The term “own the libs” is a common enough phrase these days. It pops up all the time on the right. Mostly, it means to just beat them or dog on them or something of that sort and it can be mildly amusing to do so.

It also means winning. Politics has always been more akin to bloodsports than the polite debate some people envision it as, so the idea of “winning” isn’t particularly new.

However, some people have some odd fews on how to “own the libs” in this day and age. For example, we have this entry from Republican advisor Scott Jennings:

When Congress reconvenes in September, President Trump has a golden opportunity to “own the libs,” as the conservative kids online say.

The Democrats, helped by the media, have spent August taunting the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), claiming they don’t have the guts to buck the National Rifle Assn. and put a gun reform package on the floor. Republicans have a golden opportunity to refute the claim and show suburban America — which, according to the latest polls and focus groups have gone south on the GOP — that they are listening when it comes to this tragic American problem.

Signaling to shooting victims, their families and the American people that heinous acts like those in Gilroy, Calif., and El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, are unacceptable is the right thing to do. Americans know bad people will sometimes do bad things, no matter how hard we try to stop them, but we expect our politicians to counter such horrors with their best efforts.

Trump has an opportunity to do that, and simultaneously splash mud on liberals who politicize these tragedies.

Here’s how. The president should publicly communicate to McConnell and the Senate Republican leadership precisely what he would sign into law, giving GOP leaders the direction and certainty they need to move forward.

In other words, Jennings wants to “own the libs” by giving them exactly what they want, new gun control laws.

To be fair, Jennings doesn’t suggest giving in on an assault weapon ban or universal background checks. However, he does call for an update to the NICS check. The problem with that is we just updated the system. If they couldn’t get it fixed then, why spend the money now just a year later?

He does, however, back red flag laws and thinks the president should do the same. He also calls for a resolution condemning “all groups that use political rhetoric to justify violence, whether they are white nationalists, eco-fascists or antifa vigilantes.” Which is fine, but it won’t win Trump any friends on the left. They’ll blow off such a resolution as if it’s meaningless. After all, it kind of is. It’s not a law or anything, just words that won’t change anyone’s minds about anything.

The problem with Jennings’ line of thinking here is simple. He wants to “own the libs” by giving them something they desperately want while getting absolutely nothing in return. Does that make a lick of sense to anyone?

Time and time again, gun owners have been told we need to compromise, but that compromise is really just they take a little less than they want. We have never gotten any benefit from any of the compromises that have been reached. What Jennings is proposing, what he’s framing as “owning the libs,” is nothing more than yet another example of us giving them something they want and getting nothing in return.

That’s how we went from being able to go have a machinegun shipped directly to your house to things like waiting periods, background checks, weapon bans, and basically the banning of those same machine guns in less than a century. At every point, we gave up just a bit so we could play nice, and what did it get us? Nothing.

If that’s “owning the libs,” then I’ll pass.

I’d much rather win.