ST. PAUL, MN- We have heard some bonehead gun control bills coming from the anti-gun left, but this one takes the cake...and the whole dessert table.
In a state where unhinged gun control nuts are as standard as Somalis gaming the system, Assistant Attorney General John Zwier has gone entirely off the rails.
Zwier, who plans on running for the Minnesota House, has proposed what must be one of the dumbest, tone-deaf gun control proposals yet, according to Bearing Arms. His proposal will have criminals jumping for joy because, as we know, criminals do not obey the law. Without further ado, Zwier wants to make it a requirement that all guns being carried must have a trigger lock in place. More on that in a bit.
In a recent column in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Zwier proposed that firearms have rights. You read that correctly: the second-most-powerful law enforcement official in Minnesota implied that firearms have rights. Here is his “logic”:
“In the U.S., we give firearms rights when a criminal uses a firearm, the firearm can be taken off the streets, and out of the criminal’s hands, only if the firearm is proven, by a preponderance of evidence, to ‘be involved in or used in’ a violation of certain federal laws. If any part of [the] criminal’s arsenal is not ‘involved or used in’ a violation, then it cannot be taken off the street. Once convicted, a felon may be ‘prohibited’ from possessing a firearm and, indeed, such possession becomes an additional criminal offense that the government could charge. But the reality is that criminals often have easy access to all but the firearm they used in their original offense.
“This system is obviously worthless for preventing gun violence. Evil gets a free ride, easy access to the tools that facilitate murder and mayhem.”
If you understand the verbal gymnastics you just read, good luck. In essence, Zwier claims that the firearms not used in a crime have “rights,” which is absurd because, as inanimate objects, guns cannot be “punished.” As Bearing Arms notes, if an individual is convicted of DUI or manslaughter involving a motor vehicle, the car isn’t sentenced to death by being crushed at a junkyard.
“The car is incapable of doing wrong or right, just like firearms,” the outlet wrote. “A gun can be used for lawful or unlawful purposes, but a gun is never going to act on its own.”
Obviously.
Zwier, as a gun control zealot, actually engaged in a bit of a self-own, acknowledging that criminals don’t obey the law and can still access firearms, meaning that law-abiding citizens are the ones who suffer from gun control laws. In other words, if he had any sense of self-awareness, he would realize that they’re focusing on the wrong people.
Instead, this dimwit decided to double down on stupid with the following brain-dead idea:
“All firearms out in public, on our city streets, should have visible trigger locks.”
You read that correctly. Zwier is proposing that anyone who legally possesses a firearm must have a trigger lock installed while carrying it. Not for nothing, but it’s pretty much a sure thing that having a trigger lock and having to remove that before using your firearm in self-defense might be self-defeating.
He then compared having a trigger lock to wearing a seat belt.
“Just like with the adoption of seat belts, firearm safety culture can make this adjustment,” he wrote.
Yes, he actually conjured this up in his “brain” and then wrote it down. He is comparing a device that is in place (a seat belt) to prevent injury to oneself to a device (a firearm) that is designed to protect oneself from harm. This would be akin to not wearing a seatbelt and then having to buckle it as you’re getting into an accident. The logic is the same. You would need to take action to prevent injury to yourself rather than rely on passive protection.
Zwier continued:
“And like DUIs, failure to responsibly transport a trigger-locked firearm should be enforced with civil penalties and possible forfeiture of the firearm. The moral community should be empowered to enforce this. The public should be educated on what these trigger locks look like and should be asked to report anytime they see a firearm without one.”
Ah, yes, back to the COVID days of ratting out your neighbor for playing basketball outside with their children or having too many people over for dinner. More nanny-state madness.
It gets better:
“Firearm retailers can help by selling every firearm with a trigger lock, and requiring it be engaged as an individual walks out of their store. Quick reporting of an unsecured firearm or an individual unlocking their firearm on our city streets could give law enforcement an earlier warning of when evil is about to strike.”
Unless the public at large has X-ray vision, enforcing this proposed law would be virtually impossible, since most people carry concealed. Bearing Arms notes that open carry is legal in Minnesota; however, most licensed gun carriers do so concealed.
One can tell that Zwier has zero clue how guns are even carried, since a majority of holsters cover and conceal the trigger, making it virtually impossible for someone to know if a gun lock is installed.
The most obvious downside of such an absurd law is that it would make it useless to carry a firearm for self-defense. It isn’t like you can call a time-out while you remove the gun lock so you can defend yourself. Absolutely insane.
Such a law would do nothing to mitigate violent crime since, by their nature, criminals do not obey the law. As seen in cities such as New York, Washington, DC, and Chicago, which all have strict gun-control laws, if criminals want guns, they’re going to get them. Again, Zwier himself admitted as much:
“...criminals often have easy access to all but the firearm they used in their original offense,” and when he said current gun control “is obviously worthless for preventing gun violence.”
How then does tying the hands of lawful gun owners and their ability to defend themselves control crime?
If Zwier thinks criminals are going to put locks on their illegal firearms to avoid “civil penalties” or “forfeiture,” he’s more insane than he appears.
Time was when New York, California, and Illinois were ground zero for unhinged nutjobs. It looks like Minnesota is accelerating for the lead.
Comments