Friday, I predicted that the forcible citizen disarmament lobby would try to exploit the Ft. Hood atrocity in furtherance of their agenda of inflicting more and more draconian gun laws on the American people. The only question was what angle they would take. Later that day, the answer to that question became clear, as I discussed on my blog.
As it turns out, the gun law pushers see not one, but two avenues to the forced plundering of Americans' gun safes: A) block efforts to defend veterans' Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms; and B) demonize the FN Herstal Five-seveN pistol, which was the model used by the killer.
Let's look at the first one today.
Not the sort to let the deaths of Americans go unexploited, the Brady Campaign's Paul Helmke wasted little time after the heinous, cowardly evil of the Ft. Hood massacre to try to twist it into an excuse to block efforts to protect veterans' Second Amendment rights.
When I heard of the tragedy yesterday, we were in the midst of planning a response to the latest dangerous legislative proposal from the gun lobby in the United States Senate - language to automatically restore access to guns to veterans designated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Justice Department as ‘mentally incapacitated’ or ‘mentally incompetent.’ In light of what happened yesterday - a violent attack by an emotionally unstable soldier - it is even clearer that the proposal being pushed by Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina should be rejected.
Helmke refers to S. 669 and H.R. 2547, both called the "Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act," which would simply require that denial of a veteran's gun rights, due to emtional issues he or she might deal with after returning home from war overseas, could only proceed with a court determination that the veteran's condition was such that he or she would be a danger to himself/herself or others. Hardly the radically dangerous proposition that Helmke wishes to portray it to be.
As I've discussed before, between 1990s-era legislation that deems a veteran who is unable to manage his finances without help as "dangerously mentally ill," and thus requiring disarmament; and the NICS "Improvement" Act, this is extremely necessary legislation.
Scott Vogel, of the rabidly anti-gun (and cynically misnamed) "Freedom States Alliance" also got into the act.
In addition, our lawmakers must recognize that soldiers with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and who suffer high rates of combat fatigue, PTSD, substance abuse and other mental health concerns, are at greater risk due to the easy access to guns. Despite this fact, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) is pushing a gun lobby backed bill, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act (S. 669), that would limit the circumstances in which a veteran’s name could be added to a federal database used to do instant background checks for gun purchases.
Vogel ignores the fact that the murderer was not a veteran of "multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan," or even one deployment. Growing evidence leads inexorably to the conclusion that this despicable act was one of Islamic terrorism--it was certainly not a result of PTSD.
Besides, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act has not been passed, and Hasan still got his guns, so what does that bill have to do with the Ft. Hood mass-murder, anyway? Keep in mind that the killer was a psychiatrist--the exact job description of the people who are now empowered to disarm veterans, without even a court process.
I wonder if it has occurred to opponents of the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, that their opposition is probably a great recruiting tool for the Oath Keepers.
We'll talk about the renewed effort to demonize the FN Five-seveN pistol tomorrow, absent new developments that would take precedence.
Comments
It is interesting that this country can ask men and women to volunteer to protect, serve, and kill for this country but then deny them without due process the common rights they helped preserve for everyone else. There is an old saying about walking a mile in someone else's shoes before you critize them and I think anyone who supports denying a veteran his rights whould be required to serve in the military including politicans. if you cannot help defend your rights by serving in the military you should not be allowed to decide on them. You simply have not earned those rights or the right to force veterans who risked their lives for those rights to give them up. There is nothing worse than a coward who critizes those who fought to give him the freedom of speech he would not fight for himself.
It would do us well to keep our eyes on the ball and not be swept up into one of those "I became what I beheld" moments. If Hasan was taking orders from someone, then by all means let's find out who, but otherwise it is dangerous to simply pile on with the "Islamic terrorism" charge--and not JUST because we risk ceding the moral high ground.
Remember, "cui bono?" There IS an entity that would be oh so happy to get us all whipped up about...well, about anything except themselves. A nice rift between the very parties that have started to recently unite in their opposition would certainly benefit Master very, very neatly.
Resist it. We have plenty of legitimate work to do!
I should have made it clear, there, that Kurt is spot on with his primary point. Exploitation and blood-dancing is certainly upon us, as (sigh) it always is.
With the mention of demonizing the Five SeveN, you may be amused by an old article of mine on the same subject: /examiner/x-8434-Anchorage-Libertarian-Examiner~y2009m7d29-Learn-from-the-experts
I still giggle a bit when I think about it, but then I remember that these tyrants are serious.
Hey, maybe we can resurrect the Gyrojet, just to keep 'em occupied for a while...whatsay?
Kevin, I would actually be fairly surprised if Hasan was NOT acting alone and without guidance from any terrorist group. I have started thinking of him in the "Islamic terrorist" sense, but as a "lone wolf" Islamic terrorist. I think he was motivated by a twisted version of Islam to stage a violent attack on America, with the idea of influencing our politics. As far as I'm concerned, that meets the definition of terrorism.
In the end, though, whether we call it terrorism, or simply sick, cowardly evil, seems to me a matter of semantics, rather than one of principle.
Kurt, I also suspect Hasan acted alone, but then again the quantity of info that none of us will ever see is heap-big-plenty.
You're probably right on semantics too, and I'm a crank on that. My attitude: since certain elements (mostly statists) have attempted to--ahem--hijack the term "terrorism" and use it as the equivalent of "she weighs the same as a duck...so she's made of wood...and therefore...a WIIITCH", the very use of the word pings my BS detector. (That may not be rational, but it has been earned.)
I would advocate for a strict definition: terrorist X is one who, instead of dealing with logical party A, instead attempts to coerce A by threatening innocent B with harm, counting on A (or perhaps C, who might pressure A) to bend to X's will.
Hasan's act was premeditated murder, and exploitative of forced disarmament. To politicize it beyond that dilutes our work and only benefits the state. Evil does not need another name.
No Fort Sumters...and no red herrings.
Boy, by the time I finish a comment, it always seems to sound much more critical than I meant it. (I suppose that's the crank talking...)
The nit that I picked here is not at all meant to derail the considerable value of Kurt's work. What I hoped to say here is that we have plenty to focus on with the enforced disarmament, both related to this case and in general. If the intended victims are armed and aware, a whole lot of what we call "terrorism" may just sort itself out naturally.
Keep up the good work, Kurt. It does matter.
Kurt the Brady Campaign is a tool of the Elite. The reason they demonize gun ownership and veterans is because they fear veterans.
Veterans represent the one group of people in the country that could resist the Elites global agenda, which is disarmament and depopulation.
Far too many people think that gun control is the creation of the far left but that’s nothing more than a facade to protect the real agenda and to keep hidden the identities of the real people behind the scenes.
I just hope people wake-up to the threat in time to respond.
P.S. The Fort Hood shooting is starting smell like a false flag of convenience attack. The FBI new all about the guy for a year but did nothing.
Why is it that US intelligent operations keep dropping the ball?
Howdy,
Robert-Right on Brother-No truer words were spoken. Happy Birthday Marines. Semper Fi from a Tincan Sailor
The people we should be watching carefully are the largest single group in the mentally deficient ranks- those lunatics who belong to groups like the Brady Gun-grabbers and other domestic terrorist organizations that give themselves a life by trying to get unarmed people killed. There are a lot of terrorists in the so-called "environmentalist" tree-hugging groups,also: my suggestion is that we exact a Federal tax of at least 20% of their income and use it to compensate the honest, hard-working people these idiots steal from. We have for too long allowed the gun-grabbers free rein in killing innocent people and destroying lives with their bleeding-heart garbage!
Unfortunately, Preacher1, in doing those things you suggest "we", the freedom loving individuals, would lose the moral and ethical high-ground and become just a caricature of that which we should be fighting and resisting. Authoritarianism is wrong, no matter which "side" you approach it from.
All polaticians should be required to serve at least one tour of duty in the Military,before being qualified for holding public office!
Then see if they wouls feel the same way about taking the rights and benefits away from those thay fought to preserve them!
Take away their lifetime pensions and make them have the same insurance that we have as well!
Bet a lot of them would resign office!
my opinion those political knuckleheads in washington all need to be voted out of washington, starting with those who cannot stand by their oath, both democrat/republican.
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