{"id":97421,"date":"2023-11-03T15:48:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T20:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=97421"},"modified":"2023-11-03T15:48:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T20:48:35","slug":"97421","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=97421","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/11\/01\/an-america-without-gun-rights-would-look-like-mexico-not-australia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">An America Without Gun Rights Would Look Like Mexico, Not Australia<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Every mass shooting inevitably leads those on the left to call for a ban on \u201cassault weapons,\u201d and this time is no different. Thus begins the barrage of calls for \u201csensible gun laws\u201d on social media, from network pundits, and via Vice President Kamala Harris herself, using Australia or New Zealand as the models. These unarmed countries, they tell us, prove you can strip citizens of their ability to own firearms and live in a nonviolent utopia. Is that the likely outcome of such a ban in America?<\/p>\n<p>Thought experiment, leaving aside the issue of a right enshrined in the Constitution: If Americans allow their firearms to be outlawed and then confiscated, would we in fact, become like Australia or New Zealand?<\/p>\n<p>If we gave up AR-15s and then a mass shooting took place where a semi-automatic handgun was used, opponents of gun rights would take those too \u2014 the same with a shooter with a hunting rifle, then a shooter with a shotgun, and on and on. We know where this leads. It can\u2019t end with \u201cmilitary style\u201d firearms. A confiscation of AR-15s would eventually lead to a complete ban on almost every gun. How long would that take? Five years, 10 years? It wouldn\u2019t take very long once the ball is rolling and mass shooters move to handguns and shotguns, which would quickly be banned as the public\u2019s demand for \u201csafety\u201d would be too much for politicians to stand against.<\/p>\n<p>Cut to a Republican senator being interviewed on CNN the day after a mass shooting where a 9mm handgun was used:\u00a0<em>Senator, just a few months ago you voted to ban AR-15s because scores of children were killed in a school shooting. Today, with more dead children, you won\u2019t support the banning of semi-automatic handguns? How can you tell those parents why the shooter was able to legally obtain a Glock 19 that, like the AR-15s that you voted to ban, allowed the shooter to fire many rounds and reload in a matter of seconds? What\u2019s the difference, senator? Do those dead children think it was better to be shot by a handgun rather than a long gun? Senator?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That lawmaker would crumble, and so would others. What would we be left with? A technical right to keep and bear arms that practically renders that right meaningless.<\/p>\n<p>How do we know this? We know this because we have seen this before in Mexico.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mexico\u2019s Experience<\/h2>\n<p>California has more people than Australia and New Zealand combined, in addition to a plethora of other geographic and population traits that make those countries a silly comparison. As an aside, ask any leftist if they would adopt those countries\u2019 immigration policies in return for their gun policies. Mexico is the best example of what the U.S. would look like if the banning of firearms were to take place. Both countries have a long history of their citizens owning firearms, as they have been constitutionally guaranteed since their founding. Mexico is also a more similar country in terms of population, size, and current crime issues.<\/p>\n<p>In 1857, Mexico had a constitutional\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/fedsoc.org\/fedsoc-review\/mexico-s-federal-law-of-firearms-and-explosives\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">right<\/a>\u00a0to bear arms, then in 1917 the country excluded weapons that were reserved for military branches only and added additional restrictions, and today\u00a0the right to have a firearm is restricted to your home. In 1968, in response to civil unrest, the Mexican government established a Federal Arms Registry that resulted in the following: handguns in .380 or smaller, and 12 gauge (or smaller) shotguns and rifles that use less than .30 caliber are legal. Citizens have to go to a military base to apply for a permit and if one is issued, guns can only be purchased at one store in Mexico City run by the Mexican military.<\/p>\n<p>I bet there isn\u2019t a cartel member in Mexico whose gun conforms to restrictions, let alone that he has a permit. In a country of more than 100 million people, only 4,300 permits have been issued. No surprise they are reserved for the wealthy, the politically connected, and the bodyguards who protect them.<\/p>\n<p>Has the tradeoff in Mexico made the country safer and more law-abiding? Hardly. The murder rate per million people is 218.49; that\u2019s five times higher than the United States. For a never-ending parade of statistics regarding gun violence in Mexico versus the United States, click\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationmaster.com\/country-info\/compare\/Mexico\/United-States\/Crime\/Violent-crime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just the gun stats. Mexico is a corrupt nation, held hostage by drug cartels and compromised politicians. The average citizen cannot legally possess a firearm to deter the criminal who possesses a firearm illegally. Corrupt law enforcement and the bribed politicians will protect the criminal, not the average law-abiding citizen. Honest law enforcement officers live in constant fear of reprisals on themselves and their families for good reason.<\/p>\n<p>The AP\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumnews1.com\/ap-top-news\/2021\/05\/30\/in-mexico-cartels-are-hunting-down-police-at-their-homes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>\u00a0in May of 2021, \u201cThe cartel kidnapped several members of an elite police force in the state of Guanajuato, tortured them to obtain names and addresses of fellow officers and is now hunting down and killing police at their homes, on their days off, in front of their families.\u201d Judges, prosecutors, and politicians face the same: See examples\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.banderasnews.com\/0802\/nr-judgetargets.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/05\/30\/americas\/mexico-political-killings-intl\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>. 2022 was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/mexico-deadliest-country-journalists-2022-watchdog-2022-12-14\/\">reportedly<\/a>\u00a0the fourth year in a row that Mexico was ranked the most dangerous country for reporters. The Wall Street Journal also shed light on the state of elections\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-narco-threat-to-mexican-democracy-election-fraud-cartel-drug-trafficking-fentanyl-amlo-ine-morena-party-organization-of-american-states-crime-2b979edf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>\u00a0as a result of rampant cartel influence.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Would Happen in the U.S.?<\/h2>\n<p>If there were a successful effort to ban the majority of firearms in the U.S., it would eventually turn us into Mexico. Only criminals, the wealthy, the politically connected, and the bodyguards who protect them would own firearms. Well-armed criminals would operate with impunity, and inevitably corruption would encroach on every law enforcement agency in the country and then into the courts.<\/p>\n<p>Like Mexico, our rate of murders and violent incidents would rise, not fall, as a result of gun bans. The reason cartels flood the U.S. with people and fentanyl and not guns is because there is no money in smuggling weapons \u2014 until we ban them, and then Mexican cartels would become the unofficial supplier of firearms to America. Times change, human nature does not.<\/p>\n<p>Law-abiding firearm owners in America know the left isn\u2019t concerned about criminals owning and using guns during the commission of crimes. We know this because left-leaning district attorneys routinely reduce the very gun charges they championed to make sure repeat offenders avoid lengthy prison sentences. Don\u2019t think for one minute they won\u2019t do the same if firearms become illegal. If Republican politicians had half of a brain, they would demand that any restriction on firearms be paired with a zero discretion policy, meaning the charges could not be reduced.<\/p>\n<p>The right likes to invoke the memory of Jews being disarmed under Hitler before the atrocities began, but a better comparison is found by gazing over the unbuilt fence at our southern neighbor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An America Without Gun Rights Would Look Like Mexico, Not Australia Every mass shooting inevitably leads those on the left to call for a ban on \u201cassault weapons,\u201d and this time is no different. Thus begins the barrage of calls for \u201csensible gun laws\u201d on social media, from network pundits, and via Vice President Kamala &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=97421\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,29,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rkba","category-safety","category-self-defense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97422,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97421\/revisions\/97422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}