The Right Way to Win the Debate Over Gun Control

In recent years, I have been turned to by multiple politicians, candidates, and political organizations seeking consultation on their messaging. My past life in advertising combined with my current penchant for politics has prompted several to seek my counsel. I don’t own a consultancy and I don’t proclaim to be an expert, but for some reason, my name keeps getting dropped to various conservative campaigns.

This often gets me thinking from a strategy perspective on how to win on issues against the radical left. It was this strategic side that had me initially looking towards crime as a way to get more people on the side of defending the 2nd Amendment. Thankfully, I  learned yesterday that my strategic thinking was wrong. It would be disingenuous of me to use glaring crime statistics and logic to defend the 2nd Amendment because that’s not what I truly believe.

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Does the 2nd Amendment play a major role in our ability to defend ourselves against criminals? Absolutely. But that’s not the truest intent of the 2nd Amendment, nor is it the most important role of our right to keep and bear arms. Tyranny is the real threat that the 2nd Amendment addresses, which is why I’ve reversed course on talking about crime.

From a strategic perspective, it is easier to use crime facts to catch the ear of a moderate or leftist who can be made to understand the importance of the 2nd Amendment. When you try to talk to them about tyranny, they glaze over. For some reason, far too many Americans have been indoctrinated into two false beliefs. First, they cannot imagine a need for American citizens to defend themselves against a tyrannical American government because they think it could never happen. Second, they cannot picture a scenario where the United States is invaded by foreign powers that would prompt the need for citizens to defend our homeland.

But at the end of the day, that’s what the 2nd Amendment is really about. For us to think otherwise is wrong, and for us to use the crime-fighting argument as the primary way to win the debate against the left is futile. We learned that yesterday with the Michael Sussmann verdict. If we thought evidence and logic can win over the left, Sussmann’s not-guilty verdict proves otherwise. The jury made a biased and very political verdict, facts be damned.

The same thing has happened with the crime-fighting argument in defense of the 2nd Amendment. It is unambiguously demonstrable that keeping guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens is extremely beneficial in preventing crimes from happening or stopping them when they do. But the left has not been generally dissuaded from believing the surface-level logic that fewer guns mean less crime. They don’t get it, and they won’t get it. They’ve been brainwashed into believing the lie.

Knowing this, we must always focus on our opposition to tyranny as the supreme reason the 2nd Amendment is so important. It may not catch as many leftists’ attention, but we need to stick to our guns (pun intended) on the true purpose of our rights. They are God-given and ensured by the Constitution. Any efforts to strike them down are direct attacks against us, and therefore they are direct agents of tyranny.

We need a groundswell of patriots who are willing to make the right argument in defense of liberty and opposition to oppression. That means we need to protest. Reactions to January 6th have had a cooling effect on many protests, but we must reverse that. Will there be FBI agents in our midst at these protests? Yes. Will there be Antifa and other leftist agitators? Absolutely. But just because they’re trying to foil us doesn’t mean we should avoid them.

We need phone calls to our representatives on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures. We need to prepare lawsuits to oppose any and all new restrictions they attempt to place on our right to keep and bear arms. We have to win the upcoming midterms in a big way, though that may not be enough to stop gun control with people like Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy in charge.

Most importantly, we must educate as many as we can about the real intent of the 2nd Amendment. Crime is an issue that favors the left, not because they’re right but because that surface-level logic of “fewer guns means fewer crimes” penetrates the intellect of intellectually lazy citizens. But even if we could use facts about crime to change hearts and minds, we shouldn’t. It’s not what the 2nd Amendment is really about. If we are going to take the high ground, then we should do so with our intentions properly grounded in reality.

Tyranny is the real danger, and we need to express that to as many people in as many ways as possible.

I discussed all of this in the latest episode of The Midnight Sentinel.