Last week I was contacted by Carla Bleiker, who introduced herself as a journalist for Deutsche Welle ("German Wave"), Germany's international broadcaster.
She then said "I am writing a story about the situation regarding gun rights and gun control under President Joe Biden. I'd like to interview someone at Pink Pistols about this. Questions include:
- What expectations do you have for President Biden in terms of gun rights and LGBTQ rights?
- In how far do you think he'll attempt to tighten gun control laws? How successful do you think such an attempt would be?
- In how far are you concerned about Second Amendment freedoms under President Biden?
- What do you think about the current gun rights situation in the US? Is there anything you would like to change?"
The article has a neutral stance, which is good press for us as far as I'm concerned. However, like with all interviews, more was left on the cutting room floor than was included in the article.
For those curious, here is my reply:
What expectations do you have for President Biden in terms of gun rights and LGBTQ rights?
In how far do you think he'll attempt to tighten gun control laws? How successful do you think such an attempt would be? In how far are you concerned about Second Amendment freedoms under President Biden?There are two ways to interpret this question; however, given that your later questions only dealt with firearms, I feel it safe to assume you meant the intersection of gun rights and LGBTQ rights and not “What are your expectations for President Biden regarding LGBTQ rights as well as gun rights?”I have stated multiple times that firearms rights are queer rights, and that gun control makes it more difficult for queer people to defend themselves. My argument is thus:· I have the right to live.· There are people who wish to end my life because I am queer.· Guns allow me to defend my queer life.∴ Therefore, guns preserve queer lives.· Guns cannot preserve queer lives if queer people cannot carry them.· Gun rights means that all law-abiding citizens can carry guns for self-defense.· By carrying a gun, I can defend my queer life.∴ Therefore, gun rights are pro-queer.· The right to self-defense -- gun rights -- are human rights.· Loving whomever I want -- my sexuality -- is a human right.· Living as I wish -- my gender identity -- is a human right.∴ Therefore, gun rights are queer rights and both are human rights.
I honestly don't know how far he'll go. On one hand, both Biden and Harris have been very open about liking all these proposed legislations, and those opinions are largely shared by the Democrats in Congress, nor did the Republicans put up much of a fight when Trump spoke in favor of gun control.
But another talking point is that we are in the middle of the biggest gun rush in the history of this country. In March 2020, gun purchases began spiking at a rate of one million or more additional purchases each month, and that trend has continued unabated through January this year. It is statistically impossible for all of these new gun owners to be all old white straight Republican men. Even Michael Bloomberg, who is quite literally the face of American Gun Control, realized this when his anti-gun organ The Trace published an article titled You Just Panic-Bought a Gun. Here’s How to Handle It Safely.
Bloomberg's position has always been abstinence-only when it comes to firearm education, and like an abstinence-only parent who discovers that his child is having premarital sex, his choices became “Ignore the situation and hope it goes away” and “Accept reality and seek advice from a professional.” As ignoring the situation almost always leads to unfortunate consequences like unplanned teenage pregnancies or negligent discharges which result in injury or death, Bloomberg decided to take the mature course of action and seek the advice of experts. For nearly two decades, he has told us that no one needs a gun; now, despite his best efforts, his anti-gun magazine is acknowledging the awkward truth that people want guns to protect themselves and their families in a crisis where the police may be late to arrive.
Therefore, given that a substantial part -- perhaps even a majority -- of Biden's base is now buying guns, and the guns being sold are the exact guns that Biden and Harris have spoken out on banning or restricting, the question must be asked "Just how willing will Democrats be to embrace gun control when they know that not only will it go against a portion of their base, but it may very well end up taking guns away from people who recently purchased these firearms, likely at a significant markup due to increased demand and reduced supply because of Covid-19, to protect their family?"
Please recall that the primary job of every politician is to ensure their re-election. Also, please consider my theory that gun owners are likely to become gun voters: Once you have bought a firearm (which are not cheap), you become resistant to laws that threaten to take it away from you, especially those laws which use the word "confiscation" (and the government would have to confiscate them; given the number of firearms in our country, paying anywhere near market value for them would bankrupt the government before our citizens ran out of guns to be "bought back"). Furthermore, once you know how to operate a firearm and know what it can and cannot do, much of the hysteria and word-salad arguments of gun prohibitionists are revealed for the nonsense that they are.
So in conclusion, on the one hand I think it would be very dangerous for Democrats' re-election chances to seriously push gun control right now (honestly, the economy and Covid-19 are bigger and more important problems right now). On the other hand, please understand that I said "right now"; I firmly believe that if somebody threatens you, it's in your best interest to believe them, and given the track records of all involved it's only a matter of time before gun control becomes a leading concern. I just don't think it will happen until after the pandemic has passed, our economy has recovered, and civil unrest in major cities has died down.
What do you think about the current gun rights situation in the US? Is there anything you would like to change?
I'm afraid that this will have to be the subject of another email, as my response would be at least as long (if not longer) than what I have already written, and we are dangerously close to your deadline.
For those curious about the last line: I received the email fairly late at night, with a request for a response by 10:30 am the following day; I emailed her that morning at 9:54 am.
Overall, I think that the article is a balanced (if 1,000 foot) look at American Second Amendment politics for a foreign audience.
