As the radical left continues to push their anti gun agenda following the murder of 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Republican Congressman Brian Mast has crossed the aisle and turned his back on the Constitution he was sworn to protect.
Mast, a combat veteran representing Florida’s 18th Congressional District, has taken to various left wing media outlets pushing sweeping gun control legislation while billing himself as a ‘gun carrying lawmaker’ and proud member of the NRA. He became a darling of liberal media following an op-ed published in the New York Times titled ‘I’m a Republican. I Appreciate Assault Weapons. And I Support a Ban.,’ in which he regurgitated the same tired arguments we so often hear from gun grabbing lawmakers and anti-gun zealots, as he claimed semi-automatic weapons have no place in the hands of US citizens, as they are ‘weapons of war’ that he compares to an Abrams tank. Of course, Mast knows first hand that the AR-15 is not a weapon of war, and has apparently decided to tell outright lies in order to advance his own political career.
Mast also wrote that he is ‘made less safe’ by the presence of a well-armed citizenry, and alarmingly argued that the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution actually forbids Americans from owning certain firearms. Despite taking an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States as both a member of the armed forces and a United States Congressman, Mast has decided to twist the meanings of our most sacred rights to fit his own political agenda, a very disturbing phenomenon we have seen time and time again from America’s political class, who so often trade citizens’ rights for votes and donations.
Unfortunately for the American people, Mast’s anti-gun crusade has evolved from op-eds and appearances on CNN to legislative action. According to a report published in the Tallahassee Democrat, Mast will file a bill next week that seeks to place a 60-day ban on the purchase of weapons he deems ‘tactical,’ taking matters into his own hands after his calls for an unconstitutional executive order on the matter were ignored by President Trump. It is Mast’s hope that if passed, his bill will force Congress to act on the weapons before time runs out, and the dreaded AR-15 is once again available for purchase by law-abiding citizens.
If politicians like Brian Mast are successful in banning weapons they deem unsuitable for the American people, we will be placed on a slippery slope towards more and more liberties being stripped away in the name of safety, and the American people will be left defenseless. Of course, Congressman Mast has nothing to worry about. Despite Washington, D.C. being far from a war zone, he is protected on Capitol Hill by civilians armed with ‘weapons of war.’ If he is so threatened by the presence of semi-automatic weapons, then perhaps Mast should first ban the ones closest to him, and disarm the Capitol Police.