{"id":616,"date":"2017-10-05T01:40:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T01:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/2017\/10\/05\/firearms-policy-coalition-statement-on\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T18:28:07","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:28:07","slug":"firearms-policy-coalition-statement-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/?p=616","title":{"rendered":"Firearms Policy Coalition Statement On Las Vegas Shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:8168,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.firearmspolicy.org\\\/firearms_policy_coalition_statement_on_las_vegas_shooting?e=8c40a9f7858ed9b88cf66dbc81a2fec8&amp;utm_source=firearmspolicycoalition&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=1003lv2&amp;n=1&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.firearmspolicy.org\\\/firearms_policy_coalition_statement_on_las_vegas_shooting?&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:8169,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.firearmspolicy.org\\\/?e=8c40a9f7858ed9b88cf66dbc81a2fec8&amp;utm_source=firearmspolicycoalition&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=1003lv2&amp;n=2&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.firearmspolicy.org\\\/?&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>\nThe Firearms Policy Coalition released the statement below yesterday. I think it makes some very pertinent points about civil liberties, civic virtue, trust in government, and opportunistic politicians.<\/p>\n<p>It is not a short statement meant to be a sound bite. It is a serious response that needs to be read and digested and then read again.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firearmspolicy.org\/firearms_policy_coalition_statement_on_las_vegas_shooting?e=8c40a9f7858ed9b88cf66dbc81a2fec8&amp;utm_source=firearmspolicycoalition&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=1003lv2&amp;n=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"FPC-Logo-black-OL.png\" shrinktofit=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net\/firearmspolicycoalition\/mailings\/2503\/attachments\/original\/FPC-Logo-black-OL.png?1507055597\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" title=\"FPC-Logo-black-OL.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our hearts break for the<br \/>\nvictims of the heinous mass murder in Las Vegas and our prayers are<br \/>\nwith them, their families, and everyone affected by this<br \/>\nincomprehensible act of evil. While it is impossible to measure the<br \/>\nloss suffered in Sunday\u2019s tragedy, the sting from this senseless<br \/>\nviolence will doubtless be felt for years to come.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nWe are deeply grateful for the law enforcement officers,<br \/>\nfirefighters, paramedics, nurses, doctors, blood donors, and countless<br \/>\nvolunteers who stood tall and delivered aid to the innocent in a time<br \/>\nof great need, as Americans do.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nSadly, opportunistic politicians who prey on tragedies like this<br \/>\none have already begun to suggest that our response should be to<br \/>\nabandon our constitutional principles in favor of policies that would<br \/>\nban more guns, disarm more victims, and further expand \u201cgun free<br \/>\nzones\u201d \u2014 spaces shielded by nothing more than invisible lines and<br \/>\nwishful thinking.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nSuch policies are not only irrational, but outright dangerous. As<br \/>\nevery attack in what was purported to be a \u2018gun-free\u2019, \u2018bomb-free\u2019, or<br \/>\n\u2018vehicle-free\u2019 zone proves, there is no set of laws that will prevent<br \/>\nevil people from monstrously plotting an effective means to harm<br \/>\nothers.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nIn a cruel and potentially dangerous irony, many\u2014if not most\u2014of the<br \/>\nsame people who assert that we cannot possibly trust the government<br \/>\nunder someone like President Donald Trump also claim that it<br \/>\nis&nbsp;<em>only<\/em>&nbsp;the government that we should trust to safely and<br \/>\nresponsibly possess weapons like the most common semi-automatic rifle<br \/>\nin America, the AR-15.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nWe know that the privileged and wealthy elite will purchase<br \/>\nparamilitary protective teams armed with the very firearms they so<br \/>\ndesperately wish to put out of the reach of the common man, but the<br \/>\nrest of us would be left to hope and pray.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nThat is why the Second Amendment\u2019s guarantees are not a matter of<br \/>\nconvenience, nor of need, nor even of want. The&nbsp;<em>basic<br \/>\nhuman<\/em>&nbsp;<em>right<\/em>&nbsp;to armed self-defense against unjust force<br \/>\nis precisely why our Founders enshrined it into our Constitution\u2014to<br \/>\nprotect it against the capricious nature of popular opinion, the<br \/>\nmomentum of the mob, and those who would seek to limit it to a<br \/>\nwatered-down, second-class privilege for some.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nThankfully, as the Supreme Court correctly noted in the<br \/>\nlandmark&nbsp;<em>Heller<\/em>&nbsp;decision, the \u201cvery enumeration of the right<br \/>\ntakes out of the hands of government\u2014even the Third Branch of<br \/>\nGovernment\u2014the power to decide on a case-by-case basis whether the<br \/>\nright is&nbsp;<em>really worth<\/em>insisting upon.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nNearly 15 years ago, the Ninth Circuit\u2019s then-Chief Judge Alex<br \/>\nKozinski aptly wrote that the \u201cprospect of tyranny may not grab the<br \/>\nheadlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do. But few saw<br \/>\nthe Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is<br \/>\na doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare<br \/>\ncircumstances where all other rights have failed \u2014 where the<br \/>\ngovernment refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who<br \/>\nprotest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no<br \/>\none to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies<br \/>\nmay seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get<br \/>\nto make only once.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nEvery day, evil people and governments around the world employ<br \/>\ntools ranging from clenched fists to combat aircraft to perpetrate<br \/>\nunspeakable and unjustified crimes upon others. But objectivity and<br \/>\nreason compels us to recognize that those instruments are but the<br \/>\nmeans to the end, and not the end itself. Indeed, the span of human<br \/>\nhistory shows that such arms are also used to liberate the oppressed,<br \/>\nestablish order and justice from anarchy, and defend innocent life<br \/>\nfrom cruel despots.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nThe American people will not be bullied by killers or politicians<br \/>\nand neither will we cower against attacks on our most important civil<br \/>\nrights. We reject the notion that good, peaceable people and our basic<br \/>\nrights must suffer for the crimes of the wicked.<br \/>\nThere is no more pure a victory for evil than for our society to<br \/>\nassault or eliminate the rights of good people in response to things<br \/>\nwe did not do. And so a just world must hold accountable the writers<br \/>\nof history for their deeds, not the mere quills through which it is<br \/>\nwritten.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nWe law-abiding people of America do not accept responsibility for<br \/>\nthe evil, cowardly acts of the deranged and hateful among us, nor do<br \/>\nwe accept blame for their unconscionable and cowardly uses of<br \/>\ninstruments that can and do serve as instruments of self-defense and<br \/>\njustice.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nA great champion of individual liberties once said that if civic<br \/>\nvirtue does not reside in the people, no constitution, no bill of<br \/>\nrights, no legislative body, and no court will be able to preserve our<br \/>\nliberties.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nThat is why, in troubled and troubling times like these, we are<br \/>\nhonor-bound to stand united in defense of fundamental, individual<br \/>\nliberties, in all cases, and in spite of the incalculable grief we<br \/>\nfeel for the victims of Las Vegas as fellow human beings.&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nFirearms Policy Coalition takes seriously our chartered duty to<br \/>\nprotect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially<br \/>\nthe fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear<br \/>\narms&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\nFPC and our allies will continue fighting to defend and advance our<br \/>\nConstitution\u2019s protection of fundamental human<br \/>\nrights.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\n<br \/>\n<strong>Firearms Policy<br \/>\nCoalition<\/strong>&nbsp;(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firearmspolicy.org\/?e=8c40a9f7858ed9b88cf66dbc81a2fec8&amp;utm_source=firearmspolicycoalition&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=1003lv2&amp;n=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.firearmspolicy.org<\/a>)<br \/>\nis a 501(c)4 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPC\u2019s mission is to<br \/>\nprotect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially<br \/>\nthe fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear<br \/>\narms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Firearms Policy Coalition released the statement below yesterday. I think it makes some very pertinent points about civil&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37,1401],"class_list":["post-616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-firearms-policy-coalition","tag-las-vegas-mass-casualty-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11187,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions\/11187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}