Op-Ed: Blowing Smoke

by C. D. Michel

The only thing cigarettes and guns have in common is that they both produce smoke. But if a pack of duplicitous San Francisco lawyers gets their way, your guns will soon be classified as a public health hazard and regulated like seat belts and Marlboros.

On November 14th, 2013 the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (LCPGV) held a public meeting that was streamed live to fellow anti-gun activists around the nation. The panel was composed of their own leadership, “journalists” from Mother Jones, and a set of activists who were previously neck-deep in campaigns against drunken driving and leading the anti-tobacco movement. Together they made unambiguous statements that signaled the next strategy in the assault on gun ownership, the canard that “smart laws lead to a healthier society.”

Ponder that for a moment. Few people decry seatbelt laws. And once the anti-tobacco lobby developed the angle of second-hand smoke, they won over most Americans. Given these successes (and the political/marketing maneuvers that made them happen) gun banners are now planning to use those PR blueprints to engineer their next conquest; your guns. Their plan? The sound-bite “Smart laws saved lives on the road and kept people from dying of cancer – we can do the same with guns” will resonate with under-informed voters, and foster a grassroots campaign of shame against gun ownership.

That's where you come in, because you are about to learn why they are making this irrational apples-to-kumquats comparison.

Click here to read the entire op-ed.