by Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
(The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.)
The madman in the Kremlin who’s killing thousands of Ukrainians and seems hellbent on bringing us to the brink of World War Three is the reason free people around the world are looking for a means to defend themselves and their families and then secure them long-term.
When all is said and done, Col. Vladimir Putin, KGB-retired, will have been responsible for putting more guns into civilian hands than Barack Obama and Joe Biden combined.
For the American gun-ban industry, these world events hit during a particularly difficult period of time. Make no mistake, they still get up every morning, have a cup of coffee and then decide how best to strip you of your constitutional rights. But nowadays, it’s not as easy for them to find someone who is willing to listen to their inane pleas. They’re desperate for an audience – any audience – so they have changed-up the way they message their anti-gun campaigns. They’ve resorted to quick-hits – single messages of short duration – so when one fizzles, they can quickly pivot to another, all to keep their donors mollified and their money flowing in.
Things were not always this way. Before the plague, Gabby Giffords or Shannon Watts had only to snap their fingers and they’d get the lead story for an entire news cycle. Michael Bloomberg actually wrote his own headlines. The Trace – the propaganda arm of his anti-gun empire – successfully embedded its paid anti-gun activists into newsrooms across the country. It was a major coup for the diminutive demagogue. His stooges in the mainstream media still haven’t realized how badly they were hoodwinked and used. But COVID, the lockdowns and a series of violent riots across the country put an end to all of this.
When Americans saw their neighborhoods going up in flames, more than 5 million bought firearms and apparently a lot of ammunition. The ammo market is still trying to fully recover. Every one of these purchases was a slap in the face to the gun banners. Then, when the gun-rights community defeated their champion, David Chipman, whom Biden was ordered to install as ATF head, the gun banners became apoplectic with rage. Evidently, they’re still mad at poor Joe. Last month they sent him yet another joint letter complaining that he wasn’t infringing enough.
“As a candidate, Joe Biden promised to prioritize gun violence prevention. As president, Joe Biden has not,” said Igor Volsky, founder and executive director of the group Guns Down America. Volsky’s rally outside the White House drew several dozen people. For the gun banners, the poor turnout should have been a warning of bad things yet to come, but it went unheeded.
On the day Putin invaded Ukraine, Moms Demanding Attention launched a nationwide “Stand Your Ground” initiative. Its goal was “to combat shoot first laws, also known as stand your ground.”
To show their support, Florida Moms scheduled rallies in 10 cities across the state. The rallies were a complete failure. They drew several dozen folks – most of whom were already in the city parks before the rallies began. In Miami, which has a population of more than 440,000, the Moms and their husbands outnumbered attendees by a two-to-one margin. It was clear their gun-banning efforts were sputtering. No one was buying what they were peddling, so they were forced to pivot, again.
Yesterday, the anti-gunners tried yet another desperate bid. This time, so-called “Smart Guns” were the topic.
“Firearm owners may be finally cozying up to the idea of personalized ‘smart guns,’ and it only took them twenty years to hop on board,” MSN declared. Meanwhile, their readers yawned.
To be clear, Stand Your Ground laws work – Smart Guns don’t. That the gun-ban industry resorted to recycling two such tired, old propaganda points shows how desperate they have become. Since they describe themselves as gun safety organizations, you would think they would pivot to safety. However, safety has never been important to them. Complete civilian disarmament is their true goal. Now that the whole world has witnessed the deadly ruse that is gun control, their tired talking points are falling on deaf ears.
Despite the gun-ban industry’s nonstop messaging, their tweets, their hashtags and their prowess with the press, there is one thing they can never overcome, which the entire world now understands: Disarmament kills. Absolute disarmament kills absolutely.
The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.
