Last week, Americans paid witness to a level of horror and evil that most of us cannot comprehend. On Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, a shooter murdered 17 children of God. As Americans, we all feel the pain of those affected, and all want the person responsible to face the full strength of the justice system. We are all struggling to cope with this event. We struggle to understand why evil exists in our world and ask what can our government do to curb it. Regardless of who we voted for in the last election, we all pray to God for peace and justice in our world.
As laid out by the Framers, the government’s first job is to secure our natural rights, which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This remains as fundamental as ever. This is key to understanding the outrage from so many. How could this happen? The government’s first job is to protect us from all enemies foreign and domestic. Sadly, though, in spite of the best efforts of good people, evil still exists in the world. It is a strong force, one that has existed for billions of years and will continue to far after our own mortality.
The government cannot stop every act of evil, but we should try to find a way to limit such acts. As conservatives, we know this. However, we are equally wary of misguided attempts that will deprive us of our most basic liberties and freedoms.
Being a defender of the Second Amendment is a tough gig. It only gets harder when you go away to school. Odds are, if you’re not at Hillsdale, Liberty, or another conservative-leaning school, you’ve had to make an unpopular defense of the right to bear arms. Our peers and teachers both point to the children and remind us of the horror that 17 children have been murdered in cold blood with guns.
The media promotes student advocacy groups that are aimed at eliminating gun violence and instituting gun control. As a conservative, it’s hard to watch the videos of affected students and forcefully fight for our natural rights without coming across as heartless. Thus, many of us just stay silent. It’s easier to stay quiet and not provoke a conflict at the risk of seeming unfeeling towards those affected. It’s hard for me, too. However, this does not change the reality of the situation.
Many people rightfully question why such a horrifying event could happen. I don’t blame them. It’s fully understandable for those affected, either personally or emotionally, to try to find a simple way to prevent future atrocities. Again, I don’t blame them. And when they see the quick solutions such as gun confiscation as a silver bullet to the crisis that they, and our country faces, I don’t blame them.
Reason must reign supreme over emotion, though. Plenty of bad policy has come from good intentions. It is not heartless to acknowledge this fact. Whenever we are backed into a corner in our classes, we can’t cede our argument just to avoid demonization. If we stay quiet, we would be doing a disservice to those same kids who have suffered so much, and that the left claims to be helping. While the efforts of the affected students to organize politically are commendable and impressive, we must remember that it’s not heartless to stand for your liberties and call for cooler heads to prevail before you decide on policy.
How do we best protect the rights of our citizens while maintaining security? The answer to that question is complicated and by no means a walk in the park. Simple solutions, such as an “assault weapons ban,” erode our rights, while failing to increase security. That being said, we must work within our legal and constitutional framework to increase safety and security.
We must face the reality. The government’s ability to prevent evil is finite. No amount of gun control will be able to prevent every mass shooting. Leftists routinely state that conservatives are against “common sense” gun laws, yet this couldn’t be further from the truth. David French of the National Review has called for the implementation of “Gun Violence Restraining Orders.” Ross Douthat of the New York Times has suggested a ban on the sale of AR-15s to anyone under 30 years old. Even the National Rifle Association and President Trump have supported additional “bump stock bans.” Whether or not we agree with any of these proposals is irrelevant. Conservatives are open to proposals that safeguard the security of our citizens as well as their rights.
Conservatives on college campuses across this country have a unique duty in reminding our peers and classmates about our God-given rights. We must stress that security should not and need not come at the expense of our rights. It is our responsibility to ensure that freedom is passed on to this generation and the next. For as former President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
The Second Amendment isn’t subject to a majority vote; you don’t get to disregard it whenever you so choose. Our rights don’t come from government, they come from God. It is our responsibility to remind others of this fact. That is our duty, so let’s get to it.
Jake Haas is a student at Saint Mary’s College of California, majoring in political science.
