Gun Control: The GOP asks what to do, Part I.

May 6, 8:01 AMLA Gun Rights ExaminerJohn Longenecker

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The GOP seems to be without direction. Still. Again. This is not a single issue article, it is a catch-all issue that is good for the country. Since you asked, stay with me.

When it comes to crime in America, the problem is far from intractable. Like most crises, it is only made to seem intractable. Millions of completed acts of brutality, theft, homicide and others are completed largely for lack of resistance. Political guidance to cooperate is not only surrender, but is a very bad bit of advice from people who don't live the life of the everyman and who do not face everyday risks. Advice to do nothing grows crime, and to 80 million adult gun owners, the advice is suspicious. People seem to get rich on crime. High technology – what I call electronic stalking – is worth tons of money in the name of fighting crime. It is largely a pre-emptive invasion of privacy in favor of piracy, official piracy, for new industries. RFID tracking, cameras everywhere, and a National ID Card don't really stop crime. England is one of the best case studies on the subject. One of the greatest dangers of such databases is the evolving paradigm of giving the database the last word over all evidence furnished by defendants, and it is growing. Accident or industry? There's a great way to short-circuit this predatory practice. It's a good bet it's part of what the People are looking for.

80 million gun owners are wondering why conservatives do not take a stronger stand on liberty, the best crime-fighting tool ever imagined. 80 million adults wonder why the armed citizen – citizen authority connection eludes conservatives almost as much as it eludes liberals.

Let's go back in time. The Founders defeated abuses of powers, and said ‘Never again' by creating a new nation where the citizen is to be the sovereign and the government our servant. That's all government. The Founders knew that as sovereign, we are the supreme authority in America. They also knew that this authority had to be backed by lethal force, and for one reason: that abuses of powers would occur again in every single generation, and so, they made the Second Amendment impervious to ordinary due process short of another amendment. Until that very hour, there could be no such thing as an illegal gun or sensible gun laws, for they would serve only to steal the power which backs our authority. This means one thing: all gun regulation is a challenge to our authority as supreme in this country.

The device for attacking the lethal force which backs our authority over officials is Crime, made to seem reasonable by the demand for sacrifice for fighting violence. Naturally, though, it grows crime by taking not only the weapons from the citizen, but their spirit as well. It becomes a predatory practice. The GOP must have no part of gun control, even the allegedly reasonable portions, for all gun regulation seeks to undermine the authority of your voters.

Ideas of regulation are to throw in with the statist views which seek to overthrow the authority of the United States, not government, but the citizen. This is in large part why Americans say there isn't a damned bit of difference between the parties. Be for so much as gun regulation and you miss the point of liberty, citizen authority, and of who is in charge in this country. Be for so much as sensible gun laws and you give only lip service to fighting crime and threats to our sovereignty.

What seems like a single issue – the repeal of all gun laws — is actually many issues for the GOP, and repealing of all gun laws is merely one plank on the liberty, self-rule platform which ought to be less lip service, and more protection of rights. It affirms the authority of the citizen as supreme under our system and erases attempts to challenge that authority. Gun control – even regulation – is an attempt to regulate the authority of the people over you. The secret to the success of the GOP next election will not be saying what the people want to hear, but imparting the actual understanding that liberty means reducing government, even if it means some of their own jobs. it's been tried, but maybe now the time is right.

This is where you start. The repeal of all guns will expose the frauds of so many anti-crime programs which cost the taxpayer and make people rich. Winning the next elections means showing the people that the GOP understands that the armed citizen impeaches many of the after-the-fact programs by tackling the problem during-the-fact, the moment when it's needed most. Remember that the citizen is in full legal authority to stop a crime in progress, to act in self-defense or defense of another, and that anti-crime programs obfuscate and discourage this authority against public policy and interest. Teaching Citizens CPR doesn't discredit the Paramedics, it saves lives while awaiting the Paramedics. The two work together to save lives. The armed citizen is the analog to citizen CPR and First-aid.

It is also one of the best kept secrets in the anti-gun movement. The GOP can have no part of this, and must articulate its understanding of the authority of their constituents and appreciate the armed citizen's role in really fighting crime. If you're going to stand up for liberty and smaller government, you'll have to stand up for the armed citizen first as the key to all liberty in this country.

Affirm the citizen's authority to fight crime and you reduce big government. Is this why the ball is hidden?

More in Part II.
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John Longenecker is author of Safe Streets In The Nationwide Concealed Carry Of Handguns. For added insight on liberty, independence and self-rule, please visit our other Examiners listed in the SIDEBAR on the right.>