Every dictator knows that the first thing they must do to maintain their grip on power is ban civilian firearm ownership and then confiscate all the guns.
No one knows this better than Venezuelan dictator and mass-murderer Nicolás Maduro. The corporate media refers to Maduro as a “strongman,” but there’s nothing strong about machinegunning disarmed citizens or imprisoning political opponents without a shred of due process.
In 2012, Maduro issued an executive order that banned his subjects from owning firearms or ammunition and shuttered every private gun shop. Of course, the Venezuelan Army, police and special paramilitary units were exempt from Maduro’s decree and continued to obtain guns and ammo from government sources. There was a short grace period during which Venezuelans were allowed to turn in their guns, but thousands of firearms had to be confiscated by force. Today, Venezuelans face up to 20 years in a state prison for illegal firearm possession.
Maduro justified his national gun grab by claiming it would reduce crime.
Sound familiar?
The move paid off for Maduro. During yesterday’s national elections, when it became clear that he was going to lose to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, Maduro sent armed government thugs into polling places with orders to stop the voting.
On Monday, Maduro formally announced that he had won the election, garnering more than 51% of the vote. But Urrutia’s Democratic Unitary Platform party claimed he won with more than 73% of the vote. The United States and several countries in the region “voiced skepticism” about the election results, according to news reports.
Making matters worse for the Venezuelan people, Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement supporting Maduro’s claims.
“The United States stands with the people of Venezuela who expressed their voice in today’s historic presidential election. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected. Despite the many challenges, we will continue to work toward a more democratic, prosperous, and secure future for the people of Venezuela,” Harris said in a social media post.
The United States stands with the people of Venezuela who expressed their voice in today’s historic presidential election. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected. Despite the many challenges, we will continue to work toward a more democratic, prosperous, and secure…
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 28, 2024
In other words, Harris said we should accept the election results and move on, despite the cheating.
Lessons Learned
Recent events have shown that the right to keep and bear arms is not universal, unfortunately, and that those who depend upon the government to protect them do so at their own peril.
Prior to the October 7th terrorist attacks, Israelis had to serve two years in the Israeli Defense Forces before they could apply for a firearm permit. Today, they can apply after serving one year in the IDF or other national service. In addition, those who work or live in a “qualified dangerous area” can also apply for a firearm permit. Israeli civilians who have no firearms training can also apply. As a result, more than 300,000 Israelis have applied for firearm permits since the Hamas massacres.
“When the war started, we knew that we were right when we said that every person that has a weapon can save a life,” Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, told the Times of Israel. “We need to enable as many people as possible to carry a weapon.”
Israel was not the only country to regret restricting civilian access to firearms.
As Russian motorized rifle brigades streamed across the Ukrainian border, the world watched in horror as Ukrainian soldiers uncrated cases of AKs as quickly as possible and passed them out to mostly untrained recruits. Ukraine tried to mitigate the damage by opening government-owned ranges to the public, but for many, it was too little, too late.
Many of their frontline forces had minimal firearm training, which led to thousands of needless battlefield deaths.
Takeaways
Venezuela should be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It is literally floating on a sea of oil. However, decades of government corruption have forced most of the population into poverty – corruption that was enabled by disarming the people.
Everyone except our Vice President seems to recognize that Maduro cheated – by force of arms – and will now serve another six-year term, his third. There is little the Venezuelan people can do to contest Monday’s election results. They have nothing to fight back with. All of their guns were confiscated and destroyed. [Update 7/30/2024: they are currently still fighting]
Venezuela is the latest example of the need to protect and defend our Second Amendment rights. Rather than focusing solely on how they intend to disarm us, we should focus on why our politicians – including Harris – want a disarmed populace. It is certainly a question worthy of a response.
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
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