Recently, a good friend of mine said that Liberals and Democrats are trying to "take away all of our guns." He detailed how the progressive gun agenda will cripple Colorado's hunting culture and tourism, and it will leave us unable to defend ourselves. In short, he's unequivocally convinced that a majority of Democratic lawmakers and voters want to completely eliminate private gun ownership in the United States and repeal the 2nd Amendment.
The thing is... he's wrong. But I wasn't positive he was wrong, because I usually focus my political efforts on issues other than gun rights. So I said "I'll have to look into that a bit more," to which he ensured me that I'll find exactly what he was preaching.
Well... I didn't. But here's what I did find:
1. Here's a liberal/progressive bill that was passed in Florida after the Parkland HS shooting. The liberals and Democrats I talk to/read/listen to on podcasts/say that this is the kind of legislation we want to repeat around the country (not taking away all guns). Here is a New York Times article excerpt describing the bill:
"The legislation, which passed the State Senate on Monday and now heads to the governor, would raise the minimum age to purchase any firearm to 21 from 18; impose a three-day waiting period on gun purchases; fund school police officers and mental health counselors; and allow local school districts and sheriffs to arm certain school personnel. It would also ban so-called bump stocks, which make guns fire faster, and give law enforcement more power to commit people deemed a threat."
2. Here is a Colorado state bill (introduced by Democrats) that is about increasing the punitive measures taken upon those who buy or sell multi-burst triggers. This will not affect the hunting tourism industry in Colorado.
3. This CO Bill talks about background checks at Gun Shows. No mention of taking away everyone's guns. (these are the only 2 gun-related bills introduced to the CO legislator this session).
4. Here is a federal bill to ban bumpstocks. It specifically says it will not ban hunting rifles (also has 2 Republican sponsors).
here's an interesting article about Colorado Democratic Gubernatorial candidates- and none of them want to eliminate guns for hunting.
here's an article about the invention of bump stocks. It doesn't seem like you need one of these to protect your family or go hunting...especially since hunting and personal protection existed before the invention of bump stocks.
here's an article about gun laws in Australia, which is something US liberals look to with admiration. I think it shows a reasonable and progressive way of regulating the 2nd amendment, and it doesn't eliminate peoples' right to own firearms. Australia is notable because they enacted stricter gun laws after a mass shooting in the 90s, and they haven't had a mass shooting since; despite the fact that 1 out of every 7 Australians still owns a gun.
So, after some research, I still believe that American liberals and Democrats will not "take away all our guns." It appears that my friend was listening to a lot of noise and propaganda, and he didn't fully research the issue to see what is actually being said and done by progressive lawmakers and advocates. I hope we can all learn from information like this to 'cut through the noise' of the immense propaganda being thrown around.
AJ