OpsLens

Post Election – The Whining, the Assaults, and the Anti-Gun Lobby

By Chris Wagoner:

Since the election, I have been doing a lot of reading, and I must admit “grading” and often chuckling to myself. The comments on many of the pages I read having come most often from those who were not Donald Trump supporters. The angry protests in various cities across the country, the students in our illustrious colleges in need of counseling because of their emotional trauma resulting from the election, I find it all rather funny that none of this occurred during the last two elections. Yet now that the shoe is on the other foot, the outpouring of emotions has required an increase in the number of counselors on college campuses. Give me a break.

What I found very interesting are the comments made by some out there who are anti-Trump and anti-firearms. These people now, suddenly, want to go out and shoot or protest or riot. The very things these people were saying scared them prior to election day are now the very things they have no problem themselves doing after it. Really? So because your candidate loses an election it is okay to threaten to kill people, now it is ok for you to buy a firearm, and you want to act out and do those things that you supposedly despised about the other side before the election. I read on one of the groups a person who previously was anti-gun, literally came out and said that they are now going to go out and buy guns, get some training, and carry a gun because they no longer feel safe walking around with all of the other people who have guns. And went on to say, that more people will have guns now that Trump was elected. This person stated he now doesn’t feel safe, he’s going to buy a firearm and also carry it so that he feels safer while out and about. That’s the same reason that most other people before the election were carrying firearms. Welcome to the world of self-defense!

What I see in the Facebook groups, the Twitter realm and other online places is not necessarily a reversal of roles, because those prior to the election that were of this mindset still are, but I am seeing a whole new group of people who are talking about arming themselves and doing harm to others because of their political views or the outcome of a political election. I don’t remember seeing this type of talk from the right over the last couple of elections. So why now? Well simply put, it’s because those that lost were used to getting their way and now that they’re not, they don’t feel “safe.” To them, that is reason enough to go out and riot, cause harm to other people, and be exactly what they supposedly stood against before the election.

I have to laugh when I read the postings about how the right is going to try and cram new gun legislation through to give people more rights to carry firearms. That’s looking at it all wrong! You’re not “getting” people more rights by passing less restrictive gun legislation; you are giving people back their rights that were taken away from them over the last several decades. Gun control is a misnomer and really should be labeled for what it is, anti-gun laws. Anti-gun laws are those types of laws that restrict a United States citizen’s right to keep and bear arms not only in their home, but on their person, for self-protection purposes. I must compose myself and be very careful how I answer some people when attending and debating for gun rights. When I hear someone ask me, “why do you need a gun to protect yourself?” I find the simple answer is “because the bad guys have guns and I can’t carry a cop in my back pocket all the time, they’re just too heavy.” Remember that law enforcement is not designed to be proactive as much as it is reactive. Meaning that the cops don’t come until after most incidents are already over or have taken place and someone has been injured or killed. I don’t want to have to wait for the police to show up, even though I was one, because I know in that period of waiting for them, the life and death actions and situations can and do happen.

So now, many people who never thought of owning and carrying a firearm before seem to be considering it. Just like after the pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando Florida, we saw a huge increase in that area and throughout Florida in the number of people wanting to join pro-firearms LGBT groups like the Pink Pistols. People who would never have thought of carrying a firearm before, now resultant of an incident directly affecting them or acknowledging they are a perceived demographic of society that was or could be targeted, these people now want to be able to protect themselves. So my answer to them Is ”now you finally get it!”

And to those on the left who are still upset about the election, take a note from the other side’s history lessons. Get over it! And if you feel the need to buy a firearm to protect yourself from those gun-loving, redneck, right-wing nut bag people like me, you are looking at the wrong group. What you should be thinking is that you need to protect yourself from those that are rioting and destroying people’s property, and dragging people out of their cars and beating them because they support one or another political party. You finally are beginning to see the same issues that those on the right have been seeing for years and trying to do something about it.

So I guess what I am trying to say is if you are now considering purchasing a firearm and carrying one because of the outcome of the recent election or things that you now perceive as being threatening, you are now no better than the gun-loving, redneck, right-wing nut jobs that you supposedly are trying to protect yourself from. We are not the enemy. We are all Americans and our only enemies are the criminals that would take your life, the life of a loved one, your property or your money from you. And of course, I have to welcome you to the world of self-protection and self-reliance. Next, you will tell me you want to be able to take care of yourself and your family without the help or assistance of the new Trump government! No? Well, I can always hope.

Chris Wagoner is a Senior OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran . He has been in law enforcement the last 35+ years. He specializes in LE Firearms Instruction, and is in charge of a large Police Academy in North Florida. In his spare time Chris is a freelance Military Reporter and owner/founder of the Largest Military Videos Channel on YouTube “3rdID8487”.