Cincinnati -(AmmoLand.com)- The incident at a Cincinnati field office of the FBI could have been much worse, but it also is a warning for Second Amendment supporters. We came very close to seeing the type of event that could target not just our Second Amendment rights but our First Amendment rights as well.
Think I’m exaggerating? Take a look at how MSNBC host Joe Scarborough dehumanized those who questioned Monday’s raid on Mar-a-Lago. He labeled them “conspiracy theorists,” “insurrectionists,” “weirdos,” “freaks,” and “fascists.” Given some of his anti-Second Amendment extremism, he figures that loyal Ammoland readers are that, too.
This is something that Second Amendment supporters will have to deal with and address. Yes, there have been massive abuses by federal agencies over the decades. Lon Horiuchi and Lois Lerner, among others, retired and collected pensions when they should have been fired and placed on trial for their actions to be judged by the juries of their peers.
But the past cannot be undone. It can only be remembered and learned from. And one thing the past has taught us is that government abuses often lead to some people deciding to take matters into their own hands. As abusive and norm-shattering as the Mar-a-Lago raid was, it did not justify taking a nail gun and a rifle to try to break into an FBI field office.
Already, anti-Second Amendment extremists are seizing on the incident in Cincinnati. Both Eric Swalwell and Zoe Lofgren have tried to claim criticism of the Mar-a-Lago raid incited the incident. That’s a patently false claim, of course, but it’s dangerous for us.
Why? Because while we’ve made advances, the mainstream media still dominates things. They can put wall-to-wall coverage of any event they want, and we have practically no recourse against such a move due to the same First Amendment that protects us.
We’re not helpless against this sort of manipulation. The best defense is to firmly disassociate from those who are urging violence, to back it up by saying something to the appropriate people and to document the times you did say something. It not only protects us from inaction, but it can also paint people like Swalwell and Lofgren as liars to our fellow Americans, whose support we must win in order to preserve our rights.
Second Amendment supporters seeking to defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists via the ballot box at the federal, state, and local levels have dodged a bullet. They need to be extremely vigilant so that the preservation of our rights doesn’t come in the aftermath of tragedy – or worse. Break the pattern.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
