When it comes to bills seeking to restrict so-called assault weapons, most of us don't have to go looking for reasons to oppose them. They're a blatant infringement on our right to keep and bear arms. They run directly counter to what our Founding Fathers wanted for us.
While proponents of these bans lament that these "weapons of war" are on our streets, that's exactly what the framers wanted. They wanted us to be able to meet the forces of a tyrannical government on as even a field as was possible.
In Virginia, there's just such a bill.
However, some people have found the single most idiotic reason to oppose it. That reason? The guy who introduced the bill in the Senate wasn't born in the United States.
No one who is born in a foreign country should be able to write laws in ours. Ridiculous.
— Whale Psychiatrist ™️ (@k_ovfefe2) January 26, 2026
Senator Saddam Azlan Salim was born in Bangladesh, but has been in the United States legally since at least high school [Editor's note - his family moved to the U.S. when he was ten.] He ran for office, won against an incumbent in 2023, and held his seat last year. While I totally disagree with him introducing the bill, his place of birth isn't a reason to attack him.
It's stupid.
Let's keep in mind that we are a nation of immigrants. I know a lot of people don't like to hear that, especially as it's used to justify illegal immigration all too often, but it being misapplied by some doesn't change the truth of the matter. At some point, most of us had family that lived in a completely different country. My family came from England, Ireland, Scotland, and, according to Ancestry.com, a smidge from Nigeria.
We didn't burst forth from the soil of this nation with a yearning sense of freedom that only this soil can produce.
I'm not saying Salim shouldn't be smacked around, metaphorically speaking. He should face fierce opposition for his assault weapon ban bill. He should be forced to defend that with his every waking breath.
But he should be forced to defend it because it's a bad bill. He should be forced to defend it because it's unconstitutional, and to push it is a violation of his oath to support and defend the Constitution. It doesn't matter where he's from originally.
If you want to call the bill un-American, that's one thing. I'll sign up with that every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
You could even call Salim un-American, based on his politics, and I'd be down.
But saying that someone who followed all the laws of this country to be elected to the state legislature shouldn't have a hand in crafting laws is doing no good at all. At best, it's muddying the waters and allowing Salim and his allies to pretend the opposition is just about race.
At worst, it really is about race for far too many people.
This is the epitome of the "stop helping" meme.
I don't want this argument on my side of the fence, and those who fiercely defend this line of "thinking" are those I want nothing to do with. I have immigrant friends who are infinitely more American in their outlook than native-born Gavin Newsom or Bernie Sanders.
Attack the bill. Attack the politics.
Don't attack the place of birth.
Not everyone can be blessed to be born in the great state of Georgia, after all.
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