FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Aug. 9, 2019
Contact: Matthew Bughman
Libertarian Party of Wisconsin Chair
(608) 571-2721
info@lpwi.org
When we face tragedy, it is our instinct to act out of fear. When violent individuals take the lives of our neighbors, it is natural for our first thoughts to be born of that fear. Within the last two weeks, lone shooters killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas; nine people in Dayton, Ohio; three people in Gilroy, California, and four people in Lake Hallie, Wisconsin. The death toll totals 40. Many are grieving, shocked, afraid.
It is the chosen path of the Libertarian to overcome those first pangs of panic and instead redouble our efforts to achieve a freer, more peaceful world. Love, not fear, will lead us to this achievement.
Fear compels us to disable one another.
Love compels us to uplift others through good deeds.
Fear compels us to shackle others with restrictions beyond the scope of justice.
Love compels us to set each other free.
The Libertarian Party position on firearms is loving. It places the highest value on the life of the human individual.
“The only legitimate use of force is in defense of individual rights — life, liberty, and justly acquired property — against aggression. This right inheres in the individual, who may agree to be aided by any other individual or group. We affirm the individual right recognized by the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms, and oppose the prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights of self-defense. Private property owners should be free to establish their own conditions regarding the presence of personal defense weapons on their own property. We oppose all laws at any level of government restricting, registering, or monitoring the ownership, manufacture, or transfer of firearms or ammunition.”
What, then, can Libertarians do to prevent individuals from committing violence and bringing harm to innocent people?
- We can advocate for local solutions and personally invest in the livelihood of our communities.
- We can advocate for the elimination of barriers to providing support to those who need it.
- We can advocate for criminal justice reform and the end of the War on Drugs.
- We can advocate for educational freedom, so that more children can be brought up in healthy, safe, loving environments.
- We can advocate for the end of government intervention in health care, so that more people can access the mental health services they need at an affordable cost.
- We can teach the value of human life, and that the inherent rights that each person is born with – Life, Liberty, and Property – can never justly be infringed upon.
Out of desperation we could campaign to hobble one another. Those who would be hobbled learn to fear the fearful, and with each regulation we pass we shed our own defenses, leaving a nation disarmed, more helpless, distrustful and divided than ever before.
Let us instead grieve together, and move forward with renewed dedication to our shared vision: a world that is free and prosperous, where no one must fear that their livelihoods or lives may be taken from them.
For more information about the Libertarian Party positions on red flag laws, the death penalty, and related topics, check out the Libertarian Party Platform.
