Liberals Are Now Comparing Gun Owners to Slave Masters

Yes, you read that title correctly. The latest in the flurry of attacks on gun owners comes from a writer at the liberal website Slate  who has compared those who choose to arm themselves to those who committed the natural rights crime of slave ownership.

The editorial, titled “What Gun Control Advocates Can Learn from Abolitionists”, crafts a historical parallel between gun-rights restrictionists/abolitionists (the “good” guys), and gun rights activists/slave masters (the “villains”). Writer Rebecca Onion argues that the entrenchment of both institutions in America is similar because despite their obvious “evil” consequences, there is a strong lobby perpetuating its continuity. Her article states:

I feel like after every shooting we have a little cycle where people say, “How can this be happening, we need to figure out a way to stop it,” and then it kind of goes away. I don’t want to say that there is apathy, but I feel like there is a sense of resignation, even among people who believe that something should be done. I feel like there is a certain parallel with people in the 19^th century who were living in the North and had a certain distaste for slavery but would kind of shake their heads and say, “It’s just too big.”

Certainly, the point that both 19th Century slavery and 21st Century gun ownership were deeply rooted in American society during their respective periods is a valid one. However, that is precisely where the similarities come to an end.

The distinctions are so obvious that they almost need not be stated. Gun ownership has numerous proven benefits, such as self-defense from criminals and the state, that are inherent in the rights of an individual. Slavery violates the principle of self-ownership by involuntarily forcing another human being into slavery.

Onion’s horrible comparison flows from the liberal misunderstanding of the negative liberty theory that American rights were historically based on. Negative liberty is the freedom from interference by other people and from the state. A good illustration of the idea is the old expression, “do what you want, as long as you’re not harming anyone else”. Negative liberty theory is integral in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, where limits are placed on the government rather than “granting” rights to the individual.

The Second Amendment is a perfect example of negative liberty in action. The state cannot permit you from bearing arms, provided that you are not infringing upon the rights of others (i.e. murder, theft, etc.). However, the left rejects this theory in favor of a much more coercive interpretation. Their preference, known as positive liberty, is less of a “freedom from” principle and more of a “freedom to” construction. Positive liberty is often created by the state through certain laws and restrictions that infringe upon the natural rights of others.

Slavery is an example of positive liberty. Pre-13th America provided and intense legal framework that created protection for those violating the natural right to self-ownership of enslaved Africans. Because the institution sanctioned by the state, those victims were forced into labor against their will without any protection.

The harmful impacts of positive liberty structures are still felt today. For example, the recent development of “protected classes” and anti-discrimination laws forces individuals to do business with those with whom they would not freely choose to do so with. While the order of magnitude is much different, in a sense, slavery exists today through the states involuntarily creation of unwanted associations.

I am not here to compare the modern state to slavery; that point would run counter to the entire idea behind this article. However, it is important to note that some comparisons are more grounded in theoretical thought than others.

Instead of attacking gun owners, the writers at Slate should really examine what a historical parallel to slavery would look like. No, gun owners are not like slave masters. They are exercising their natural right to bear arms and defend their property. The state on the other hand, through taxes and regulations, enslaves us all to perform actions in violation of our God-given rights.