A Progressive Priority:  Celebrity Gun Buy-Backs

It is, perhaps, the ultimate “do as I say, not as I do” scenario: progressive entertainment stars and politicians telling us that we shouldn’t possess firearms.

So now would be a good time for American progressives to rise up and do for their icons, as their icons seek to do for us: it’s time for an entire movement of celebrity gun buy-back events. Gun buy-back events, if you’re not familiar, have been proliferating nationwide over the past decade or so. They usually involve a local law enforcement agency setting-up a designated time and location where individuals can hand-over their firearms without fear of arrest or prosecution, and receive some sort of “reward” – typically a gift card - in return. The goal is to get guns “off the streets,” and thousands of Americans have willingly and freely participated in these events over the last ten years.

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The assumption that undergirds these events is the same one that animates the anti-gun ownership movement generally: “guns kill people.” That is, of course, an illogical assumption; a gun is merely an inanimate object, and is incapable of “doing” anything apart from human instigation. In fact, apart from the God-given intelligence and creativity of human beings who figured out what to do with the raw materials and physical matter, “guns,” as such, wouldn’t exist at all (neither would anything else outside the realm of the natural created order). But let’s apply this assumption to all of America, and not just to those of us who are thought of as the “unwashed masses.” If one believes that guns kill people, then one should want every American to abandon them – and “every American” should most certainly include New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Last Thursday (less than one week after the Connecticut school massacre), Governor Cuomo announced that he’ll be proposing more gun control legislation for his state next year. "I don't think legitimate huntsman is going to say I need an assault weapon to go hunting,” he noted at a press conference. And, bad grammar aside, we’d also have to conclude that “legitimate Governor” doesn’t need a weapon in order to do his Governor thing, either. So please, Mr. Cuomo, let peace and tranquility begin with you – hand over your guns. And as you make a public disclosure of every weapon that is in your private possession, we’ll ask you to sign a pledge to never allow your security team to carry weaponry either, because – as we all know, Governor – “guns kill people.” As beloved as Mr. Cuomo is, there are undoubtedly millions of Americans who would willingly make this a true “buy back” experience for him. A $50 gift card to Target or Walmart is probably of little value to the Governor (buy-backs usually involve just such an exchange), but campaign cash is no doubt meaningful. Come on, progressives, this is your moment – offer up a donation to the “Cuomo For President 2016” campaign, once he hands in his personal weapons and signs the “un-armed security pledge.” And while you’re at it, make the same arrangements with Vice President Biden, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Boston Mayor Thom Menino. Weapons for-campaign cash; this should be the ultimate gun buy-back program. And how about the entertainment stars among us who helped bring the anti-gun ownership government to power? Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Kate Perry and Bruce Springsteen are just a few of the rockers who endorsed President Obama’s re-election and the President is now leading the charge on gun bans. And then there’s Beyonce, Conan Obrien, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jennifer Anniston who appear in the new “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” video. Yes, the “mayors” claim to support “2nd Amendment Rights,” yet their definition of an illegal gun is kind of whatever they want it to be. So please, progressives, step up and do the right thing: once the celebs hand over their weapons and sign the “unarmed security pledge” make sure to do your part and buy lots of their movie and music downloads. The thought of applying the flawed logic of progressivism universally is a thought that doesn’t occur to adherents of progressivism. Despite their happy talk about “equality,” progressives have never accepted the Jeffersonian idea that we are all ‘created equal” – on the contrary, progressivism is steeped in a history that believes in the superiority of certain categories of persons, and inferiority of certain others. I’ll opt for being on the progressives’ “inferior” list, as I exercise my right to protect myself. But progressives, please – follow your own illogic, and demand that your iconic leaders do as well.