Remember Benjamin Franklin’s quote? It goes like this: Those who would sacrifice essential liberty for a smidgeon of temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. That applies to many aspects of American life and society, including gun control.
Proponents of “gun safety” legislation want us all to submit. It is, after all, for our own good. Or so they claim.
In order to address the rising number of military suicides, Joe Biden’s Department of Defense wants to “restrict gun access” to military service members both on and off base.
From the Daily Caller . . .
The Pentagon’s independent suicide prevention review body has a plan to reduce suicides in the military that involves restricting gun access on military bases, according to a report released Friday.
A majority of suicides in the military involve firearm use, while problems with alcohol abuse and finances were also leading indicators, the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC) report found. The report offered recommendations to reduce the accessibility of guns on military bases while preserving servicemembers’ rights to carry, including repealing a provision in Congress’ 2013 defense bill that blocked commanders from inquiring about off-base firearms.
The policies are intended to “slow down access to firearms so that people can in excess survive periods of high risk,” Dr. Craig Bryan, a member of the working group, told reporters.
They also want to be able to track who owns firearms and prohibit the sale of firearms on DOD property to anyone under the age of 25. Because, as we all know, the right of people over the age of 25 to keep and bear arms is unalienable. And what Army sailor would consider going off-base to buy a gun?
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act prohibited military leaders from maintaining records of which servicemembers lawfully acquired or used firearms, a law intended to safeguard military members’ Second Amendment rights. However, the commission found that many commanders felt “handcuffed” from “being able to know who was at elevated risk and to properly assess the safety of their subordinates and personnel,” Bryan said.
Repealing the provision would allow officers to provide “targeted” assistance to a servicemember known to be experiencing a crisis, he added.
Along with striking out the NDAA provision, SPRIRC recommended raising the minimum age for purchasing firearms and ammunition on military bases to 25 years. The commission found that the age of 25 appeared to be an “inflection point;” firearm use increases after the age of 21, while most suicides occur in members below the age of 25, Bryan said.
Instead of researching the causes of suicide and working to treat them, Biden’s brain trust wants to take away our servicemen and women’s guns — and rights. Because, as we all know, other methods of suicide are never used.
Military leaders could also simply wait. Given current recruitment trends, they’ll soon have a lot fewer servicemembers — and thus suicides — to worry about.
From RealClear Defense . . .
“[O]nly 23% [of American youth] are physically, mentally, and morally qualified to serve without receiving some type of waiver.”
The recruitment crisis is not entirely a consequence of these metastasizing physical, mental, and moral problems, however. It is also a direct result young people’s growing unwillingness to serve. The most recent estimates “show that only 9% [of America’s youth] are even interested in military service.”
That could be related to our so-called national “leadership” and the humiliation of the Afghanistan withdrawal. It could also be related to the new “woke” culture that is permeating the military branches.
Not to mention Defense Department leaders who believe they can’t trust military members to leave guns at home when they’re issued grenades, claymores, and fully fun-switched (and occasionally crew-served) firearms.