by John Snyder : Opinion
Washington , DC – -(Ammoland.com)- When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) expressed hope last Thursday that a ban on bump stocks would be a ‘slippery slope’ leading to more comprehensive gun control, she united firearms owners like never before in opposition to any new anti-gun laws”.
Pelosi let the cat out of the bag. Her admission undercuts the blandishments politicians make that they only want ‘reasonable’ or ‘limited’ gun control. The truth is they cannot be trusted. They are dangerous. The only reasonable response to gun control promoters is a determination politically to clobber them.
Politicians who really respect the rights of the people should pay attention to recent positive remarks by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) of the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus.
Pelosi’s remarkable admission came during the national discussion of the Las Vegas massacre. Scores of victims were murdered and hundreds wounded. There has been discussion on Capitol Hill and elsewhere regarding public policy on bump stocks. The devices reportedly were used in Vegas to increase the rapidity of bullet expulsion from semiautomatic rifles.
Pelosi was asked at an October 5 2017 press conference if she thought gun control opponents would argue that an attempt to regulate bump stocks would be a “slippery slope” towards additional anti-gun proposals.
Pelosi stated: “They’re going to say, ‘You give them bump stock, it’s going to be a slippery slope.’ I certainly hope so.”
Subsequently, the GOP leader of the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus threw cold water on the bump stock regulation discussion. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) “said nothing should be done at all until all the facts are known about the Las Vegas shooter’s methods,” reported the Washington Examiner on October 8 2017.”
“We have nothing but TV reports where the facts change every day about how many weapons, what were the weapons,” Massie said. “It’s not been reliably documented what weapons he had. Until we have the facts, it doesn’t do too much good to debate hypotheticals.”
Snyder said, “Rep. Massie’s statement is prudent. Politicians would be better off following a reasonable approach to Vegas than going off with half-cocked proposals in response to media-generated hysteria.”
Hopefully the weak Republicans will follow Rep Massie’s’ lead and grow a pair.
About John Snyder
A practicing Catholic, Snyder has been named “a champion of the right of self-defense” by the Washington Times, the “gun dean” by Human Events, and the “senior rights activist in Washington” by Shotgun News. The Trace designated him a power broker.
He holds AB and MA degrees in government from Georgetown University. He has been an NRA magazine editor and official of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Second Amendment Foundation. He directs Telum Associates, LL.C, and serves on boards of NACOP, Council for America, and American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens.
Contact: John Snyder, 202-239-8005, gundean@gmail.com.