The midterm elections often lack the voter turnout that you see in presidential election years. People just don't care as much about House seats as they might about who sits in the Oval Office. That, of course, tells us that we've given too much power to the president, but that's a discussion for another time.
For gun rights supporters, though, you need to go and vote in the midterms, particularly if you reside in Michigan.
After all, Michigan has turned into a Second Amendment battleground, and because of it, its imperative that gun rights advocates don't fall for the typical nonsense of it not really mattering.
Michigan Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed once proposed replacing the Second Amendment’s firearm protections with a constitutional right to healthcare. In Lansing, Mich., a governor-appointed task force has recommended firearm and magazine bans, purchase restrictions and additional licensing for firearm retailers. Michigan’s Nov. 3 elections will determine who gets to advance — or challenge — those extreme antigun agendas.
The consequences reach far beyond simple campaign rhetoric. They concern which firearms law-abiding adults can purchase, whether future restrictions could reach property already owned and who will confirm the judges tasked with protecting constitutional rights.
In the case of the U.S. Senate nominee, the very existence of the Second Amendment is at stake.
A Constitutional Right Is Not a Bargaining Chip
In an April 2023 video, Democrat nominee El-Sayed proposed amending the U.S. Constitution so that “instead of the right to bear arms, we change it to the right to have healthcare.” The Reload reviewed the transcript and obtained his campaign’s so-called response: He respects the Second Amendment. The campaign did not directly answer whether he still supported replacing it.
In a separate recent video from the campaign trail, El-Sayed portrayed the Second Amendment as protecting state militias and muskets rather than individual firearm possession.
“When they promised the right to bear arms, they had muskets,” El-Sayed told a crowd of applauding supporters. “So, yeah, everyone should have equal rights to a musket.”
Wrong. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that interpretation in District of Columbia v. Heller, recognizing an individual right unconnected with militia service, including armed self-defense in the home.
Repealing that protection requires the constitutional amendment process, including ratification by 38 states. A victory on Election Day would not give El-Sayed that power. But it would give him votes on firearm legislation and judicial confirmations.
Running against El-Sayed is former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who has a long pro-Second Amendment legislative track record voters can examine. He voted for the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) in 2005 and national concealed carry reciprocity legislation in 2011. The former representative left the House in 2015.
Let's not forget that El-Sayed has faced questions about his past statements regarding the Muslim Brotherhood, including his support for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-backed president Mohamed Morsi. El-Sayed has denied any affiliation with the organization and recently said "sure, yeah" when asked to disavow it, but that casual aside doesn't go nearly far enough in my opinion. And given his enthusiasm for restricting the Second Amendment rights of ordinary Americans, I think it's fair to question his views on individual liberty, the political movements he's defended in the past, and the sincerity of his recent disavowal.
After all, this is the Land of the Free. You're less likely to see some broad-scale terrorist attack like Paris or Mumbai simply because the terrorists will walk into a building, start shooting, and get shot in return. We're a nation of gun owners who grew up watching movies like Die Hard.
Regardless of my own paranoia, let's also remember that Michigan is a snapshot of what we're seeing throughout the world. Unseating John Ossoff here in Georgia would introduce someone a lot more pro-gun into the United States Senate, which might not mean much if the Republicans lose the House, but it'll be crucial if any of the Supreme Court justices decide to retire in the next two years.
Yet, as bad as Ossoff is, he's not El-Sayed.
Folks in Michigan need to turn out in droves and do everything legally in their power to make sure this individual never sees the inside of a congressional office without having to schedule an appointment first. We've got enough anti-gun loons in Congress already. The last thing we need is another one that wants to dismantle our right to keep and bear arms while making it easier for terrorists to turn America into the third world.
