This week, Bottle Breacher founder & CEO, Eli Crane, took the liberty of addressing the 5-point plan of David Hogg to Independent Journal Review. Hogg’s points are as follows: 1. CDC funding for research into gun violence 2. Universal background checks 3. Digitization of ATF records 4. High-capacity magazine ban 5. Assault weapons ban. When presenting his 5-point plan, Hogg asked his fellow Tweeters to weigh in on whether or not they support it. You better believe this Navy SEAL Combat Veteran had a few things to say. Below is his response published on IJR.
Recently, gun control activist and Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg tweeted a plan to curb violence with an emphasis on gun control.
Though I feel for David and every other victim of this senseless violence, I am once again very disappointed to see another young American with zero respect and understanding for our constitution and common sense.
As a U.S. Veteran and member of the Navy SEAL teams, I swore [an] oath to uphold and defend the very rights that David and other Americans are working so hard to abolish.
My oath to defend Hogg’s right to disagree with me and the rest of our constitutional rights did not end when I took off my uniform.
The irony of David’s proposed plan is shortsighted, incomplete and pretty much worthless. I just did a threat assessment of a school three weeks ago in my home state of [Arizona] with an emphasis on active shooter.
My main focus was on first figuring out the multiple ways I could commit the crime myself and then working backward from there — exposing weaknesses and suggesting improvements to keep out those who wish to do harm.
I can tell you that not one thing David proposed would stop me or anyone else from a whole lot of carnage on that campus or any other for that matter.
David is proposing that we allocate more taxpayer dollars for gun violence research along with mandatory universal background checks and digitized ATF records. He is also calling for a complete ban on high-capacity magazines and “assault weapons.”
I’m not sure if David and other liberals are able to comprehend that EVERY single one of these mass shootings, murders, and gun-related crimes that are so prevalent and concerning to all Americans showcase the complete disregard for any of our existing laws.
It is illegal to murder one or more innocent people for any reason. It is illegal to bring a firearm to a school. It is illegal to discharge a firearm in a school or within city limits.
These are a few of the major laws broken at every single school shooting. Yet Hogg and others ironically believe that the laws that they are proposing will be the ones mass [murderers] actually follow.
I’m not sure when the last time David purchased a gun [was], but I own several. I have never purchased one without filling out the proper paperwork and having my background checked.
The gun show loophole (the sale of a firearm from one private citizen to another without a background check) seems to be the main issue Hogg and others have with our current system, which is one of the few suggestions I would be willing to take a hard look at.
This still would not be effective in stopping the evil epidemic plaguing our schools and our children.
As far as allocating funding for research, this is one area I agree with David. It is what I believe we should be researching that we differ on.
David believes that we should be funding the research of gun violence. I think that would be a waste of time and money.
If we are going to research anything it needs to be something that will save the most lives NOW. We should be researching the most effective and affordable ways to harden these schools that are unfortunately very soft targets.
Hogg has proposed digitizing ATF records. Many Americans, myself included, do not want the government to have a national database or registry of firearm ownership. Quite simply, most Americans do not trust the federal government.
Unbeknownst to Hogg and many Americans, the Second Amendment was actually created to give “we the people” the ability the stand up to and defend ourselves against tyrannical, overreaching government.
In the wake of very real and shocking abuses at the highest level of our justice department, [including] spying on U.S. citizens, trying to sway the outcome of a presidential election, cover-ups, and the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS to name a few. I’m not sure most of us believe that our government should be entrusted with this information.
I feel we have really done a disservice to our youth and, more importantly, our country by allowing the removal of civics and U.S. history from our schools. Today, very few Americans understand the spirit and meaning of our basic and fundamental constitutional rights.
I covered the lack of understanding pertaining to the Second Amendment in my latest article published by Law Enforcement Today.
Most Americans have grown up in such a protective bubble provided by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along with the protective framework provided by our founders.
Quite simply, if Mr. Hogg and others are successful and abolish our Second Amendment as we know it, those of us that are currently able to protect him and others [won’t be able to] should the day [come when the] overreach of our government becomes so great that a second revolution is necessary.
We will have zero chance of doing so, and Hogg and his accomplices will have no choice [but] to think, “What have we done?”
What you are seeing today can simply be summarized by one of my favorite sayings: “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.”
We are currently somewhere in between lines three and four. We have plenty of weak men like Hogg that will, if successful, create hard times for us all.
If “we the people” really want our children to be safe, you must turn your ear to the sheepdogs of our society. Like military and law enforcement who have dedicated their lives to protecting others from the wolves.
Academics and activists may yell the loudest and throw the biggest tantrums, but just as Hogg has again illustrated with this proposal, being a victim does not qualify you to champion any kind positive reform.
