“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda.
Despite the demonstrable and abject failure of 50 plus years of gun control in the United States of America, like the clinically insane, progressive politicians attempt to repeat the same actions hoping for different results.
Consider if you will Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. The strictest gun control in the U.S., save perhaps Washington ,D.C., and the murder rate exceeds that of nations at war. Consider any holiday weekend in Chicago. After record-breaking bloodshed, progressive politicians and their minions scream for more “reasonable gun control.” Apparently the hundreds of laws in place cannot stop thugs and vermin from killing, but one more law will.
Image source: YouTube
Consider the glittering jewel of gun control that is the modern United Kingdom. American liberals hold England as the model by which we should mold U.S. gun policy. What they neglect to tell you is that disarmed British subjects are 10 times more likely to be victims of home invasion (not burglary, invasion of an occupied home) than are people in the United States. British criminals have little to nothing to fear from disarmed subjects.
In fact, the presence of an armed populace has the exact opposite effect to what the state supposes. The Crime Prevention Research Center conducted exhaustive research that showed, with facts and numbers, not emotion, that the more citizens carrying guns, the fewer violent crimes there were.
Most recently, information about the number of concealed carry permit holders in the U.S. was compared directly to the FBI Uniform Crimes Statistics. Concealed carry in America is at an all-time high - and, according to the FBI, violent crime is at a 15-year low.
With the script and speeches already written, progressive politicians wait patiently for the next heinous criminal act. Before the blood is dry on the ground, they run for the microphones to call for “reasonable gun control” and “greater restrictions.” All the while giving a pass to the human being that committed the act. It is as though the actual human monster who did the killing was a victim of the Svengali-like seduction of an evil instrument.
However, when they realize that they are polling poorly and are preceived as unlikable and untrustworthy, slick politicians reach out to those whose faces the public associates with “positive” feelings and emotions.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and comedian Amy Schumer hold a joint press conference announcing plans to crackdown on mass shootings and gun violence on August 3, 2015 in New York City. This comes in the wake of the recent shooting in Louisiana. (Photo by Steve Sands/WireImage)
New York Sen. Charles Schumer, a career politician who never met a gun control bill he didn’t like, realizing that his “likeability” factor with the masses is low, enlisted a currently popular Hollywood face to support his never ending civilian disarmament goal. Amy Schumer, younger cousin of the senator, has joined the chorus of paid-pretenders who wish to convince you, the great unwashed, that just a little bit more gun control and a few more reasonable restrictions will prevent violent crime and tragedy in America.
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over” - Goebbels
Like Goebbels advised, the modern progressive keeps the talking points simple and repeats them ad nauseam until they accidentally become a part of the discussion and the culture.
“Gun violence” is one of the most deliberately deceptive terms propagated in the progressive conversation.
It is as though Americans are supposed to forget that a criminal monster was holding the firearm when it was used during a violent crime. By using the term “gun violence” we move the argument away from the actual human and toward an inanimate object. Dealing with career criminals and thugs is difficult and requires guts. However, attacking the existance of an object requires no courage at all.
How could any reasonable person disagree with that? It is a meaningless platitude, but it is simple and hard to argue against. Who is going to come out and say “No, enough is not enough!”? No one, that’s who.
“Enough is enough” is akin to other meaningless phrases like “end racism,” as if there is a “begin racism” organization that must be combated.
When faced with the unarguable failure of “gun free zones,” restrictive ownership licenses and permits, increasing background checks, and other invasions of privacy, the progressive left has only one card to play: Emotion. Bring out a popular Hollywood face and have them read your script with the practiced emotion they get paid big money to produce on cue.
As Goebbels knew so well, the truth is the enemy of the progressive state. If the great unwashed ever took a moment to park their emotions and consider the total and complete failure of stated purpose of gun control, the lie would fail. Therefore it is critically important to repeat the same simple phrases over and over and, whenever possible, have the words come from the lips of a young, popular woman.
Paul Markel is the host of Student of the Gun Radio and TV as well as the author of the new book "Faith and the Patriot: a Belief worth Fighting for" available on Amazon.com
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