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other natural rights. One of the reasons for unrestricted possession of guns is that it makes possible overthrow of oppressive authoritarian governments. That is the reason governments are hostile to armed citizenries. Examples supporting my view are Russia, Peoples’ Republic of China, Venezuela, and Cuba. – Craig L. Kim Iskyan response: Hi Craig, thanks for your message. I don’t think anyone is talking about extinguishing personal property rights – actually, no one is at all. And I’m pretty sure that owning assault weapons is not a natural right by anyone’s definition. And no one is talking about taking guns away from anyone. The vast majority of Americans – two-thirds, in fact, according to a 2018 Gallup poll – are in favor of gun control (again, no one is talking about taking guns away... the Second Amendment isn’t going anywhere). In 2019, 70% of Americans were in favor of a ban on assault weapons, and 90% of voters supported universal background checks for firearms transactions. Why? In 2020, there were over 600 mass shootings in the U.S. (where four or more people are shot, and injured or killed)... up almost 50% from 2019. The United States has a firearms- related death rate that’s by far the highest of any developed country... four times the rate of Switzerland, 12 times that of Australia, and 50 times more than the United Kingdom. Gun control has nothing to do with socialism. No one is talking about taking away guns (which are not some kind of inalienable human right... in fact, they’re guaranteed by the Constitution – which is good enough).
explosion of new billionaires as a problem. That’s a mixing of apples and oranges. Income inequality and rewarding individuals who create companies like Amazon, Apple, Walmart, and Facebook serves an important purpose in a free market economy. The money they make is rewarding them for the service they give us every day with these companies that have made our lives better with prompt delivery of goods, phones that we use to conduct business and commerce, big-box stores that have everything we want at an affordable price, and websites that help us to stay connected with family and friends. You’re correct to point out that crony capitalism, or the use of government power or subsidy to advantage one company over a competitor, is a big problem. Farm subsidies should be abolished. Specialized tax breaks for the companies with the best lobbyists should be stricken from the tax code. The Wall Street bailout of 2008 and the massive explosion of money spent responding to the coronavirus was largely wasted. The target of the aid – small businesses and families struggling to get by – were not helped by the massive outpouring of cash in the CARES Act and subsequent aid packages. Re: That’s Not Really Socialism ”Socialism doesn’t care about your guns.” But it does... Governments that extinguish personal property rights have no compunction about extinguishing
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January 2021
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