![Chief Petty Officer Kyle was one of the best of America's "rough men," and now his murder is being exploited to undermine the liberties he fought so hard for](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/0f/fd/1360076885_9591_roughmen3.jpg?itok=hUtmUS5S "Chief Petty Officer Kyle was one of the best of America's "rough men," and now his murder is being exploited to undermine the liberties he fought so hard for")
When former Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield were murdered Saturday at a gun range, anyone who has followed the gun rights/"gun control" debate for any length of time knew that forcible citizen disarmament advocates would waste little time in doing with this tragedy what they do with every other high profile tragic shooting--exploit it. Such reprehensible behavior has been observed over and over again at St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner, although few even of that dishonorable ilk are so shameless as to do it as openly as Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) did in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary atrocity.
Adding to the gun prohibitionists' glee is the fact that Chief Petty Officer Kyle was an outspoken gun rights advocate (see sidebar video).
On top of that, this killing can be spun as "evidence" discrediting the entire premise of armed self-defense, because Kyle was a member of one of the most elite fighting forces on Earth, and had more confirmed sniper kills than anyone in U.S. military history. Indeed, Clara Jeffery, co-editor of the rabidly anti-American Mother Jones magazine, leaped right on that "point" in her Twitter feed:
So much for good/talented guy with a gun being able to stop mentally ill guy with a gun
And . . .
Jeffery, of course, makes no effort whatsoever to point out that Kyle's killer was able to indulge in his derangement because Kyle had trusted him--not because armed self-defense "doesn't work."
The probable main thrust of the agenda-driven exploitation of this atrocity, though, will be an attack on the gun rights of those the gun-haters designate as "mentally ill" (as many as they can, basically--including the NRA itself). Kyle's and Littlefield's accused killer is a Marine combat veteran, reportedly suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Already, well over a hundred thousand veterans, whose only sign of "mental illness" is something along the lines of needing help handling their financial affairs, are under a life sentence of government-mandated defenselessness. Legislative efforts to modestly reform this outrageous state of affairs, by requiring a judicial determination of a threat posed by the veteran to himself or others before he can be disarmed, are met with accusations of being "pro-veteran suicide."
Also already, mental health is receiving much of the attention of those enjoying their Sandy Hook "feeding frenzy." This is exacerbated by ostensible gun rights "allies" like the NRA pushing for more stigmatization of mental illness, in a dubious strategy to divert more direct attacks on gun rights. The problems with such an approach appear not to concern the NRA.
This means, of course, that people who genuinely do need mental health treatment, but who also do not want to be disarmed, will have a strong disincentive to seek that treatment--is that what we want?
Oh--there is of course one more reason the gun ban fanatics are celebrating Chief Petty Officer Kyle's murder: a great many of them despise American military heroes as much as they loathe gun rights advocates.
See also:
- It's not right - Wayne Irelan's country dumps on him
- Thank veterans by protecting their right to self-defense
- Are they nuts? The dangers of increased mental health scrutiny for gun purchases
- Mental health ‘reforms’ could cast ‘blanket dragnet’ for gun rights disabilities
- Telling
- Mental health angle in gun control leads to slippery slope
- Doctor warns: Obama taking over psychiatry
- Mother Jones editor uses murder of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle to push gun control
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