GunLink Blog

Late last month, the Republican Party officially incorporated their favorable position on the Second Amendment into their 2012 party platform.  In their platform document entitled We The People:  A Restoration of Constitutional Government, the GOP states:

The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms

We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a right which antedated the Constitution and was solemnly confirmed by the Second Amendment. We acknowledge, support, and defend the law-abiding citizen’s God-given right of self-defense. We call for the protection of such fundamental individual rights recognized in the Supreme Court’s decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago affirming that right, and we recognize the individual responsibility to safely use and store firearms. This also includes the right to obtain and store ammunition without registration. We support the fundamental right to self-defense wherever a law-abiding citizen has a legal right to be, and we support federal legislation that would expand the exercise of that right by allowing those with state-issued carry permits to carry firearms in any state that issues such permits to its own residents. Gun ownership is responsible citizenship, enabling Americans to defend their homes and communities. We condemn frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers and oppose federal licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners. We oppose legislation that is intended to restrict our Second Amendment rights by limiting the capacity of clips or magazines or otherwise restoring the ill-considered Clinton gun ban. We condemn the reckless actions associated with the operation known as “Fast and Furious,” conducted by the Department of Justice, which resulted in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent and others on both sides of the border. We applaud the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in holding the current Administration’s Attorney General in contempt of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with their investigation into that debacle. We oppose the improper collection of firearms sales information in the four southern border states, which was imposed without congressional authority.

The Democratic Party website opines that “the GOP has adopted an extreme platform that is incredibly out of touch.”  Despite the “Forward” slogan, their official platform includes the following text, which makes for a big step backward:

We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation. We understand the terrible consequences of gun violence; it serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited and precious. We believe in an honest, open national conversation about firearms. We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements—like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole—so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet and the democratic party’s steaming pile of twisted vocabulary still smells exactly as one might expect.  Their so-called “assault weapon” ban is nothing more than an emotion-fueled ban of firearms based on cosmetic features (see “the shoulder thing that goes up”).  The ban was ineffective in 1994 and any new ban would be as well.   The tired old “gun show loophole” language is also played out and amounts to nothing more than government intervention in private transactions between individuals.  It seems an especially silly stance to take in light of Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report on “Firearms Use by Offenders” showing that fewer than 1% of U.S. “crime guns” came from gun shows.

While firearms owners are obviously not unique to one side of the aisle or the other, these official positions are telling.  If firearms rights are an important issue to you when you head to the polls, make sure to do your research on candidates.  NRA-PVF offers an online Grades & Endorsements tool to help you find information about candidate support of gun rights.  Gun Owners of America, via their Political Victory Fund arm, also offers such information although candidate ratings are currently listed as “coming soon.”  Presidential-Candidates.org also offers information about candidate’s positions on issues, including gun control.