Marc Scaringi: Beto O'Rourke Doomed the Democrats by Being Honest
Democratic presidential candidate Robert Francis O’Rourke (aka “Beto”) has just presented President Donald Trump and Republicans with the greatest political gift of all: “Hell yes we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47!”
Beto shouted those words about his new gun confiscation plan at the Democratic presidential debate hosted by ABC News in Houston, Texas.
After decades of experienced Democratic politicians denying it, this young, upstart wannabe president finally gave the true answer — the answer conservatives have always known is the end game of Democrats’ gun control proposals — confiscation.
Now the president and Republicans have all the ammunition they need to shoot down the Democrats’ 2020 electoral chances.
When discussing gun control, Democrats have long denied their true aim.
In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton’s spokesman went to great lengths to explain that Clinton supported voluntary — not mandatory — gun buyback programs, “Of course Hillary does not support national mandatory gun buyback programs … She was discussing voluntary buyback programs which are … regularly run by cities across the America.”
Clinton must have remembered what happened to her husband when he pushed and signed into law the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, a law Republicans claimed would lead to gun confiscation; that galvanized Republicans across the country and got Democrats shellacked in the midterm elections just two months later with the largest seat gain for Republicans since 1948.
Smart Democrats know that O’Rourke’s call could toll the death knell for their hopes in 2020. Democrat Warren Varley, who lost a race for Iowa state representative last year said, “The lines like, ‘We’re gonna come and take your AR-15,’ just play into the fears that the NRA has been stoking, and a proposal like that is just going to make rural Iowa and I think probably rural areas elsewhere more red.”
Trump is already putting Beto’s gift to good use: “Democrats want to confiscate guns from law-abiding Americans, so they are totally defenseless when somebody walks into their house.” Expect many more statements like that from the president as the election heats up.
Beto’s plan could also derail efforts to pass less extreme gun control legislation, like the Toomey-Manchin universal background check bill.
Democratic Sen. Christopher Coons of New Jersey said, “This rhetoric undermines and hurts bipartisan efforts to actually make progress on commonsense gun safety efforts, like expanding background checks.”
Beto further undermined his party’s efforts by explaining his rationale.
In an interview the morning after, he explained why his plan should become law: “If you agree that it is a potential instrument of terror, if you agree these sensational mass shootings cause fear and terror throughout our country then why would you leave 10 million of them on the street.”
Beto posits that because liberals are terrified of these commonly-owned, civilian firearms, they should be confiscated. That’s legislation by emotion rather than reason.
He also explained that, referencing March for Our Lives, the children’s’ gun-control group led by David Hogg, the student activist who attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, “In moments of crisis and moments of opportunity we listen to and follow the lead of young people.”
Really? In moments of crisis we follow teenagers? That’s nonsense. By the way, Hogg, like O’Rourke himself, once promised us he was not coming for our guns. Apparently, teenage political activists can lie as easily as adult politicians.
Notice that Beto also said that it’s “In … moments of opportunity” that we can pass “assault weapons” bans and gun confiscation bills. Like former president Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” Beto wants to capitalize on the horrific pain, deep consternation and anguish experienced by so many Americans after these mass shootings.
Liberals advocate for waiting periods before one is permitted to purchase a gun because they don’t want you obtaining one in the “heat of the moment.” Perhaps we should pass a law that prohibits politicians from legislating in the aftermath of mass shootings for the same reason.
By playing to Americans’ raw emotions, Beto’s attempting to achieve Democrats’ long-held but unspoken goal of disarming the American people.
Yet, the American people have a Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms — the kind of arms like AR-15s and AK-47s that are necessary to properly equip a well-regulated militia.
Why? So that we can defend ourselves from tyrants such as King George III. Have Democrats forgotten our own history?
What about now? Democrats claim Trump is a “threat to democracy,” a “dictator” and a “tyrant.” What happens if Trump puts all kidding aside, refuses to leave office in 2024 and declares a military dictatorship?
Will Democrats remove him by, as Democrat Marianne Williamson explained, harnessing love? Wouldn’t it be more effective to harness an AK-47?
Our Democratic friends need to reread their history and take a brief look around the world right now, to places like Venezuela and Hong Kong, to understand why we have a Second Amendment and why it protects our right to own even scary-looking guns like AR-15s and AK-47s.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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