All this was inspired by the principle—which is quite true within itself—that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.
Donald Trump
As recently as the infamous rally in Alabama when Trump called Colin Kaepernick a “son of a bitch,” Donald Trump repeated the claim that Hilary Clinton wants to take everybody’s gun away. In fact, what Hilary supports is supported by a majority of American gun owners, including myself:
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Expand background checks to more gun sales—including by closing the gun show and internet sales loopholes—and strengthen the background check system by getting rid of the so-called “Charleston Loophole.”
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Take on the gun lobby by removing the industry’s sweeping legal protection for illegal and irresponsible actions (which makes it almost impossible for people to hold them accountable), and revoking licenses from dealers who break the law.
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Keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, other violent criminals, and the severely mentally ill by supporting laws that stop domestic abusers from buying and owning guns, making it a federal crime for someone to intentionally buy a gun for a person prohibited from owning one, and closing the loopholes that allow people suffering from severe mental illness to purchase and own guns. She will also support work to keep military-style weapons off our streets.
All of this is reasonable.
What we are seeing here is a classic example of Big Lie propaganda. Trump is lying, and repeating it so often that now “everybody knows” that Hilary Clinton wants to take away their gun.
This matters, because our ability to have a public discussion about gun safety is corrupted by the cynical lies of such as Trump, who deliberately evoke the specter of storm-troopers knocking down doors in order to seize firearms. Do I need to add that only a fool would fall for it? If the feds wanted to disarm America they’d stop ammunition sales, something they can easily do, and an uprising would end in just a few days.
Donald Trump is a serial liar, he uses the techniques of the Big Lie — though I frankly doubt he knows enough of history to be aware of its precedents — and he is an existential threat to the country itself. There has never been a time in our history when it is more important for clear-headed Americans to speak-up and #Resist.