Why banning bump stocks in Maine is a fraud

Let’s get right to the point. Banning lawful accessories like bump stocks for lawfully-owned semi-automatic firearms owned by law-abiding citizens won’t prevent a single school shooting. Not one. It also will not prevent deranged criminals from attempting acts of horrific violence, and it most certainly will not make a single child in a Gun Free School Zone one iota safer. Period.

You know why? Because criminals do not obey the law.

Yet, gun control advocates and the politicians they elect to further their attempts at eroding gun rights cannot grasp this very simple concept. More so, they believe accessories, magazines and the gun itself are the cause of these terrible acts – not the actors themselves.

It didn’t take long for anti-gun politicians in Augusta to try and find a way to further exploit the survivors of the Stoneham Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Tomorrow, the Legislative Council will consider whether or not to present a previously tabled bill banning bump stocks and two other anti-gun proposals to the full Maine Legislature this session. As former White House Chief of Staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste…”

Along with banning bump stocks, the Council may choose to present two other anti-gun measures. The first is banning magazines capable of holding an arbitrary number of rounds and the second is a proposal authorizing law enforcement to strip a citizen’s Second Amendment rights without due process under specified circumstances.

What do any of these measures have to do with protecting children? Nothing.

Rep. Scott Hamann, D-South Portland

Troy R. Bennett | BDN

In a recent article, Rep. Scott Hamann, D-South Portland, the bump stock bill sponsor, admitted as much, “I don’t want to suggest banning bump stocks are going to stop mass shootings but it’s a first step in the conversation around gun safety.”

House Speaker Sarah Gideon’s position on why, in light of the Parkland school shooting, the Maine bump stock ban is now crucial after being tabled months ago is even more disingenuous.

“This is an issue that is always important to us and to me personally, but the events in Parkland, Florida, last week created a space where everyone was listening to children’s voices in a different way” she added, “We want to make sure we are listening and responding.”

The truth of the matter is that anti-gunners will seize any opportunity to further their agenda, increment by increment; no matter how unethical and tawdry the method – especially when emotions are running high. Any crisis that may be utilized, regardless of how tenuous the connection may be, must not be wasted. In fact, it must be exploited to its full potential.

Gun control activists and anti-gun politicians love to scream, “We need to do something!” – and on that point they are right. But doing “anything” in the place of “something meaningful” is much the same as doing nothing at all when it comes to addressing the real problem of violent attacks on our schools: law enforcement failures, mental illness, political correctness and the creation of safe spaces for violent offenders to wreak havoc – otherwise known as Gun Free School Zones.

Rep. Hamann has set the bar very low in what he perceives to be the best course of action in protecting our kids and our schools when he said, “There’s been a wave of realization that banning bump stocks is the least we can do in light of the horrific shootings”

Really? The least we can do?

How about we try for the best we can do? Let’s start hardening these schools, repealing Gun Free School Zones and addressing real problems like mental health issues. But sadly, on these topics, the answer from gun control advocates is always the same – let’s find something to ban.

Nothing to see here folks, move along.

John Floyd

About John Floyd

John is a freelance writer and lives in northeast Maine. His background includes work as a hunting and fishing guide, certified firearms instructor and as a United States Army Non-commissioned Officer. He covers outdoors topics and the politics and policies that affect traditional, rural lifestyle. He can be reached at john@tuckerridge.me or on Facebook @writerjohnfloyd