Truth is the Only Currency

I have written a number of articles about the arms industry’s distortion of the Second Amendment as it traffics in ever more lethal weaponry to increase its revenue, selling military grade firearms to the public at large (“The Arms Industry,” EW 2/18). Inevitably, such weapons are used by too many of their purchasers to massacre children in their schools, shoppers in the marketplace, patrons at cinemas or nightclubs, attendees at concerts, worshippers at churches, mosques and synagogues, and anywhere else where people exercise their right to assemble.

The slaughtering of these innocents occurs regularly and the nation often emerges from mourning over the victims of one mass shooting when it is soon weeping over another — recently Atlanta (eight fatalities) and Boulder (10 fatalities) — representing a tragically growing list of mass murders by gunmen wielding semi-automatic assault weapons.

Each killing spree is followed by virtually the same script — politicians offer prayers and thoughts but immediately disappear when pressed for legislative action to regulate continued sales of the weaponry. Gun rights advocates even belittle the victims, some calling the Sandy Hook massacre a hoax (just imagine if you are a grief-stricken parent of a slain child and being told it never happened), and disparaging the survivors in Parkland, Florida, telling them to “get over it.”

The most recent shooting in Boulder evoked a tone-deaf, insulting statement from the Colorado Shooting Association that it would be “emotional sensationalism” which could “cloud remembrance” of the victims to have any discussions of gun laws at this time. As usual, we are to kick the can down the road and pay homage to the fabricated version of the Second Amendment, a version which supposedly confers a right or “freedom” for an individual to kill one’s neighbors with the most effectively lethal military grade weapon available.

But our founders intended no such insanity. The Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are dedicated to the People, not guns. These documents enshrine the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They did not ensure the people’s right to life on the one hand, then to take it away with the other hand by a contemporaneous amendment which was focused on “a well regulated militia being necessary” as the preface for that amendment.

The Second Amendment has been re-cast in modern times to confer a virtually unregulated right for anyone without a criminal record to acquire military weaponry designed and intended to be used within the confines of the military to inflict maximum casualties among the enemy in combat.

I personally had an experience as a federal prosecutor in Eugene that demonstrates the fact that even the arms industry in very recent times recognized that the Second Amendment did not entitle the general public to acquire military grade firearms.

In the early 1980s a local group of investigators and prosecutors ordered a number of mini-14 semi-automatic assault rifles from Sturm-Ruger (the manufacturer), which were shipped to the Sheriff’s Office. Because the sheriff had not ordered them, an investigation was initiated by ATF because Sturm-Ruger had a strict policy at that time of only selling the weapons to the military and law enforcement departments.

The investigation determined there was no violation of the law or that policy because the purchasers did in fact have law enforcement status. But the point of the episode is this — Sturm-Ruger and several other manufacturers had themselves concluded that these weapons were military grade and were not suitable for sale to the private sector. We were so advised during the investigation by Sturm-Ruger which recognized the risk they posed to public safety if they were marketed outside the rigid command structure of the military and police.

That self-restraint collapsed as the National Rifle Association and more aggressive ownership in the arms industry pushed to increase revenue in face of a declining market for the traditional hunting and sporting rifles. At roughly the same period, seminars and articles began appearing which encouraged dramatically expanding the reach of the Second Amendment by distorting it to include the purpose of arming private individuals on the basis that they had the right to rebel against their own government and thus had the right to possess the weaponry to do so.

This, of course, is nonsense. The same founders who adopted the Second Amendment had contemporaneously defined treason as taking up arms against the government in the body of the Constitution.

I end with this somber warning: We the People need to restore truth as the only currency in our society which is entitled to any value.

False narratives are counterfeit currency and must be given no weight in politics, government or the culture in which we live, raise our families, and pass on to our children. The insurrection of Jan. 6 was exactly that — an attempt to overthrow our Democracy. It is a lie to describe it as anything else. The Nov. 3, 2020, election was not rigged, stolen or fraudulent. The winner won legitimately, and the loser lost legitimately.

And firearms, especially military grade assault weapons, can be regulated and banned. Congress even did exactly that in 1994 with its Assault Weapons Ban that lasted 10 years, with no mass shootings during that period. No court held that such a ban violated the Second Amendment. But unfortunately, the AWB was not extended, and so here we are today being killed with assault weapons.

The answer to my question posed by the title of this article is emphatic and the absolute truth: No — our Constitution does not protect guns more than people.

Do not accept a counterfeit facsimile of the real Constitution. And don’t let the politicians do so either.

Thomas Coffin is a retired U.S. magistrate judge. He served 24 years in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, from 1992 to 2016.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!