Administration Wants To Link Gun Control To Fighting Terrorism
June 15, 2016
The drum beat for Gun Control (key word; CONTROL) in the wake of the Orlando shootings is getting louder, faster:
Shouting erupted Monday evening on the House floor after a moment of silence for the victims of the Orlando massacre as Democrats demanded that the House consider gun control legislation.
After the brief moment of silence that Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, called for, Democrats began shouting from one side of the chamber, interrupting Ryan. Ryan's office only tweeted out a clip of the moment of silence, but not the shouting that followed.
The House just observed a moment of silence in memory of those k**led in the terrorist attack in #Orlando.
https://t.co/MqS94hk68V— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) June 13, 2016(link is external)
"Where's the bill?" Democrats shouted, referring to gun control legislation.
It's not unusual for the House of Representatives to get a little rowdy now and then. But very quickly, we're getting a sense of where the New Gun Control Strategy is going:
Just days after the massacre in an Orlando nightclub left 49 people dead and 53 wounded,Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Tuesday said that gun control is now a critical element of protecting the U.S. homeland and keeping Americans safe.
"We have to face the fact that meaningful gun control has to be a part of homeland security," Johnson said in an interview on "CBS This Morning." "We need to do something to minimize the opportunity for terrorists to get a gun in this country."
On the issue of people on the no-fly list and various other lists being able to purchase a weapon in the U.S., Johnson said, "I believe that that's something that has to be addressed."
Putting aside the fact that the Orlando shooter was on np watch lists, and that even the ACLU says government watch lists are a trainwreck, what are we to make of this development?
The Administration wants to frame the gun control debate as the new front on the war against terrorist. So look for a flood-like increase in rhetoric to link anti-terrorism to gun control.
But our general reaction is: you can tell it's an e******n year, and the left is looking for wh**ever edge it can get heading into November.
The Federal Government's Gun Buying Spree
June 17, 2016
We've written a lot about guns, politicians, and constitutional rights this week. Now, it's time to look at the other side of the coin: the Increasing Militarization of The Federal Government:
Special agents at the IRS equipped with AR-15 military-style rifles? Health and Human Services “Special Office of Inspector General Agents” being trained by the Army's Special Forces contractors? The Department of Veterans Affairs arming 3,700 employees?
The number of non-Defense Department federal officers authorized to make arrests and carry firearms (200,000) now exceeds the number of U.S. Marines (182,000). In its escalating arms and ammo stockpiling, this federal arms race is unlike anything in history. Over the last 20 years, the number of these federal officers with arrest-and-firearm authority has nearly tripled to over 200,000 today, from 74,500 in 1996.
Large portions of the political class are intent on monitoring, listing, hassling, and disarming the public. They do so in the name of safety, or security, and more.
Providing for the common defense is a federal constitutional obligation. But armed Health and Human Services personnel? That strikes us an entirely different matter.
Yes, some federal agents must go into dangerous situations to enforce the law. And there is an argument that with so many weapons in private hands, federal agencies must be equally armed to carry out their functions.
But the broader picture is of a government that is increasingly weaponized, and trained not as law enforcement, but as an army. This is disturbing, and should give those who want to disarm the public pause.
It won't. It will be ignored.