Some say the President and GOP will lose the 2020 election if they don’t do something to slow down gun violence. Others say the President and GOP will lose if the embrace gun control. To some extent, both are right, but for very different reasons.
If they do nothing that reduces gun violence, they’ll lose. But here’s the thing. Universal background checks, red flag gun laws, and “assault weapons” bans will not reduce gun violence. We can see this demonstrated with absolute clarity by examining where gun violence happens the most. Guess what… and this may shock you if you haven’t been paying attention… but gun violence is most prevalent where gun control is most obtuse. If gun control worked, Chicago would be at the bottom of the list for gun crimes because their gun control laws are extreme.
If red flag gun laws worked, Baltimore would have seen a dramatic reduction in gun violence following one of the loosest versions of the law passing in 2018. Instead, they’ve seen an INCREASE in firearm homicides despite 788 Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) applied for since the laws passage.
Baltimore’s homicides by firearm RISE 13% since red flag gun law went into effect
Baltimore is pacing for a 13% increase in gun-related homicides since the red flag gun law went into effect.
Following the mass shootings two weeks ago in El Paso and Dayton, emotions have been high. Even many 2nd-Amendment-defending Republican lawmakers are starting to bend in favor of embracing red flag gun laws. They’re an ideal choice for trying to look like they’re fixing the mass shooting problem, but despite 17 states enacting the law since 2012, there have been zero examples of a potential mass shooter who was stopped.
Here’s how the 2020 narrative regarding gun control will play out. If the GOP and the President back any of these gun control measures and they fail to make a dent in gun violence, Democrats will say they’re doing too little and actually use these efforts to condemn the President. And as people see the GOP’s gun control didn’t work, they’ll start to believe maybe the Democrats have the right answers. If, on the other hand, we stay focused on mental illness, getting more guns in the hands of good guys, and healing the fractured spirit of the nation, we can see a reduction in gun violence. There are ways to address gun violence without gun control.
Now, let’s say the President listens to his progressive advisers and enacts gun control measures. There’s little chance his supporters will vote Democrat; we don’t cut off our noses to spite our faces. But the passion, fundraising, and intangible support will diminish. Right now, the President needs his base to remain as passionate as possible if we’re going to overcome the tremendous bias in mainstream media. The way to win in 2020 is to galvanize the conservative base to draw in moderates and Independents behind a movement of pro-America and pro-American policies.
Gun control is neither pro-America nor pro-American. It’s a lukewarm appeasement to the left that won’t vote for him no matter what he does with guns. His progressive advisers who are pushing him towards gun control are flat-out wrong.
Supporting the President does not mean echoing bad advice by progressive members of his team. He will listen to voters and stop this gun control madness before it begins if we let him know we support the 2nd Amendment.
We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.
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