In American politics, there are those who espouse vocal support for gun control. They tell us over and over about how we simply need new rules about who can and can’t own a gun and which guns we should be permitted to buy.
Of course, we all know that this road inevitably leads to pretty much total disarmament.
Yet many of these same people–those whose voices are the loudest in favor of gutting the Second Amendment–are absolute hypocrites on guns.
In 2020, then-presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg was asked how he could continue to demand gun control while being protected by private guards equipped with the same firearms and magazines that he wanted to ban others from owning. “Does your life matter more than mine or my family’s or these people’s?” Bloomberg’s response, in essence, was that he was not an ordinary person. He was a celebrity and billionaire who received more threats than most people: “That just happens when you are the mayor of New York City or you are very wealthy.”
At the same time, another big-city Democrat politician known for pushing gun control on the lower orders was being shielded by a small army of police officers, presumably at the taxpayers’ expense. The Chicago Sun-Times recently disclosed that a special police security detail, Unit 544, was created two years ago to protect Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, her home and office, and to “oversee her personal bodyguard detail.” The special unit consists of approximately 71 officers, in addition to the mayor’s existing “separate personal bodyguard detail” of 20 officers.
Both cities – ex-Mayor Bloomberg’s New York City and Lightfoot’s Chicago – are experiencing horrific surges in violent crime. The most recent “CompStat” report from the NYPD indicates rapes, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, grand larceny, and auto thefts have all increased significantly as compared to the same time last year, and the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) own “CompStat” contains the same dismal message.
While privileged politicians float above this wave of criminality, untroubled by threats to person or property, less exalted individuals are forced to rely on whatever police resources may be available or become their own version of Unit 544.
Bloomberg’s response, that he’s an elite so he has more reason to deserve protection, is typical. It’s also shrouded in male bovine excrement.
How many American politicians or activists are killed every year due to their political activities?
We had one shot earlier this year–by a gun control supporter, no less–but it’s not an overly common occurrence here in the United States. I’m thankful for that, of course, but we need to face cold, hard facts. Famous people may have more direct threats, but there’s no evidence they’re more likely to be hurt. That includes non-political celebrities.
But in 2020, there were over 21,500 homicides.
None of those were famous people so far as I can recall. None of those were, so far as we’re aware, activists or politicians killed because of those views either.
No, they were regular, ordinary folks.
Yes, many were likely involved in illegal activities themselves. Others weren’t. There just had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Many might still be here if they’d had a firearm on their person, but they couldn’t because they lived in places like New York or Los Angeles or Boston.
See, regular folks can’t outsource their protection like Bloomberg or Lightfoot. We can’t just demand a protective detail from law enforcement or pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for our own personal army to keep us safe.
We have to do it ourselves.
Yet both of these people would deny us that ability if given half a chance. Their problem isn’t with guns, it’s with you and me.
