President Joe Biden and the Democrats can't get any of their gun-grabbing, anti-Second Amendment legislation through Congress. The backdoor route of what Barack Obama used to call the "pen and a phone" of executive orders hasn't worked so well either.
So there's a new strategy: They've got the surgeon general declaring gun violence a public health crisis.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis isn't buying it -- and he's sending a clear message to Washington that Florida "will not comply" with any attempts by the administration to use public health as a way to erode the Second Amendment.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Tuesday issued the "advisory on firearm violence" after what CBS News described as "another summer weekend marked by mass shootings that left dozens of people dead or wounded."
Most of these "mass shootings" were, in fact, part of an uptick in general violence the country has seen since the COVID-19 pandemic, as The Associated Press noted, and "[s]ummertime always brings a rise in violence because school is out, there are more social gatherings and warmer temperatures can cause tempers to flare."
The surgeon general has chosen to address none of the other aspects fueling this violence and is, instead, scapegoating the gun.
"Today, for the first time in the history of our office, I am issuing a Surgeon General's Advisory on firearm violence," Murthy said in a recorded statement.
"As a doctor, I've seen the consequences of firearm violence up close and the lives of the patients I've cared for over the years. These are moms and dads, sons and daughters, all of whom were robbed of their physical and mental health by senseless acts of violence.
"Unfortunately, the problem has continued to grow. Fifty-four percent of adults in America report that they or family member have experienced a firearm-related incident, whether they've been personally threatened with or injured by a firearm, lost a family member, witnessed a shooting, or shot a firearm in self-defense."
https://youtu.be/gI8HviyBw18?si=nMsgLZuXKQWWqc9A
As the Tampa Bay Times noted, Murthy "called for a comprehensive approach similar to responses to tobacco and motor vehicle deaths."
And what might that "comprehensive approach" involved?
You guessed it: "Murthy called for universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, more federal funding for gun violence prevention research and tighter regulations on the gun industry, among other suggestions."
None of those things can, of course, happen without congressional approval, but bureaucracy that creeps like an invasive vine can often choke legal rights without a bill being passed, particularly under the vague pretense of protecting "public health" -- which is why DeSantis made it clear Florida wouldn't be complying with anything Murthy did to try and regulate guns like tobacco or motor vehicles.
"During COVID, unelected bureaucrats used 'public health' as a pretext to deprive citizens of their rights– and I signed legislation to protect Floridians from government overreach," DeSantis said in a statement to the social media platform X.
"Now, Biden’s Surgeon General is attempting to violate the Second Amendment through the 'public health' bureaucracy.
"We will not comply. Florida will always reject the Biden Administration’s unconstitutional power-grabs."
During COVID, unelected bureaucrats used “public health” as a pretext to deprive citizens of their rights– and I signed legislation to protect Floridians from government overreach.
Now, Biden’s Surgeon General is attempting to violate the Second Amendment through the “public… https://t.co/kjcMotzzBD
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 26, 2024
And, make no mistake, this is what it is: An unconstitutional power grab.
DeSantis is right on the money. One does not even have to wait for Murthy to outline his "public health" approach to solving the gun violence crisis to know this.
If the administration was really willing to do something, it wouldn't be going through the surgeon general. There are Republicans ready, willing and able to put more cops on the streets and put violent criminals behind bars for longer stretches of time.
We could end the fool's game of "bail reform" that puts too many dangerous individuals back out onto the street without any surety they'll show back up in court.
We could re-fund the police after the president's party defunded and demoralized them in the wake of the annus horribilis of 2020.
None of that will happen, of course, because the tack the administration is taking is blaming the gun. The gun was the one that did the shooting. The gun is the one whose temper flares when the temperature gets hotter. The gun is the one that, when school lets out, is released from the pressures of studying and the necessity of attending classes and obeying campus rules, so it shoots people.
Can we get the guns some tutors, perhaps? Maybe a rec center with air conditioning specifically for firearms? An "Increase the Peace" movement to stop the gang warfare between Glocks and Sig Sauers?
This administration, and any Democratic administration, will do anything possible to avoid addressing the root causes of gun violence in the name of opportunistically chipping away at gun rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
One feels for those who have lost loved ones to this violence, but consider this: Joe Biden and his surgeon general don't see your loved ones as victims, they see them as opportunities.
That's why we need governors like Ron DeSantis to make it clear that no matter what Vivek Murthy and the Biden administration proposes, they won't comply.
