Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) is claiming today that Congress shouldn’t pass any gun control measures, because they can’t stop terrorists from getting guns.
Transcript of Sen. Inhofe on Laura Ingraham’s radio show via Think Progress:
INGRAHAM: What do you say to Joe Scarborough, all these other people who say, under your theory Senator Inhofe, a terrorist — someone in the country who wants to be a terrorist — nothing is stopping him from going into a gun show and getting a gun from a none licensed dealer….
INHOFE: Well, the terrorist, they are a part of, not by definition part of a criminal, because they are terrorists, but I would say the same thing is true for terrorists that is for criminals. And that is, if someone in the United States of America or any other place too the criminal element or the terrorist element they will be able to get those. The problem I have is that any restrictions, such as the ones we voted against last week, would have the effect of reducing the number of firearms nationwide and would disproportionately reduce them for law abiding citizens, that’s what I would say to Joe Scarborough.
Sen. Inhofe’s talking point came straight from the NRA’s claim that even with gun control, criminals will still get guns, so any gun control measures will only harm law abiding citizens.
Using this logic people will still die in auto accidents, so we don’t need seatbelt laws. Drivers still speed, so speed limits only punish law abiding citizens by forcing them to drive slower.
The NRA has repeatedly opposed, and successfully defeated through their Republican congressional allies, legislation that would prevent people on the terror watch list from legally buying firearms. The fact that Republicans are claiming that the FBI dropped the ball on the Boston bombing suspects, while at the same time refusing to do anything that would make it more difficult for a terrorist to buy guns, is an interesting contradiction. Republicans are willing to blame intelligence agencies for anything that goes wrong, but are unwilling to pass legislation that would provide the agencies more data and intelligence. (Note: the Boston bombers were not on the terror watch list.)
In the general sense, Sen. Inhofe is correct. Criminals who really want guns will get them, but shouldn’t those weapons be as difficult as possible for criminals or terrorists to purchase? Why are Republicans and the NRA insisting on making it easy for people who want to kill Americans to legally buy weapons?
Second Amendment rights don’t come before an individual’s unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Second Amendment came from man, but according to the Declaration of Independence, unalienable rights come from our Creator. To put this in terms that even Republicans can understand, Creator > a terrorist’s Second Amendment rights.
By framing the issue in absolutes, either a terrorist can or can’t buy a gun, Sen. Inhofe dodged the larger question. Why are a minority of US Senators making sure that it remains easy for terrorists to legally buy guns?
Despite the fact that their constituents are punishing many Republicans who voted against background checks, Sen. Jim Inhofe continues to push the NRA’s agenda.
Image: Wall Street Manna
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