Kamala Harris speaks out on guns on her campaign website, writing, “I will take executive action if Republicans continue to grovel to the NRA.”
Yes, the National Rifle Association, with an estimated 5 million members nationwide, is an influential political group.
But is this really about guiding the Republican Party on gun policy?
What do you think if I suggest a counter-headline?
“Taking Action Against the Culture of Death If Democrats Continue to Cringe at Planned Parenthood”?
I suspect that if I asked which organization has more political influence, the NRA or Planned Parenthood, many would say the NRA — probably because of our leftist media.
But check out OpenSecrets, the Center for Responsive Policy, which tracks the influence of money in American politics.
It turns out that in 2018, the NRA gave $873,071 to political causes. Planned Parenthood gave a total of $7,183,139 to political causes, more than eight times more than the NRA, 99.5 percent of which went to Democratic candidates or organizations supporting them.
According to the Center for Responsible Policy, Planned Parenthood ranks 54th out of 19,225 organizations that make political contributions, while the NRA ranks 543rd.
Is it essential to include Planned Parenthood in this gun discussion? Yes.
As I have repeatedly emphasized, we cannot develop an appropriate approach to guns without addressing the culture that creates crazy, indifferent, and aggressive loners.
Senator Harris states on her campaign website, “In 2017, nearly 40,000 people were killed by guns in America.”
But in that same year, 332,757 babies were killed in the womb in Planned Parenthood abortion clinics.
You mean to tell me that the one-third of a million babies who were put to death, whose heartbeat was felt at six weeks of pregnancy and who could feel pain at twentieth weeks of pregnancy, are dead?
Certainly, those responsible for the deaths, most recently in Texas and Ohio, did not view the people they murdered as living, breathing human beings made in the image of God.
Yet Harris declares, “We are living in the midst of an all-out assault on women’s health and reproductive rights. … States have mandated that women undergo invasive ultrasounds … and have imposed burdensome and medically unnecessary restrictions on health clinics. … Their sole purpose is to restrict access to abortion.”
No. Their sole purpose is to protect innocent, unborn life.
On firearms, Harris says, “It’s fine if you want to go hunting, but we need sensible gun safety laws.” And he says as president, he’ll address the issue via executive order if Congress doesn’t pass legislation within 100 days.
But the Second Amendment, as Senator Harris should know, is not primarily about hunting.
According to the Pew Research Center, more than 40 percent of Americans live in a household with a gun, and the primary reason for owning a gun, according to 67 percent of respondents, is protection. Only 38 percent say it is hunting.
One of the plaintiffs in the landmark 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the Supreme Court affirmed the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, regardless of militia service, was a black woman. Shelly Parker of the District of Columbia wanted a gun to protect herself in her crime-ridden neighborhood, where she faced threats from local drug dealers. D.C. banned her from owning a gun.
Our Declaration of Independence declares our God-given right to life and liberty. Our Constitution protects these rights.
Kamala Harris wants to operate this to break both of them.
If we want to solve the gun problem, we have to solve the leadership problem.
Kamala Harris could draw gigantic crowds in Iowa, which could lead some to think she could replace Barack Obama.
But let’s recall that President Obama was the first sitting U.S. president to address a national Planned Parenthood meeting, and he ended his speech to the nation’s largest abortion organization with the words, “God bless you.”
Harris needs to be questioned about this hypocrisy. Are we fighting for life and liberty or not?
Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Contact her at www.urbancure.org
