The words of America’s 40th president on the Second Amendment are perhaps more relevant today than when he first spoke them.
Despite being hit by a would-be assassin’s bullet on March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was a firm supporter of citizens’ constitutionally-protected right to bear arms, as well as a proponent of the NRA, declaring “important principles may and must be inflexible.”
Speaking at an annual banquet of the National Rifle Association in 1983, President Reagan asserted that gun control laws only limit law-abiding citizens’ capacity for self-defense.
“It’s a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun control laws. I happen to know this from personal experience,” he remarked, referring to the assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr.
Addressing NRA members specifically, President Reagan said:
“You live by Lincoln’s words: ‘Important principles may and must be inflexible.’ … The NRA believes that America’s laws were made to be obeyed, and that our constitutional liberties are just as important today as 200 years ago.
“And, by the way, the Constitution does not say that government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'”
The conservative president dismissed charges from gun control activists who claim that gun ownership “encourages a violent, shoot-em-up society.”
According to President Reagan, most violent crimes “are not committed by decent, law-abiding citizens, but by career criminals.”
For him, the solution was not to be tougher on guns, but on criminals themselves.
“Locking the hardcore criminals up and throwing away the key is the best gun control law we could ever have,” he said, to immense applause.
Like many Second Amendment supporters, President Reagan believed the right to bear arms is essential to keeping a nation free.
“If fascism ever comes to America, it will come in the name of liberalism,” he argued on another occasion.
“The Gipper,” was known for his sense of humor, even joking upon being shot that he hoped the doctors treating him were “all Republicans.”
Anniversary of the assassination attempt against President Reagan today. As he was moved onto the operating table at the hospital, Reagan said to the doctors "Please tell me you're all Republicans."
Dr. Joseph Giordano, a Democrat, said, "We're all Republicans today."
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 30, 2018
But President Reagan took seriously the threat of Americans eroding their own liberties. His warning about fascism is not far buried beneath a chilling quote by Adolf Hitler in “Mein Kampf.”
“The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.”
Isn’t arguable that liberal fascists are today using children as human shields to advance a gun control agenda?
Since last month’s shooting in Parkland, the left-leaning media has given an unprecedented platform to teenage students heralded as authorities who, due to their “victim” status, are far beyond any reproach.
Should anyone question or criticize David Hogg and his classmates, the left screeches in outrage: “How dare you attack children?”
These “kids” have non-partisans terrified. Just look at how quickly companies were willing to cut ties with Laura Ingraham after she had the audacity to write something mildly negative about Hogg.
President Reagan may not have known the details, but he knew this was looming on the horizon. Fascism has arrived in America, and its slogan is “think about the children.”
*Any op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BizPac Review.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
