It’s becoming an all too ugly and tragic circumstance. Firearms-related violence once again struck the nation, this time in Santa Fe, Texas. As usual, politicians took advantage of the circumstance, with liberals in particular calling for draconian gun control measures. While these incidents generate knee-jerk reactions against the Second Amendment, this time could be different.
Unlike other school shootings, the Santa Fe tragedy involved firearms typically used for self-defense: a .38 Special revolver, and a 12-gauge shotgun. According to some reports, the shooter fired his shotgun through the school doors, injuring or killing many fellow students. While the damage was horrifically pronounced, it was committed by firearms other than the maligned AR15 or AK47 – the so-called “black rifles.”
In prior school shootings or firearm-related incidents, it was easy for the general public to rally against the AR15, and specifically, against the manufacturers of these rifles. The argument essentially was that no one needed to own military-style weapons. People could defend themselves with “reasonable” firearms.
But what happens when “reasonable” firearms are used to commit unreasonable crimes? Will the liberal or anti-gun response be that all firearms should be banned? If so, this latest tragedy could completely upend the Second Amendment, which let’s face facts – that’s what most liberals want.
Cries for gun control have always been popular in the midst of school shootings and other gun-violence incidents. But because the AR15 wasn’t involved in the Santa Fe incident, it will be much more difficult to shift blame towards the entire firearms industry. Liberals have always conceded that AR15s should be done away with, that the Founding Fathers never imagined regular folks having access to semi-automatic rifles.
But what about shotguns and snub-nose revolvers? Surely, the Founding Fathers could easily imagine that! And therefore, it’s going to be a lot harder for the typical gun control rhetoric to stick.
Not only that, the firearms industry generates considerable economic activity for the entire nation. By imposing complete gun control, this would destroy billions of dollars of demand and money flow from the broader economy. Moreover, gun control kills jobs – and that’s just not on President Trump’s agenda.
Yes, the President has made worrying comments that suggests he might be in favor of gun control. However, going that route would be political suicide. The National Rifle Association is a staunch Trump supporter. By reneging on the NRA, Trump would lose his core political base.
At a time when his approval rating is near rock-bottom, gun control is just not going to happen.
I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t worry about liberal, anti-gun policies. However, in this case, we have both the economy and politics providing tailwinds for the Second Amendment.