President-elect Joe Biden didn’t take long in declaring a national health crisis to usher in emergency health epidemic gun control measures. With more than a month still left before he takes the Oath of Office, he laid the groundwork to seize on a “public health crisis” to push a gun grab.
He also did it on the anniversary of the horrific crimes committed in Newtown, Conn., eight years ago. For NSSF, this tragedy hits home. This is our community. We continue to grieve the loss of innocent lives at the hands of a heinous criminal. President-elect Joe Biden, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, marked the grim anniversary with a ploy to enact the most bold and radical gun control agenda ever proposed.
President-elect Biden wrote a message that was addressed to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy, but it was a signal for the nation. He wrote “… that gun violence is a national health crisis and we need to address…” and “… we will fight to end this scourge on our society and enact common sense reforms.”
Vice President-elect Harris echoed the call, tweeting, “To honor the lives lost in this terrible tragedy, it’s past time we implement common-sense gun safety reforms to keep our children safe.”
Doctor’s Orders
The firearm industry has been warning of gun control disguised in white laboratory coats. For years, gun control advocates have seen this as the brass ring. Gun control politicians battled in Congress to funnel taxpayer dollars to fund government-backed medical research that concludes the only “cure” for criminal misuse of firearms – even those horrific tragedies witnessed in Newtown – is amputating God-given rights from law-abiding citizens.
Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., who protect Second Amendment rights fend off annual attacks to repeal the Dickey Amendment. The most recent attempt to overturn it was in 2019, when opponents fell short of overturning the 1996 amendment that reads, “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) launched a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Service Alex Azar hailing revised language that said the Centers for Disease Control has always had the ability to study violence as a win over this prohibition. He was wrong, though. All that really happened was Congress restated that the amendment still exists, gun violence research can continue (and has continued), but it can’t be a pre-cooked conclusion that gun control is the only answer.
Gun Control Cure
Now, President-elect Biden is broadcasting his gun control playbook. He’s calling it a national health crisis, which by his estimation, requires emergency and unprecedented government response. That’s exactly what’s been witnessed during the COVD-19 pandemic. A national health emergency provided opportunity for elected officials to unconstitutionally deny law-abiding citizens their civil rights. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo were brushed back by the U.S. Supreme Court for their unlawful infringement on free exercise of religion.
Last week, President-elect Biden named California Democrat Xavier Becerra as his Health and Human Services nominee. If confirmed, future letters from Sen. Markey to invoke lawful firearm ownership as a national health crisis won’t go unanswered.
We warned this nomination was political “tell” of how the Biden-Harris administration will try to achieve the most radical gun control agenda ever proposed. They’re calling it a national health crisis. The fix will begin with confiscating lawfully-owned firearms, because that’s what the medical experts tell them. It will end with Second Amendment rights available by prescription only.
Lawrence Keane is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearm industry trade association.
