On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between the ages of six-years-old and seven-years-old along with six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Prior to the school shootings, Lanza had also murdered his mother. His rampage would end when he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. It remains one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.
Following the Sandy Hook tragedy the anti-Second Amendment, left-wing extremists used the mass shooting as one more reason for the government to do something to deny law-abiding Americans their right to own a gun. After several foiled attempts by Constitution-killing groups such as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Everytown for Gun Safety” to force Congress into passing laws restricting gun rights, a group representing several family members of some of the Sandy Hook victims attempted to get the courts to do the job.
In December 2015, the group filed a frivolous wrongful death lawsuit against Remington Arms, one of the many gun manufacturers of the AR-15, even though manufacturers are protected against civil lawsuits under a law passed in 2005. While it looked back in April like the Superior Court judge hearing the case was going to resort to the type of judicial activism the left depends on by letting the lawsuit proceed, she ruled on Friday that Remington could not be held liable for the tragedy and dismissed the case.
In this case at least, the Second Amendment was victorious. But the fight is not over as lawyers representing the families have already indicated their intent to appeal the decision. Based on recent Appeals Court rulings affecting gun rights, along with mixed gun rights rulings by the Supreme Court over the summer, the courts appear to be ripe for the picking when it comes to their ability to destroy the Second Amendment.
Unfortunately, the effort is experiencing renewed enthusiasm in Congress.
In the House of Representatives, Democrats have already proposed legislation that would lift the exemption for gun manufacturers which would allow crime victims to sue gun manufacturers. The bill is based on a version that failed in the Senate back in 2013 due to the inability of the anti-gun liberals to break a filibuster. It did, however, enjoy the support of a majority of Senators.
In the aftermath of the Orlando shooting by a Muslim extremist, Democrats were so anxious to void the Second Amendment that they threw in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments for good measure. Because, when it comes right down to it, liberals consider disarming America paramount to our right to due process. And let’s not forget that the Democrats also added gun confiscation to their party platform.
If you were thinking that the Republican party would stand in the gap to protect gun rights, you’d be wrong.
Following a series of 60s-styled protests on the House floor by a group of Democratic Socialists chanting “no-fly/no-buy,” Paul Ryan bought the lie that guns should be banned for any American who finds his or her name on the error-filled no-fly list–an idea also supported by Donald Trump. Republicans also proposed the creation of a “Minority Report”-styled pre-crime agency that would have the authority to seize the guns of anyone who “might” commit a crime.
By the way, The Donald also favors a ban on so-called assault weapons, and his campaign has suggested that the Second Amendment should be open to debate.
The ruling in favor of Remington is good news, but we have a long way to go before we win the war against our Constitutional rights.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com.
His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.
