My Take | US liberals are wrong: gun violence is a constitutional outcome
- Much like al-Qaeda and Isis, and their textual literalism that has been tied to a certain reading of the Koran, so gun rights and the violence that inevitably accompanies them have been the results of America’s founding constitutional documents
Large segments of the American population increasingly reject liberal democracy in the name of freedom. They are inevitably branded as the far right, right-wing extremists and such like. But one of the two dominant political parties now openly represents them. Whether you are critical or sympathetic, it’s worth making an effort to understand them, because they may well represent the future of the United States, or Disunited States, perhaps even the Disunion.
I was moved to revisit some classic political texts relating to this topic because of an editorial in The New York Times titled, “America Can Have Democracy or Political Violence. Not Both.” Or rather it was the photo that accompanied the editorial leader that caught my attention. It features a close-up of a man and a woman, both in military fatigues and armed to the teeth. On the man’s bulking forearm is tattooed “We the People”, painted in the handwritten style of the original US Constitution. The two look like they are part of a heavily armed group, perhaps a militia, one of thousands that exist across the US today.
The meaning of the picture is clear. These people are neither recreational gun owners, nor do they own guns just for personal protection. They believe they bear arms to protect their freedom, or rather Freedom itself. But here’s The New York Times, the emblem of American political liberalism, claiming such people or groups represent “political violence” and a threat to US democracy.
The Times editorial complains: “Many – far too many – Americans now consider political violence not only acceptable but perhaps necessary. In an online survey of more than 7,200 adults, nearly a third of people answered that political violence is usually or always justified.”
I can well imagine their immediate rebuttal. If liberal democracy with its strong centralised federal government wants to deny their gun rights with gun controls, it’s tantamount to taking away their freedom, or at least the necessary tools and means to protect it. A “democracy” that is a fig leaf for tyranny must be resisted, even with violence, to protect Freedom.