If you thought taking away our Second Amendment rights was bad, just wait until you hear what the DoD just suggested be done with military firearms. And yes, I am most definitely talking about a proposed firearms ban for active military members.
According to Fox News, the ban has been proposed by a Department of Defense review committee that was created in 2020 and is aimed at dealing with the current and rising problem of military suicides. And to be clear, this is a very real and troubling problem.
But as usual, it seems the woke left has only one response, and a rather nonsensical one at that, to the issue: Let’s ban guns.
Per the Suicide Prevention and Response Intervention Review Committee, the report on recommended action suggests that “the minimum age for purchasing a firearm and ammunition” be raised to 25 years. Additionally, for all those over the age of 25 and for firearms purchased on military bases, a seven-day waiting period, as well as a national database, shall be implemented.
Basically, the thought process is to limit the number of personal firearms among active service members and on military bases, assuming it will then stem the number of suicides. And apparently, it’s the only process being considered right now. According to the report, it is listed as a high priority, meaning that it’s the primary way in which the DoD is currently planning to solve the problem at hand.
There’s just one small problem… well, a few, actually.
For starters, it’s important to know that nearly half of all active service members are under the age of 25. According to Statista, there were roughly 600,000 active military members in the US under the age of 25 in 2021. Active service member totals were only about 1,300,000.
This means that a whopping 46 percent of all service members would be banned from owning or at least purchasing firearms.
Talk about denying our Second Amendment rights…
But it’s not only our crippled rights that would be an issue here.
As I mentioned before, there isn’t really much sense in the whole thing.
Let’s say the ban does, in fact, get put into play. You’re under 25 and suddenly not allowed to purchase a personal firearm. Ok, so what about the guns you already own? Because you are over 18 and were legally allowed to buy them before you enlisted.
Or what about when a friend over 25 lets you use one at the shooting range or even for self-defense?
There is also the issue of having access to service weapons. The DoD does understand that for a vast majority of active service members, no matter their age, they are given a service weapon and ammunition to carry out their jobs, right?
So who is to say these weapons couldn’t be used?
Then, there is the ridiculous seven-day hold for those over the age of 25. All this does is prevent a suicide from happening on that day. All one has to do is either wait seven more days or simply drive off base to purchase a gun.
As usual, the DoD also seems to forget that suicide, or any violence for that matter, doesn’t always end with a bullet. Knives, pills, chemicals, poison, jumping off of a high place, etc., can all be used instead.
And the even larger issue is that the committee’s suggestion mentions not a single word about getting to the root of the problem. It completely ignores the why behind these tragic suicides. You know, things like low morale, mental health issues, high-tempo deployment schedules, etc.
Instead, the report only focuses on guns, implying that they alone are the real problem.
Of course, they are not. As mentioned, it’s always about who is wielding them and why. A gun in the right hands can save countless lives and protect. A weapon in the hands of those without the knowledge or mental health required is dangerous to everyone.
Once again, if the political left stopped to think about the real problem here and not just the method used, much more would actually get done. Until then, the unfortunate fact of military suicides will continue.
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