Voice of America-Public Domain

And there I was, a grin going from one earlobe to the other. I felt.. magnificent! Not because it was 9:15AM on my day off and I’d just finished my morning coffee (and dealt with the fallout). No, it was because in my newsfeed was the headline that President Trump was proposing a heavy regulation or outright ban on bump fire devices, often labeled “bump stocks.” I wasn’t grinning because some statist blowhard wants to disarm me (supposedly right before he protects the fucking shit right out of me….), but because I can now finally prove to my Trump supporting friends he is no different than a Democrat (where it counts anyway).

So far, most (that I know) were silent or admitted the President was wrong. I did, however, speak to one friend who was okay with it, citing a need for the President to compromise. Normally, I would be all for President Trump compromising (with anyone), but this isn’t ‘normally,’ this is the Second Amendment baby! It (along with the first) are the two things that set us apart from any other country. In this country, you can say whatever you want (barring the whole “yelling fire in a theatre” scenario) and you can arm yourself to the teeth (depending on the state) in order to defend yourself (including defending yourself from the state).

Another interesting conversation I had was with a military man. He seemed to know very little about bump fire devices. I do not say this as a discredit to the man, as he served honorably (I believe he is still in reserves). I say this out of general concern for how well equipped we are even making our young men and women that we send into battle. And I think it once again identifies the need for a renewed conversation in military spending. I’d like to know why our soldiers can operate million dollar equipment but are unclear on how to operate a device that costs the average citizen $100.

Now before I go any further, let’s first look at what a “bump stock” actually is. It is properly called a “bumping” device or a “bump-fire” device. Now, I have never used one of these and am no expert. What I am about to say (type?) is from research done on the internet that admittedly began with Wikipedia (but went onward quickly from there). Essentially, it uses the momentum of the firearms own recoil to accelerate how fast the shooter can manipulate an otherwise semi-automatic weapon… as I understand it. When you release the trigger, the gun stops, same as if it was unaltered. (The aforementioned ‘military man’ was unclear on that point.)

From what I’ve seen online (YouTube), it works! But much like we have seen with organized crime shooting at our law enforcement officers with FULLY automatic weapons, putting a ban on these things only increases the accessibility of said weapons to criminals. The criminals are now twice as powerful as before, as they now own the instruments of aggression and control access to any chance of being able to oppose them. And even if you DO get one of them to sell you a firearm as a means of defense, you’re now a criminal for your efforts. (And the American Left wonders why I use the drug war as an example.)

But this isn’t about that. Everything to say about this subject has been said. Arguments have been made, and now laws will or will not pass. But unlike past mass shootings under a Republican president, Trump is actually PROPOSING regulations that would make bump stock devices illegal.

I wonder what that feels like (for ‘2nd Amendment’ Trump supporters)? I kind of know what it feels like. After Senator Paul failed in the primaries and I switched to Gary Johnson, some of the stuff the intelligent but often goofy former governor said was a bit unnerving, but nothing that was directly anti Second Amendment for cryin’ out loud!

So now what? Well, for starters, we need to be able to reconcile with repentant Trump supporters who are willing to recognize they made a mistake with their vote and to simply forgive those who are now making excuses for the man.

The second thing we need to do is pressure Attorney General Jeff Sessions to set the written proposal from President Trump on fire and mail the ashes back to him. If he doesn’t, then we can assume he has given up on a principle that forms a vertebra in the very spine of what actually makes America great. In fact, every string of conservatism, good or bad, should be denouncing president Trump‘s bullshit for what it is; authoritarian, statist, nonsense!

But there is one thing we must NOT do… let the world forget that we prophesied this, we told THE WORLD this was going to happen.

Whether we voted for Gary Johnson, Evan McMullin, wrote in Ron Paul or simply protested by not voting at all, we all saw the writing on the wall. We knew… we knew that Donald Trump was a shady man with a lifetime full of questionable moral choices and appeals to larger government. And we were ridiculed for our choice… hard! Let us not forget that! People laughed at us as they cast their vote for the “conservative” choice while we “threw our votes away”…

So, to my Trump supporting friends, I ask; Do you still feel that way?

I would also add to that, and ask; Do you care about the Second Amendment?

It’s fine if you don’t. If nationalism was the reason for the vote than admit it. I may not agree with your reason but I will respect you far more than if you try and spin what President Trump is trying to do as a positive for gun rights.

And I would also like to invite my Trump supporting friends, now ready to denounce him, to continue to support Trump’s policies (that are pro-liberty) while the man is in office. Just because you are ready to support a change in 2020 doesn’t mean anyone expects you to hurt chances at progress now.

What it comes down to now is a defining moment though, because it is a line in the sand. It is the line where on one side you choose freedom over safety and on the other you choose tyranny and control over liberty. If you continue to support President Donald Trump from this point forward (as far as advocating his GOP nomination in 2020), you need to be prepared to defend that… and I for one have a hard time understanding how anyone will be able to logically do that.