As it is Election Day, it’s important to listen to what has been said about your Second Amendment rights on the campaign trail. The polls show that Americans want their freedom, and this law-and-order election is crucial in the fight to preserve these freedoms.
While issues related to the Second Amendment have been skirted in many debates across the country, here are some astounding things that have been said on the campaign trail about your rights ahead of the midterm election.
- “Because of the criminal carry law that [Georgia Gov.] Brian Kemp [R] signed into law, there is no longer a background check for those who have concealed-carry permits. That makes all of us less safe.” –Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D)
Let’s break down these comments from a recent debate: What Abrams means by “criminal carry” is actually the NRA-backed constitutional carry legislation that was signed into law earlier this year. Georgia is one of a handful of recent states to enact a version of constitutional carry. Half the states have now gotten out of the way of this freedom.
Finally, she claims constitutional carry “makes all of us less safe,” but the data clearly says otherwise. We’ve written about this at length here.
- “The important thing [is] to get something done and not to allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good.” –Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D)
By itself, this quote seems prudent, but not when it comes to the specific subject matter O’Rourke is talking about. For him, the good is implementing “red-flag” laws and raising the age to purchase a firearm. The context of him saying “perfect” is his desire to ban and confiscate commonly owned rifles.
As the late Justice Antonin Scalia said, “This wolf comes as a wolf.” O’Rourke’s stance on our Second Amendment rights is abundantly clear; after all, this is the same guy who said, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15” during his failed presidential run.
- “My legislation says there can be no more than eight bullets in a round.” –President Joe Biden (D)
President Biden has said some bizarre things since entering office. As the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) reported, the most-charitable interpretation of this quote would be “that the president is seeking to prohibit firearm magazines with a capacity in excess of eight rounds.” If this isn’t what he meant, then it’s impossible to even guess what he meant. “Biden can’t seem to help himself when it comes to spouting nonsense about firearms,” added NRA-ILA.
- “Who will fight to keep you and your family safe? The Republican politicians who want to flood our streets with more guns?” –Former President Barack Obama (D)
As he was stumping for Stacey Abrams (D) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) in Atlanta, Ga., the former president made this remark. As law-and-order is a big topic in this election, it’s amazing that the former president could peddle such a dishonest claim. It’s the policies from politicians like Sen. Warnock that have led to an uptick in crime. Because of this, Americans have been looking to defend themselves, which is something these politicians are also against.
However, there are also candidates willing to stand in defense of your Second Amendment rights.
- “We have something like 10,000 gun-control laws on the books throughout America. If gun control were the solution, it would have already been solved. It’s not the solution. So, before you pass any new gun-control laws, why don’t [we] try and enforce the ones on the books.” –Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
Though the actual number of gun-control laws is difficult to quantify, Johnson is absolutely right in saying that more gun control, which is often used to punish law-abiding citizens, not criminals, is not the answer.
By allowing Americans to exercise their rights in tandem with enforcing the laws on the books, some change could actually be made. As NRA President Charles Cotton wrote of the topic, “We have the laws we need. All we need is to enforce them.”
- “I think the principle that you have to get back to is, you want to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, but you don’t want to infringe on the rights of law-abiding Americans.” –Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.)
As one of two congressmen who actually own a gun store, Budd’s words resonate. Budd has also previously voted for concealed-carry reciprocity legislation; he voted for legislation that would protect veterans’ Second Amendment rights; and he voted against bans on popular semi-automatic rifles.
Previously speaking from the House floor, Budd said, “We simply cannot sacrifice our rights by passing laws that will make our families less safe and laws that criminals will simply ignore. We must always protect and preserve our God-given Second Amendment rights.”
These are but a few examples of what’s being said, but the old adage “elections have consequences” remains as true as ever.
