What does this mean for us as Jewish People. Should we care?
Two bills were passed by the House last week; H.R.8 and H.R.1446. The first Bill, H.R.8 (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-117hr8eh/pdf/BILLS-117hr8eh.pdf if you want to read it) was essentially (and surreptitiously) sold to us “universal background checks.” From the way it sounds, you would think it logical and good. Wow! the lefty Dems do something good sometimes. Of course we need stronger background checks in order to purchase firearms.
Well, sorry to disappoint. Universal background checks have little to do with checking backgrounds. Ill let you in on a little secret. When (and if) you were to attempt to purchase a firearm, a form is filled out by the dealer. It goes through a system called NICS. (The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Section of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division) Depending on how busy the system is it can take 3-10 days to get the permission completed.
The system is already pretty rigorous. If the FBI NICS division does not like what they see, they bounce it back to the dealer and nix (no pun intended) the sale.
No sir. Do not be fooled. This is not about stronger or better background checks. This is NOT about reducing the amount of shooting deaths that take place in Chicago every weekend. Frankly the Government could care less about that. If they did, something would have been done about it years ago. Instead, every time a Mayor is elected in Chicago it is 100 miles to the left of his or her predecessor.
Here is one example (and there are so many more) of the real intent of H.R.8. The real intent is to oppress the daylights out of legitimate honest gun owners.
It would impose harsh penalties like six-figure fines and jail time for the simple act of handing a firearm to another person, even for temporary use. The exemptions under H.R. 8 are woefully inadequate to protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners. For example, if you loan your firearm to a victim of domestic violence because their abuser is being released from jail; or if a suicidal friend asks you to take possession of their firearm; (because he or she is afraid to keep it around) or if you loan your cousin your gun after a series of burglaries in the neighborhood (for added protection). These new transfer penalties would turn law-abiding Americans into criminals.
House Democrats also passed H.R. 1446. This bill claims to close the so-called “Charleston Loophole,” by making retail gun stores wait 10 business days before completing a transfer instead of the current three day standard. The bill would also empower the FBI to indefinitely delay a purchase—even after the increased 10 day window has expired without a failed background check.
As an orthodox Frum Jew you might ask, why do I care. I have no interest in guns. They are a violent instruments that should be banned from the world perhaps less people would die violent deaths. Our streets and neighborhoods would be safer. you could add a whole list of good reasons to support those efforts.
You would certainly be right about the fact that the gun culture in the US or the rest of the world is not a part of our DNA. We have no cultural affinity to those who participate in hunting or even just sport target shooting. (Although, you should know, quietly the the applications for gun ownership in the very orthodox community is rising exponentially every day because of the general feeling that there is no longer adequate protection from predatory home invasions and the like, by the local authorities.)
So why the big deal, and why are we editorializing on this issue?
Because this amendment is part of the larger body of amendments known as the Constitution of the United States of America. It was voted on and became fundamental law in the US on September 17th, 1787 and has been there since.
The United States of America, for all its political and social shortcomings, has a legal system that stands out amongst “the nations” because of its fundamental adherence to their constitution. The constitution, commonly known as the bill of rights, was designed to protect individuals from each other and more importantly from the potential of the Government becoming tyrannical and oppressive.
Since the early years post WWII the Gedolei Yisroel encouraged us to vote sensibly in the context of Ha’Karas HaTov to the Government helped us, the Jewish people, to re-develop after the horrors of the Holocaust.
But over the many years since the mid-1940’s things have changed. There is now a very strong and powerful left-wing force in the country that is NOT just pursuing what used to be called “liberal” ideas. The main “agenda” of the left is to destroy America as a free Country, to inject into the people a disdain for religion towards wiping it out of the human conciseness, and to transform America in to a Socialist (yes even a communist) government.
The underlying desire for promoting sick and perverse ideas is to create a “new normal” that will create new generations of people that will oppose religion at its core and worship only the Government that feeds them. That was the core purpose of communism with all of its iterations. This is most evident in the current practice of the Chinese Communist Party, (CCP) with their oppressive and horrible treatment of their population.
So you might say, OK. I hear you. But why would people in America want to transform a society and oppress them?
The answer is simple to reply but very difficult for normal, sensible, and especially religious people to relate to. It is called EVIL. Since the beginning of time as the population of the world grew, Evil individuals, for nothing more than power, greed, self-aggrandizement, have sought to subjugate populations using methods of oppression. And it will be so until the coming of Moshicah Ben Dovid (BBYA).
So if we can’t help it why bother? Let’s just sit and wait. We cannot. As long as there is a possibility of saving ourselves even a little, given the power of the system we still have, we are obligated to act. We obviously should not be voting Democrat. But even when we vote for republicans, we MUST inspect their past voting records to be sure that they share traditional American and moral values.
We must support every attack on the constitution because that is one method of how the EVIL left is attempting to change the course of this country.
In Lakewood, there is a Congressman who is Republican, Chris Smith, who is consistently voting with Democrats on these issues. He even voted for the impeachment of President Trump. We MUST show him the exit door. He has also voted for the two bills I have mentioned.
So be aware. Be vigilant. Take responsibility for the things that you can do to continue to keep the system tamed. May Hashem bless us with the speedy arrival of Moshicah Tzidkeinu BB’Y-A.