay, now for the answers:
1. Criminalizing private transfers. Yes, Beto wants to force all lawful transfers through an FFL, which adds time and fees and, as a result, chills the 2A rights of law-abiding gun owners.
Beto writes, “First, universal background checks without exceptions. Close the boyfriend loophole, the Charleston loophole, the gun show loophole, the online loophole — no more loopholes and no more excuses for refusing to close them.”
2. Black rifle ban. Beto believes that taking these “assault weapons” off the streets will have a sizable impact on gun-related violence despite the fact that rifles of any make or model are used in less than 4 percent of crimes, annually.
Beto writes, “Second, stop selling assault weapons that were designed, engineered, and sold to the United States military for the express purpose of killing people as effectively, as efficiently, in as great a number as possible. They should remain on the battlefield where they belong — because as long as we keep selling them in our communities, they will keep showing up in our schools.”
3. Mainstream gun confiscation. Beto calls them “red flag” laws or “extreme risk protection orders.” They allow police, family members, and spouses to petition a judge for an ex parte gun seizure. Which means you don’t know they’re coming for your guns until the confiscation squad bangs down your door at 5:30 a.m.
Beto writes, “Third, let’s adopt red flag laws — not one city or one state at a time, but for this entire country. That will ensure that if someone who owns a gun is a danger to themselves or others, we can use due process to stop them from using that weapon before it’s too late.”
4. Extreme measures and anti-gun research. Beto wants “bold an ambitions plans” which is a catchall for national “buyback” schemes, overturning the Heller decision, gun control via executive fiat and any other radical initiative that may pop up on the debate stage or the ensuing months and weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Beto wants to leave the door wide open to ensure that no other candidate can outdo him when it comes to infringing on the 2A.
Beto, writes, “Fourth, we must treat this crisis with the urgency it deserves. We must demand bold solutions and ensure ambitious plans are on the table and part of the discussion. We will also fully invest in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and research into gun violence so we can not only continue to understand what’s happening but begin to address it.”
5. Communities of color. To curry favor with minority voters, Beto pays lip service to “communities of color.” There is no specific policy recommendation here. Just the notion that we should “value every life.” Wonder if that sentiment will work on the violent drug dealers and gang members responsible for the vast majority of inner-city carnage. Plus, if Beto truly “valued every life,” wouldn’t it be better to arm poor people who are disproportionately affected by this violence so that they may defend themselves?
Beto, writes, “And finally, let’s make sure that in addition to mass shootings at schools, places of worship, and concerts, we also acknowledge that we are losing far too many people one or two at a time in communities of color. These killings are so numbingly common that they barely make the news. So let’s not just protect kids in schools, but make sure that we value every life in this country and do our best to save every single one of them. Sensible gun legislation will do just that.”
Beto’s Plan Is Really Bloomberg’s Plan
Beto’s plan is really easy to guess because it isn’t Beto’s. It’s Bloomberg’s. And every Democrat running for president is pushing the same agenda. Because they all want Bloomberg’s money. And they all believe that eradicating the 2A and systematically disarming the country will create a safer society.
Actually, that last part may be true for some but not for all. Many of them likely understand that Bloomberg blueprint won’t stop gun violence. It won’t create a safer society. Violent criminals will continue to kill with impunity, as they currently do in cities that have enacted those very proposals. Good guys, meanwhile, will no longer have the means to defend themselves, their families and their property.
What Bloomberg’s plan will do is destroy individual rights and create a society that is wholly dependent on government, where the concentration of power rests solely in the hands of a ruling elite. As it’s often said, it’s not just about gun control. It’s about total control.
Hear is a novel idea. Look up all the bangers for a long time instead of “catch and release ”
The gun violence issue will drop 10 fold.
Every tyrant must disarm the public before they can take over a country and enslave Every one. China and Russia has shown us how to do this. They simply slaughter their own people by the millions and millions and the survivors become law abiding slaves who live in total poverty while the elite live like kings. Biden/Harris will be OK with that.
Apparently no one reads history any longer. Some may recall that the 2A was written and approved by People who had just won their sovereign independence from a tyrannical government and that same government tried to disarm those People and failed. Why is it taboo to remember the repressive tactics of our own national and state governments who are attempting to enslave America by first disarming it’s citizens as shown throughout history, old and new. “Shall not be infringed” is a simple but mandatory restraint against bad government, any such law denying gun ownership has been deemed unconstitutional ab initio. We have much less to fear from criminals and terrorists than we do from our own federal/state mob who certainly outgun any present-day militia. If we don’t protect our own inherent rights, who will?
My fifth great garndfather Ephraim Foskett lived in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Bay, when the Governor, one Thomas Gage sent the forces out of Boston to seize “illegal weapons” stored at commerce. After a brief skirmish in Lexington against a small group they marched on to Concord where up to 1200 “subjects” were waiting including a large number of veterans of the French and Indian War. The American Revolution of petition, protest and occasional property damage became,on 19 April 1773, an open war.
My note: The rapid loading (three rounds a minute–four if you believe apocryphal stories–Charleville and Brown Bess muskets were the AR-15s of the time, Throughout American history the citizenry has been as well armed in small arms as the military. The bolt-action rifle was a repeating weapon–modern hunting rifles descend from the Mauser 1898.
The Second Amendment was adopted at the demand–not request–of the anti-federalist faction, not the Constitutional Convention. Had in not been two of the three Commonwealths, Virginia and Massachusetts Bay, would have pulled out of the compact, making the Republic economically unfeasible on the world stage.
In the Dred Scott v Sanford decision there is dicta that states that if Black person were citizens, they would have access to musket and cannon, clearly military weaponry.
A majority of Americans possibly, and quite probably, support ban and confiscation of
“assault weapons.”`When the woman asked Ben Franklin whether the Convention gave the people a democracy or a monarchy, he replied, “a Republic. Madame, if you can keep it,
dem’s have the right symbol for their party –a jackass with out jack
You will not get gun control by infringing the 2nd amendment rights. We have enough laws on the books. The only way to get gun control is to rid the streets of illegal firearms. The is no criminal alive that will go through the legal process to own a firearm. Here I Illinois, the only thing they don’t ask for is colonoscopy . Politicians have grandiose ideas for gun control yet it is simple- GET THE ILLEGAL FIRE ARMS OFF THE STREETS AND LEAVE THE LAW ABIDING ALONE.
Stop calling this clown “Beto.” He’s a slacker; always has been, always will be.
New drink, the “Beto”. the “Beto” is a Margarita made with Jamison’s Irish whiskey. If you don’t get it “Beto” is really Robert Francis O’Rourke.
Fear the politician that fears your guns.
What else would you expect from a communist…I mean democrat.