With the tragic deaths of over a dozen legally disarmed Americans in Georgia and Colorado earlier this month as a shield, Democrats in Washington, D.C. increased their push for ever more restrictions on legal firearms ownership. In addition to the usual targets of so-called “assault rifles” and background checks, President Joe Biden said the quiet part out loud and admitted that this was favorable “timing” for finding the authority to go after 3D-printed guns that “aren’t registered as guns at all.” Meanwhile, Republicans who remained silent and obedient as President Trump dictated his own gun control measures (“take the guns first, ask questions later”) stand on the sidelines and jeer, hoping the rest of us will forget the years of conceding and backsliding on the Second Amendment they have behind them.

Libertarians stand against the uninitiated use of force and always will. However, we stand firm on the principle that the right to defend one’s self and property from those who intend them harm is as basic a human right as there is.

So-called “common sense” restrictions at all levels of government have made the ability for the average law-abiding American to obtain a firearm for defensive or recreational use more and more difficult. Meanwhile, the violent in our communities, who are uninterested in complying with firearms regulations, prey on the unarmed masses.

Just as the criminals in our neighborhoods welcome a disarmed and compliant community, the criminals in the halls of government couldn’t be happier to have an unarmed populace to rule over. While politicians in America debated on which of your rights to recognize, the powers that be in Myanmar killed non-violent protesters (including children) by the hundreds. “Security forces” slew 114 in cold blood on Saturday alone, following that by opening fire on mourners at a funeral the very next day. Immensely tragic by itself, it’s only the latest chapter in the millennia of state violence carried out on unarmed populations. History books are full to bursting with episode after episode of governments slaying their citizens after stamping out their right to arm themselves.

The Libertarian Party is the only national party that stands for your unqualified right to keep and bear arms.

We do not operate under the illusion that the state will protect you from violence or that armed state agents always have your best interests at heart. We understand that background checks, magazine limits, gun bans, and all the other “common sense” gun laws only disarm the peaceful and embolden the violent. Libertarians understand that all too often the difference between life and death is the presence of an individual with a gun.

“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.”
— Libertarian Party Platform § 1.9

Libertarians across the country need your help to push back the restrictions and red tape that make the right to keep and bear arms harder to exercise.

Please help us collectively work to increase individual and societal protection through the Second Amendment with a contribution today.