The Constitution of the United States of America set our nation up as a republic rather than as a democracy because less populated parts of the nation were worried about the cities dictating to them. The Constitution blocks that.
Over at CNN, though, one of their talking heads is upset that the same features will keep gun control from passing.
On Monday morning, CNN’s Jim Sciutto and John Harwood devoted a segment to fretting that, as per the latter, the Constitution’s respect for rural areas makes it unlikely that any new gun control will be passed in response to last week’s mass shooting in Sacramento.
In spite of the fact that few details have emerged, Harwood played White House spokesman in listing several of President Joe Biden’s proposals to restrict gun rights which have typically had little to do with the circumstances of other high-profile mass shootings.
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Harwood then lamented Biden would not be able to “make a dent” on the gun issue unless laws are passed by Congress, which could take action on things like banning “high-capacity magazines, banning assault weapons,” and “making gun manufacturers liable for lawsuits[.]”
He then pointed out that opposition to gun control in rural areas would make it impossible for Senate Democrats to pass any new laws:
But there simply is not the support. Democrats, of course, as you know, only have 50 votes in the Senate — it takes 60 to move on gun legislation — and we have a political system that, through the Senate, magnifies the political impact of rural areas that do not share the Democrats’ belief that gun regulation is a significant step toward curbing gun violence.
In other words, rural America sucks because they won’t let the cities do what they want with regard to restricting guns for the entire nation.
What Harwood is missing is that’s a feature, not a bug.
The truth of the matter is that even if gun control could make our cities safer–they don’t, but for the sake of argument, let’s say they would–those same laws would create problems in rural parts of the nation. It’s one thing to say “call the police” when the nearest law enforcement officer is just around the corner. It’s quite another when the nearest one is an hour out.
Then there are the wild animals that tend not to be an issue in Chicago or New York but are in rural Montana. While Washington, DC went nuts over a wild fox recently, wild foxes are common in a lot of the rest of the nation. They’re not newsworthy, even if they bite someone.
That’s to say nothing of wolves, coyotes, cougars–not your kids’ friends’ single mom–and other four-legged predators.
So rural America has a valid reason to oppose gun control, particularly when the urban states are trying to cram it down people’s throats.
Now, in addition to all that, there is the simple fact that gun control simply doesn’t work. All this discussion was sparked over Sacramento, but as Cam noted on Tuesday, those arrested weren’t exactly in lawful possession of a firearm. I mean, one had a handgun that was illegally converted into a full-auto weapon.
That’s illegal everywhere.
So clearly, the gun control laws being pushed by people like Harwood simply aren’t working. And yet, he has the nerve to pretend the real problem is that rural America won’t let the urban states run roughshod over them?
You’re right, they won’t, and that’s to the benefit of every single American.
Our rights are not up for debate. No one should step aside and allow anti-gun jihadists to continue to slowly peal away our Second Amendment rights one by one, especially since they only want to do it because it’s easier than addressing the real problems of violent crime.
Frankly, fly-over country is kind of sick of being told to sit down, shut up, and let their betters decide what’s in their best interests.
