Gun Control’s Relentless March Hits a Major Roadblock

Pete shields handgun control inc

The battle over gun control has reached a defining moment, and the tide is turning. Let me start by invoking the uncompromising words of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Despite the blatant clarity of this statement, countless politicians have tried to twist its meaning to suit their own agendas. They’ve claimed that the term “militia” refers solely to government-sanctioned groups, conveniently ignoring the fact that official militias have always had access to arms. The Founding Fathers intended this right to apply to ordinary citizens – you and your neighbors – as the ultimate safeguard against tyranny. No matter how fervently gun control advocates muddy the waters, the Second Amendment remains an individual right, vital to the preservation of liberty.

The Truth About Gun Control Advocates

Gun control proponents are a motley mix. Some are genuine pacifists who naively believe that surrendering arms will eliminate violence. Others are far more sinister: authoritarian figures from communist regimes, today’s Democrats, and historical fascists like the Nazis, who understand that disarming the populace is essential for absolute control. Let’s be honest – gun control has never been about public safety. Common sense tells us that an armed citizen is a safer citizen. Calling 911 in a life-threatening situation means begging for an armed officer to arrive – nearly always too late. The last thought on a dying victim’s mind should never be, “If only I had a gun.”

The Dark History of Gun Control

Gun control’s roots are steeped in racism and oppression. After the Civil War, the first gun control laws emerged as a tool to keep newly freed African Americans defenseless. The notorious Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Supreme Court decision epitomized this racist agenda, denying Black Americans the right to armed self-defense by manipulating the permit system.

In 1934, with crime spurred by Prohibition as a pretext, the Federal Firearms Act introduced severe restrictions on heavy weapons – not through outright bans, but crippling taxes designed to make ownership practically impossible. Then came the Gun Control Act of 1968, riding on a wave of political fearmongering. It criminalized purchasing firearms out of state, selling without a dealer’s license, and ordering guns by mail. Predictably, crime rates continued to climb.

A Campaign of Incremental Disarmament

Since the 1960’s anti-gun activists have waged a relentless campaign to strip Americans of their right to self-defense. First, it was handguns. Then came attacks on small, affordable firearms labeled as “Saturday Night Specials.” Next, they vilified large handguns as “pocket rockets.” The assault didn’t stop there – they targeted black, semi-automatic rifles by falsely labeling them “assault rifles,” even though true military assault rifles are fully automatic. Desperate to vilify anything related to self-defense, they even pushed to outlaw non-lethal devices like pepper spray and stun guns.

The strategy of the gun control lobby was as insidious as it was calculated: rebrand, rename, and disguise their agenda under constantly shifting organizational titles, from the National Council to Control Handguns to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. All to create the illusion of a broad, unified push to dismantle the Second Amendment.

The Turning of the Tide

But now, the tide is finally turning. The Supreme Court has affirmed that the Second Amendment means precisely what it says. An attorney general committed to justice has begun investigating those who violate this fundamental right – including government officials. For far too long, gun control advocates have pushed their agenda unopposed. Now, they face the harsh reality: Americans will not be disarmed. The right to keep and bear arms stands firm, unyielding, and unbreakable.

The Tactics of Gun Control Zealots

I first became aware of the concerted efforts to dismantle the Second Amendment as we know it back in the 1960s. It was then that I realized just how relentless these anti-gun advocates are, and they haven't stopped since.

For years, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ignored blatant violations of the Second Amendment. They hadn’t taken a case on this issue since United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939). The Miller case was an aberration , and by the time it reached the High Court, the defendant and defense lawyer had vanished, leaving no one to argue the case. The justices, lacking proper firearm knowledge , rendered a factually mistaken opinion. They absurdly claimed that short-barreled shotguns had no military application—despite the military’s use of 12-gauge trench guns at the time. The Court did, however, acknowledge that those weapons useful to the military were indeed protected under the Second Amendment But they refused to protect them. 

The Miller ruling allowed significant restrictions on certain arms and "destructive devices," requiring registration and hefty taxes—$200 per weapon—on these military weapons. Yet, these weapons weren’t banned outright, just regulated into near-obscurity through burdensome requirements.

The 1934 gun control act clearly violated the second amendment.  The high court refused to take even one case that would until 2022 with Bruen. 

Decades passed, and a liberal-dominated Supreme Court conveniently avoided Second Amendment cases, particularly those questioning whether the Second Amendment was enforceable against the states via the 14th Amendment. That changed with District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008). In Heller, the Court struck down D.C.’s handgun ban. Then, just two years later, the Court delivered another victory for gun rights in McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010).  McDonald applied the Second Amendment to the states via the 14th Amendment, forcing cities like Chicago to allow gun owners to obtain shall issue concealed carry permits.

Fast forward to 2022, and we saw the most significant gun rights victory yet in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022). The Bruen ruling essentially signals the end of almost every restriction on the possession and carrying of modern firearms. If applied correctly, it could invalidate the National Firearms Act of 1934 and nearly all state and local gun control laws.

Now that we’ve covered the legal landscape, let’s dive into the deceptive and manipulative tactics employed by those who despise gun rights. My first exposure to this came from Connecticut Senator Thomas Dodd, who introduced some of the most ridiculous gun control bills every session. Fortunately, most of his ideas went nowhere.

In the 1960s, a grieving father named Peter Shields, whose son had been murdered with a handgun, and armed-robbery victim Mark Borinsky launched a crusade to abolish handguns. They founded Handgun Control, Inc. (now known as Brady: United Against Gun Violence). Named after James Brady, President Reagan’s press secretary, was shot by John Hinckley during the infamous 1981 assassination attempt. After Brady's tragic injury, his wife Sarah Brady took up the mantle of the gun control group, and Brady became a household name.

These fanatics have tried every trick in the book to manipulate public opinion about firearms. Their first campaign aimed to ban all handguns, but that failed. Next, they went after small, inexpensive pocket handguns, branding them "Saturday Night Specials." That effort also flopped. Undeterred, Sarah Brady and her team switched tactics, stoking fear among the ignorant public by labeling semi-automatic rifles—such as the AR-15 and AK-47—as "assault rifles." These firearms may look like military weapons, but their military counterparts are fully automatic and classified as machine guns. The Brady Bunch conveniently omitted that fact in their propaganda.

Not stopping there, they turned their sights on compact firearms of .38 caliber and larger, branding them "Pocket Rockets." That campaign failed as well, but it didn’t slow down their zealotry. The leftist media played right into their hands, acting as a mouthpiece for Brady's misleading campaigns, amplifying their falsehoods to a broad audience.

Nothing was too outlandish for these anti-gun crusaders. They eagerly spread fabricated studies that portrayed gun ownership in the worst possible light. One of their more infamous lies was that Glock pistols were invisible to modern metal detectors used in airports. This scare tactic led our brain-dead Congress to outlaw undetectable firearms that don’t even exist!

Since Sarah Brady’s death, the torch has been passed to other groups like Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action, and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. These groups, like Brady, are pushing Congress and state legislatures to pass law after law—laws that, thanks to the Bruen decision, are destined to be struck down.

Many of these anti-gun organizations are nothing more than money-making machines operating for looting much like the master embezzler, Wayne LaPierre did absconding with millions in NRA membership dues.  They collect dues from America’s gun-hating zealots, but rather than making any real progress, they use the money to fund their leaders’ luxurious lifestyles. The hypocrisy is glaring.

No Lie Was Off Limits to the Late Sarah Brady in Her Quest to Disarm Law-Abiding Americans.

Baltimore, MD—Sarah Brady had been the face of Gun Control in America for more than three decades.  However today at age 73 she has succumbed to a bout of pneumonia.  

Brady became the convenient standard bearer for the forces that hate all guns and gun rights.  This after a armed madman wounded her husband James Brady who was President Ronald Reagan’s Press Secretary during a 1981assassination attempt. 

Brady led a very deceptive campaign that was intended to incrementally outlaw all firearms.  She cleverly began to change firearm adjectives and successfully demonized firearms based on simple cosmetics.

Like Brady most Americans were ignorant about guns.  She renamed all the firearms that looked somewhat scary as assault weapons. 

Assault rifles were actually classic military combat weapons and were by that definition all fully automatic.  That meant one pull of the trigger could cause the weapon to fire until it was empty.   

Assault weapons were really machine guns already banned by federal laws.   Machine guns were already unpopular because they extravagantly consume expensive ammunition.  

What she did was redefine millions of semi-automatic rifles and pistols confusing anyone and everyone that they too were machine guns. 

She succeeded to get the so-called Assault weapons ban passed into law by a single vote. The law lasted ten years and the crime rate soared anyway.

When the law expired millions of the formerly banned guns were suddenly purchased and the crime rate began to drop like a rock.

Brady always pretended she just wanted to go after the scary guns when she really wanted every last law-abiding American defenseless and helpless to criminals or government gone wrong.

Brady redundantly invented her own statistics, overstated claims of gun deaths and injuries.  She used FBI Uniform Crime Reports that lumped justifiable killings by cops and citizens as Homicides suggesting they were all murders.

She cleverly called the ATF gun trace requests as crime gun incidents.  ATF routinely traced any and all found weapons or whenever their ownership was questioned. To suggest those guns were involved with criminal events was another very bold lie.

Brady published a grading list for jurisdictions on the basis of their gun laws.  The paradox there was that the “A” list states with gun bans or draconian restrictions had the highest murder rates.  The “D” list states had few gun laws along with little or no violent crime. 

Finally Brady ran out of lies and all but a few states passed laws allowing the law-abiding the right to carry concealed weapons.  Her landmark Assault Weapons Ban was allowed to expire.  Courts nearly everywhere have reasserted Constitutional Second Amendment rights.

Brady was clearly humiliated into her obvious forced retirement.  she quickly dropped out of sight.  

Brady's dream was forced registration of all firearms so government agents could locate and confiscate them later with the next laws she’d hope to champion. 

Brady somehow convinced politicians that pre-purchase background investigations would insure criminals and mental defectives would be unable to obtain weapons.  Another expensive failure! 

Phony identification and purchasing fraud efforts routinely overcome the expensive and ineffective Brady check system.  Of course the Brady checks created every kind of obstacle for the law-abiding especially those with similar names to convicted criminals.

Nobody wants to see armed criminal and mental defectives on our streets.  They are and always will be out there.  Well-trained and armed law-abiding people are the only way control cowardly criminals.  There will never be enough cops to do this. 

Sarah Brady ran a successful but deceptive scam on America that gave her a huge financial reward and sainthood among her gun rights hating disciples.

I will not mourn the loss of Sarah Brady.  I do however mourn the loss of those who were murdered because they were enjoined by unconstitutional laws to defensive weapons. 

Government must stop insuring that only violent criminals are armed.