United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- The recent full-page – well, I don’t want to call it an editorial, because editorials actually make arguments, even if they are bad ones – push for gun control by the Washington Post is something Second Amendment supporters need to take seriously. If for no other reason than to note the double standard that has spread through most of the national media outlets, we should keep that in mind.
We pretty much see it all the time. The most blatant example was the lengthy on-air Second Amendment shaming session CNN held in the wake of the Parkland mass shooting – all the while CNN couldn’t be bothered to mention the massive bumbling and cowardice from Broward County, nor the two times the FBI fumbled warnings about the shooter. Yet CNN allowed then-Sheriff Scott Israel to incite the crowd into a frenzy against Second Amendment supporters.
Similarly, few national media outlets will bother to inform Americans that the person who went on a shooting spree in Odessa, Texas illegally acquired the rifle from someone who was violating 18 USC 922(a), nor will they point out that the Obama Administration did nothing when that shooter was flagged by NICS in 2014. Such facts, you see, are inconvenient to the narrative that hacks like Joe Biden, Beto O’Rourke, and Pete Buttigieg are pushing, and thus won’t be discussed.
The bad news is that these same biased national media outlets, crusading against the Second Amendment, will also highlight the worst behavior among Second Amendment supporters if they get the chance. Failing that, they will instead do everything to convince the Americans they reach that Second Amendment supporters are unreasonable and don’t care about the safety of their fellow Americans. All too often, some Second Amendment supporters help them do that by not thinking about their approach.
The good news is that these double standards can be exposed – or at least pointed out – in pro-Second Amendment news sites, like Ammoland. But the problem we have is the biased media reaches more Americans much faster than the truth can get out. This is a big reason why Second Amendment supporters ought to work hard to make inroads with the local news, and to be mindful of how their Second Amendment advocacy comes across, even in those friendlier venues.
Given the current state of things, exposing the media double standard, and pointing out the facts that they will omit in their push for what amounts to an unjust punishment of law-abiding Americans who simply wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights is one of the best things we can do, if only to diminish the effectiveness of the blanket favorable coverage that anti-Second Amendment extremists receive. Combined with the right techniques, exposing the media’s double standards can not only give Second Amendment supporters the chance to point out the failures of gun control, but to also make arguments that will convince fellow Americans to at the very least NOT make support of gun control a litmus test that secures a vote for a candidate.
The stakes for 2020 are very high. Many Democrats running for president have embraced the Swalwell position on modern multi-purpose semi-automatic firearms. Some are even supporting packing the Supreme Court with anti-Second Amendment judges, and they are even declaring they will not compromise on certain infringements.
They can be stopped. If pro-Second Amendment supporters manage to keep the White House and Senate in pro-Second Amendment hands, the confirmation of judges will continue apace, and could even see more pro-Second Amendment Supreme Court justices. But to do that, Second Amendment supporters need to get to work, join NRA, support NRA-ILA and NRA-PVF, and get ready for the election battle of a lifetime.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.