Ocasio-Cortez: I Am With Her On This One

Time cover - Is this the new face of the Democratic Party?

I often describe myself as leaning conservative politically. One may wonder why I just don’t come out and say clearly that I am a conservative. The truth is that on most issues I am. Which is why I’m on board with most of the President’s conservative policies – albeit not the man himself. Who keeps on embarrassing himself and the country.

As he did once again last week by trashing a hero like John McCain. Six months after he died. That is a disgusting new low for the President. What is the matter with that man?! We all know that Trump didn’t like him. What does he gain by bringing it up again. And again! But I digress.

As I started saying I am conservative on most but not on all issues.Such as gun control. I side with liberals on this one. In fact I actually agree with progressive Democrat, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. From the New York Post: 

Ocasio-Cortez spent some of her Wednesday night tweeting about political issues, including gun control in the wake of the New Zealand mosques massacres.

“Sandy Hook happened 6 years ago and we can’t even get the Senate to hold a vote on universal background checks,” she wrote. “Christchurch happened, and within days New Zealand acted to get weapons of war out of the consumer market.

“This is what leadership looks like,” she wrote with a downward-pointing arrow emoji to a video of a speech by the New Zealand prime minister announcing the weapons ban. 

How right she is. I am so tired of pro gun lobbyists who try and convince the rest of us that any limitations on gun ownership at all is a violation of the 2^nd amendment (the right to bear arms). No one questions that constitutionally guaranteed right. But nowhere in the constitution does it say that one may own assault rifles. Banning them would still enable citizens to own guns. 

In my view the fact that assault type weapons are freely available, easily purchased, and the ease with which they can be converted from semi-automatic to fully automatic makes it the height of irresponsibly for congress to not legislate against it. That is the type of weapon favored by mass murderers. If I understand correctly that was the type of weapon used in the majority of mass shootings. It enables the shooter to kill many people in a matter of seconds. 

What possible good do guns like that do for anyone? How does that benefit gun owners? Guns are not toys. But gun enthusiasts seem to treat them that way. There is no way that anyone can convince me that banning assault weapons is unconstitutional. 

Nor will anyone convince me that it wouldn’t matter since mass murderers will find other ways to do it. Sure they will try, but there will be a lot fewer victims since they won’t be able to use their weapons in rapid fire mode. 

Those kinds of weapons should be reserved for the military or police SWAT teams. Legislation should pass that would make private ownership of any kind of illegal guns meet with a stiff penalty. And the more dangerous the weapon, the greater the penalty. As well - there should be an end to revolving door justice. No longer should a felon committing a crime with a lethal weapon be given a slap on the wrist. This is plain old fashioned common sense. I am willing to bet that most Americans would support such a ban as well as an end to ‘slap on the wrist’ justice.

What about the age old cliché that says ‘If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.’ There might be some truth to that. Bur I am not advocating outlawing all guns. Just assault weapons. This is where law enforcement comes in; and the stiff penalties; and ending revolving door justice. No one will convince me that in the vast majority of recent mass shootings - lives couldn’t have been saved had the mass murderers not used automatic weapons.

Which brings me to what happened in New Zealand in the almost immediate aftermath of that bloodbath. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had absolutely no problem passing exactly that kind of legislation. It took her a matter of days. With the vast majority of New Zealand citizens supporting it. There was no public outcry or protest of any kind. True - they have no constitutional protection of gun rights. But that is not the point. The point is it’s obvious that this common sense law is one that most people would approve of.

Ocasio-Cortez is completely correct in her assessment of congressional unwillingness to pass even something as the basic as universal background checks. That would not hamper anyone from owning any gun - except for convicted felons and the mentally disturbed. Even assault rifles!: Why there is opposition to even that, is beyond me. In my view anyone in both houses of congress that opposes that kind of legislation should be voted out of office in the next election!

Off my soapbox.