Can Donald Trump be trusted on Gun Rights?

Here’s the news story, discussing Trump’s changing position on gun control. His current stated position, while running as the presumptive Republican nominee is simple:

“The Second Amendment to our Constitution is clear,” says Trump on his site. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. Period.”

But his track record on the subject is murky. He previously supported the ban on assault weapons, which is ironic since that law was the brain-child of Bill Clinton, and Trump’s only obstacle to the White House is Hillary Clinton. Trump has also, in the past, called for longer waiting periods for handguns.

As a prepper, I see gun ownership as part and parcel with the fundamental human right to self-defense. When the SHTF, police will be overwhelmed, and people will need to defend themselves. Even now, in comparatively good times, guns are necessary for self-defense. You can’t always wait until police arrive. You could be dead or seriously injured by then.

Guns are also a “pursuit of happiness” and “blessings of liberty” right. The Declaration of Independence states the reason the Constitution and the nation was established:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….”

Guns help protect your life, but they are also part of the pursuit of happiness for many persons. Hunting and recreational shooting, whether competition or casual, can be a reasonable part of the pursuit of happiness, exercised under our national liberties.

Then the Preamble to the Constitution states:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Gun rights fall under justice, general welfare, and they are a blessing of liberty.

So the Second Amendment does not stand alone, as the sole basis for the right to keep and bear arms. Rather, it is an enumeration of a right implied the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution. Gun rights are based firmly on multiple fundamental human rights.

So it is an important political issue. My take: Trump is far from ideal on gun rights. But he is far better than Hillary on the issue. I just wonder whether a lukewarm supporter of gun rights will be able to accomplish much, with the culture and so many legislators increasingly calling for greater gun control.

- Thoreau