ACLU: WE NEED TO BURN DOWN THE CIVIL LIBERTIES TO SAVE THE CIVIL LIBERTIES: A Pro-Liberty Case for Gun Restrictions

Unless my reading comprehension skills have really deteriorated, the ACLU is arguing that because government tends to react to mass shootings by restricting civil liberties, Americans will ultimately enjoy more liberty if we restrict gun rights to prevent mass shootings. That is, shall we say, a rather odd argument for the ACLU of all organizations to make.

Let’s try out this logic in another context: “Because the government tends to react to terrorism by restricting civil liberties, Americans will ultimately enjoy more liberty if we deny terrorism suspects due process rights, drone suspected terrorists abroad, and ban Muslims from coming to the United States.”

It’s not that the ACLU’s argument is inherently illogical (assuming one believes that gun restrictions will indeed inhibit mass shootings), it’s just that it’s not the sort of utilitarian argument the ACLU would ever make in any other civil liberties context other than with regard to Second Amendment rights.