Say Anything Blog

The battle over allowing guns into national parks is an interesting one, and not just the gun rights aspect but also what it tells us about the big government movement in general.  Because what is it, exactly, that they’re fighting against?

Public opinion is in favor of the gun rights activists.  American is a pro-gun nation, and gun control has become an issue so radioactive for politicians that even with the gun-control party in control of Congress and the White House they still won’t touch legislation allowing guns to be carried in national parks.  And it’s not a safety issue either.  Those who would carry guns into national parks are already carrying guns everywhere else.  If they’re safe everywhere else they’ll be safe in national parks.

The real motivating factor here is that the gun control people hate guns, and they want to impose their personal feelings about them on everyone else.  Read their arguments from the article linked above:

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – Family in tow for a tour of national treasures far from Washington, President Barack Obama is trailed by criticism from gun opponents and parks advocates for allowing firearms into such majestic places as this.

“There is still time for Congress and the president to take steps to keep loaded firearms away from the valleys of Yellowstone, the cliffs of Yosemite, and the Statue of Liberty — but they need to act quickly,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

These people can’t enjoy America’s historically significant and naturally beautiful locations if they think someone around them might be doing something they disapprove of.  It reminds me of an H.L. Mencken quote I’m fond of where in he defined puritanism as “The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”  These gun control activists are driven crazy by the idea that you might be exercising your freedom to bear arms.

And that same attitude is displayed on a lot of other issues.  Health activists get crazy at the idea that you might be enjoying a cigarette or a greasy burger.  Environmental activists become irate at the idea that you might enjoy driving a big, spacious, four-wheel-drive vehicle.  Religious activists are incensed at the idea that you might not be able to walk into a court house without seeing the symbolism of their faith.  Anti-gay activists get upset at the idea that people of the same sex might partner themselves together in civil arrangements they call “marriages.”

My point is that all this concern about how others live their lives plays right into the hands of big government.  We should be trying to limit government involvement in our lives, but instead far too many people from both ends of the political spectrum are constantly trying to use government to impose their views on everyone else.  And every time they get their way, government gets a little bit bigger.