The latest bi-partisan “gun control” legislative proposal reeks of “Do-Somethingism.” Again, given the rampant disasters wrought from the numerous foolish policies enacted due to our bout with COVID-19, we should’ve learned our lesson on “Do-Somethingism.” Give Democrats—and their like-minded enablers—a “crisis” and you’re almost certainly guaranteed a catastrophic Big Government “solution.”
Inevitably, such “solutions” do almost nothing to solve the problems
they were meant to solve, and instead burden tens-of-millions of Americans with
a host of new problems that are often much worse than the original “problem.” Again,
see
the COVID scamdemic. If signed into law—and Biden has said he will sign it—almost
certainly the new “gun control” legislation proposed
by ten democrats and ten republicans will prove about as useful as most of
the anti-COVID-19 measures enacted throughout the U.S. the past two-plus years.
And like the near-useless anti-COVID-19 policies, this new
“gun control” legislation will do virtually nothing to solve the problem
intended—mass shootings—and instead will create a myriad of new problems for
innocent Americans. In the statement released describing what’s in the
legislation (see previous link), much of the focus of the bill is on “mental
health.”
Additionally, the legislation seems to incentivize U.S. states
to enact “red flag” laws. Under the heading entitled “Intervention Orders,” the
description of the legislation reads:
Provides resources to states and tribes to create and administer laws that help ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others, consistent with state and federal due process and constitutional protections.
A red flag law is a “gun control” law that permits police or
individuals to petition a state court to order the removal of firearms “from a
person who they believe may present a danger to others or themselves.” Nineteen
states—almost all blue states—and the District of Columbia have some form
of a red flag law.
As Tucker Carlson recently went
into great detail to point out, there are huge problems with red flag laws:
First, red flag laws won’t end mass shootings. But red flag laws will end due process…Under red flag laws the government doesn’t have to prove you did anything wrong in order to strip you of your most basic rights. All that’s required to punish you is a complaint, possibly even an anonymous complaint, in which somebody says “you seem dangerous.” Now that complaint doesn’t come from a grand jury, it can come from anyone, including someone who hates you or someone who simply doesn’t like your politics…On the basis of that unproven complaint, you lose your freedom and your ability to defend yourself and your family.
In other words, who gets to decide who’s “dangerous?” Just a
couple of years ago, Democrat Congressman Eric Swalwell thought
Ben Shapiro was a good example of why America needed red flag laws. Just as
Americans should be very cautious when it comes to enacting red flag laws, Americans
should also be very hesitant to embrace any legislation, school policy, and the
like when it comes to “mental health” and “gun control.” Because, who gets to
decide who’s crazy?
According to a recent (2019) study published
in Psychiatry Research, “psychiatric diagnoses are
scientifically worthless as tools to identify discrete mental health disorders.”
This conclusion aligns well with what practicing psychotherapist Gary Greenburg
has long said. Upon the release of the latest version of the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual (the DSM 5) in early
2013, The
Atlantic asked Dr. Greenburg, “Can you
define mental illness?” His reply: “No. Nobody can.”
Dr. Greenburg says that not one of the disorders in the DSM
is real. He claims that the DSM is nothing more than an exercise in rhetoric;
an attempt to legitimize the practice of psychiatry. In a culture that is increasingly
more hesitant to use the word “evil,” Dr. Greenburg concludes that having
the American Psychiatric Association (who owns and publishes the DSM) classify
certain behaviors as “disorders” is a way to remove the moral aspect behind
certain behaviors.
We’ve seen this often with mass shootings. Inevitably,
whenever one of these rare
but horrific acts of evil takes place, words and phrases like “mentally disturbed,” “mentally
ill,” “crazy,” “nut-job,” and “psycho,” are frequently tossed around. This is
even done by well-meaning, and sometimes even biblically minded, conservatives.
I
believe this is because sickness is much easier to deal with than evil. Sickness
can be treated—or we can at least pretend, or look like, we’re treating it—often
with expensive drugs and/or therapy (or masks and lockdowns!). When it comes to
those who are financially vested in such things, sickness is good for business.
However, dealing with evil requires that we define what is evil, and dealing
with evil means that we sometimes must engage in matters in the spiritual
realm.
Additionally, as we pervert what is sickness along with what
is good and evil, what was once good and right can be something that needs to
be cured or punished. So if you merely vote the “wrong” way, or attend the “wrong”
protest, or say the “wrong” things, or refuse to support what someone else has
determined is the “right” thing, you could find yourself on the wrong side of a
court ruling when it comes to your guns.
We’ve seen this play out countless times when it comes cancel
culture. Just
this week, the NFL’s Washington Commanders (Redskins!) lightened the wallet
of assistant coach Jack Del Rio to the tune of $100,000 simply because he
didn’t tow the preferred (Democrat) line when it comes to the actions at the U.S.
Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the numerous (criminal) riots in the wake of
George Floyd’s death.
In other words, the NFL has decided what is “right” when it
comes to January 6, 2021, and the George Floyd riots. And if you don’t stick to
the (Democrat) narrative on these matters, you will be punished.
When it comes to courts taking our guns, many will say, “But
we have the Second Amendment!” True, however, we’re a few Supreme Court
Justices away from having that Amendment “interpreted” beyond recognition. Given
the numerous vagaries when it comes to mental illness, and given the importance
of gun ownership to a free nation, America simply can’t afford to have the
courts tell us who’s “crazy” enough to have his guns taken away.
(See this column at American Thinker.)
Copyright 2022, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
www.trevorgrantthomas.com
Trevor is the author of the The
Miracle and Magnificence of America
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com
No comments:
Post a Comment