Charlottesville, Virginia, Mayor Michael Signer (D) attempted to suspend the rights of gun owners on Friday following the violence between Antifa and white supremacists on Aug. 12.
According to the Washington Post, Signer called on the Virginia state Legislature to convene a special session to pass new laws. Among the laws was the ability for local governments to suspend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners during risky public events such as protests.
The ability for local officials to remove Confederate statues and memorials was also included. Signer called these a "twisted totem" for white supremacists.
“Last weekend changed not only Charlottesville, but America,” Signer wrote in a six-page letter on how Charlottesville should proceed in the future. “While we are getting back on our feet, we are still traumatized. ... But we will overcome this hatred.”
Signer is striking a old Democratic iron while he believes it's hot. The suspension of gun rights has long been a top priority for many leftist politicians, and Signer — a member of Bloomberg's "Mayors Against Guns" — is demonstrating this splendidly.
The problem for Charlottesville's progressive mayor is that the statist cannot do away with the Constitution when it suits the statist. The Second Amendment cannot be ignored at a whim. The entire point of the Constitution is to prevent the government overreach that leads to control — much like the kind Signer is suggesting he be given.
The leftist assumption that guns are purely maliciously destructive is misguided and unsubstantiated. Simple internet searches reveal instances where firearms were used to defend innocent lives. The website Bearing Arms has an entire section of its site dedicated to the subject.
Furthermore, politicians looking to suspend the gun rights of citizens in the midst of protests or riots should proceed with caution. Firearms have been known to not only save lives when a mob is raging but also to prevent destruction.
Ask the Korean community of 1992's L.A. riots about how their guns deterred a rioting mob from approaching their stores as the city burned. Also, store owners were able to protect their stores from looting and destruction with firearms during the Ferguson riots of 2014.
While it's understandable that many would feel they are preventing harm by banning guns at a time with tensions are highest, stripping citizens of their Second Amendment rights won't stop death and destruction if someone is angry enough to commit it. There's a bloodied Dodge Challenger sitting in a secure impound lot in Charlottesville right now that is a testament to that.
(H/T: Bearing Arms)
