OPINION: Aren’t Gun Rights a Valid Presidential Debate Topic?

Whereas Thursday evening’s presidential debate was agonizing for a lot of People to observe, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump did handle some necessary points starting from our porous southern border to abortion to the downward spiraling financial system.

What was obviously absent, nonetheless, was any dialogue of gun management and the Second Modification-protected proper to maintain and bear arms.

Name me cynical, however I consider that was by design. CNN, which hosted the controversy, is a media customary bearer for all issues gun management. Actually, the community hasn’t seen a restrictive gun proposal that it hasn’t embraced. And each Biden and Trump have spoken out usually on the matter, similar to they’ve on different points, leaving little doubt the place they stand on the fitting to bear arms.

So why weren’t there any questions requested on this situation that’s so necessary to many Americans? I consider it was as a result of CNN and others within the gun-ban neighborhood know they’re on the improper aspect of the difficulty. And with Biden’s diminished psychological capability, the community and whoever helped it select questions for the controversy merely have been afraid of what ignorant issues the president would possibly say about firearms.

Maybe they thought he would possibly spout off one of many customary soundbites he has used a number of instances up to now. Phrases like, “Deer don’t put on Kevlar vests,” (duh!) and, “No one might personal a cannon through the Civil Warfare interval,” (an outright lie) don’t engender a variety of belief in a pacesetter. And such solutions would probably have drawn a fast—and doubtless humorous—response from Trump.

Maybe CNN was fearful he would say one thing about “military-grade assault weapons” when speaking about widespread semi-automatic rifles, and even that the firearm trade is the “solely trade in America that has immunity”—each well-debunked falsehoods. Or perhaps they thought he’d revert to the previous chestnuts that you just don’t want: “20, 30, 40, 50 clips in a weapon”, “magazines that may maintain a number of bullets in them” or a “journal with 100 clips in it.”

Truth is, Biden is sort of presumably probably the most anti-gun president in historical past, in addition to arguably the worst. In fact, we’ve chronicled his anti-gun schemes many, many instances right here at TTAG.

He needs to ban widespread weapons and magazines, let gun firms be sued into oblivion for felony use of their legally made and marketed merchandise and make a background examine obligatory even for personal gun gross sales between household and mates. His ATF has made issues so troublesome for gun sellers that many have left the enterprise to keep away from persecution, and he even created a so-called White Home Workplace for Gun Violence Prevention to assist allow anti-gun state legislators to push his gun-ban schemes on the state degree.

Whereas I can’t say Trump was probably the most pro-gun president in historical past, apart from the ill-conceived bump inventory ban, he was a fairly good buddy to gun homeowners. And his federal judicial nominations on the circuit courtroom degree and to the U.S. Supreme Courtroom have enabled many Second Modification victories that we wouldn’t have gained with a Democrat within the White Home as an alternative of Trump.

His latest speech on the NRA Annual Conferences and Displays in Dallas provides us some meals for thought.

“Let there be little question, the survival of our Second Modification could be very a lot on the poll,” Trump informed the group gathered there. “We want the [Second Amendment] for security. As a result of the dangerous guys usually are not giving up their weapons…

“The NRA has stood with me from the very starting. And along with your vote I’ll stand robust on your rights and liberties.”

In the long run, questions on gun management, like questions on practically the rest, would have been dropping questions for the sitting president. And whereas the controversy was a fairly honest one, CNN selected to keep away from asking Biden about his gun insurance policies as a result of it probably would have made him look even worse.

That omission is a real tragedy in a day and time when advocates of freedom continually battle in any respect ranges of presidency to retain our proper to maintain and bear arms as protected by the Second Modification. Many individuals I do know are one-issue voters. And that situation—a vital one to many individuals—wasn’t even mentioned Thursday evening.

When you missed it, watch the total debate right here: