United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- The announcement by the Centers for Disease Control that gun violence is now a “public health” emergency should have Second Amendment supporters on high alert. Because now, the Biden Administration is launching an attack that can hit us from multiple fronts.
We’ve discussed the “medical misinformation” excuse that we’ve seen Silicon Valley titans wield. The CDC’s new declaration is just the sort of pretext that can be used, particularly when the appropriate “studies” (read, statistical manipulation and calls for “snake oil” public policy) get released in various medical journals.
The primary threat to our rights from the CDC’s involvement is the fact that medical research will be perverted to get legislators to enact new infringements on our rights. This has happened before – 25 years ago. Medical associations cited CDC research (among other “studies”) to justify gun bans. The American Academy of Pediatrics was particularly notorious for pushing gun bans.
The legislative fight in the 1990s didn’t go the way some of those “public health” advocates wanted. Sure, in 1993 the Brady Act was passed, but it was watered down with NICS. The 1994 semi-auto ban had a sunset clause, and it has not come close to being reinstated. Back then, many were pushing for much more expansive restrictions.
In fact, when all said and done, the fight had gone the way of Second Amendment supporters, and CDC was no longer able to fund anti-Second Amendment propaganda under the guise of medical research in addition to seeing the expansion of “shall issue” concealed carry laws. In short, Second Amendment supporters had won a long, hard battle.
But no victory is permanent, and the recent reversal of that ban on the CDC pushing anti-Second Amendment propaganda now opens new threats.
There isn’t just the fact that now, CDC propaganda can be used to justify Silicon Valley censorship under “harmful medical misinformation.” The fact is, the COVID-19 pandemic has given CDC reach into a lot of other areas, and the threat isn’t going to come so much from Atlanta, but from closer to your home.
The CDC crusade could very well result in local health departments taking action against your local FFLs. The bad news is, these local health departments can be powerful. The good news is that local elections can be far easier for Second Amendment supporters to win, and thus turn policy around.
The fight against this new CDC assault on the Second Amendment is going to take multiple fronts. At the federal level, Congress needs to reinstate the ban on anti-Second Amendment propaganda, and pass legislation like the Restoring The Armed Career Criminal Act and the Prosecuting Gun Crimes Saves Lives Act. We know what has worked to reduce the violent crime, especially those when firearms are misused.
At the state level, there must be efforts to do the same thing – at least at state-funded universities, colleges, and those government agencies responsible for public health, in addition to passing state-level versions of the Armed Career Criminal Act and the Prosecuting Gun Crimes Save Lives Act. Locally (city and county level), winning the local elections can keep local health departments from attacking FFLs and gun ranges, but the fact is, local office-holders can also have an outsized impact on state lawmakers, not only in making a case for pro-Second Amendment votes and actions, but also as potential opponents in upcoming elections.
The most important thing, though, will be to convince our fellow Americans to reject this assault of “snake oil” that will do far more harm than good. This is where programs like Project Exile and laws like the Armed Career Criminal Act protect the Second Amendment and give us a tactical edge. That convincing will be crucial in order for Second Amendment supporters to defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists at the ballot box at the federal, state, and local levels.
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.