Women, BIPOC, Ethnic Minorities, and LGBTQ+ communities aren’t cosplaying Rambo. Mislabeling standard capacity magazines as “high-capacity” is malicious framing for Jim Crow politicians.

Matt Driscoll’s sad opinion piece in the Tacoma News Tribune is typical of every anti-human rights prohibitionist that attempts to deny equal access to tools for self-defense to diverse communities not only from abusers, but also from those who prey on the defenseless.

This isn’t the first time the Washington State 2A community has come together to fight the bigoted Jim Crow era gun control bills, nor will this be the last. Now, myself and others are showing Washington residents exactly what the employees of the News Tribune (as well as the Seattle Times) are supporting in the State Legislature:

Racist and bigoted laws that violate human and civil rights.

We are getting that message out, and the Legislature is feeling the pressure. You have to wonder why the news media is refusing to report that record levels of Washington residents are voicing opinions against gun control bills. We’ve broken records for the number of citizens signing in opposed for every gun bill hearing this session. In fact, with nearly 15,000 people signing in AGAINST the SB 5078 banning magazines, we nearly tripled the previous record citizen engagement on the bill to limit Inslee’s executive power.

National support for gun control is at an all-time low, even with Democrat control of both houses. Gun control in any form in Washington State is neither wanted nor supported. There is no “obsession” with firearms as indicted by the survey to which Mark. Which, by the way, is sponsored by various gun control foundations that cannot afford to report anything other than fake news.

Falsely framing this “obsession” as responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the US is a very intentional misdirection used justify the violation of a basic human right to defend one’s own life and the lives of loved ones. The oft-sung excuses of those demanding gun control are just that: tired. And full of outright lies that ignore even liberal policy research from the Rand Corporation, designed to inform the best possible outcomes of gun policies.

During our legislative hearings on gun control bills we were accused of using NRA talking points. But if you listen to the testimonies of those citizens against the gun control bills, you won’t hear any trite talking points. We used and continue to use our OWN life experiences to speak out against the contempt shown to victims of violence by the sponsors of these bills.

The number of mass shootings is statistically insignificant compared to the violent crimes of rape, physical beatings, and hate crime. The shocking infrequent occurrence rates used to justify performing active shooter drills in school is shameful. Sadly it feeds into a patently false but strongly emotional narrative that supporters of these bills and initiatives have to push because the facts are not on their side.

The right of self defense is not just a “God” given right. It is an inherent right that spans all cultures and religious beliefs: a human being has the right to defend themselves from those wishing to harm or take away life. It is not a fantasy or “Rambo cosplay” to use a firearm as tool that has been proven effective in preventing rape, hate crime, and murder. Especially given the fact that the US Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that the police have no inherent duty to protect you unless you have a special relationship (i.e. you’re in their custody).

Any idea what means makes up the bulk of the deaths related to firearms? It is suicide. And in Washington State year over year over 70% of firearm fatalities are individuals who are taking their own life. No magazine capacity nor gun control bill will prevent this.

So, let’s talk about why the anti-human rights Jim Crow supporters decry “gun violence” as a whole instead of focusing on the real issues. Because solving this big, thorny issue takes human involvement, not just money to lower suicides. And it takes the community working together to negate and heal a neighborhood hurt by gang/drug violence. Nothing that Mark and other supporters of gun control are willing to do.

When rape survivors realize he/she could not or cannot be saved by the local police or the courts, the emotional cost is huge. Their self-worth and self-confidence return when they recognize they must learn to protect themselves.

Let’s acknowledge that the “gun debate” is about people’s feelings. The feelings of those who facilitate the rapists, the domestic violence abusers, the murderers, the hate crime attackers do not get to override those of us to take our personal safety as our own responsibility. The claim that anything is better than nothing is a deflection to refuse to take personal responsibility for your own actions or those bad children who flaunt the laws without remorse.

Let’s remind the state Democrats, especially those who are in the House of Representatives, this is an election year. The WA 2A community is watching. And we are noting down who is voting for gun control in violation of the state constitution as well as SCOTUS. And those who’re “absent” during roll call. We as individuals will do everything in our power to remove you from office. We will go door to door, share your comments and voting records on social media throughout your districts, and contribute to your opponents.

Sadly, Matt lives in Central Tacoma, and claims to be passionate about the City of Destiny; yet he does nothing to clean up the beautiful city that we both call home.

Matt demands that Tacoma, and really Washington State, violate human rights with Jim Crow based gun control bills that create dangerous interactions between BIPOC/Ethnic Minorities and local police departments.

Washington State Democrats, do not support SSB5078 (nor HB 1630/HB 1705). We will work to have you voted out of office. Know we are watching.

archive link to the News Tribune opinion piece
/web/20220226131137/https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/matt-driscoll/article258333978.html

edited to fix grammatical error