Words Matter in the Fight for Gun Rights

by Joseph T Drammissi

Words are important. Words matter. To quote Tucker Carlson “language makes thought possible”. Words are needed to describe ideas. When those on the left make up new definitions for words in order to advance an agenda we are entering into a dangerous area.

San Francisco, once one of the most beautiful cities in the world, has deteriorated into an absolute nightmare on almost every level. From the overwhelming number of homeless, to the steadily increasing level of crime, to the number of drug addicts, to the filth and likely reintroduction of once eradicated diseases. All the result of disastrous policies of a far left city government.

So, what does a government do when its policies have literally destroyed the city it was entrusted to govern? It changes the words. If there is no word for “criminals” then we must not have crime.

This is exactly what the City of San Francisco has done. The City Board of Supervisors has decreed that there are no longer “convicted felons” in the city. Instead, those individuals will now be known as ‘justice involved individuals”. Drug addicts no longer exist in the city, instead we have “people with a history of substance use”. What this does, in addition to impeding rational thought, is create a moral equivalency. Criminals and victims are both justice involved individuals. Drug addicts and insulin dependent diabetics are both people with a history of substance use. No difference.

This approach has been used by gun control advocates to mislead the public for decades. In the latest twist, again brought to you by the wonderful leaders of San Francisco, the NRA has been branded a “domestic terrorist organization”. Mind you in reality the NRA is probably the oldest and most successful civil rights organization in the country.

I would argue that any sane American adult could tell the difference between a terrorist organization (Antifa for instance) and the NRA. Most fourth graders can tell the difference between a terrorist and someone whose opinion differs from yours. Apparently, that’s more difficult for those on the left.

Consider the following:

• Assault Rifle– A made up ominous term used to induce fear and confuse a misinformed public. What it actually describes is a modern sporting rifle design that has been around since the 1950s.
• Gun Violence Epidemic – There is no gun violence epidemic in America. About 0.003% of the population is murdered annually by people using firearms. That’s not an epidemic. What we do have are these tragedies exploited by the media for profit and used by left wing politicians for political purposes, but we don’t have an epidemic.
• Gun Lobby– From 2000 to 2018 gun interest groups (either pro or against) were not even in the top 50 interest groups donating to incumbent members of congress. Another misleading term meant to generate fear and the impression that gun rights groups somehow control congress.
• School Shootings– Wildly inflated numbers are created to mislead the public and generate fear making people more easily manipulated into supporting gun control laws. One report last year claimed 288 school shootings in America since 2009. These grossly inflated numbers are achieved by creating a new definition for school shootings that includes many incidents that normal Americans would not consider school shootings. For those interested in accurate numbers they can be found here.

The point of all this is that as normal Americans we have a choice to make. That choice is what kind of country do we want to live in. Do we want to live in a country where words have no meaning? Where differing opinions are stifled? Where Constitutional rights are meaningless? Or do we want to live in the country the Founding Fathers envisioned? The choice is ours.

When you’ve made your choice, you need to do a few things. Get involved. Become engaged. Educate yourself and others. The time for sitting back and letting others do the work (I don’t like politics; I just want to shoot my gun) is past. If you care about the future, you need to take part in creating it.

The right to self-defense is a basic human right. Gun ownership is an integral part of that right. If you want to keep your rights defend them by joining Riverside County Gun Owners (RCGO), the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Gun Owners of California (GOC), and Gun Owners of America (GOA). Join the fight and help us restore and preserve our second amendment rights. Together we will win.

©2019 Joseph T Drammissi