Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is, once again, calling for an "assault weapons" ban.
In doing so, Pelosi is trying to employ the Democrats' standard strategy of using the heightened emotions of a tragedy to garner support for an illogical gun control measure.
As will be demonstrated, Pelosi's plea, in this instance is illogical on multiple levels.
The tragedy that Pelosi is trying to politically capitalize on this time is the recent shooting that took place at East High School in Denver, Colorado.
The incident occurred on the morning of Wednesday, March 22.
National Public Radio (NPR) reports:
It started when a male East High student who . . . was a known risk . . . was being searched by administrators a little before 10 o'clock this morning. He was on what they call a safety plan, meaning he was searched on a regular basis based on his past behavior. A handgun was found during the search, and the shooting occurred at that point.
Two school administrations were shot - non-fatally - and the suspect fled.
The town was told to shelter in place as authorities searched for the suspect. The suspect would eventually be found deceased at a remote mountain area near the town of Bailey, Colorado. The suspect was identified as 17-year-old Austin Lyle.
This is the situation that Pelosi is now trying to politically capitalize on.
On Friday, the former House Speaker tweeted:
Today, it was my privilege to stand with brave young activists for gun violence prevention, because Generation Lockdown’s leadership has been crucial to our fight.
We must renew the assault weapons ban to protect America’s children. pic.twitter.com/al6EVYc9Dq
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 24, 2023
One of at least two problems with Pelosi's call for an "assault weapons" ban, however, is that, in the East High School incident, the suspect reportedly used a handgun, which - despite the Democrats' expansive definition of "assault weapons" - would not be considered an "assault weapon."
The other major problem with Pelosi's call for an "assault weapons" ban is that such bans do not prevent bad actors from acting badly. It is the law-abiding, not the law-flouting, citizens who follow laws. And so, the ban would only take the weapon out of the hands of the law-abiding citizen.
It is basic stuff. But, it is stuff that Pelosi and U.S. President Joe Biden continue to disregard, choosing instead to try to use the emotions from tragedies - caused by bad actors - to try to disarm law-abiding Americans of their Second Amendment rights.