Lets be clear about something: if the headline of this article had been written 10 20 50 or 100 years ago it would have been true. The fight for the Second Amendment has been ongoing for many decades now. And its always be supremely important.Unfortunately the fight for the 2nd Amendment isnt front and center for the average American. Its not that average Americans are anti-Second Amendment. But only about a third of the population owns guns. So most Americans dont see how they have skin in the game when it comes to the fight for the Second Amendment.But all Americans do have skin in the game. The Second Amendment is important to everyone. Heres why it matters to everyone and why this issue is one of the most important issues today especially with the looming 2020 election.
The other amendments depend on the Second
Like the headline this might seem like another piece of old news. But in the past this statement had less tangible evidence to support it. Now there are more cases where we can see how things could go wrong.Universal background check laws have been passed in multiple states. To be fair these laws havent caused any serious constitutional violations.But in order to truly enforce universal background checks other constitutional amendments would need to occur.A violation of universal background check laws can happen anywhere. At your house. In your garage. Right now the only way to catch someone whos bought or sold a gun without going through the required process if a person gets caught with a gun they purchased that way or if someone reports an illegal firearm sale.But what happens when the universal background check laws dont have the desired effect? The intended outcome is that universal background checks reduce violent crime committed with firearms. If that doesnt happen theres going to be a next step. Gun control advocates arent just going to give up.One next step is more gun control lawswhich are problematic in their own right. The other option is more thorough enforcement of the existing background check laws.Thats where the potential violations of the Fourth Amendment are. In order to identify and enforce a crime that could happen in your home there would have to be some sort of government encroachment into that space.One potential outcome of stiffening universal background check laws is that possessing firearms or maybe even the suspected possession of firearms could be considered probable cause.Again to be clear as of right now this hasnt happened yet that we know of. But things can start sliding down a slippery slope if we dont pay attention.The formation of new laws and the enforcement of existing laws is often based heavily on the previous laws that have been passed and how laws have been enforced in the past. So the slippery slope here is real.To return to the original point though attempts to curtail the Second Amendment require breaches of the other amendments. And the Fourth Amendment is just one of them. Theres just not enough space here to explain all of the potential constitutional issues with infringement of the Second Amendment.But the U.S. Constitution applies to everyone not just those who may be actively exercising certain rights. Thats why battles over the Second Amendment do matter to everyone even those who dont own guns.
The end state of gun control is gun confiscation
This sounds alarmist. But unfortunately its true.Its not to say that every proponent of gun control has that goal right now or that all of them are nefariously hiding their true intentions.The reason the end state of gun control is gun confiscation is because the metrics that are used to justify gun control can only be lowered through mass removal of guns from the population.Think about it for a moment. The most common metrics are the number of gun deaths and the rate of gun violence. Even if the overall murder rate is reduced (which is a better metric for the effectiveness of gun control laws) the number of gun deaths might be unaffected because murders are committed with a lot of other tools.Since those metrics isolate violence performed with guns the only way to directly affect those metrics is by removing the guns from the equation.So whether or not the overall aim of gun control advocates is gun confiscation or theyve just mistakenly focused on the wrong numbers the end result is an attempt at gun confiscation. And thats because some form of confiscation is the only way to affect the variables theyre measuring.Whats more is that gun control has been successfully advanced in the United States. It certainly hasnt progressed as fast as it has in some other nations. But laws against short barreled rifles restrictions on suppressors the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 and other laws are all forms of gun control.Saying that the United States doesnt have gun control isnt even true at this point. And very rarely has the dial moved the other way. The closest we got was when the Assault Weapons Ban was allowed to lapse.With that in mind its reasonable to say that the possibility of attempted gun confiscation is possible. It wont happen tomorrow. But thats the direction things have been moving. And that worst case scenario is a logical conclusion of the methodology thats being employed by gun control proponents right now.
Why all this makes fighting for the Second Amendment important
All the points here may seem like old news. And they are. But fighting for the Second Amendment is critical right now because the things people say arent happening and the things we dont think are happening are actually happening.It may not go off the rails any time soon. Most of us wont even notice the universal background check laws in their current form. Very few politicians are actively advocating for gun confiscation.But we have to fight the fight thats going on right now. Because these small things are a rising tide. And if we find ourselves trying to vote down a law that would turn possessing a firearm into probable cause or stop a true gun confiscation act from passing its too late.
