Jeff Flake’s gun control bill is nothing more than a two-for-one deal on our rights
Jun 22, 2016, 3:25 PM | Updated: 9:16 pm
FILE -- In this Aug. 15, 2012 file photo, three variations of the AR-15 assault rifle are displayed at the California Department of Justice in Sacramento, Calif. While the guns look similar, the bottom version is illegal in California because of its quick reload capabilities. Omar Mateen used an AR-15 that he purchased legally when he killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub over the weekend President Barack Obama and other gun control advocates have repeatedly called for reinstating a federal ban on semi-automatic assault weapons that expired in 2004, but have been thwarted by Republicans in Congress. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli,file)
(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli,file)
Arizona’s junior senator, Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), is making national headlines as the face of a new piece of legislation that is dubbed, “No fly, no buy.”
The Reader’s Digest version goes like this: If you are on the no-fly list, you will not be able to purchase a firearm in the United States.
But if you would like to challenge your placement on the list, you can hire an attorney and challenge. If you are lucky enough to win your case, the government will reimburse you.
So they are stripping you of your Second Amendment right by skirting your Fifth Amendment right. It’s another civil liberty two-for-one deal.
The best part is that it is being labeled as a common sense, bipartisan piece of legislation.
Let’s begin with common sense. I swear Thomas Paine is rolling in his grave.
Common sense to whom? Common sense has become the most played-out term in Washington, D.C. over the past seven years; just ahead of “It’s the right thing to do.”
Let me break out my political translator for you: Politically, “common sense” means “easy political win at the expense of our civil liberties.”
And now, bipartisanship.
Flake, just because you managed to twist the arms of four Democrats to get on board with gun control (of course, I am being sarcastic) does not make this a universally-accepted idea.
Oh, make no mistake: This bill will bring bipartisanship. And I mean two sides coming together in a union more shocking than Batman and the Joker.
I’m talking about the cats-living-with-dogs team of the ACLU and the NRA.
The NRA, of course, sees this for what it is: The government taking baby steps to slowly chip away at our rights to bear arms. They are right.
Why? Well, it usually comes back to those pesky final four words of the Second Amendment, “shall not be infringed.”
Just in case you haven’t looked it up, ACLU stands for American Civil Liberties Union. Yep, American civil liberties. They love nothing more than to take on shenanigan-laden legislation like this!
Flake’s bill is just another page out of Rahm Emmanuel’s playbook entitled, “Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste.”
