Republicans are going to host a really cringe event at the Kansas State Capitol today
Opinion/2A - 5 minute read
Today at 10 a.m. Kansans—and more specifically Kansans who are Republican—will be gathering at the Kansas State Capitol for a ‘Legislative Day of Action for the 2nd Amendment.’ This event is hosted by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Kansas State Rifle Association (KSRA). According to the event’s description these two groups will partner with “other Second Amendment organizations” to make their voices heard.
This event is in response to Governor Laura Kelly vetoing two bills. The first bill was the Eddie Eagle Firearm Safety bill. The other was a KSRA-backed bill that would lower the cost of a lifetime hunting and fishing license for those 15 years and under to $500.
Personally, I have a couple of problems here that I want my more conservative readers to understand. Due to me being so pro-Second Amendment, I have issues with this event.
The Eddie Eagle Firearm Safety bill was terrible
HB 2304 would have made it so that if a school wanted to teach children gun safety, they could. That is awesome. Teaching gun safety helps prevent accidents. This bill sucks, however, because if schools want to teach gun safety they would have to, by law, use the NRA’s Eddie Eagle Gunsafe program for grades K-5. By the time students are in grades 6-8, schools would get to be a little more diverse in their choices on how to educate students on gun safety by either going with the Eddie Eagle program or the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks program offered, obviously, by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. By the time students are grades 9-12, schools would only be able to offer gun safety through the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks program.
So, why is this a bad thing? The reality is, if a program is actually good, it will not need to be forced by law to be used. These would be the programs schools would be forced to use even if a better program from a completely different organization came out next year. This is strictly partisan politics for the NRA to receive more money through tax dollars. The NRA advertises the program as “free for schools” but it’s free through grant funding. This takes me to my next point.
The NRA is NOT pro-Second Amendment
Recently, the NRA had their 2023 NRA Convention where they had a speaker who was terrible for the Second Amendment. I’m talking about former President Donald Trump.
“As a candidate in 2016, I promised you that I would save your Second Amendment from absolute obliteration,” Trump said at the convention. “That’s where it was going. And as your president, that’s exactly what I did. We saved our Second Amendment, and we’re going to save it for a long time to come. It’s under siege, but we’re going to save it for a long time to come. Forever, as far as I’m concerned. Forever. Thank you very much.”
This was absolutely blood boiling to hear from Trump. For those who may not remember, Trump actually bragged about his administration’s record for prosecuting people who violated federal gun laws, stating, “Last year, we prosecuted a record number of firearms offenses.”
He also enacted a bump stock ban, his administration urged the Supreme Court to withhold Second Amendment rights from two Pennsylvania men who were convicted of nonviolent crimes over 20 years ago, he’s for background checks, stating, “I think background checks are important. I don’t want to put guns into the hands of mentally unstable people or people with rage or hate, sick people. I don’t want to—I’m all in favor of it.”
And let’s not forget what he said in a meeting with lawmakers on how the government should take guns early before any due process back in 2018.
“I like taking the guns early, like in this crazy man’s case that just took place in Florida. He had a lot of firearms. They saw everything. To go to court would have taken a long time. So you could do exactly what you’re saying, but take the guns first, go through due process second.”
These are just a few things, but I hope this shows that Trump is just a talking head for Republicans to salivate over as he gaslights the public about how he’s “so pro-Second Amendment.” This is my problem with the NRA. It isn’t about being pro-Second Amendment, it’s just a Republican shill organization, and if you support it, I’m not convinced that you actually understand self-defense rights. Two of my biggest issues with the NRA is the fact that they do not stand up for the Second Amendment rights of Black people and they often times take the side of police against gunowners. The NRA sucks so bad at defending Second Amendment rights that other pro-Second Amendment organizations have started coming into existence to pull the weight the NRA doesn’t bother to carry.
Conclusion
While I am all for cheaper lifetime hunting and fishing licenses (in fact, make it free for all people, licenses are oppressive) and educating children about firearm safety, it is for the reasons above I’m not interested in the event that will be occurring today at the Capitol.
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