Speaking at a rally in Washington state on Saturday, Donald Trump announced: “Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment.” He was correct: she does, unequivocally and by her own admission.
It is a bit of a miracle when Trump gets something right, but give him at least this much credit: he is willing to take Mrs. Clinton at her word.
The media refused to believe him. CNN stated Trump’s claims were “wild” and that Clinton “has never argued for abolishing the Second Amendment.” Ben Jacobs at The Guardian wrote that Clinton “has never made any statement in support of abolishing the second amendment [sic] or confiscating the personal firearms of citizens.” Evelyn Rupert at The Hill recalled that Clinton had recently declared “we can’t ignore the Second Amendment,” as if that statement actually, you know, means anything.
It is difficult to believe anything Hillary Clinton says—she would almost certainly lie about even the weather outside her window if it would get her a few more electoral votes in Utah—but we can at least assume she means what she says about constitutional gun rights, her views on which she aired at a private fundraiser last fall: “The Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment,” she said, a proclamation that can only be a reference to the court’s 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller, which affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to firearms.
To disagree with the Supreme Court over Heller is to disagree with the right of individual Americans to own firearms. It is to call for abolishing the Second Amendment. There is simply no other way to interpret Clinton’s words, or her intentions.
There is, to be fair, no guarantee that Trump does not also want to take your guns away. He, like Hillary Clinton, is a serial liar, a profoundly dishonest politician and someone with a barely disguised disdain for the unique civic values that set America apart from the rest of the world—one of which is widespread civilian firearm ownership. In all probability, Trump would probably repeal the Second Amendment, too, if he sensed this would afford him even a minor political advantage.
But that does not change the facts of the matter: Hillary Clinton does want to abolish the Second Amendment. She does want to take your guns away. This is a fact.